A Blessed Easter to You

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and frankly, I don't think there are enough words in all the languages of the world that could say what this one picture alone says.

I'm so grateful that as our Lord hung on the cross - he did it for me.....AND...for YOU!

When I try to wrap my mind around his life and even though he was fully God, he was fully man, who faced all the same kinds of trials and temptations each of us do, and lived it for 33 years WITHOUT sin.....and he did so because he was totally dependent on God.

When I think about all that he went through - the beatings with whips made from leather with spikes in the end (to where his body probably looked like hamburger meat), ripping out his beard, spit all over his body, bruises and welts from being punched in the face, a crown of sharp thorns jammed into his skull, ...then to finally have huge spikes driven through his wrists and feet....and a sword shoved into his side....

It brings me to tears that someone could love me THAT much...

Which reminds me of something I saw years ago - it said,
"Jesus, how much do you love me"? and his answer was...."THIS much" and he spread his arms and died....

I pray that on  this Easter, if you don't know this to be true in your life, that you would ask Him to reveal himself to you and be welcomed into the body of Christ.

If you do know him, remember all He did for you and has done for you throughout your life since coming to know him and give him THANKS...

Have a BLESSED Easter!

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

The Atonement for Our Country

Today I was looking for a scripture that I was going to share about inward beauty, and in looking for it, the Lord directed me into a U-turn to another scripture that I think needs to be said to all, and it is found in Colossians 2:8.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ".
Our eyes as a country need to be set on God, and not on man. Our eyes need to be set on the grace and atonement for everyone through the blood of Jesus, not on the election of a black man, to try to right the wrongs of the past in our country.
I never tippy toe around the issues that I feel strongly about, and I'm sure not going to start now!
The world's principles, which is mentioned in this passage, haven't seem to do too much for our country, as we have followed it's principles and now stand in the greatest economic downfall of our time. Lawyers, bail outs and a liberal congress cannot better ourselves as a nation, but as it says in II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land".
That's the only answer for our country, and the only LOGICAL answer, in my opinion. Man's solutions have failed us, and it's time to turn this country back to it's Judeo Christian principles it was founded on.
And I'll stand on this soapbox til Jesus comes if I have to, and NOT apologize for it!

The Prodigal Son Has Come Home!

My afternoon was spent enjoying a phone call with my beautiful son, Dude. I cry almost every time I talk to either of my kids, but today it was like the floodgates were opened, and they were the tears of one VERY happy mama!

I got the most wonderful news - my "boy" got to the place in his life to where he realized that he couldn't do it on his own anymore - he knew that he needed a Savior to lead him, and has given his heart back to Jesus!

I quote from Luke 1:46- 48 - it was Mary giving her thanks to the Lord for what he had done in her life,
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant".

Thank you Jesus, for hearing the prayer of this mama's heart and bringing me the answer in such an unexpected way today!

Thank you Father, that you are always there with open arms to welcome us back "home". Thank you for the blessing of this son that you spoke of to me while I was carrying him and said to me, "he will be more of a blessing than you can ever imagine", for he is - and I give all the glory to YOU, Jesus.

Our Relationship With Others

I want to start this first week of the new year off with a passage that is from Titus chapter 3:2-8
It speaks of our relationship to all people.
"Slander no one, be peaceable and considerate, and show true humility toward all men.
At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He asved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone".

Vs 2 tells us to be peaceable - quarreling only arouses the hostility of non-Christians. I'm sure you've seen such examples on the news. Arguing and throwing around harsh words at those whose beliefs are different doesn't do any good.
Vs 5 reminds us that it's nothing we do that earns us salvation - just being good doesn't get one into Heaven. I'm sure hell is full of a lot of good people. Our only way in is through our trust in Christ Jesus - the only righteous one.

With this new year, I really want to make a difference in other's lives. I want to study the scriptures more, which will guide me in the path God has laid out for me. I want to let him lead me to be more like the beginning verses of this passage speak about - to speak kindly to everyone; to be peaceable and considerate, and most of all - to be humble.

May this new week of the new year bring blessings and the peace of God into your life...

Janelle

How Great is the Love

Today I want to share a passage from I John 3, which is found near the end of the Old Testament.
"How GREAT is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of the Most High God! And that is what are are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Dear Friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure".

