Tag: God hears

The Faithfulness of God

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App4 Comments

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “A God Who Is Faithful”, Day 1

A Faithful God and an Unfaithful People

The book of Judges presents a stark contrast between the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of his people. It is astounding to consider that so soon after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, a generation arrived on the scene that neither knew the Lord nor the works that he had done for them. The very same nation who was an eyewitness to the stunning might of God had now forgotten him altogether. Their forgetfulness is seen in their ever-increasing propensity toward rebellion.

One would anticipate that their sin would prompt God to abandon his people forever. Yet, time and time again, an avalanche of God’s grace meets the faithlessness of the people. In fact, the text records God’s pity on the people and his attentiveness to their cries. Previously, Moses recounted how the people of God groaned because of their slavery and cried out to the Lord (Ex 2:23 – 25). These cries for deliverance were met by responses from the Lord. He heard their cries. He remembered the promises he had made in his covenant with them. He saw their need, and he knew their pain. This is the nature of the faithfulness of God — he hears, remembers, sees and knows.

Now, generations later, God heard the cries of his people and provided judges to lead them to victory. He did this despite the fact that they had demonstrated a perpetual inability to obey, even for a generation. God’s faithfulness is clearly not predicated on the goodness of his people. Rather, God’s faithfulness is founded on his character. He is a faithful God who always keeps his promises.

The faithfulness of God is the hope on which the Christian life is built. Those who know Jesus through repentance and faith can rest assured that God is faithful to his promises (1Co 1:9). He will not abandon his people, nor will he turn his back on them when they are unfaithful. Instead he hears, remembers, sees and knows. (Emphasis added by me) He hears the cry for mercy from those who know they are broken. He remembers his covenant, made long ago to Abraham, to save his people. He knows the needs of his people and, by virtue of Christ’s work, has made provision to meet those needs and restore them to a right relationship with him forever.

Today’s Prayer: 

Jesus, I thank you and praise you for your grace and faithfulness. Thank you for never giving up on me, even when I am ungrateful, rebellious and forgetful of your goodness. Amen.

My Thoughts

I have never been in slavery, captive by people who use me mercilessly. But I have been in slavery to sin, and God has freed me, not because of anything I have done but only because of His mercy and grace.

It is reassuring to know that God remains faithful even when we lose sight of the pathway He has us on and wander away. He is faithful to get us back on the right pathway and get us headed again in the right direction. God knows that we are human with all of the weaknesses and temptations that come along with it, and the good news is that He loves us anyway and is always faithful. He hears when we cry out to Him. I have a regular routine of praying daily, but that was not always the case. Even if I went days without acknowledging God (confession here: I am guilty of having done this in the past and know that I can fall into that pattern in the future if I allow myself to do so), once I called on the Name of the Lord, I felt Him draw near to me, ready to hear and answer my call. Why would He do that? Why would He be so faithful when I, and other humans, have a tendency to turn towards self-sufficiency instead of toward Him? Then the going gets rough and we turn to God. I have learned a big life lesson to always call on God, every day, no matter how I expect my day to go or what is going on in my life.

Having said all of this, I have a prayer request for a dear friend in PA. She was diagnosed with tongue cancer. No, she never smoked or used tobacco products, ever! That was last year. Now, it has progressed and she is on hospice care. We share a love of good Christian books and I have sent her some of my favorites via my daughter who attends her church. In fact, she taught all of my grandchildren there at one time or another. Please pray for Millie and her family. She has two sisters, one a twin, and I am sure that the knowledge that she only has a few months to live is devastating to them. I know it is breaking my heart; she is such a kind, sweet lady. I won’t tell you how to pray, but I am asking you to pray. God is faithful!

Thankful for God Who Hears

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

We are constantly assailed by noise in our modern world of gadgets and technology. If I go into the city, which I try not to do very often, there are horns, sirens and booming bass coming from cars with the volume turned too high. I cannot help but wonder how people carry on conversations in such an atmosphere. Then, I realized that they really don’t. Each person is isolated in his or her own world, many of them with ear pods in their ears and listening to music, a podcast or even a phone conversation. But what they are not listening to is the person walking beside them. It’s amazing to be that one can be right next to another person and totally unaware when they ask a question or make a comment.

I am very thankful today that God hears me when I cry out. He never puts in ear buds and thinks that today will be the day He will cut Himself off from the demanding and stubborn people that He created. Rather, He is always attentively “on call” and ready to hear us when we cry out to Him, ready to answer. I am in awe that with all of the noise going on in the world, at least in my small corner of it that I can perceive, God can still hear my cry to Him. I am one voice and yet my Father in Heaven is tuned in to me and my needs, willing and able to come to my aid. There are no ear pods that God uses to block us out and I am very thankful for the fact that God would never use ear pods because He desires to hear my cries to Him. Whether I am crying out a desperate prayer for help or a song of worship, God hears. He doesn’t block me as some do on social media, nor does He turn His back on me and pretend that I don’t exist. He acknowledges that I am His and listens.

I am filled with wonder that God can hear each of us simultaneously, as if there were only one of us to listen to. I remember when I was at home alone with our three children and inevitably the day would end, all three would come in excited to tell me the day’s events, but they would all speak at once. I had to calm them down and have them take turns, trying to remember who went first the previous day so that I was not playing favorites. Isn’t it awe-inspiring that God can listen to each of us all at the same time and hear everything that we are saying? He cares, He loves and He desires to hear about our days, our troubles and our needs that we lay before Him. He doesn’t have to choose one to go first, but He hears all of us. My mind cannot conceive of such a Creator, but I know that it is true because the Bible says He hears us. And I’m fairly certain that when I pray, I am not the only one praying at that moment in time. I don’t have to wait for my turn to talk to God because it is always my turn…and yours.

God answers my call because He hears me. He is always listening, and for that I am very thankful. Today, I want to tune out the world and plug into listening to God just as He is always attuned to my cry.

May you be blessed today with the absolute assurance that God is listening to you, fully attentive and with a heart filled with love for you.

Are You Faithful?

On By vickleaIn Scripture6 Comments

www.bible.com/1171/psa.4.3.mev

I remember a math class that I took many years ago. As a logical person who wants everything in its place, I didn’t really understand much of that geometry class, but I did understand the conditional statements. You remember them, too, I’m sure. They are the “if…then” statements. For example, you may say, “If it’s sunny today, then we will go to the beach.” The ‘if” clause has to be true for the then clause to kick in. Well, this Scripture is like a conditional statement. IF you are faithful, then God sets you apart and hears when you call on Him. I think that is is awesome that the God of the Universe takes time to listen to me! Are you faithful? Then He hears you. Blessings, my friends for a day filled with the awesome power of God touching your life and drawing you closer to Him. Choose to be faithful!