NOT FORGOTTEN

Isaiah 49:15 NLT “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!

How often has someone said to us, or we’ve said to them “I won’t forget you” but with the best will in the world, we have forgotten. We all move on, life becomes busy and memories fade.😊

But God tells us that there is no possibility of Him ever forgetting us, that our names are written on the palm of His hand so He can’t forget. In fact Psalm 139 reminds us that He’s actually thinking about us all the time and that He cares deeply about everything going on in our lives.

We don’t have to send Him a text to give Him a nudge that we’re still here and even though He may be silent for a time it doesn’t mean He’s wandered off and forgotten all about us.

I’ve heard it said that if God had a wallet our photo would be front and centre, so let’s take encouragement from the certain knowledge that God is thinking about us even when we don’t feel Him or see Him at work. 

Psalm 44:1 NKJV reminds us that God chose us, He formed us in the womb, He will help us and that we’ve not to fear. Verse 3 He goes on to say He will pour out His Spirit on our descendants, and His blessing on our offspring. How wonderful it is that God’s care goes beyond us to the next generations. He won’t forget them either!😊

Nor does God forget our efforts. Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

We can rest on His promises, and believe His declaration that He will not forget us. What reassurance there is in that for each one of us. So no matter what is happening in your life take comfort - you are not forgotten!

Thank You Lord. Amen.

Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on Unsplash

NOISY GONGS!

1 Corinthians 16:14 NLT And do everything with love.

I heard this said in church last Sunday, “We may not all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.” What a profound quote!😊

Maybe you have dreams of doing great things for the Lord and you may well do, but until then we all know we can at least attempt small things and do them with His great love as our motivation.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. None of us want to be a noisy gong! It implies that if we can’t do something with love we’re better not doing it, we’re wasting our time!

I wonder how often people do things for the wrong reasons, or because it’s their duty, or they’ve been doing it for 20 years and now the joy has gone out of it but they carry on anyway? If the love has gone we can either ask the Lord to rekindle it if He wants us to carry on, or ask Him if it’s time to stop and do something different.

It can be a bit like pushing a boulder up a hill, when the love has gone out of it, it’s just hard slog. But equally we can do the smallest service for somebody, speak a little word of encouragement and if we’re doing it in love it will have wonderful repercussions for them and for us. I believe God counts those things as great things.😊

So this is a little nudge as we go about our day, to just see if the things we’re doing are motivated by love and if not, to ask the Lord to help us tap into His love, no matter what we find to do, so we don’t have a lot of noisy gongs going on!😊 Amen.

Photo by Manuel Cossio on Unsplash