Triple C News - May 19
Hey everyone!
Hope you're having an awesome day!
Or maybe I should say, "I hope no one's having a non-awesome day!”
Or maybe, "Hope nobody's not having a non-awesome day!"
I'm a little confused on how to say it because the other day I was going down the ol’ turnpike near Melton Lake Drive and I wound up behind a Sara Lee truck. On the back it said…
"Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!"
I thought, "Is that right?"
"Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee…" hmmm...
Shouldn't it be, "Nobody doesn't NOT like it”?
It’s saying (I think), “Someone doesn't like Sara Lee. That person is…nobody”.
There is someone who doesn't like it but that person doesn't exist.
Huh?
How's this?…"There is nobody who does not like it"
Wouldn't it be simpler to say, "Everybody likes Sara Lee!"
It's kind of like this lady who came up to us in a coffee shop in Turkey Creek one morning around 7:15…
"Excuse me but I'm from Massachusetts and I'm here for a conference. Last night I asked a person from here in Tennessee if he would give me a ride to the meetings this morning. He answered, 'I wouldn't care to.’.
Does that mean he's coming, or not coming?"
We assured her that it means he was on his way!
Reminds me of some verses in the Letter to the Hebrews. It's in chapter thirteen…Verses five and six…
"…Be content with what you have, because God has said,'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid…' "
Actually that verse has a lot of "double negatives" in it. In correct English, you shouldn't really use them. For example, you shouldn't say, "I ain't never seen nothing like that before!"
You should either say, "I have NEVER seen…" Or, "I ain't EVER seen…"
But to use two negatives together, as in, "I ain't never seen…" strictly speaking, ain't correct.
You know, the person who wrote Hebrews was writing to folks who were having really difficult times because they had come to follow and love Jesus.
To know Him makes your life and days so much better in a million ways!
But following Him also makes life and times tougher for millions of our brothers and sisters in Jesus around the world! Surrounded by families and societies that don't understand or appreciate His love and His beauty, they often find themselves alone or hurting because of their new and amazingly "stubborn" faith in Him.
A person who is new to the walk with Jesus and confused by problems that not only don't vanish but in some ways even multiply since they have trusted in Him, might ask themselves…
”Has God left me!
What did I do?
Why is He so…
far away?…
Hello?…
Are You still there?"
It is always super confusing when life gets tough even though you have Him. There are tons of questions that have no answer that would make sense to us. No one knows why such tough things happen, really. I think it's probably more complicated than we could understand.
But there is one thing we can be sure of!
The whole entire time…
He loves you more than you could know…
more than you love yourself!
And He is doing things that are amazing and couldn't have happened in any other way!
And He has never…
will never…
NEVER EVER leave you for one moment!
In fact, just so there's no doubt about it, in the Greek language…
which is the language they wrote those New Testament letters and stories in…
Hebrews 13:5 literally says…
"Indeed, He Himself has said, ‘No, not will I leave you, not even, no not will I forsake you!' "
Wow! "Not even, no not!" That's not a double negative!
It's a triple!
I guess it would be easier to just say, "I will always be will you!”
And He did say!
Right before He went up into the sky and clouds and out of sight as they wondered, "What?! Is He leaving us?" He said, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of time!" (Matthew 28:20)
But there will be difficult moments when it's super important to know that…
not only is He with me…
but…
He has NOT…
will NOT…
will NOT ever…
won’t NEVER NOT leave us!
NOT NEVER!
Among those who love Jesus, nobody doesn't like knowing that!