"Catch This!"

"Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah." (Psalms 77:9) Nope! I could just leave it there, but I won't. Can you imagine this happening? After all that He has done for you and I, could it even be feasible that God would consider it? I'm sorry, but it's crying time! God loves you more than you know! He will never turn His back on you, especially when you humble yourself and ask for His forgiveness! That's all He really wants you to do, be humble and know that He loves you. Tomorrow is the Men's Conference in Modesto, and I am so looking forward to it. Based upon the theme "God Is Love," I am sure that it will be just what I need to hear. Having to deal with the recent passing of my son, I don't think I have allowed myself to grieve like I should have grieved; maybe because I just felt it did not matter if I did, or that somehow God was going to show up and do something out of the ordinary. You just never know, maybe He already did. It's like the "Footprints In The Sand" illustration; you know, the one where there are two sets of footprints during the good times and one set during the hard times. You really never know when He is caring you through whatever it is you are going through. This is just not who God is, He cannot not be gracious, because His very name is all about grace and mercy! Can anyone really say, I don't want mercy? But sadly people actually do. I think it might just be because they don't really see the need, as if this is where it all ends, and who needs mercy, when we're all just going to die anyways. You have got to realize that you are loved! Therein lies the key to paying attention! If you realize how much God loves you, then you can actually begin to understand your own need for mercy and grace; especially when you see how much you lack the kind of love He deserves... "Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD. And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD'S demands. Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies. For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love." (Lamentations 3:21-32) NLT