GOD WILL NEVER TURN HIS BACK ON YOU

By Joseph Prince – Posted April 14, 2017

Hebrews 13:5

…He Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

For six whole hours, the Son of God was suspended between heaven and earth. And at the height of His suffering on the cross, He cried out in the deep darkness, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45–46)

For the first time, Jesus addressed His Father as “God”. The Father had forsaken the Son. As Judge of the universe, God had to turn His back on His Son, who was carrying the filth of the world’s sins, for His eyes are too pure to behold evil. (Habakkuk 1:13)

If the Father had not turned His back on His Son, He would have to turn His back on you today when you call out to Him in your hour of need. But because Jesus has taken your place, today, you take His place, and you have God’s face smiling on you always!

Right now, God’s face is smiling on you. His countenance is shining on you. I can stand before you and declare, “The Lord make His face shine upon you.” (Numbers 6:25–26)

And it is all because Jesus has paid the price for God to never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

As Judge, God turned His back on His Son. But as Father, He cried. His heart was broken because Christ was never more pleasing to Him than when He was on the cross. Christ’s suffering was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. (Ephesians 5:2)

Do you remember what Jesus said? “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.” (John 10:17) If you are a parent, you love each one of your children equally. But when one of them does something special for you out of love, it touches your heart, and you just want to run to him and hug him.

That was what happened at the cross, except that the Father could not embrace His Son. Instead, He had to turn His back on His Son because our sins had to be punished in His Son’s body.

Beloved, when you cry out to the Father for help today, know that He hears you and will surely help you. Because of Jesus, He will never turn His back on you!

Thought For The Day

Because Jesus has taken your place at the cross, God’s face is always smiling on you! 

Our Best Help

By Joyce Meyer - Posted April 14, 2017

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
—Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV

We should be maturing in our faith to the point that we don’t run to someone else every time we need to know what to do. I am not implying that asking for a word of counsel from people we feel are wiser than we are is wrong, but I do believe asking for people’s opinions excessively and relying on them too heavily is wrong and insulting to God.

As you can tell from today’s verse, David sought God first and knew God was his only help. The same is true for us, so we must be like David and always look to God first. We need to develop a habit of seeing God as our “first choice” for advice, not as our last resort. 

God may use a person of His choice to clarify things, offer additional insight, or confirm what He has already told us, so seek Him first and if He leads you to a person, follow His leading. 

In Numbers 22:20-28, God even used a donkey to speak to someone. He wants to speak to us so much that He will use whatever means is necessary. You can be assured that if you are trusting God to speak that He will find a way to get His message through to you.

 On the Third Day

By Joel Osteen – Posted April 14, 2017 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

He was buried...he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:4, NIV

TODAY'S WORD:

As we get ready to honor the resurrection of Christ this weekend, I think about when they crucified Jesus. On that Friday, it was the darkest, most painful, discouraging day of His life. In fact, it was so bad that He sweat drops of blood. It looked as if His enemies had gotten the best of Him. But God had other plans. They put Him in the grave on Friday, celebrating their victory, but Sunday morning it was a different story. The grave could not hold Him! Death couldn't contain Him! The forces of darkness couldn't stop Him! On the third day, He came out of the grave and said, "I was dead, but now I am alive forevermore!" 

One principle that the resurrection teaches us is that God will always finish what He started. No matter how dark it looks, no matter how long it's been, no matter how many people are trying to push you down; if you will stay in faith, God will always take you from Friday to Sunday. He will always complete what He started in you!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father, thank You for completing what You started in my life. I trust that no matter how dark things may seem, You are my shining light of hope. Thank You for working behind the scenes to carry me through to the place of victory in every area of my life in Jesus' name. Amen.

A Law to Live By

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted April 14, 2017

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6

Recommended Reading: Galatians 6:1-10

The “Vomit Comet” is the affectionate name given by U.S. astronauts to the airplane that allows them to experience half a minute of weightlessness. The plane climbs to 30,000 feet then dives nearly straight down, momentarily allowing passengers to defy the law of gravity. It’s a lot of trouble, but it’s the only way to break this law. That’s what a law is—a constant, inviolable principle.

There is a similar law in Scripture called the law of sowing and reaping, or the law of the harvest. Paul explained it to the Corinthians after stating it more succinctly to the Galatians: “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7b). Sow sparingly, Paul wrote the Corinthians, and we will reap sparingly. And vice versa with generous sowing. When we live a generous life—generous not only with time, talent, and treasure but also with love, forgiveness, and friendship—that generosity will be returned to us in a harvest of God’s choosing.

The motivation for generosity is God’s limitless grace to us. As He has been generous toward us, let us be generous toward others.

Not how much we give, but how much we do not give, is the test of our Christianity. 
Oswald Chambers