The Day History Changed Forever

Oh what love God showed to each one of us on this day - He became flesh and willingly gave his life and endured such suffering, beyond what any of us can comprehend, so that we might be reconciled to Him and have the hope of being with Him for all eternity!

Thank you Jesus, for so great a love - for taking the punishment for my sin, so that I may live a life here, filled with the presence of your Holy Spirit, and when it's my time to leave this earth, KNOW without a doubt, that I will live in your wonderful presence for time without end.

May each of you have a blessed Good Friday, and let your hearts ponder all that the Lord did for us on this day.

Janelle

Renewed Strength

Are you worn out and just plain ole tired from all the Christmas festivities? Do you sometimes suffer from an emptiness that you just can't explain? Even believers go through times like this, and God has a thing or two to say about this, and I pray this passage will encourage and strengthen you.
Today's passage comes from Isaiah 41: 28 - 31
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and will not faint".

We all have those times when we run out of steam, and it always happens when we try to get through the day on our own instead of relying on God's strength to carry us. I've found that if I give him the first part of my morning, He is faithful to walk right beside me through the day and make it a day of purpose.
With this coming new year, I pray that you and I both will put God as our first priority, and that we'll seek a deeper relationship with Him.
Blessings,
Janelle

Where Do You Put Your Hope?

Jack Frost paid us a visit last night! Here in FL, we get a few days of winter each year, but usually it doesn't get this cold this early. I have to say though, it is a nice break from the 90 degree weather we were having only a week or so ago!

Today's passage in Jeremiah 8, the Lord is repeating some of his statements from Chapter 6 - to me, this shows that he says what he means, and means what he says!

8: 10 - 13 - "Therefore I will give their wives to other men and thier fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace", they say, when there is no peace.

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.

I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them".

This whole passage speaks of economic disasters as part of the judgments against the people for their sinful ways.

Once again, he reiterates how greed has taken over them, and I find it amazing how he says that the leaders "dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious"; that's how this whole "bail out" by Congress seems to me. Everyone is in line now, wanting a hand out for fear that their businesses will collapse otherwise. Well when and where do you draw the line?

The ones who raked in millions of dollars each year, and the lack of oversight by our elected leaders, have gotten us into this mess, and the way they are handling it all, seems like they are trying to put a band-aid on a gaping wound.

He also repeats his warnings to us about those who say "peace, peace" - and promise us that it is near. We are in sad shape, if we believe that all our problems will be solved just because a new President who says he is going to change things and bring peace to us, is the solution to the problems we are all facing as a nation.

It is our duty as believers, to pray for our leaders - for those in authority over us. We need to pray that they will seek God for his wisdom to lead our country, and not trust in their own capabilities.

Here are a few passages that tell us where our hope and our trust should be, if we want to have real peace, that can only be found in God, through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 49:5-6 "Why should I fear when evil days come; when wicked deceivers surround me - those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? 12 -13 - "But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings".

Psalm 62: 8 - "Trust in Him(God) at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge".

Psalm 188:8 - 9 - "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes".

Proverbs 3: 5 - 6 is one of my favorite passages, and one I memorized early in life - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight".

And finally, look at how the Lord details out for us in Psalm 146, how He will take care of those who belong to him -

"Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them - the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the alien, and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord."

One needs not fear all the chaos that we see all around us - we can have peace in the midst of it all, and that peace is found only in Jesus. He tells us in John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid".

Imagine having peace in our life, as Jesus had, knowing what he would suffer - he kept his focus on the Father, and now offers us this same peace. It's so powerful, it's something that we as humans, can't hardly wrap our brains around; it all comes back to faith and trust. We are to take him at his word, and he will fulfill the promises in his word to us.

I close today, with the words of a beautiful old hymn:
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace"

Have a blessed Wednesday...
Janelle

Finding God

I continue in Jeremiah 7: 21-26. God has told Jeremiah the judgments he is going to bring on the people of Judea and Jerusalem because of their sinful ways. He also told him to stop pleading for them; to paraphrase it - enough is enough! He has given them many chances to turn back to him, and they just kept getting worse in their actions and attitudes.


