TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

 

Thursday, May 21, 2026

 

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

Jer 31:3 

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 

 

                Have you ever considered how often and in how many ways God expressed His love? The Bible is full of expressions of love and examples of His kindness. Jaimeson-Fausset-Brown comments on our verse above this way: “Israel gratefully acknowledges in reply to God’s past grace; but at the same time tacitly implies by the expression “of old,” that God does not appear to her now. “God appeared to me of old, but now I am forsaken!” God replies, Nay, I love thee with the same love now as of old. My love was not a momentary impulse, but from “everlasting” in My counsels, and to “everlasting” in its continuance.

 

                When Adam and Eve learned of their nakedness, God clothed them with a sacrifice. When Lot’s family chose a wicked city, God rescued them from ruin. Even Lot’s wife was rescued although she made a fatal decision to reject that rescue. Luk 17:32 “Remember Lot's wife.” Rom_5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The admiration of beauty is easy but true love disregards flaws.

 

Eph_5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 

Dear Lord, let me love like Jesus loved. AMEN

 

BE NOT FAR FROM ME!

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

 

BE NOT FAR FROM ME!

 

Ps 35:22

O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.

 

Acts 17:25-28

…he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being…

 

The most difficult times for me are those times when God seems far away. Oh, I know with my mind that He is everywhere and that He is near, even in my heart, but there are times when I need Him so badly to be within reach. I need to sense His presence, and I need to hear his voice. Like a child who pillows his head on his mother’s breast I need to feel His breath on my cheek. Many are the times when my soul cries out to God, for the comfort of His presence.

 

Many are the songs that have been written and sung about our human longing for the divine. “Abide with me” is one and “Nearer my God to Thee” is another. These songs remind us of the great gulf that sin has now fixed between us and our God. Yet our very soul was made for the same fellowship with Him that Adam enjoyed in the cool of the evening.

 

Job deeply felt the absence of God although God was every moment observing his calamity. It may seem cruel to us, but God had set in motion a test for Job that would put Satan to open shame. Job was required to remain faithful to an absentee God. So, it seems often to us. We feel that we must walk the trail of tears alone, yet God is there and He will arrive just in time.

 

Ps 56:3

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

 

Dear Lord, I know with my head that Thou art there, but my spirit needs Thee now. Be not far from me. AMEN

 

COMMENCEMENT TIME

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

 

COMMENCEMENT TIME

 

Jer 29:11

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

 

          It’s commencement time! Some have already graduated while others wait to turn their rings and tassels. Both pride and uncertainty excite and energize them. Questions about the future hang heavily in the air like moisture on a humid day.

 

          The march music we hear at every graduation, and known as “Pomp and Circumstance,” is actually “Land of Hope and Glory” composed by Edward Elgar and the words are by A. C. Benson. It was produced on the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII. The words are as follows:

 

Land of hope and glory, mother of the free,

How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?

Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet,

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

 

          In our scripture above, the children of Israel were going into captivity in 597 BC. Jeremiah gave them words of encouragement saying that God had plans for them. Plans of peace and not evil. Those plans would be finished because God is powerful, purposeful and patient. He would not fail them. They could trust Him. They would be returned, in time, to the land of hope and glory!

 

Dear Lord, Thank you for a sure and expected end. Bless all who are about to embark on a marvelous journey called commencement. AMEN