God Has Not Forgotten Me

Let me date date some of you.

Let me date.

I'm gonna age some of you, some of you.

If you recognize any of these words, I want you to start raising your hand, okay?

Pass me not, O gentle savior.

Hear my humble cry.

While on others thou art calling.

Do not pass me by.

Everyone who just raised their hands is eligible for the senior discount.

You just aged yourself.

It's a song we used to sing in Sunday school, and I was a little boy.

I never really understood that song.

It was a nice little ditty, you know.

But it speaks of a plea to God that says, Lord, don't forget me.

Don't forget about me.

While while on others you're calling, while you're blessing others.

Jesus, don't, Lord, don't forget about me.

Have you ever felt as though God forgot about you?

Have you ever been in such such such a dilemma, such a dark, trying, struggling place that you wondered, maybe, maybe God has forgotten about me?

I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the hat.

Those trying times when we wonder, has God forgotten about me?

Such was the case with the people of God during that uh trying time of the Babylonian captivity.

And Jeremiah speaks of it, and they uh they wonder, they struggle.

Isaiah speaks of it, they wonder, they struggle.

Has God forgotten about me?

And in Jeremiah chapter 21, verse 11, God settles the story.

Jeremiah 21:11

He settles it, he sets the record straight.

In Jeremiah 29, verse 11, God says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you.

Jeremiah 29:11

They are thoughts of peace.

They're not thoughts of evil.

They are thoughts to give you a future and to give you hope.

God says, I know.

I know the thoughts.

One version says, I know the plans that I have.

One version says, I know what I'm thinking about you.

God says, I have not forgotten about you.

If you get nothing else out of what I say today, God brought someone here today to stamp that truth, that revelation indelibly into your spirit.

I have not forgotten about you.

Turn it around, make, make it a declaration, say this, watch this.

God has not forgotten about me.

Say it with me.

God has not forgotten about me.

Put your hand over your heart last time.

God has not forgotten about me.

That's God's word for someone today.

God has God has ordered your steps, He has navigated every circumstance into your life to bring you to this place today.

That you might leave with the truth that God has not forgotten about me.

Ah, if you if if you were in my church, you could put your finger up and go home right there.

That's that's your word.

You could just give yourself the benediction, I'm out of here, because that that's your word for today.

No matter what comes, no matter what goes, no matter what happens, God has not forgotten about me.

I I rest on that truth, I live on that truth, I find joy in that truth, I'm settled in that truth, I praise God for that truth.

God has not forgotten about me, and if I have to, I declare it to the very demons in hell.

God has not forgotten about me.

God says, God says, God says, I know the thoughts.

I I can't forget about you because you're you're in my thoughts.

You you're you're on my mind.

God says, I know the thoughts.

Uh He settles that part in Isaiah when he says, now understand, my thoughts are not your thoughts.

My ways are not your ways.

I don't do things the way you do, I don't think the way you do.

My thoughts are not your thoughts.

This this word for thoughts is a very picturesque word.

It's a picture word.

It uh it speaks of the the root, the root of this word means to to interpenetrate.

Uh it means it's the idea of of weaving and combining things together.

It's the idea of platting things together, of combining things that are not necessarily of the same kind, of blending and and platting and braiding and interweaving things together.

See if I can help you.

Um there was a lady there, I guess she may still be there.

I don't know.

Several years ago, we were in Turkey uh on a tour, and the tour guide took us to this bazaar, this open bazaar, and he said, I want you to see this lady.

She's over 90 years old, about 93, 94 years old.

And they say, People come from all over the world to buy her handmade oriental rugs.

She she handmakal rugs, and she's about 94, 93, 94 years old.

We went to this bazaar, and sure enough, there she was, and she had this old-fashioned hand, uh, this old-fashioned wooden loom, and she pumped it sometimes, and she had yarn and colors, and she'd pump it some more, and she had some yarns and colors, and she'd pump it some more, and had yarns and colors, and she'd pump it and pump it and pump it.

And so the tour guide said, We were looking, and the tour guide said, Well, what do you think?

This they come from all over the world to buy this woman's handmade oriental rugs.

And he said, What do you think?

And I said, Uh, it's all right, you know, it's all right.

And he said, Oh, oh, you don't you don't understand, you don't understand.

He says, he said, you're looking at the back side of the rug.

We were looking over our shoulder.

He said, You're looking at the back side of the rug.

He says, You must go around to the front of the rug and look at the other side.

He says, Don't, don't, don't leave yet.

He says, you must stay long enough to look at the front side.

Because when you look at the other side of the rug, it's a masterpiece.

When you look from the back side, it's confusion and it's not together and it's unattractive and it's ugly.

