Psalm 145: 18-20 (Amp) "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth. He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them. The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy."
I was thinking about how we preserve food to keep it fresh and give it better "shelf life" so that it's still available when we're ready to use it. God preserves those who love Him... He needs us to be ready at all times to fulfill the purpose for which He's called us. It's not the same for every person. We all have different talents, abilities and callings. We must not be discouraged during our "shelf life"...those times when we feel we aren't really serving a purpose in His Kingdom. Just stay ready and willing...He WILL reveal His purpose in our lives!
Titus 3:1 (Amp) "REMIND PEOPLE to be submissive to [their] magistrates and authorities, to be obedient, to be prepared and willing to do any upright and honorable work." And I love how The Message interprets this verse: "Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God's people should be bighearted and courteous."
Afterthought... another definition for preserve is "to maintain and reserve for private use"... how cool is that?! It's comforting to know that He will maintain all things in our lives and actually set aside a specific, private use for each one of us! We should never question our strengths and weaknesses... they all have a designed purpose if we will let Him use them for the purpose He has intended!
1 comment:
This is truly beautiful! Sometimes that shelf life is necessary ... sometimes things need to set up a while before they are actually ready. I used to resent that feeling, of always seemingly being on the sidelines, and you just put in in perspective for me.
I'm a pickle! I just took a long time to be a good pickle!
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