As a mother, I know the unspeakable joy in having a child - the love I have for each of mine is unconditional and everlasting, yet my minute little brain cannot even wrap around the truth of the boundless love that God Almighty has for those of us who have chosen for him to not be just our Creator, but our Father.
When we cross over to the other side - when we enter Heaven and are greeted by our Savior, it is then that we will finally understand the things that are too great for us while we are here on Earth. It says that we will be like him, and we will see him as he is - WOW, WOW, WOW and WOW!
My resolution for the new year is for my love and worship of our Lord Jesus, to increase and that I will hear him more clearly with each day - that my relationship will reach new heights.
Have a blessed Monday...

Janelle

The Revelation Song

I just got home from a very powerful service at church, and the song during the time of giving of the tithes and offerings brought the presence of the Lord into the sanctuary; a song I'd never heard before, but can't get it out of my mind or my heart.

My worship leader emailed me the name of it, and I found it on You Tube....ENJOY!! The presence of the Lord will surely fill the room as you listen and watch this video!

Blow the Trumpet

With the new year only days away, and many planning large celebrations, I wanted to share a bit about another celebration that is in the future of those who believe.
Today's passage is from the book of Joel, found in the Old Testament. It is one of the prophetic books and chapter 2:29 - 32
"I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens, and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion and Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls".
Now I know that the references to some of the things the Lord has said will happen on the earth don't sound like something to celebrate, but they are signs that the Lord will soon return to this earth, and that IS something to celebrate!
Joel tells us back in the first verse of chapter 2, "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain". This is a call to believers to get the word out, that the time of the Lord is near.
People are searching for answers - looking for hope in these hard times the whole world is facing, and the answer can only be found in Jesus. He promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us, so we need not fear the strain on our economy, the wars all around us, or the strange and unexplainable things that we see happening in the weather all across the world.
All these things were foretold hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, and when he began his ministry at 30, he reiterated them many times.
I pray that the outpouring of his Spirit will be multiplied in 2009......it's time to wake up and stand up for what is right.
Happy last Sunday of 2008!
Janelle

The Love of Christ

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, as it has been since my childhood. I pray that each of us will remember the greatest gift that has ever been given, and WHY it was given to us - the birth of our Lord Jesus.

John 3:16 is a verse that most learn by memory early in their years. "For God SO loved the world, that he gave his only Son, and whoever believes in him, will not perish, but have everlasting life".

He SO loved us, that he stepped out of his home in Heaven and became one of us. He lived a perfect and sinless life, then willingly went to the cross so that you and I might be given the gift of salvation. As he hung there, he saw each of us, and if we were the only person on earth - he would have done the same thing - that's how great his love is for us.

Romans 8: 35 - 39 tells us more about this love....

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, ' For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered'.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor ANYTHING ELSE in ALL creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord".

There is nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, that can ever make our Lord not love us. There are many things in life that will do their best to separate us from him, but he says that's impossible. Many are under the deception that they've done something SO horrible, that God could never love them or forgive them - WRONG! The Bible is very clear in saying that, " While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" - Romans 5:6. He came here knowing that God's will for him was to suffer and die the most horrible of deaths, just so you and I don't have to face eternal separation from him. There is nothing that he can't or won't forgive.....nothing!

Think about that little baby who was laid in a feeding trough - HE was the best and perfect Christmas present for the whole world.

Have a blessed day - thank God for giving us this perfect gift of love, found in Christ Jesus.

Janelle

What Child is This?

Today, our pastor started a new series for December titled, "What Child is This"?
The passage he's teaching from is Isaiah9: 6 - 7, and it is the prophecy of a child, "given to us", as our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.
He pointed out that those two little words, "to us", shows that it is a personal gift from God to each one of us. It is up to us to each recieve his precious and perfect gift, as our salvation.
Take time this Christmas season to search the scriptures and see who this child was and is. He's not just some figure we set out each year in our displays of Christmas Nativities - he was and is God, who stepped out of Heaven and came to live on earth as a perfect man, in order that we might know him and his gift of becoming one of his beloved children by accepting this child - Jesus - as the savior of the world.
Have a blessed Sunday!

