Monday, July 1, 2013

God will never give up on you!!

What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.' Ezekiel 20:32 NKJV

You want to know something cool about God? He never changes. He's always the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. When He makes a covenant with you, He never goes back on it.  This really stood out to me as I've been reading Ezekiel.  The children of Israel had turned away from God over and over and over again. They had sacrificed to other gods, had murdered their kids, had been sexually immoral. They'd done all sorts of horrid things, things God had warned them not to do over and over. Not because He's some tyrant, but because He loves them and knew these things would only make them miserable. Repeatedly Israel repents, repeatedly they come back to God. He forgives them but then they go do it again. Now, after hundreds of years, God is prophesying in Ezekiel how He's going to allow the King of Babylon to conquer and capture them. Not only that, eventually, all the people in Israel will be scattered across the entire earth and Israel will no longer be a nation (at least for awhile)  

Yet even after all the rebellion and all the chances, God never gives up on Israel!  In the midst of all their wickedness, He tells them.. you want to be evil, you want to be like the world, but I won't let you! I love you too much to let you! Besides, I've made a covenant with you I intend to keep, even if you don't!

God is so faithful! Throughout Ezekiel.. He promises that in the end, He will restore them. 

For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day  Ezekiel 34:11-12

Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable
you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.  Ezekiel 36:33

He makes the same promise to us! While we have breath in our lungs, God NEVER gives up on us! We may rebel, we may drift, we may wander far off the path, but if we are His, He pursues us like someone madly in love.  He never quits. He never gets tired.  Once He has called you and you are His, He never changes His mind. 
 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable Romans 11:29 NASB

If you belong to God and you are drifting from Him. If you have pushed Him away and decided you would rather pursue the things of this world, too bad for you, cause He's not letting you go without a fight!. He will do EVERYTHING in His power to bring you back. He won't leave you alone for one minute. So you might as well come back and live for Him. I guarantee it will be the best choice you've ever made!
 
All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.  2 Samuel 14:14 NLT

8 comments:

  1. So needed to read this right now... tears in my eyes. Thankyou so much for sharing. :)

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  2. Monday, July 1st ... "Morning, MaryLu."
    SO thankful, SO grateful ... that God NEVER gives up on us !!! Yes, I had my years in the past, where I had temporarily walked away for a time, choosing another path -- HUGE mistake !!!
    But, He never gave up on me, and I returned back to Him. The 'world' offered nothing -- it gave NO peace, no security, no contentment ... just emptiness.
    Thank-you Lord ... for Your -- love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, peace, hope, long-suffering, endurance, faithfulness, kindness, steadfastness ... and the list goes on, and on, and on .... ! Only "He" satisfies .... nothing on this earth ever will.
    Thank-you for the great reminder, MaryLu !!! Excellent post !!!
    And ... "Happy Birthday, Canada" !!! And, a "Happy Canada Day" ... to all of my Canadian friends !!! Enjoy the day.
    Take care, and, God Bless, In Him, Brenda

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  3. God is faithful. Isn't that awesome?
    Good word again today, MaryLu. Thanks!

    Happy Canada Day to you too, Brenda! And to the other Canadians who visit MaryLu's blog! :)

    Have a great day, all!

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  4. Awesome. Awesome Awesome Awesome! I didn't understand Ezekiel 20:32 even when read in context...until I was finished this post; so rich and rewarding! You encouraged me greatly in this and showed me how pointless it is to even try going my own way. You encouraged me in showing how much God loves me and how fervently He will pursue me; I am not lost to death and sin because I am His and He will NEVER let me go! (even if I try).

    Thank you!

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  5. Hi Ladies! So glad this post blessed you! It actually blessed me tremendously too. Yes.. God is so faithful even when we are not. Indeed it is pointless to try and run from Him and His love! There is such comfort in that.. in knowing you are loved that much!! Amazing, amazing love.

    Sorry I missed Canada's Birthday!! Happy Birthday Canada! And Happy Birthday USA!

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  6. This post was such an exciting blessing that I just HAD to share it with a friend who struggles with her spiritual life. She's not trying to run away, she's just had some hard things happen and she can't "feel" God even though she tries.

    I told my mom the gist of this blog post and she smiled and thought it sounded really great. She laughed at the part where you say (basically), 'you might as well give up now cause He's gonna get you sooner or later and why waste energy on the struggle against Him and miss out on all the blessings He has for you starting NOW' (she might as well be a Bible scholar - she was an adult Sunday school teacher and spends the vast majority of her days wrapped up in her Bible or studies or Christian non-fiction...). Wow, that was a major run-on sentence.

    I'm new to your blog and don't follow any others but if your other posts are this eye-opening, I'm in for a really sweet treat!

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    1. Thanks Megan! I'm praying this post helped your friend as well. :-) I loved it when you said your Mom is wrapped up in her Bible.. Just gave me a great visual of her wearing the armor of God. Blessings!

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