He Cares for You

HE CARES FOR YOU
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. – 1 Peter 5:6-7

If you are struggling or stressed with life’s obstacles, you need only look to scripture to feel God’s love and realize things are not as bad as they seem. The Bible is full of scriptures that show God’s unfathomable love for us, and discovering that His love is everlasting is the most important of them all.

The Bible tells us that His love is far greater than any human love imaginable. Nothing we can or anyone else can do will separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:37-39)

He loves us so much that He gave His only son, and promises, that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Even when we are dead in our own sin, through His mercy and grace He has made us alive together with Christ. By grace we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8) While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Not only does God love us, but He cares for us and wants to be in the midst of all our troubles. He invites us to cast all our cares on Him. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

He is a God of mercy and grace, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15)

No person can love or even understand the depth and breadth of God’s love, but we can accept it.

No matter what our circumstance may be or how much we may sin, God’s love is always powerful and willing to make us a better person.

REFLECTION: Take time to contemplate the depth and breadth of God’s love for you and every other person He ever created. It is beyond human understanding but not beyond your personal acceptance. Relax and take in His comprehensive love, lay your cares at His feet and know that truly He is a loving God.

PRAYER: Father I don’t understand your love, but I freely accept it as a gift of your grace and mercy. Thank you for loving me beyond comprehension no matter how bad I have stumbled in my life. I cast my cares on you and accept all the love you have for me.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Apples:

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush to catch the plane home and with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table, which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, asked one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home and explain he would be taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her. No one was stopping to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised. He set those apples aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $50 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister….” He paused and turned to look back into her blind eyes. She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride and pondered. He gently went back and said, “No, I am not Jesus”.

The girl gently nodded: “I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, Thank you for hearing Jesus, Mister.” Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

Do people mistake you for Jesus? That’s our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Knowing what’s right does not mean much unless you do what is right. As a leader you are accountable for everyone in your organization.” Brg. Dick Abel

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