Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
The water company where I live sends out a technician yearly to perform an inspection on the irrigation system’s backflow preventer. The backflow preventer is designed to stop any irrigation water from backing up into the main water line that is used as potable water. Keeping unsafe drinking water from the main line will prevent the spreading of illness and disease. Imagine if we had a backflow preventer built into us that would prevent the disease of sin from backing up in us. We do. It is the Holy Spirit, who Jesus left for us, and the Holy Word of God given to us in the Holy Bible. We don’t have to wait a whole year to see if our Backsliding Preventer works, it is given to us freely every day.
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: Jeremiah 3: 13-14
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou [it] for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. Jeremiah 14: 7
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. Hosea 14:4
We have all made mistakes and come short of the Glory of God. But God is a faithful and just God. If we confess and repent of our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. Staying in the Word of God daily will keep you on the strait path, the path least taken. If you begin to turn to the left or to the right, seek the Word of God and He will point you forward. If you fall, ask and pray for God to dust you off and pick you up. When you think you can’t continue moving forward, ask God to carry you in His bosom. God loves you. God is a merciful God and it is His desire for us to come to Him each and every day. To establish a relationship between you and Him, as a Father to His children. He calls you to be a member of the Royal family.
[It is of] the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
[They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 22-23
In the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah despairs, yet he still hopes. I must confess, I have broken God’s commandments, either literally or figuratively, and if you’ve broken one, you’re guilty of breaking them all. It is only by God’s compassion, His mercy, and His amazing grace that I have not been consumed and am able to stand today. Though I may not be exactly where I want to be, I thank God I am not where I used to be. God’s compassions are new every day, and tomorrow is not promised, so if we seek Him every morning and wait for Him and hope in Him, like Jeremiah, His compassion for us will fail not. This is His promise to all who quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Let us remember the providence of God on our behalf and triumphantly claim His promise and thank God for His compassion and mercy. Great is Thy faithfulness. Claim God’s promise and the victory Jesus won, for you and for me. This is my prayer of hope.
Our Father, God Almighty,
Thou art the Lord God, and we are Thy servants. We come to You in prayer seeking Your tender mercies. Your infinite love for us never wearies. Your promises to us will never fail, for You are eternal truth. We cast our cares upon You, and with patience, we wait for Your salvation. To trust You when everything looks dark is the lesson we continue to learn, for we are nothing without You and rely wholly on You. For 40 years Jeremiah urged the people of Judah to repent and warned them of the sure destruction to come if they continued in their evil ways. Jeremiah lamented in the final days of the kingdom of Judah, but not without hope, that the Lord will forgive and relieve the sufferings of His people. We pray likewise, and that You help us when we are tempted to say, in our misery, that our strength and hope is perished from the Lord. Instead, let us claim Your promise that Your compassion for us will fail not. Like the Canaan woman whose daughter was grievously vexed with a devil, and as children of Your household, we long to hear You tell us “Great is thy faith”. As You prayed for Peter, we ask that You pray for us, that our faith will fail not. Only You can restore us. Strengthen us and give us the courage to press forward in Your work of salvation. Help us overcome the evils and the temptations of this world, even as You also overcame, that we would sin no more. In Your goodness, compassion and mercy, and by Your grace, forgive us of all our sins. We claim all Your promises to us today and we claim the victory that Jesus won. We thank You for all your loving mercies and for giving us victory over sin. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, according to Your will. Great is Thy faithfulness, and it’s in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
