Forgiveness

Miriam - “Never Give Up Hope”

1:00 PM


The hero’s of Exodus are often remembered as Moses and Aaron. But not to be forgotten is Miriam. A girl born into slavery, who never gave up, or ever lost hope. Miriam’s courage and strength carried her throughout her life as she grew to be a faithful prophet of God; leading her people out of bondage.

Miriam - “Never Give Up Hope”


The itching was terrible and Miriam was doing everything she could not to scratch. For if she did, the lesions on her arm would burst open and become infected. And the pain already was unbearable. She wrapped her blanket tighter, and looked out into the distance. 


A few miles away, Miriam could see the flicker of firelight and hear the muffled voices of men talking and children laughing. It was almost dusk, and the people of the camp were beginning to gather to their tents for the evening meal. She sat down next to the small fire she had managed to light, and a tear rolled down her cheek. 


“Why did I have to open my big mouth?,” Miriam cried. “I knew it was wrong to gossip about the wife of Moses, but I just couldn’t stand the thought of her walking around like she was somebody important! Who does she think she is anyway?” But as she looked again at her home in the distance, in her heart Miriam knew she had done wrong. And now she was facing the consequences. 


Struck by God with leprosy, the once esteemed prophetess of Israel was now reduced to an outsider. For as was the practice, being unclean, Miriam was forced to leave the camp. Seven long days she was to face the humiliation, pain, and separation alone by herself. With a heavy sigh Miriam murmured, “The camp will probably move on without me in the morning. Moses likes to get an early start.” And with a lump in her throat added, “I hope I can keep up. I’ll just have to do the best I can.”


Trying not to give in to despair, she laid down near the opening of her tent and gazed up at the nighttime sky twinkling with stars. And as Miriam drifted asleep; her thoughts floated back to a time when hope was all she had. That hope she desperately clung to as she placed her baby brother’s basket in the water of the Nile. That hope which had whispered to her heart that someday she would be reunited with that same lost brother. And that hope she had in the Lord which gave her the courage to help lead His people to the promised land. 


The soft, warm nuzzle Miriam felt against her cheek roused her from her sleep. As her eyes opened to the morning sun, she saw a young lamb staring back at her. Startled, Miriam went to stand. As she did the little sheep turned and ran. And to her delight, Miriam watched as he ran all the way back to the Israel camp. The camp that was still there! The one that hadn’t left her behind! The people who shut her out, but who didn’t walk away! Miriam’s hope was rekindled, and her heart humbled, as with each passing day, she could see the camp faithfully in the distance. 


When the time finally came for Miriam to go back to her people, again she relied on hope. For she couldn’t help but wonder how she would be received. Would Israel be forgiving? Would her brothers be happy to see her? Her hope was realized when a large group of the people came to welcome her back. They walked beside her the whole way dancing and singing songs of celebration. And when she entered the camp, Miriam was brought in again. 


Miriam’s story shows us that no matter the circumstances, there is always hope. And like Miriam, when we put our hope in Jesus, no matter how dark the night, the dawn of Christ will always rise. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) 

Abiding In Christ

To Abide Is To Surrender {John 15}

3:55 PM





Monday, John 15

As disciples of Christ, don’t we all want to glorify God with our words and actions? To do as the Lord commands and bare fruit? And not just a little fruit, but much fruit? Jesus tells us that without Him this is impossible saying, “for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (vs. 5) For Jesus is the vine and we His followers the branches. And unless we abide in Him, our branch will be fruitless. 

“Bearing fruit in the Christian life is not about doing works or attempting righteousness in our own strength. Rather, it is about intentionally growing in our walk with Christ, inviting the Holy Spirit's work of transformation in us, and actively obeying God in all He calls us to do. As we seek Him and lay down our own fleshly desires for His better ways, we will bear lasting fruit and serve as salt and light to a world in need of Jesus.”...CompellingTruth.org

“Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” (vs. 4) Just as the vine provides the life source for the branches, Christ is the life source for each of us. To abide in Him means living in Jesus and Jesus living in and through us. Any hope we have of producing fruitful lives that glorify God can come only through abiding in the Lord. And abiding happens through surrendering.