Today's passage says this:


"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ' Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: "Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you". But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their wicked hearts. They went backwards and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants and prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers".


For God to tell them to eat their burnt offerings, which was supposed to be burnt in its entirety, meant that the sacrifices meant nothing to him. They were continuing to practice the ordinances of offering burnt sacrifices, but continuing in their sin.


How that can apply today is that one can go to church, sing hymns, take part in the Lord's supper, know scripture, teach Sunday School, sing in the choir - participate in all the things in the church; but then to walk out the doors of the church and willfully live in sin, gives no credence to one's religious practices.


We hear a lot of people say, "Oh he/she found religion". God doesn't want us to "find religion"; he wants us to find HIM! There's a HUGE difference in being religious and having a personal relationship with the Lord.


God gave the laws for our own good, contrary to the belief of some that He did so because he's a mean and hostile God. He gave the laws of what foods to eat or not eat, because he knew that some things would interfere with good health. He gave laws of keeping sex only within the bonds of marriage, because he knew other sexual activity would bring diseases and other consequences; he gave the laws of how to sacrifice perfect lambs, as an example of the perfect sacrifice he was to bring to us in Christ Jesus. To offer an animal anything less than perfect, was a useless sacrifice.


Worship is an intimate and holy offering to the Lord; it's a time for us to humble ourselves before Him, and acknowledge who he is. When one truly worships God and gets into his presence, the desire to go out and willfully sin, leaves. It makes us want to follow him and his plan for our lives and be blessed in doing so.


Search your heart - are you a "religious" person, or do you have that personal and intimate relationship with Jesus that brings you into the presence of the Lord Almighty? Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth, THE life; no one comes to the Father, but through me".


If you're searching for truth, and have taken many paths other than the ONLY path to God through Christ Jesus, turn around and call out to Him to show you the way. He will meet you where you are; the emptiness and feelings of hopelessness will leave you, and they will be replaced with His peace, and a knowing that you were a precious creation from His heart, and there's a purpose for you in this world.

No More Tears

As I was reading this morning, I came across a couple of passages in the Book of Revelation that jumped out at me.

Are you going through a hard time in your life right now? Are tears your constant companion?

The Lord gives us a hope for our future in these verses - he's giving us a glimpse of Heaven, and I hope that in reading these, it will comfort you and renew your faith and hope in Jesus' love.
In chapter 7:17 it says, " For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes".

21:4 says, " He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away".

Remember that Jesus himself was no stranger to pain and sorrow; he wept at the news of the death of his friend Lazarus. He was crucified for our sins, and took on all of our sin, pain and sorrow so one day, our faith in him will bring us to live in his presence daily, where he promises that he himself will wipe away those tears, and there will never ever be a time where we will know what pain or sorrow are.

In closing, I give you these other words of hope from the Lord, taken from the final chapter of Revelation. Chapter 22: 12, " Behold I am coming soon"!

If you don't have a personal relationship with the Lord, today is the day when you can change that. He's standing knocking at the door of your heart; open the door and let him in. Jesus will meet you where you are. Confess to him that you are a sinner who believes that he died for your sin, and that you want him to come into your life and get forgiveness, and start your life new.

May today bring a new surge of hope in your life!



Janelle

Coping

Today in my morning devotionals, I read Psalm 116, and in my Bible, I have notes and dates of when the Lord has spoken to me about certain passages.
This particular Psalm speaks about how when one is in distress, the Lord is there for us.
My daddy died on March 15, 1984, and on that day, part of me died too. I was in more emotional pain and distress than I've ever faced up to this point in my life. I went into severe depression and was angry at God for taking my daddy, then He spoke to me through His Word and his Peace enveloped me.
Verse 3 - 9 says, "The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: O Lord save me! The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living."
Down in verse 15 it says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints".

This brought me so much comfort, and I know that we all face tragedies in our lives, and if we reach out to God in those times, he says that he is here for us, and he will pour out his compassion on us and renew our strength, that we may go on.
If there is something in your life that seems overwhelming; something that you think is unbearable, I encourage you to go to God's Word and get your strength and peace from him.
I close with this passage:
The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
The Lord turn His face toward you and give you Peace
Numbers 6:24 - 26

Blessings to you today.
Janelle