Jessica's Blog
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Never, never, never, never, never...
I get the Elisabeth Elliot newsletters in my email every morning, when I find a really good one I always save it for later reading. I was digging through some of my saved newsletters the other night, and found this:Forsaken? Impossible
Twice in my life I have heard Christians claim, in all seriousness, that God had forsaken them. This is an impossibility. Does Christ live in us? He does. The living Christ dwells in the heart of every true believer--He in them and they in Him. There are no words which adequately describe the intimacy of this relationship. Jesus, in his last recorded prayer for those whom the Father had given Him, asked "that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and thou in me...that the love thou hadst for me may be in them, and I may be in them" (Jn 17:23, 26 NEB).
Twice in my life I have heard Christians claim, in all seriousness, that God had forsaken them. This is an impossibility. Does Christ live in us? He does. The living Christ dwells in the heart of every true believer--He in them and they in Him. There are no words which adequately describe the intimacy of this relationship. Jesus, in his last recorded prayer for those whom the Father had given Him, asked "that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and thou in me...that the love thou hadst for me may be in them, and I may be in them" (Jn 17:23, 26 NEB).
Jesus Christ, in the extremity of his agony on the cross, asked why God had forsaken Him. In becoming sin for us He experienced a terrible alienation from his Father, a sense of total dereliction. God did not and could not forsake the Son who was one with Him. He cannot and will not forsake us who are not only his sons and daughters, but also the dwelling-places of his only begotten Son. "I will never, never, never, never, never (the Greek has five negatives) leave you or forsake you," is his promise. At times we may be overcome with a feeling of helpless forsakenness. This is surely not from the loving Father, but from the father of lies. The best way to answer that "father" is the way Jesus answered when tempted by Satan: "It is written." Take God's own promise with its five negatives and hold on.
I loved reading this, that bit of scripture is one of my very favorites. It is a never swaying reminder that no matter what, we are never going to be alone. Even when things are so low, you just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel; when people who say they're you friends, still up run the other way; when you feel like there is no one else there... He says "I will never, never, never, never, never forsake you". No matter what the deciever trys to tell us, we have that wonderful promise to hold on to.
~*~Jessica~*~
I loved reading this, that bit of scripture is one of my very favorites. It is a never swaying reminder that no matter what, we are never going to be alone. Even when things are so low, you just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel; when people who say they're you friends, still up run the other way; when you feel like there is no one else there... He says "I will never, never, never, never, never forsake you". No matter what the deciever trys to tell us, we have that wonderful promise to hold on to.
~*~Jessica~*~
posted by ~*~Jessica~*~ at 12:12 PM
1 Comments:
Hey Jess! Thanks for stopping by! Nice hearing from you. I am sorry about your situation with your grandparents. That's awful. My grandma used to say that we could come in sets of two... 4kids only at a time, but now she welcomes the whole bunch. PTL for that. :)
And, yes, my Grt Grandma is the lady on the FF icon. It's her on her wedding day 1941. Isn't she pretty?
Love
MJ
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