Surrender Control-“I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23) Abiding in God means coming before the Lord with a humble heart, dependent upon Him for all things at all times. It is acknowledging that as Ruler and Creator of everything, God knows best, and it is for Him alone to establish our path.

Surrender Time-“He shall write for himself a copy of this law, it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life.” (Deut. 17:17,18) Abiding in God means setting aside time each day to read His Word. Intentionally studying the Bible opens our hearts to the Lord, and keeps us firmly planted in His truth;  giving us the discernment needed to fight off attacks from the Enemy.

Surrender Disobedience-“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24) Abiding in God means obeying all He commands. Obedience not only  brings us closer to Him, it's proof of our devotion and faithfulness. It deepens and strengthens our relationship with the Lord through love, trust, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

Surrender Striving-“Be still and know I am God.” (Ps. 46:10) Abiding in God means to stop fighting. When trouble comes and the storm rages, the best action we can take is to stand still. By remembering who God is and trusting Him to do what He says He will, His calming presence and peace will  fill and ease our distressed hearts.

Some people think that surrender is a form of weakness, but nothing could be further from the truth. Stepping out in faith and laying everything at the feet of Jesus takes great personal strength. But when we do, we’ll find the more we give up of ourselves, the fuller we become of God. So abide in the love of Jesus. Surrender all to the One who gave all for you. Let His love and peace reign in your heart and fill it to overflowing with joy!




Corrie ten Boom

Gratitude- Great Is Your Faithfulness {Lamentations 3}

11:00 PM




“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it."...AW Tozer

It’s hard for me to read the book of Lamentations without a lump forming in my throat. It’s pages are filled with the pain of the prophet Jeremiah, who grieves deeply over the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. With its buildings reduced to rubble, its streets barren, and its people taken as slaves, the sorrow Jeremiah feels is immeasurable. Yet somehow in the midst of desolation and despair, the prophet still has a heart of gratitude for the goodness of God declaring, “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion’, says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’ (Lam. 3:22-24) 

Gratitude is a powerful tool in overcoming the feelings that ail us. By remembering the goodness of God; His love, grace, and mercy, our hearts will be so overflowing with thankfulness, we too will be grateful no matter the circumstance. God is faithful; His love never ending, and His mercies always in full supply. I was reading an article by Peg Robarchek, and loved it when she said, “Gratitude is the spiritual practice that keeps me grounded in hope, and reminds me that God is my source for all that is good in my life. The Lord is, indeed, my portion. And my portion is abundant.” So how can we practice gratitude? I wanted to share a couple of things that help me when I find my praise and thanks to the Lord beginning to wane.

Make A List-No matter our circumstances, there is always something to be thankful for. Each day take time out to think of at least one way in which you were blessed by God. Whether it be in a journal, a whiteboard, a folder on your laptop, or a note on your tablet, write down whatever comes to mind. At the end of each week, reread what you’ve written remembering to thank God for His many blessings. 

Read The Psalms-No one knew higher highs and lower lows than David. Yet through it all his love for the Lord never wavered. He wrote song after song of devotion and thanksgiving to God. That kind of gratitude is infectious, and by reading a Psalm a day we too can have hearts filled with gratitude for God's work, and lips of worship that sing, “I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.” (Ps. 34)

Give To Others-Nothing fills a heart with gratitude faster then helping someone in need. Complaining and unthankfulness can’t help but take a back seat when we see the struggles of those less fortunate. Suddenly blessings once taken for granted, become greatly appreciated. And as a bonus, when we reach out to those less fortunate out of appreciation to the Lord, we bring gratitude into the lives of others; becoming loving ambassadors of God’s grace and mercy.