But when you turn around and look at the other side, it's a masterpiece.

Make sure that you don't stop looking at your life when you're just on the back side, because that's when God is still weaving and braiding and patting stuff together.

But if you stick around long enough to look at the other side, God presents you to the world as a masterpiece with his hand all over it where God can get the glory because God says, I've not forgotten about you.

You don't get that, you don't get that.

Maybe.

Let's try it another way.

You you may not know a rug weave, but maybe you know a hair weave.

Maybe uh there's a young lady in our church, her name is Tracy.

Tracy, Tracy Johnson, Tracy Johnson is a cosmetologist.

She's a cosmologist.

We used to call her just doing hair, but but she's a she's a cosmetologist in the stars in Hollywood, cosmetologist, and and Tracy's member of our church.

And so one Sunday, sister came to church, and this lady had nice, nice little, you know, little bob, little short hair, little cute little haircut, you know, little pixie haircut.

And the next day, next Sunday, this sister came and she had hair for days, you know.

Hair.

And I don't know what it is about you, sisters.

Once y'all get hair, y'all get a whole attitude.

It's a whole neck thing that y'all get.

And y'all start.

And so this sister, I said, Tracy, what happened to this sister?

And he said, she said, she said, Oh, Pastor said, she she must have gotten a weave.

I said, a what?

She said, a weave, a weave.

I said, what's a weave?

She said, well, they go and you buy, you buy some hair.

I said, whoa, slow your roll.

He said, um, said you, you you buy this hair.

I said, what do you mean?

He said, well, yeah, you can buy, you know, Peruvian hair and Brazilian hair.

Uh uh, y'all don't have that up here.

Oh, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, no.

You y'all call it extensions, uh yeah.

Oh, I okay, I'm I'm flowing with you.

It's a cultural thing.

I'm with you.

So, so so so so so so so she said that you buy this hair, and and so say the good cosmetologist see is able to weave together this hair.

I said, this hair, what she said, the hair is dead.

I said, not real hair, but it's you know, Peruvian or Brazilian, and so they weave together this dead hair.

It's cute hair, but it's dead.

Dead hair, and they weave it with whatever hair you left that's living live hair.

I said, Oh, I get it.

They weave together the dead hair with the living live hair, and it comes out as a masterpiece.

I said, Oh, that's the way God deals with our life.

He takes the dead stuff in our life, and when he blends it together with his power of life and his power of love and the power of mercy, he blends it together and weaves it together, and before you know it, you got a whole new head, and you don't even look like you used to look because God has not forgotten about you.

Give God a hand for the weave in this house.

A brother, here's here, here's a here's a true confession.

Uh, after the after the other service, the brother caught me outside.

He said, My brother, thank you for the word, thank you for the word.

He said, Uh, my wife confessed to me in the service that she had a weave.

I've never I never knew it.

I don't want to get in your personal business, brother.

I'm just trying to talk about Jesus.

Talk about him.

But listen to me.

God says, I have the power, God, I love your word, to weave together even the dead stuff, the lifeless stuff, the painful stuff, the disappointing stuff, and I weave it together with my love, with my grace, with my mercy, and I get glory out of a masterpiece because I have not forgotten about you, God.

God says, I've not forgotten about you.

You're you're in my thoughts, you're on my mind.

Then he says, not forgotten about you, I have a plan.

I have a plan, I have a plan.

You're in my plan.

And that same chapter in uh Isaiah, I'm sorry, in Jeremiah 29, about verse 5, he begins to give instructions.

And verse 5, he says, build homes, he says, Marry, intermarry with your children, he says, have sons and daughters, he says, plant seeds and plant crops to bring up a harvest.

God says, right, watch this, right where you are, I'm going to bless you.

You missed it, I'll give it to you again.

They were in captivity.

In fact, they were in a set of circumstances because some of them, listen now, some of them were in captivity because of sin.

Some were in captivity because of sin.

A generation had entered into captivity because of sin.

They were where they were because of sin, bad choices, and yet God says, I've not forgotten about you.

Watch this.

But there was another generation, listen now, who were there, and they were born there.

So they could not have been there because of sin, they were just born, and yet they were in a same set of circumstances that looked like those who were there because of sin.

You missed it, I'll give it to you again.

There were some there because of bad choices and sin.

But there were others there who were there because of circumstances that looked just like those who had done something wrong and had sinned.

And yet God says to them, I'm going to bless you right where you are.

I'm going to give you a harvest.

I'm going to bring forth sons and daughters.

I'm going to bless the labor of your hand.

Listen to me.

God says, I'm going to bless you right where you are.

Hear me, hear me.

God's word to someone tonight.

God's word to someone today.

God's word to someone.

Listen.

God is not mad at you.

