Psalm 66:16-20
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
TNIV
No matter what others may think of you; He loves you! He will never leave your side! The more you feel separated from this world, the closer you are to Him! Although I have been rejected, He stays with me! ME! Little, imperfect, me. What an awesome God!
We had dinner with some people who are "on the fence" about Jesus. One of them looked at me and said, with huge blue eyes, "Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here...I see beauty, but it all feels so foreign." I asked him where he thought he might belong...if not here, where? He didn't have an answer, but he is open to all things ..so I gave him Hebrews 11:1-3 to ponder...
Hebrews 11
1Now faith is the real nature, the foundation of things we hope for, the evidence of actions which we don't see. 2This is what the elders had a reputation for.
3By faith we understand that the ages were completely equipped by God's spoken words in such a way that things which are seen came into being from things which were not made to appear. (Italics mine)
The Source New Testament
Now, the translation above is subtly different from one you might have, particularly verse 3. Check yours out and see if you get a pull in your gut from the difference. I did. If this verse doesn't scream quantum physics, I don't know what does. I've mentioned it many times in my blog, I think. It pulls God out of the fundamental box and puts Him where He belongs. Bigger than anything we could ever possibly imagine.
Our friend doesn't like people much, but he likes to think. He has a huge heart, but he has been rejected and hurt by others. Haven't we all?
Jesus loves him. This verse made his big eyes even bigger.....will you pray he gets it? Because..can you imagine the loneliness of being separated from this world without Him?
6 comments:
haven't heard of this translation. Cool :)
Dear God, I pray for the friend without a name, whom You have carved on the palms of Your hands. Thank You for whispering to his heart, as You whisper to mine. Be with him and help him recognize that if he jumps, Your arms will catch him, and possibly catch him by surprise. :)
Come back soon, if it's in Your plan. We miss and love You down here.
Great translation of a great text. I pray that you will continue to minister to him as he seeks to find his place. It's funny, but none of us should feel comfortable here - this should not feel like home.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
B~
Preach it Karen! I bet that gave him something to think about, and bet you are a lovely friend also whose actions speak louder than words.
I love that little prayer someone has written, it's beautiful.
God Bless!
He has a huge heart, but he has been rejected and hurt by others. Haven't we all?
I guess that, with Jesus as our role model, we shoud expect nothing but rejection by religious people ... and yet it still hurts so much.
I just prayed and will continue to do so. :)
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