Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Casting all your cares

Good morning Friends ~ I pray that you are all well and finding enjoyment and contentment in this time of 'isolation'. We may be isolated from physically being with others, but let's not completely isolate ourselves but reach out to each other, encouraging, loving and praying for one another. 

Today I want to share a devotional I received yesterday from 'Grace Gems'.  My dear husband gave me the link to this website many, many years ago because when he saw it he thought it would be something I would like. I do and have been blessed over and over again, especially since God called him home 7 years ago. This particular writing was written in 1864, it is beautiful and comforting. It is based on God's caring for us.

A little less than a month before my husband left this planet, I came home from work one day, and as I came in the door, he called out to me from the bedroom. "The verse for the day is, 'Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you.'" Every time I hear or read that verse found in 1 Peter 5:7, my heart is blessed and encouraged at that memory and in the beauty of God's caring for us.

May you be blessed and find comfort in this beautiful writing.

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From: 'Grace Gems'

 I am the object of God's tender, paternal, and ceaseless care!

    ("Comfort for the Desponding--Words to Soothe and Cheer Troubled Hearts!" 1864)

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you!" 1 Peter 5:7

The Christian's life is very much made up of cares and comforts.
Cares spring from earth--comfort comes from Heaven.
Cares prove him a sinner--holy comforts prove him a saint.
Cares flow in from a variety of quarters--true comfort from only one quarter.
Cares come naturally--but comforts come supernaturally.

Cares must be cast on our God--or they will prove a burden too heavy for us. They will depress us, bewilder us, and make us wretched. But here is our comfort--we have always ONE to care for us, and the very One which of all others we would wish to do so, "The Lord cares for you!"

God cares for whom?
For you, who are born again by the Spirit.
For you, who are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For you, who are placed in humble circumstances, being numbered with the poor of this world.
For you, who are compassed about with so many cares, and who enjoy so few comforts.
For you, who are surprised at your many fiery trials, as though some strange thing had happened unto you.
For you, who are worried and harassed by Satan, who, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour.
For you, who are persecuted by the world, and hated by men for your Savior's sake.
For you, to whom Christ is precious--as He is to every one who truly believes in Him.

God's care extends to every Christian . . .
  the young and the aged,
  the weak and the strong,
  the poor and the wealthy,
  the doubting and the confident.
Believer, He cares for you!

Who is it that cares for us?
It is the Lord, the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy;
who is so great--that we have no adequate conception of His greatness;
who is so good--that it is impossible fully to set forth His goodness;
who is so glorious--that no sinner can see His face and live.
It is He . . .
   who created all things with His word,
   who governs all by His wisdom,
   and upholds all by His power.
His resources are infinite,
His compassion is exquisite, and
His patience is astonishingly great.
He enters into all the circumstances of His redeemed people, is ever present with them, and rejoices over them to do them good.

The angels obey Him,
the seraphim adore Him,
and all creation glorifies Him!

But though He is so exalted, so holy, and so unspeakably great . . .
  He cares for you--as vile as you are.
  He cares for you--as sinful as you are.
  He cares for you--as depressed and discouraged as you are.
He cares for you. He cares for you individually, and according to the circumstances in which you are placed.

What does He do?
He cares for you!
He thinks of you!
He watches over you!
He sympathizes with you!
He feels the deepest interest in you!
He ever seeks your welfare!
He infallibly secures your good!

Your misery touches His heart,
your needs lie open to His view,
and your cries enter into His ears!

He cares for you more than for the proudest monarch on his throne!

He cares for you--and His care is CONSTANT!
It is not fitful or occasional--but ever the same.

He cares for you--and His care is PATERNAL!
It is the care of a father for his child--the child whom he tenderly loves, and for whose welfare he feels the deepest concern.

He cares for you, and His care is PERPETUAL!
He will never care for you less than He does at present.
When old age weakens you,
when poverty pinches you,
when death appears just before you--
He will care for you as much as He does at this moment.

He cares for you--and His care is BENEFICIAL!
It prevents innumerable evils--and secures the greatest possible amount of good. His care is more advantageous than the care of the kindest father, though that father were monarch of the mightiest empire, and possessed unbounded wealth. The care of God is of more value than the care of all His creatures combined.

He cares for you--but His care is MYSTERIOUSLY EXERCISED!
It benefits us certainly--but secretly. It conceals itself behind the blessings it brings, and the evils it prevents.

He cares for you--and His care is SPECIAL!
It is not the care which He has for the beasts which perish, or the unbelieving sinners who die under His frown.

He cares for you--and His care is PARTICULAR.
It is care which extends to the very hairs of your heads, which, are all numbered--and to all the events and occurrences of your life, however minute or commonplace!

Beloved, here is our comfort. We may lose the care of an earthly relative or dear friend by death--but the Lord ever lives; and while He lives, He . . .
  ever loves us,
  thoroughly knows us, and
  never ceases to care for us!

Here is the ground of our confidence for the future. We know not where we shall be, nor what we shall be--for we know not what a day may bring forth. But this we know, that God will care for us, and, caring for us--He will fulfill His precious promises to us.

If God cares for us, then . . .
   let us cast all our cares upon Him;
   let us live in daily fellowship with Him;
   let us seek all our supplies from Him.

If God cares for us, then let us not dishonor Him by nursing our doubts, or encouraging our fears--but let us trust in Him at all times, for . . .
  His love is true,
  His care is constant, and
  His knowledge is perfect.

We shall never be without a divine friend--however trying our circumstances may be. We shall never be without a divine guide--however perplexing or difficult our path may be. The care of God is more than the care of all the angelic hosts. If the care of God is not sufficient to preserve, supply, and satisfy us--then nothing is.

May the Lord help me to believe this precious truth, to realize it daily, and to pass through the present world under the impression, "I am the object of God's tender, paternal, and ceaseless care!"

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall!" Psalm 55:22


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May God bless and keep you all safe. May we all be drawn closer to God.
Love, hugs & prayers ~ FlowerLady







10 comments:

Lynn and Precious said...

Thank you, Lorraine. Word of love and encouragement
are what we all need now and you just provided some.

Cheryl said...

His Word is comfort and life! Thank you for sharing!

Nancy J said...

Life as we knew, has changed so radically.We are confined to own own home and section, advised not to go out where we might meet anyone, friends are all so willing to help, and although we have been in our new home for just over a year, so many around us are calling from the street, popping goodies in the mailbox, I am SO thankful. Your faith is strong, and those words from your darling man will always be with you.

ellen b. said...

Beautiful encouraging post, Lorraine. I really am happy to get Grace Gems in my inbox everyday. What a great source it is! God bless you dearly...

Ann Thompson said...

Wonderful post

Louca por porcelana said...

Amen!Thank you,dear friend.God bless you!

Ruth Hiebert said...

It is so wonderful to rest in God's constant care.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Lorene, thank you for these words
love and good thoughts
sent your way.
Ernestine

Henny Penny said...

I love those words, "cast all your cares upon Him for he cares for you". Very comforting. Thank you Lorraine.

Mrs. White said...

This is so helpful. I also love what you shared about your husband. Very precious!
God bless you!
Stay well!