God’s People Young or Old

Let me start with this, if you are lost, God doesn’t need to find you.  If you are lost by straying from the straight and narrow path that leads to God’s kingdom, the Lord is aware of it.  You may feel separated from Him because of your sin and the choice you made to indulge in it, but it is not that God has to find you, He knows where you are at all times.  I know when God walked in the garden, he made this statement in the book of Genesis, “Adam, where are you?”  But don’t kid yourself, God knew exactly where he was, He just wanted him to come out on his own.  God loves you, but your sins, if that is the case, have hidden his face from you so that He does not hear.  God does not change by turning, He is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is not a man that He should lie!!

Read what it says in Isaiah 59:1-2, “Behold, Adonai’s hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. Rather, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.”

Sinning without true repentance, through a change of heart and mind will always separate us from the Lord, just like before we became believers.  If we walk in sin, we have made our paths crooked and we will have no peace, we will walk in darkness and not light and we will lose our strength, because we will lose our joy.  God’s word says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  We may seek light, but all will seem like darkness.  If we continue in sin with no repentance, we will continue to stumble in broad daylight and become like the dead in desolation.  

But there is good news, just like the Jews received good news when they were walking with hard hearts, for the Gentiles there is also good news.  The good news is that even when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, He loved us so much that He willingly laid down His life for us, no one took his life.  He shed his blood for us and became the sacrificial Lamb of God, praise the Lord, who takes away the sins of the world!!

Think about the prodigal son, after he repented and went back to his father’s house, he said I am not worthy to be called your son, but then how did the father respond?  Please read Luke 15:22-24, “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let’s celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life—he was lost and is found!’ Then they began to celebrate.”

This parable relates to how kind and compassionate and loving our heavenly Father really is!!  You see, God had a plan before He created the world as we now know it, to forgive those who would repent and put their trust in Him.  The blood sacrifices were set up by God in the Old Testament whereby the only way sin could be atoned for was through the shedding of blood.  Please read Hebrews 9:22, “And nearly everything is purified in blood according to the Torah, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

     

If you are a born-again believer and you know that you haven’t sinned and still feel like you’re separated from the Lord, then I would like to encourage you also.  God’s word says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Please read Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her nursing baby or lack compassion for a child of her womb? Even if these forget, I will not forget you.”  I know that this is talking to the Jews, but there is no distinction between God’s children that have put their trust in Him.  The word of God says no one can snatch you out of His hands.  

Think of Job’s situation, after all that was said and done, he was blessed abundantly, praise the Lord.  What you are going through may be just a test to see how you will respond.  Let me throw this in, God knows how we will respond, but many times we don’t know even when we think we do, and neither does the enemy of our souls.  Remember when Jesus said, “you will all fall away,” to his disciples in the book of Mark and Peter said, “even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you,” and all the other disciples said the same!!

Please read Mark 14:27-31, “And Yeshua said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I’m raised up, I will go before you to the Galilee. Peter said to Him, ‘Even though all fall away, I won’t!’ And Yeshua said to him, ‘Amen, I tell you, today—this very night—before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.’ But Peter kept insisting exceedingly, ‘Even if I must die with You, I’ll never deny You!’ And they all were saying the same.”

They all fell away, so be careful what you say it may come back to bite you.  Let me throw this in, God chastises those he loves, please read Hebrews 12:5-14, “Have you forgotten the warning addressed to you as sons? My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because Adonai disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts. It is for discipline that you endure. God is treating you as sons—for what son does a father not discipline? But if you are without discipline—something all have come to share—then you are illegitimate and not sons. Besides, we are used to having human fathers as instructors—and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? Indeed, for a short time they disciplined us as seemed best to them; but He does so for our benefit, so that we may share in His holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the moment—not joyful. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble! And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be pulled out of joint but rather be healed. Pursue shalom with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Enough said, I pray this has been a help and a blessing and an encouragement to you. May you all have a blessed day!!