Hear me today.

Someone is in a set of circumstances, and the enemy is pointing the finger at you, and others are criticizing you because they don't understand, and they assume that you are where you are because you've done something wrong.

And yet God says, I'm not angry with you, I've not forgotten about you.

Watch this.

And I'm going to bless you right where you are.

Listen, God says, I don't have you there for punishment.

I have you there for revelation and for blessing.

I'm going to teach you something while you are there that you would never learn if you had not been there.

But what you will learn while you are there will show that my hand is upon you and I will bless you.

I will bring forth fruit.

I will bring forth the harvest.

I'm going to bless you right where you are.

Don't get in such a hurry to leave where you are because God says, I'm going to teach you something while you're there that you could never learn if you were not there.

But when you come forth, you will come forth with a revelation of the power of God and the love of God because I have not forgotten about you.

Somebody help me praise God in this house.

Let's do a little quick testimony service.

Tell the person next to you, God has not forgotten about you.

Because you're on his mind, you're in his thoughts.

I love it.

Because you're in his plan.

Here's the last thing.

God speaks through the prophet Isaiah.

And God speaks in Isaiah chapter 49, and God says this.

Isaiah 49 · chapter mention

I love it.

I have, one version says, Engraved you in my hand.

I love it.

One version says, I have etched you in my hand.

One version says, I have carved you in my hand.

God says, I have a permanent tattoo of you in my hand.

I can't forget about you.

Because I have a permanent tattoo of you.

Watch this.

In the palm of my hand.

The palm of God's hand.

The very center of God's power.

The center of God's grace.

The center of God's love.

How can I forget about you?

When every time I lift my hand, I see you.

Every time I wave my hand to deliver, I see you.

Every time I extend my hand to heal, I see you.

Every time I stretch forth my hand to bring forth deliverance, I see you.

God says, I can't forget about you because I have you etched.

I have you engraved in the very palm of my hand.

Every time God moves his hand to part a Red Sea, He sees you.

Every time God waves his hand to part the waters of a Jordan River, he sees you.

Every time he puts his hand into a raging fiery furnace to turn down the thermostat, he sees you.

Every time God moves his hand into a Philippian jail to release a Paul and Silas, he sees you.

And when Jesus hung on a cross between two thieves with nails in his hands and rivets in his feet, when he looked at his hands, he saw you.

And when Jesus arose early Sunday morning and the angels rolled away the stone, and the hand of God reached him and brought out the Son of God who stood up with all power in heaven and earth in his hand, when he lifted up those hands, he saw you, and you are to put your hands together and give God praise because God seized you in his hand.

You are to give God glory because he seized you in his hand of love, his hand of mercy, his hand of deliverance.

Somebody help me in this house.

Give God some praise for the fact that he has forgotten about you, but you are in his hand.

Your hand on ye people.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

Bless the name of the living God.

He sees you in his hand, and the same hand that was stretched on Calvary.

That same hand today.

The same hand that stretched forth peace today.

That same hand of love today.

That same hand of salvation today stands at the door and know.

And he says, If you open the door, I'll come in and fellowship and save and cleanse and forgive and wash and make hold.

Behold, that hand stands at the door and knocks.

And whosoever will open the door of your heart today in this space you will hear him say, I have not forgotten about you.

I want to pray and then I'm done.

Who would simply say, Lord, come in?

Maybe God has brought someone here today.

And the joy and celebration of this moment.

And you hear him saying, In spite of where you've been, in spite of what you've done, I can weave together the bad stuff with my love and my power and my grace and my mercy.

When I weave it together, I get glory.

You get peace.

So if I if I'm out of water, work with me.

But maybe someone hears that knock.

Watch God move today.

What?

Watch God move today.

Who will come?

And hear him say.

I've not forgotten about you.

Maybe here at this altar, maybe in the aisle.

I don't know what protocol is.

But but I'm telling you, there's not a person in this room by accident.

God ordered every step of your life to bring you to this place.

And he simply says, Come.

You're here today.

In the atmosphere of the love of a great God.

Won you come.

Move Holy Spirit.

Spirit of the living God is in this room today.

Move Holy Spirit.

Up every aisle, down every row.

Touch your people today, oh God.

Someone, someone, someone, someone, someone.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For your glory, oh God, for your namesake.

God brought someone here today.

This is your day.

Forgive me if this is not protocol.

I just I'm trying my best to be obedient today.

But there's someone here.

I'm telling you, you're here.

And you're not here by accident.

And God brought thousands of people together today.

Thousands of people together.

So that you might know he has not forgotten about you.

Won't you come?

You're here, you're here.

I'm telling you, you're here.

Spirit of the Lord told me you're here.

You're here, you're here.