Tuesday, August 11, 2015
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Missy hated suitcases. Our Shih Tzu puppy, she had great radar. I should explain that Missy had multiple masters. There was our youngest son, who was her first master. He lived in Arizona and Missy only got to see him occasionally. But he was still an important person in her life. Then there was my sister-in-law who often picked up Missy's care where my son left off. And then our daughter also really bonded with the dog.
Oh, about the radar. It went off whenever Missy started to see suitcases in the hall. She learned what that meant; that someone who loved her was going away. So, poor Missy just disappeared. She would literally run and hide under this cabinet in the kitchen whenever it looked like someone she counted on was leaving her.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about 'Too Many Goodbyes - and One Unloseable Love.'
Chances are you've never tried to hide under a cabinet in the kitchen. You probably wouldn't fit! But it could be that you know that awful feeling of having someone that you've counted on leave. And maybe you have felt like going and hiding.
I don't know what the 'leavings' may have been in your life; someone you needed who died, or a marriage partner you pledged your life to who's gone, maybe friends who let you down or just moved away. But somebody who's listening right now, the pain of being left has been one of the great hurts of your life. Out of it can come some deep feelings of insecurity and distrust, and even worthlessness. And ultimately that hurt can become a deep-down fear of abandonment; the fear that loving again will just mean losing again.
Every one of us needs some stable, count-on-able relationship where there will never be a goodbye, and there is one. You might be ready for it. Here's our word for today from the Word of God from Isaiah 49:15-16. God says, 'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Well, though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.'
If you're tired of goodbyes, this promise from your Creator is loaded with hope for a 'never say goodbye' relationship. He says, 'I will not forget you.' Jesus made this promise to those who belong to Him. 'I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.' And He said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you.' Can you actually depend on His commitment to never abandon you? Yes, because you're engraved on the palms of His hands in nail prints.
Without Christ we have no hope of a love relationship with God. Our sin is an eternal wall that separates us from God. And the Bible says, 'Sin carries a death penalty which Jesus loved you enough to take for you when He died on that cross. And today He's reminded of you every time He looks at His hands. You're engraved there in the marks left by the price He paid to bring you to Him. No, Jesus will never leave you. He already had his chance in a garden called Gethsemane where the night before He died He agonized over the cross He knew was coming. But He didn't turn His back on you.
If He was ever going to, it would have been then or it would have been on that cross. But He did not. He's sure not going to turn His back on you now if you belong to Him. And that's up to you. Your relationship with Jesus Christ begins the moment you open your heart to Him and say, 'Lord, I'm sorry for the sin of my life. I want to change. I'm putting my total trust in You to forgive me and bring me into God's family.
Aren't you ready for this unloseable love; for this totally secure relationship? If you are, tell Him, 'Jesus, I'm yours.' Go to our website and check out there a very clear path to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. Or you can text us at 442-244-WORD.
Haven't there been too many goodbyes? Well, you have within your reach right now the ultimate relationship with the One person who will never say, 'Goodbye.'