Jeremiah, the Prophet!

Jeremiah 1:4-12 (New Living Translation)

^4” The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵ "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

⁶ "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

⁷ But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

⁹ Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

¹¹ The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.

¹² The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."

What an amazing story of how God called a very young Jeremiah to be His spokesman to the whole world. Jeremiah thought he was way to young and certainly could not speak well enough to do anything for the Lord. Does this sound familiar? It certainly applies to me! From “Lord, I am not good enough” or “I don’t have any experience.” I wonder how many of us allow our feelings of inadequacy to keep us from fulfilling what God would have us to do. When He gives us a job to do ( He has a plan for each of us) we can have confidence that He will equip us and take care of us. God told Jeremiah to not be afraid of what people would try to do to him, but when we read in verse 17, he is warned that if he wasn’t obedient, he would look foolish in front of the people. Of course this is what will happen to us when we go ahead of God and do things our own way. At no point in our Christian walk should we ever be without His guidance. We are never told we would not have trials and heartaches along the way, as a matter of fact, the Word says “when” they come and they surely do, everyday the enemy of our souls sees to that! What we need to remember in reading this scripture is that God did not tolerate idolatry then and He certainly will not tolerate it now. Our total commitment should be to our Heavenly Father. As we face each day, we can be assured that God will be with us and will see us through what ever comes our way.

Live By Our Faith!

 

Hebrews 11:1-6 (New Living Translation)

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. ² Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

³ By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

⁴ It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.

⁵ It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. ⁶ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

 

What does this statement mean to “"live by our faith”? First of all, Webster's definition is reliance, loyalty, or complete trust in God.  Now that part was easy, I understand these words, but how do we “live” by them? Here is what I believe in very simple terms; “We can only receive from God what we are willing to believe Him for.”  I am sure there is a much better way to describe this. but to me it is a daily walk, one where we are truly desiring to live for Him. Taking Him at His Word, and really believing He will do what He said. There are countless people in the Bible, just like you and me, that we could mention. (the scriptures above are just a few mentioned in chapter 11)  We just need to remember that those promises they stood on are the same ones we can stand on to.  God does not have favorites, we are all treated with the same  unfailing love that abides with us forever. I encourage you to seek out Gods Word, He said you would find what you are looking for! Hugs and Blessings to you today!

Memories!

Isaiah 26:3,4 (New Living Translation)

" You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."

We all have them, good or bad. The good ones we will go back to often, like today when I ate chicken and dumplings (not exactly on my diet), oh my, it was so good. Tasted just like my mother used to make! Even though my mother has been gone many years, and I am a grandmother, I was just overwhelmed with sadness. My dad once said to me, “you never get old in your heart”, he was about 82 at that time. I have thought about that a lot and wondered what he meant. Not that I am getting older, I know exactly what he meant. Our memories can take us back to childhood immediately, or at any time in our life. All of a sudden I was a little girl, enjoying my family and eating chicken and dumpling. Now I mentioned in the beginning about bad memories. Those are the heartbreaking ones. What do we do when they come, when all of a sudden we see or smell something that will throw us somewhere else? This happens to me to! One of the things I remember is the smell of wet army blankets (I guess it was wool) wrapped around my legs when I had polio. I am sure we all have things that either crush or comfort us, but in either case, we should look to our Heavenly Father! The things that bring joy and a smile, be sure to thank Him for it. The things that bring deep sadness, just cast all those things on Jesus. Know in your heart that he has such deep love and compassion for us. We are His children, and He will never leave or forsake us. He loves us with an unfailing love! He proved it when He sent His only Son to take our place on that cross and give us eternal life. I prayed for you today!

Trust, Commit, and Wait!

Psalm 37:3-7  (New Living Translation) 

                Trust in the Lord and do good.
      Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
      and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord.
      Trust him, and he will help you.
⁶ He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
      and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still in the presence of the Lord,
      and wait patiently for him to act.
   Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
      or fret about their wicked schemes.

