\n
The neighborhood kids ran down the sidewalk carrying baseball bats and gloves. \u00a0He stood in the front yard and watched them laughing, doing what friends do, and being 12-year-old boys. \u00a0He\u2019s sure they saw him. \u00a0How could they not? But, they didn\u2019t act like it. \u00a0And, they didn\u2019t ask him to go with them to the park where there was a game every day after school. \u00a0He had not played in one. \u00a0His new glove stood posed on his hand, in plain sight, and ready for an invitation.<\/p>\n
Left out. \u00a0Alone. \u00a0Again.<\/p>\n
Do you ever feel this way? \u00a0Like you are an outcast of a group and not invited to the party? \u00a0Maybe it is your workplace or school or family. \u00a0It can even be within the seemingly-friendly circle of a church congregation. \u00a0\u00a0People can certainly make us feel excluded, as if we are not worthy of being included in their \u201cclub.\u201d \u00a0The fact is this: \u00a0unless you are a living on some deserted island, you will have this happen in your human relationships.<\/p>\n
But, there is no such thing in the family of God; it is all inclusive. \u00a0When Jesus came to this earth, He endured many times of being treated like as an outcast. \u00a0He knows what it feels like. \u00a0\u201cHe was despised and rejected\u2014a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. \u00a0We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. \u00a0He was despised, and we did not care.\u201d (Isaiah 53:3, NLT) <\/em> But, here\u2019s the good news: if you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior, you are automatically a member of God\u2019s \u201cin crowd.\u201d \u00a0You have a place to belong.\u00a0 Always. \u00a0Forever. \u00a0And, there\u2019s no better place to be. \u00a0He came so that gap between us and the Father would be bridged and so we never have to feel as if we are the family member on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n \u201cFor his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God\u2019s children.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n (Romans 8:16, NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n That means that God will never abandon you or pass you by or forget about you. \u00a0You will never be considered to not be good enough to be on God\u2019s team. \u00a0Even if you have felt turned aside by the very people you counted on in this life, the Lord will not do that to you.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if my father and mother abandon me, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0will hold me close.\u201d \u00a0(Psalm 27:10, NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n So, when you do feel left out by people, turn your focus on how much God loves you and that He will never leave your side. \u00a0And, if you see someone feeling rejected and alone, do what you can to make them feel included and tell them about how the Lord has helped you in that area.<\/p>\n Blessing and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, Tammy<\/p>\n By Tammy Maseberg, November 20, 2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The neighborhood kids ran down the sidewalk carrying baseball bats and gloves. \u00a0He stood in the front yard and watched them laughing, doing what friends do, and being 12-year-old boys. \u00a0He\u2019s sure they saw him. \u00a0How could they not? But, they didn\u2019t act like it. \u00a0And, they didn\u2019t ask him to go with them to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}