HOLD ONTO GOD - HE'S HOLDING ONTO YOU

 Hold Onto God — He’s Holding Onto You

                                

   Karen Girl Friday- Recently, I was walking in a large parking lot with our grandkids. To guide them safely to the vehicle, I asked our granddaughter to hold my hand and our grandson to hold my other hand or stay close (in case he thinks 10 is too old).

  We all experience seasons when we feel alone and uncertain about what God is doing. And we may wonder if our prayers are being heard or if we have the strength to keep going.

   But remember this: God has not let go of you. 

Even when our faith wavers, His faithfulness never changes. And when we cannot see the way forward, God already knows the way.

So when we feel like we’re barely holding on, His hand is still holding us.

The Bible reminds us God never leaves us (Hebrews 13:5).

Let’s look at a few ways we H-O-L-D onto God no matter what life throws at us. 

H — Hope in His Promises

When life gets difficult, hold onto the promises of God. His Word gives us hope when circumstances give us reasons to fear.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”  Psalm 42:11 (ESV)

Don’t let what you see make you forget what God has said. 

O — Obey His Word: Hold Onto God

Holding onto God means continuing to follow Him, even when you don’t understand everything He is doing. Obedience is an expression of trust.

“Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river.” Isaiah 48:18 (ESV)

You may not understand the instruction, but you can trust the One giving it. Keep walking in obedience, even when the path isn’t clear.

L — Lean on His Strength

Our own strength often runs out. Why? Because it’s an opportunity to lean more deeply on God.

We don’t have to carry everything by ourselves. Instead, we give God our burdens, our fears, and our weaknesses. We cast our burdens on the Lord (Psalm 55:22).

Hold onto God and His strength.

D — Don’t Give Up: Hold Onto God

The enemy would love for us to believe that our situation is hopeless and that God has forgotten us. But God’s timing is never a sign of His absence.

So we’re to never give up. 

Keep praying. Keep trusting. And keep holding on.

Don’t give up because of what you see today. Don’t let a difficult season make you question a faithful God.

Because the beautiful truth is this:

Maybe you are holding onto God, but God is holding onto you even tighter.

 “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.’” Isaiah 41:13 (ESV) 

God’s Never Letting You Go!

You may feel like you’re barely hanging on, but you’re not hanging on alone.

God has you. God is with you. And God is not letting you go. You may feel like you're barely hanging on, but you're not hanging on alone. God has you. God is with you. And God is not letting you go. 

And when you feel like you can’t hold on anymore, remember—you were never holding yourself together by your own strength.

He is holding onto you.

Whatever you’re facing today, God’s hand is still on your life. So let’s remember to H-O-L-D: 

H — Hope in His Promises

O — Obey His Word

L —  Lean on His Strength

D — Don’t Give Up   

 Encouragement: “When we invite Jesus into our lives, we become more like Him. He is the embodiment of the fruit of the Spirit. When we are full of His presence, we become more attractive to those around us. The more like Jesus on the inside, the more the people on the outside get a taste of Who He is.”

CHURCH NOTES:   The Ten Commandments

   Before “thou shalt” commands, God made it clear that He was the “I AM’!

   He’d seen the affliction of the Israelites and brought them out of slavery. They were free and now His people. 

   God built a ladder for freedom for us too: Jesus Christ. We are free to obey what was provided for us through the cross. As we’re designed to worship something, we try to make God in our own image, not realizing that He is worthy of all praise and honor. 

   God loves us and wants a relationship with us. He wants us to worship Him as the I AM, the One with full authority over everything. He wants our hearts to be right, our minds and souls. We’re to live freely, as He has redeemed us by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus. We’re to be His image bearers. We’ll hear messages over the next few weeks about the various commandments that God gave to help us honor Him and how we’re to treat others.

   The author of the following hymn, Wonderful Grace of Jesus, Haldor Lillenas, was born in the fjord district of Norway in 1885, and, as a child, immigrated to the United States with his family. From his youth, Haldor had a musical bent, a talent that served him well when he entered the ministry in 1910 in the newly established Church of the Nazarene.

   “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” is the best known of the 4,000 hymns Haldor himself wrote. In 1917, Mrs. Lillenas and he built their first little home in the town of Olivet, Illinois. Upon its completion, they had scarcely any money left to furnish the little home. Having no piano at the time, and needing an instrument of some kind, he managed to find, at one of the neighbor’s homes, a little wheezy organ which he purchased for $5.00. With the aid of this instrument, a number of his songs were written which are now popular, including “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”

   Not yet having started his own publishing house, he sold his soon-to-be-famous hymn for $5.00--just enough to pay for the organ on which it was composed.

#157 Hymn- Wonderful Grace of Jesus