One more great example of gratitude can be found in Corrie Ten Boom. If you’ve never read her book, “The Hiding Place”, I highly recommend it. Imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie and her sister Betsie were kept in “Barracks 28”. A horrible place where the conditions were beyond inhuman, and death all but a certainty. Yet even in such suffering, Corrie still had a heart of gratitude. She was thankful that she and her sister were together. Thankful they had a Bible in which to study and share God’s Word. And believe it or not, grateful for the fleas in the infested straw bed in which she was forced to sleep. Why? Because as it turned out, the cruel and abusive supervisors who ran the camp were afraid of those fleas. Not wanting to be infested themselves, they left the women alone. “Through those fleas, God protected the women from abuse and harassment.  Dozens of desperate women were free to hear the comforting, hope-giving Word of God.  Through those fleas, God protected the women from much worse things and made sure they had their deepest, truest needs met.”( khouse.org )

Finally, whenever you feel yourself lacking in the gratitude department, remember this. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” (Eph. 1:4) Imagine that! Even before the creation of the earth, God knew and wanted each of us! He formed us, chose us, and because of His love for us, provided reconciliation to Him through the blood of His Son Jesus. And knowing that God calls me His, overflows my heart with such love, praise and gratitude, that I too can cry out, “Great is Your faithfulness!”





concerns

SoulSearching Sunday~Our Shepherd

12:00 AM

Sunday, July 29, 2018


Week Thirty

Welcome!  We pray that you have all had a precious time worshipping the Lord this morning!  Below you will find some thought provoking questions that will provide you a starting point to your journal writing to complete this week.  We hope that you will find this time soul satisfying!

Our reading this week was Jeremiah 30 - Lamentations 5...

 1. What does the sheep and shepherd metaphor in the passage below reveal about the relationship between leaders and those they lead? What does it take to be a good shepherd? Praise God for the gift of good pastors. How have you benefited from their leadership? 

 My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray and turned them loose in the mountains. They have lost their way and cannot remember how to get back to the fold. (Jeremiah 50:6)

 2. What concerns weigh on you right now? Pour your heart out to the LORD on paper. Let Lamentations 2:19 inspire you to see God and rely on Him to answer your needs.

 Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the LORD. Lift up your hands to Him in prayer. Plead for your children as they faint with hunger in the streets.

 3. How are God’s love and mercy evident to you today? How did you encounter them yesterday? For what can you trust Him tomorrow? Let His faithfulness move you to worship. 

 The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. (Lamentations 3:22-23)


Jeremiah

In Need of Our Shepherd {Jeremiah 50-52}

9:00 PM




Chapters 50-51 deal with the defeat of Babylon. Babylon was the means by which God would punish Judah. But later, Babylon would not continue to be powerful in the world. This was because of its own sins. The people from Judah and Israel should not forget their Lord (50:4-5)
“My people have become lost sheep;

Their shepherds have led them astray.

They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.
They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;
They have forgotten their [own] resting place. (50:6)
And go out of the land of the Chaldeans;
Be like the male goats [who serve as leaders] at the head of the flocks.” (50:8)

God’s people had set their hopes in their earthly shepherds: the kings, the priests, and the false prophets. They caused the people -the sheep- to go the wrong way. So the people have gone to the high hills where they worshipped the Baals (Jeremiah 2:20). God’s people had forgotten that the Lord was their true shepherd! (Psalm 23) The Lord had provided everything they needed, but they let their hearts be hardened by their sins and lusts!
Revelation 18:4 refers to the wicked country called Babylon. The name “Babylon” refers to the wicked world that opposes the Lord. It refers to the power that opposes God's people. 



