God’s Eye is Upon His People

Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Luke 18:7, 8.
In the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment and have been blotted out, and they cannot bring them to remembrance. . . .
Those professed Christians who come up to that last fearful conflict unprepared will, in their despair, confess their sins in words of burning anguish, while the wicked exult over their distress. . . .
Jacob’s history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God’s love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected.
The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger–a faith that will not faint though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. . . . All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he [Jacob] did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded.
Maranatha p. 274
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Prayer Requests
—– More prayers for Ed please. He’s talking weird again tonight and he did Sat. night. Didn’t have the neck congestion with it this time. Seems to be happening more frequently. They don’t want him back at the hospital for just messed up talking. He sees our reg. Dr. on Thursday. I’ll be calling them in the morning. I don’t want to go to bed until it clears up. I wish we knew what’s going on. I must just be glad God knows and is here with us, providing peace. Carol
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Dear Friends,
Most of my grandparents’ neighbors were retired or had teenage children. Janey, who lived in the alley on the other side of the field that was behind our house, and Gary, who lived several blocks away were the only children near my age. Since they could not always play, every day brought many hours of loneliness.
When my toys no longer satisfied my need for a playmate, when I’d explored every math equation I could think of, when I’d wandered over to the neighbor’s house and watched him make beautiful creations in his workshop, I would ask my grandmother the age-old question, “I’m bored. What can I do?” Instead of having me help her with whatever housework she was doing at the moment, so I could learn the skills I would need as an adult, she would write a long word on a piece of paper and tell me to make all of the little words I could out of it. This would keep me busy for awhile, but did not cure the loneliness.
Loneliness, how difficult it is to deal with. It never goes away. It is always hanging over us threatening to crush us. The feeling that there is no one who cares, no one who notices, no one with whom to share all of life’s experiences can be overwhelming at times. One can even be lonely in a crowd of people.
Yet, we are never really alone. We have Someone Who is lonely for our companionship. We have Someone Who cares for us more than anyone on this earth could possibly care for us and longs to share all of our joys, all of our heartaches, all of our cares, every aspect of our life. He is our Creator and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ! He assures us, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Jer 31:3
Think of it! The Great King of the Universe yearns to have a closeness with us that is closer than any earthly relationship. God likens it to a marriage, a perfect marriage. He says, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.” Isa 54:5, 6 As a husband and wife are one in an ideal marriage, so He longs to be one with us.
Just as two people who have been married awhile, begin to take on one another’s characteristics, so we can become so close to God that there develops within us a likeness to Him. When Peter and John were standing before the Sanhedrin, the Bible says, “and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 Can that be said of us? If not, a new experience is awaiting us for the asking.
May we give diligence to make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10) May we share all our needs, cares, thoughts, desires, everything with our Glorious Redeemer Who loves us more than Himself. (1 Peter 5:7) May we live in such close communion with Him that we daily grow more and more like Him as Paul reminds us, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18
Rose