Wednesday, January 15, 2020

NEVER FORGOTTEN - “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? “Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” - There are some things that can never be forgotten. But God’s love for His children is far more deeply imprinted than any of our fading memories — in fact, God can’t forget them. This is what the Israelites needed to hear when the exile left them feeling abandoned by Him. His response through Isaiah was unequivocal: “I will not forget you!” God’s promise to care for His people was more certain than a mother’s love for her child. To assure them of His unchanging love, He gave them a picture of His commitment: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” It’s a beautiful image of God’s constant awareness of His children; their names and faces always before Him. Still today, we can easily feel overlooked and forgotten. How comforting to remember that we’re “etched” on God’s hands — always remembered, cared for, and loved by our Father.

Our Daily Bread 28 December 2019 - Never Forgotten
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Never Forgotten
Our Daily Bread





“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
“Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15 New International Version (NIV)



The book of Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets of the Old Testament, categorized as such because of its length.
It’s sometimes referred to as a “miniature Bible” because it has sixty-six chapters divided into two major divisions of thirty-nine and twenty-seven chapters.
The Bible contains sixty-six books and is divided into the Old Testament with thirty-nine books and the New Testament with twenty-seven books.
Isaiah is the Old Testament book referenced most often in the New Testament, apart from the Psalms. By: Arthur Jackson
Egged on by my children to prove I’d endured years mastering the basics of piano, I sat down and started playing the C Major scale.
Having played very little piano in nearly two decades, I was surprised I remembered!
Feeling brave, I proceeded to play seven different scales by heart one right after the other. I was shocked!
Years of practicing had imprinted the notes and technique so deeply in my fingers’ “memory” that they instantly knew what to do.
There are some things that can never be forgotten.
But God’s love for His children is far more deeply imprinted than any of our fading memories — in fact, God can’t forget them.
This is what the Israelites needed to hear when the exile left them feeling abandoned by Him (Isaiah 49:14).
His response through Isaiah was unequivocal: “I will not forget you!” (verse 15).
God’s promise to care for His people was more certain than a mother’s love for her child.
To assure them of His unchanging love, He gave them a picture of His commitment: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (verse 16).
It’s a beautiful image of God’s constant awareness of His children; their names and faces always before Him.
Still today, we can easily feel overlooked and forgotten.
How comforting to remember that we’re “etched” on God’s hands — always remembered, cared for, and loved by our Father. By: Lisa M. Samra
Reflect & Pray
When have you felt forgotten or abandoned? In what ways has God always been present with you to remind you of His constant love?
Jesus, thank You that I’m never forgotten by You. When I feel abandoned by others, help me to remember and rest in Your never-ending, constant love.

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 5–8, Revelation 19

Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land

    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them

    and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—
    some from the north, some from the west,
    some from the region of Aswan.[a]
13 Shout for joy, you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;
    burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    
your walls are ever before me.

Footnotes:
a.             Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
Our Daily Bread 28 December 2019 - Never Forgotten

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