How different is it now from Jeremiah’s days? Today people are prisoners of the wealth and the pleasures of this world!
“Wander away from the midst of Babylon
Even today Christians may hesitate to leave behind what this world offers and neglect their ministry and testimony! We must not forget that our true home is in heaven. (Phil. 3:20)
“Babylon shall be wholly desolated; for she hath sinned against the Lord. Sin makes men a mark for the arrows of God’s judgments. The mercy promised to the Israel of God, shall not only accompany, but arise from the destruction of Babylon. These sheep shall be gathered from the deserts, and put again into good pasture. All who return to God and their duty, shall find satisfaction of soul in so doing. Deliverances out of trouble are comforts indeed, when fruits of the forgiveness of sin.” M. Henry
Yes, Babylon’s power is like the power of all proud enemies of the Lord, and it will end!! (Revel. 18:9,19) Our God has provided the Way to free all those who are still captive in their sins: Jesus, the Door for the sheep; the Good Shepherd! (John 10:1-18) To give Salvation and eternal life!!  
May we humbly follow our Good Shepherd, even if we may find difficulties on our path. May we exercise our spiritual ear (Ro. 10:17), so we can always listen to His voice and pay attention to His call (John 10:16), so we can sing with the Psalmist: “Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.” (Psalm 23)  

 This is my prayer today.

 Blessings!
Mari



Becky Austin

Jeremiah 46-49 (Be Warned)

3:25 AM



God will not tolerate man’s selfish, evil, and lofty ways. At least not forever. Jeremiah continues to warn of God’s impending judgements.  He foretells of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon being allowed to invade and conquer and of nations being exiled and oppressed.
Just like the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, God watches man try to rise up and dominate over others.  He watches man try to be equal to or even more powerful than God himself.
 Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’ (46:8)

God’s response: No matter how big and plentiful, I can outnumber.  No matter how seemingly invincible, I can overpower.
“She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    like those who fell trees.
 They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.” (46:22-24)
God watches man trust in his own efforts and possessions.  God’s response:
Only I can be trusted.  Only I can save you.
He warns Moab:

Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like a juniper in the desert!
 For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken; (48:6-8)

God watches man be lazy and unproductive, feeling entitled to “just take it easy”.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile; (48:11)

God’s response: I gave man the purpose of serving one another and glorifying me.
He brings low those who try to exalt themselves

 “Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. (48:26)

God watches man become arrogant and proud. 

We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
 I know his insolence, declares the Lord (48:29-30)

 God’s response: I created man to be humble and worship only me.  He causes the proud to stumble and be brought low.

And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god . .. Therefore the riches they gained have perished. Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord (48:35)

God watches man boast and trust in earthly treasures.
Why do you boast of your valleys,
    O faithless daughter,
who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’ (49:4)
God’s response: I am the only One who should be raised up and exalted. He causes those who lift up themselves to be brought low.

For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord. (49:15-16)

God utilizes his discipline and judgements against man to destroy the evil intentions of man and to humble him because of love that desires reconciliation.  His ultimate plan, is redemption. No matter how far we go, God calls His people back into fellowship with Him.
 “But in the latter days I will restore…

 “But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
 Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end. (46:27-28)
                                                                                                  
It seems that there are many nations today who mimic the evil nations of Jeremiah’s day. They are boastful and proud and do not recognize and glorify God. They trust in their own resources and wisdom.  They plot and scheme to become powerful and invincible in earthly terms.  But, God has warned them too.  Eventually, He will act to overcome evil. 

I encourage you to be aware of your own behaviors and motivations.  Do you try to exalt yourself and not God?  Do you try to be self -sufficient?  Do you trust in circumstances, talents or possessions instead of the God of the Universe? God desires our humility and patience as well as our strong faith.  How long will He tolerate our wrong choices and decisions?  When will His hand of discipline bring us off our high places and seek to humble us and reconcile us to Him?
More importantly, will we heed His warnings and obediently yield?







discerning God's Will

Decerning God's Will for Your Life {Jeremiah 39-45}

8:00 PM


Do you want to know what the will of God is for your life, or in a particular situation? Which way to go? What is the right thing to say or not to say? What to do?


There are four key steps to take in seeking a word from God in any and all situations. BUT before I let you in on them, let me share how I found out just what they were…

You see, The Lord chose to uproot us and move my husband and I thousands of miles away from all we knew and loved back in 1999, and we were miserable. We tried to keep a stiff upper lip during the week, but on Sunday afternoons we’d sit in our empty house and cry. We missed our kids, our family, our home! We were trying to settle in, trying to make friends, but all that takes time.