Janelle

The Covenant of Salvation

Today I start into the 11th Chapter of Jeremiah - The Lord is laying down the facts of Judah's breaking of the covenant he made with the forefathers of the children of Israel.
11:1-5 - "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 'Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: "Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant - the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace. I said, 'Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey - the land you possess today." I answered, 'Amen, Lord.'"
We are all born with the curse of sin that was passed down from Adam. Romans 3: 23 says, "For all have sinned, and fall short of the gory of God and are justified by freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. So you see, we all have been offered the choice of blessing or cursing.
The blessing - The Lord has made a way for us to be his children, by accepting his gift of salvation, found in Jesus. In doing so, we have all the priveleges of being his child, and have all the promises of the covenant with a loving Father to guide us through our daily lives; when we go from this earth, we will forever be with him in Heaven - none of the sorrows or pain we know here on earth will ever be present again. All his promises to us are Yea and Amen.
The curse - Should one choose not to accept God's gift of salvation, then that person remains under the curse of sin and will face an eternity of torment and total separation from God.
What will your choice be? God has probably been tugging at your heart for some time now, and is patiently waiting for you to open your heart to him. Don't put off today what you think you might do tomorrow or the next day - the time is now - we are never guaranteed tomorrow.
I pray that today you will reach out to God and ask him to be Lord of your life - giving over your heart, mind and soul to his loving grace.
If you have accepted the gift of salvation in Jesus, but haven't nourished that relationship in a long time and have fallen away - He is just like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15, and he is waiting with open arms and a joyful heart at the sight of your return to him.

Staying Humble Before the Lord

I'm going to finish up chapter 10 of Jeremiah today. It covers quite a few verses, and it's the reaction of Jeremiah to the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem, and is spoken in the language of the Nomads.
10: 19 - 25 - "Woe to me because of my injury! My would is incurable! Yes, I said to myself, 'This is my sickness, and I must endure it. My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter. The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.
Listen! The report is coming - a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.
I know Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me Lord, but only with justice - not in your anger, lest your reduce me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland'".
The reference to the shepherds is to the leaders of the nation, who were responsible for the calamity. We commonly refer to pastors in our day as "shepherds", and the church's congregations to the "flock". We too, have seen how some in this position in recent years have misled many people. Look back to the late 1970's, at how Jim Jones deceived so many people into believing the misguided teachings that brought them all to their death. He had put himself over these people as a false messiah, and although he used scripture in his teachings, he took them out of context and used them for his advantage and hunger for power and control over them.
We have seen others since, who were well known in the religious arena, who let greed enter their hearts and brought them down, as well as their ministries. This brought a lot of spiritual dysfunction and emotional hurt to those who had so faithfully given to their ministries, only to find out they too had been duped.
We need to pray for our pastors, evangelists and missionaries. They are held in high accountability to the Lord for the calling on their lives to reach out to the lost. I believe that Satan throws more temptations at them, so he can destroy not only them and their ministry, but cause it to have an adverse affect on the lost who these people are trying to reach, causing them to stay lost and without the desire to come to know the Lord as their savior.
We have seen in Jeremiah, where pride, selfishness and greed were the downfall of the nations, and look around - you can see it in our world today as well.
We need to re-read verse verse 23 where Jeremiah says, "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps". That's what each of us needs to remember; that we need to turn to God daily, for his direction for our life. He has the perfect plan for us, and when we go about our day without taking the time to talk to him and read his word to find what his will for us is; trying to walk through life on our own, that's when we find ourselves in the midst of trials and upheavals that we've gotten ourselves into by our own pride and stubborness.
I close with this passage from James 4 that gives us the cure for sin: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Greive and mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up".

Have a blessed Wednesday................Janelle

Abandonment to Jesus

One more day until we celebrate Thanksgiving, and I invite each of you to look at your own life, and as the old hymn goes, "Count your blessings, name them one by one...Count your blessings, see what God has done....Count your blessings; name them one by one....Count your many blessings, see what God has done".
In Jeremiah 9: 17 - 22, God is telling Jeremiah to bring out the wailing women; those who were professional mourners, and for them to teach their daughters to wail, as the condition of the people and the land were like death had swept over them.
I mainly want to focus on the last verses of this chapter, verses 23-26. In my Bible, I had studied these verses before, and have written "Abandonment to Jesus" in the margin.
"This is what the Lord says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight", declares the Lord.
'The days are coming", declares the Lord, 'when I will punish all those who are circumsised only in the flesh - Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumsised and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumsised in their heart".
The point I think the Lord is trying to make here is found in verse 24 where he says, "but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me". There is a vast difference in knowing about God and knowing God. The children of God knew about God, and had even had their males circumcised in accordance to Jewish law. The law of circumcision was to be an outward symbol of an inner commitment to the Lord. He tells us that the days are coming when he will punish those who are circumcised only in the flesh.
To bring that to our modern day - those who are not believers; who have not circumcised their hearts by having faith in Jesus as their Lord, will be punished by living all throughout eternity lost and separated from him.
John 17 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible - it is the intercession of Jesus, for those who believe in him. Verse 3 says, "Now this is eternal life: that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent".
It doesn't matter how much one knows about God, or how "religious" one is - those things are good, but they are not what saves. God created us to have a relationship with us - he wants us to know him intimately, as a loving Father, who like it says in verse 24, "I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness".
He wants us to abandon all that we boast of, and lose ourselves in Him. He is the only source of life - the other things that we try to satisfy ourselves with are all counterfeits. They temporarily fill the void, but then as with all other things of the earth - they fade away, and then the search for another new "thing" begins, and it always brings one back to the place of emptiness; always in search of something. The something, the ONLY thing that can fill that void is Jesus.

