"Never Forsaken" March 22 Readings: Deuteronomy 21-22, Luke 1:1–25, Psalm 37:22–28, Proverbs 8:35-36
Reading the Bible in 2023
Each day this year we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. In reading four portions of God's word in a day, one of them is bound to speak to your life!
NOTE: if you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!
Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 21-22, Luke 1:1–25, Psalm 37:22–28, Proverbs 8:35-36
Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version
Daily Devotional: Never Forsaken
I first heard the phrase in a song by Dallas Holm and Praise so many years ago. "I've never seen the righteous forsaken, or their seed begging for bread." I did not realize at the time that it was a Scripture verse, Psalm 37:25.
And yet, throughout the years, he has been amazingly faithful. Though I have been so shaky, so unfaithful, so half-hearted in my devotion and service to him, he has never wavered in his amazing faithfulness to me.
In our young days, Jenni and I saw his faithfulness almost every month. During our seminary years, we had monthly bills of about $900 and a combined income of around $700, yet never once did we have to beg bread. One time we cooked up our last pot of chili and ate chili for 3 days until it was gone. We ate Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Tuesday night, we had a meal at our church (which, in God's humor, turned out to be a Chili cook-off!). Wednesday morning I ate the last of the Cream of Wheat and went to school. I checked my mailbox and there was a card with a $10 bill and a note that said: "My God shall supply all your need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
When we were young, he did not forsake his children.
We drove a Plymouth Gold Duster throughout those years - held together by baling wire and duct tape - the stories I could tell about the Duster! But it got us through all four years in Texas until I was hired for my first job in Florida. A friend from college helped me move from Ft. Worth to Jupiter and I drove him to the airport. On the way home, the engine of that ol' Duster blew up.
God kept that Duster going until the day I could afford something else!
He has been faithful to my kids. Josh called us one day in St. Louis on the way back to Liberty in Lynchburg, VA. The transmission on the old truck was acting up badly. We started praying and he kept driving - across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. He drove the truck into the parking lot of the dorm where he was an RA and parked it. That was the last time he ever drove that truck.
Our kids have never had to beg for bread or hitchhike on the highway!
I was young, and now I'm growing old, but God has continued to be faithful - in spite of mistake after mistake after mistake I have made. In 2018, Jenni and I had four surgeries between us (I hogged three of them) and yet God provided so that every penny of those medical bills were paid. He has been faithful beyond our imaginings. In the last year, God has allowed us to live in a state of confusion about the future - constantly wondering what he has for us. In all that, he has been faithful.
This family has never been forsaken by our Heavenly Father.
NO, God hasn't promised us a life of ease and comfort, or a life free of hardship. Absolutely not. Sometimes, bad things happen in the lives of God's people. But this I know. I was young, and now I'm growing old. But in all that time my God has never abandoned me or been anything but a faithful God. Good God. Gracious and kind.
I've never been forsaken and my children have never begged for bread!
I have been young, and now am old,Two thousand years ago, God sent his Son to the cross to pay the debt for my sins, so that I could be forgiven, redeemed, justified, and given eternal life. That ought to be enough, don't you think? After doing that for me, God ought never to have to do another thing for me as long as I live to demonstrate his love or to earn my gratitude.
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
And yet, throughout the years, he has been amazingly faithful. Though I have been so shaky, so unfaithful, so half-hearted in my devotion and service to him, he has never wavered in his amazing faithfulness to me.
In our young days, Jenni and I saw his faithfulness almost every month. During our seminary years, we had monthly bills of about $900 and a combined income of around $700, yet never once did we have to beg bread. One time we cooked up our last pot of chili and ate chili for 3 days until it was gone. We ate Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Tuesday night, we had a meal at our church (which, in God's humor, turned out to be a Chili cook-off!). Wednesday morning I ate the last of the Cream of Wheat and went to school. I checked my mailbox and there was a card with a $10 bill and a note that said: "My God shall supply all your need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
When we were young, he did not forsake his children.
We drove a Plymouth Gold Duster throughout those years - held together by baling wire and duct tape - the stories I could tell about the Duster! But it got us through all four years in Texas until I was hired for my first job in Florida. A friend from college helped me move from Ft. Worth to Jupiter and I drove him to the airport. On the way home, the engine of that ol' Duster blew up.
God kept that Duster going until the day I could afford something else!
He has been faithful to my kids. Josh called us one day in St. Louis on the way back to Liberty in Lynchburg, VA. The transmission on the old truck was acting up badly. We started praying and he kept driving - across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. He drove the truck into the parking lot of the dorm where he was an RA and parked it. That was the last time he ever drove that truck.
Our kids have never had to beg for bread or hitchhike on the highway!
I was young, and now I'm growing old, but God has continued to be faithful - in spite of mistake after mistake after mistake I have made. In 2018, Jenni and I had four surgeries between us (I hogged three of them) and yet God provided so that every penny of those medical bills were paid. He has been faithful beyond our imaginings. In the last year, God has allowed us to live in a state of confusion about the future - constantly wondering what he has for us. In all that, he has been faithful.
This family has never been forsaken by our Heavenly Father.
NO, God hasn't promised us a life of ease and comfort, or a life free of hardship. Absolutely not. Sometimes, bad things happen in the lives of God's people. But this I know. I was young, and now I'm growing old. But in all that time my God has never abandoned me or been anything but a faithful God. Good God. Gracious and kind.
I've never been forsaken and my children have never begged for bread!
Thank you Father, for your faithful provision. First, you provided through Christ for my righteousness, the greatest gift a sinner like me could receive. Then, having given me that gift, you've given me every good and perfect gift along with it.
Consider God's Word:
Did one of these passages speak strongly to you today? Which one?
Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages?
Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to?
Think back through your life at the times you have faced that you thought were unsolvable, impossible. Remember how God provided for you and sustained you. Recall his faithfulness.
Give thanks to God.
Recommit yourself to a life of faith as you face the future.
Give thanks to God.
Recommit yourself to a life of faith as you face the future.
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