Suddenly, only a few months after arriving to our new environment, we were handed a way to go back home!

A new job offer came to John from a huge multi-billion dollar company! They were willing to move us back home to NH, give us a huge signing bonus and raise! It was an awesome job opportunity working for an old boss John had loved working for years before. Everything screamed, “TAKE THE JOB AND GO BACK!!”

Only, there was this one nagging question, “Why would the Lord move us here and have us buy a home, only to move us back four months later?” It just didn’t seem to make sense. So we began to pray… and pray… and have everyone we knew pray. We went back and forth; we’re going … we’re staying … we’re going.

We finally decided to accept the job, put our home on the market and head back home when John was invited to lunch with our pastor at the time, Dr. Adrian Rogers. The conversation started off lighthearted as all were getting to know one another until that is, John let on that he had just accepted another job offer and was heading back to NH in about six weeks. The room suddenly grew very quiet and Dr. Rogers grew very serious and pointed his finger at John and told him in so many words, that he was here for a reason and he needed to go home, get on his knees and confess every unconfessed sin and ask God to reveal His will to John. John came home and told me what Dr. Rogers had said, but I didn’t think much of it until the next morning.

John’s contract with the new company was being delivered that morning by FedEx for John to sign and ship it back overnight. I had only run to the store for a moment, but when I returned there was a note on my door from the FedEx deliverer informing me that he was sorry he missed me and would return on Monday.

Now we had the weekend to nail down what God’s will was for us.

By Sunday night John was pretty convinced that The Lord wanted us to remain here in our new home, but I still hadn’t heard from God in spite of all my seeking and crying out to Him.

That was until early Monday morning while it was still dark, The Lord woke me up with the words, “Come away with Me, My beloved.” And I knew at that moment I would finally learn exactly what God’s will in this situation was. I grabbed my Bible off my nightstand and hurried to the sitting room where I usually met with the Lord in the morning. I got down on my knees and set my Bible, that was still closed, on the couch in front of me, and began to pray! I sat there confessing everything I could possible think of and then promised Him that I was, “not getting off my knees until I know in which way we are to go.” I sat silently listening, waiting ….. nothing. I was growing more and more frustrated by the minute!

I began to pray again and I promised Him, “I’m going to whip this Bible open, and I’m going to start reading wherever it lands and I’m going to keep on reading until I know in which way I am to go.” I whipped open the Bible and it opened to the book of Jeremiah. Chapter 42 was on the left-hand side of the page and since we read left to right, I thought chapter 42 was a good place to start!


Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. 3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
4 “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.”

My heart began to pound within my chest! "What if I don’t like the answer???"  But I kept reading,

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. 9 He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: 10 ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. 12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’
13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there,

That was all I needed to hear! I grabbed my Bible and ran back in the bedroom, woke John up and read this to him. He then shared that a friend had brought up this same chapter the day before as they were shooting hoops. We both looked at one another and knew, we were to remain in this land.

The FedEx envelope arrived a few hours later and I signed for it, but we never opened it. It still sits unopened in John’s night stand drawer 19 years later. John called and told the company he wasn’t coming and for some reason they weren’t surprised. We called our real-estate agent and told her to take the house off the market and she admitted she hadn’t put the house on the market, for some reason she had a feeling we’d be staying.

What God did after that is absolutely AMAZING! I wish I had the time to share with you! Suffice it to say, when you are in the center of God’s will it is AWEsome! We were in absolute awe just being able to watch Him work over the next few years!

Unfortunately, the remnant of Judah hadn't listened to the words of Jeremiah then, but we are so thankful we did!

Now let me share the steps I learned to take when you’re desperate to know what God’s will is in a certain situation, for I want you all to experience the joys of being in the center of God's will!