Trust and then trust some more!  Keep on living for God!  Wait patiently for Him to move at the “right” time!  But you (and me to) are saying, “But, Lord, I have prayed about this for many years and nothing is happening, so I am thinking  you aren’t listening to me” Does this sound about normal?  It’s hard for all of us to give everything to the Lord, and then believe He is working all this out, because we don’t “see” anything happening. Do you realize how many people may be involved with this one particular person we are praying for? What all has to be in place for it to be the right time for God to move?  We don’t have a clue, we just want things done yesterday!  God promises if wait for His timing He will honor us ( read 1Peter:5:6)  If we can just be patient, steadily doing the work God has given to us to do and let Him choose the time to change these things, then we will see the mighty Hand of God move. Go back up and read the scriptures again, memorize them and claim them. If you are a child of God, then they are for you! God Bless you!

Pray for Revival!

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13 NIV)

Have you ever had  a heaviness of heart that you just couldn’t explain?  As though something is wrong, and because you don’t know what it is, you can’t do anything about it?  I would like to share with you something I have been dealing with for several months!  As everyone knows, our world is in turmoil!  When we read in God’s Word we know the season we live in and these things have to come to pass. Many Christians were perplexed about the outcome of the election, the things I would hear and say is “God is in control”, and He is! There has been a plan in effect ever since the fall of man in the garden.  So what do we pray for?  Do we just resign to the fact that this is how it will be until the rapture of the church takes place?   We must trust our Lord, and in faith believe He loves us with an unfailing love  and He will protect us!  What the Holy Spirit is showing me is we need to pray for revival!  There needs to be an awakening of the church. So if we can’t change the times we live in, then we are the ones that need to be changed. I am afraid there are many that “play” church, and folks I am here to tell you, that time is over with. We have to get serious with our commitment to God and let Him lead the way for us.  Please agree with me and lets pray for a great revival! One where men's hearts will be changed and we will be ready, however we leave this world.

Mothers and Children

Psalm 127:3 (New Living Translation) Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.

This scripture is just one of many that tell us how precious children are! Not only a gift to us, but they are a reward from Him. I had not heard this translation before, but I love it! Webster says "reward" means a prize, or a bonus. That means they are very special to Him! As mothers day approaches, I guess it is natural to think of our mothers, and our daughters as being mothers to, so I want to share with you first of all my daughters. I am so thankful for them, they were kind, obedient little girls and they have turned into wonderful, responsible women. Dedicated to raising their children, working and doing all those things, that seems a long way back for me. But this is the way life is, it passes by so fast and then one day, its like we wake up and wonder "what is going on"! Our children, no matter our age or theirs, will always be just that, our children and we never stop being parents! This is the way our Heavenly Father is with us, He wants the best for us and He has made every provision for it to happen. His unfailing love and protections keeps us as long as we live on this earth. So as we reflect on our children, lets remember how God is with His children! Loved and precious!

Are you a Worrier!

Matthew 6: 25-34 (New Living Translation) 25. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26. Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28. “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29. yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31. “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33. Seek the Kingdom of God[d] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

It sounds like worry is a waste of our precious time we have on this earth! But, every time I read this scripture, I am just amazed that God tells us not to worry, I mean look around there is so much going on in our world, how can we ever get to the point in our christian walk, when we don't worry? Perplexing questions about something that we can not do anything about. Right away we are told that all our worries can't add a single moment to our life,and we can't change anything when we worry. Will we have problems today and plenty more for tomorrow? Yes of course, but lets just take this one day at a time, that is all we have anyway. Now that we understand this, here is what amazed me about these scriptures. You see I use to just read the part about worry, and looked over the promises that are like precious nuggets of gold. 1. We are far more valuable than the birds 2. God cares for us so much more than we realize 3. And above all, if we will first seek the kingdom of God, live a life pleasing to Him, He will give us everything we need. Aren't you just overwhelmed with thankfulness and praise? I have to tell you this is exciting to me! I am not on this earth by myself, God has a plan and a purpose for my life, He loves me with an unfailing love, and He gave the ultimate sacrifice just for me and you. I know it is so hard for us not to worry, but when we began to do so, just claim these promises. Read it again, be encouraged and have faith! God will take care of you and me. He said He would!