1.      Confess any known sin in your life. 1 John 1:9a, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Confess your attitudes. Ask Him to reveal anything that would prevent your channel of communication from being wide open
2.      Surrender your will. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) If you really want to know God’s will, you need to set yours on the altar to be burned or given back.
3.      Ask trusting Him to answer: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” –James 1:5-6
4.      Commit the decision to Christ.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." In other words, don't try to figure it out by yourself! Look to God for your understanding of what is going on, or what He wants you to do. (Proverbs 3:5-6). Then, “Commit your way to the LORD; and trust Him to do it!"- Psalm 27:5

I can honestly say, He has never fail to answer and give me exactly what I was seeking as soon as He knew my heart was right to receive all He needed to tell me.

Blessings! 

Sue

God's Word

Individual Decisions {Jeremiah 34-38}

12:30 AM


July 24, 2018


I know a lot of people read the book of Jeremiah and see a nation being warned to repent of their sins, but for me, I see it as an individual warning.  Each one of us needs to make that decision because how we behave and interact with others, does have an impact on those around us.  As believers, joined together, we are a nation, and we are called to be the light that shines for all to see. (Matthew 5:16)

 Image result for matthew 5:16
There is one that that is certain, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the WORD about Christ.”  Romans 10:17 (emphasis mine)

I have heard people try to explain or rationalize and analyze scripture, but let this be a warning; when Kimg Jehoiakim cut the scroll and then burned it, he was breaking the covenant with God.  If it weren’t for the remnant of the people of that time to remain steadfast in their commitment to God, we would not have the Word of God for us to gain wisdom and understanding of the Lord. 

Be like the Rekabites and remain committed to reading and studying the Word of God and be a light to the rest of the world.



 Image result for jeremiah 36:32


Book of Consolation

The Rainbow After The Storm {Jeremiah 30:1-33:26}

12:00 AM


Up until now Jeremiah’s prophecies have been filled with gloom and despair. Now in this section, called the “The Book of Consolation”, the prophet poetically describes the restoration of Israel and Judah after the time know as “Jacob’s distress” (vs. 30:7). He relays God’s promises to return the people to their land, to reunite them as a nation, establish with them a new covenant, and through them, bless the world with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. 

Because of their continued disobedience, God pronounced judgement on the people of Israel and Judah. Their cities would be burned, their homes destroyed, and the people carried off into bondage, scattered throughout the lands. For seventy years they endured a storm of homelessness, oppression, persecution, and slavery. Yet through it all God never left them, never forsook them, never stopped loving them, and never let them go. 

We all face storms in our lives. Times when the rain pours, and the wind rages. And whether the Lord allows these storms because He’s trying to teach us, or like Israel, to bring us to repentance, remember this. Though you may feel lost and battered, God is always in control. And when the pain feels unbearable and the fear overwhelming, we can cling to the same promises God spoke through Jeremiah to the exiled Jews. 

You Are Not Alone! “For I am with you, declares the Lord, to save you” (vs. 30:11) Although God may not take away the consequences of our sin, we can be confident that no matter the storm we endure, He will see us safely through to the other side. He will never forsake nor abandon us for we are His, and He calls us by name! (Is. 43:1)

His Love Is Forever! “The Lord appeared to Him from above saying ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness’” (vs. 31:3) God’s love for us is perfect and eternal. There is no sin too great that, when we confess and repent, the Lord will not forgive. His love is also unconditional and unwavering. It remains the same whether the sun shines, or the rain falls, and nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from that love. (Rom. 8:31-39)

No Storm Is Greater Than God! “Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You” (vs. 32:17) Even during the heaviest of downpours, when we can see no way out, God does. For as Luke 1:37 tells us, nothing is impossible for the Lord. He knows the first raindrop to the last, and won’t allow the cloudburst to last a minute longer than needed to fulfill His purpose.

God instructed Jeremiah to write a book containing His promises of deliverance and restoration. A book the people could turn to for hope while they waited for the storm to pass. He gives us a book as well...the Holy Bible. In it we’ll find the same promises of hope, deliverance, and restoration. 

No matter what you may be going through, trust in God to shelter you from the storm until it passes and the sun shines again. And remember, the One who created the storm, also created the rainbow that is sure to follow.