Refinement by God

Whewww...I had a ton of things I had to get done first thing this morning, and it feels good to finally have a chance to sit down and read God's word and let him speak to my heart.

I continue on in the 9th chapter of Jeremiah. We read in the first few chapters, how Jeremiah's heart was broken, due to the hard heartedness and sin of his people, and the knowledge that God was about to bring judgment on them for all of that.

Today's passages are verses 4 - 9

"Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.

Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.

You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me", declares the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says: "See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him. Should I not punish them for this?", declares the Lord. "Should I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?"



In verse 4, where it speaks of every brother is a deceiver, this is a pun on the Hebrew meaning of the name Jacob, which means "supplanter" or "one who deceives". Everyone has a Jacob in their life.

The Lord says that he will test and refine his people, to bring them to a place of repentance. He continues to do that today - those of us who are believers in Christ don't forego testing and refining; the Lord wants us to be a spotless bride for Christ, when he returns for us. He has to prune and purge the things from us that keep us at a distance from him.

I spoke not long ago about how a silversmith can tell when the product is pure and finished; he holds it up, and when he sees his reflection in it, he knows it's ready and complete.

That's how the Lord is with us - he refines us as a silversmith does, wanting others to see His reflection when they look at our lives. He was saddened that his people had a hypocritical walk in life - they would bless thier neighbors while in thier presence, but in their hearts, they thought otherwise.

God wants us to be "real" - to live our daily lives like we present ourselves in church on Sundays. He sees our hearts and knows our motives, and it's those motives that aren't pure, those motives that are self-serving, that he wants to get rid of.

Who do people see when they look at you? Are they able to see Jesus in you? Were you to die today, would the funeral home be filled with people who were able to say, "He/she loved God, and it was evident in his/her life".

That's my life's desire - to reflect Jesus to others - to have some kind of impact on someone's life; pointing them to the cross, and to the feet of Jesus.

Have a blessed day!
Janelle

A Heart of Intercession

Good Saturday Morning! It's cold here in FL this morning; only in the mid 30's! It sure does wake one up to go out on the porch to have coffee, and that crisp air hit one in the face!
I start on Chapter 9 of Jeremiah this morning, and we see even further, why Jeremiah was referred to as the Weeping Prophet.
9: 1 - 3" Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep all day and night for the slain of my people. Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.
'They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies. It is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me', declares the Lord."

We see Jeremiah mourning for his people, and weeping for them, much like Jesus did over Jerusalem when he was in the Garden praying and interceding for them, prior to his crucifixion.
They both knew the glory and the blessings of following the Lord, and both knew the oncoming sorrow of separation from the Lord, for the unrepentant sins.
We too, should have a heart for those who are lost; and make ourselves available to the calling of The Holy Spirit, to be a witness of God's love and grace through Christ Jesus.
I pray that I would strive more, to have a heart for intercession.

Have a blessed day!

Janelle

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling

TGIF!!! Another week flown by, and it's hard to believe that next week we celebrate Thanksgiving!
I am wrapping up Chapter 8 of Jeremiah today. We'll see again, why Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet. His heart is broken for the people of Judea and Jerusalem, and he cries out to God in his sorrow.
8:18-22 - "O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away! 'Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?'
'Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?'
The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?"

Oh that our hearts as believers, would weep and mourn for lost souls, as Jeremiah did. He cried out to God as his Comforter. This is the first time I've ever noticed that in the Old Testament; the New Testament refers to the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, who resides within us. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to men as we know him; He came upon them as God led Him to. Obviously, Jeremiah was somehow acquainted with this third part of God's Trinity, to call out to Him in that way. That's just my opinion.
His question of "is there no balm in Gilead" is a passage I've heard in many sermons throughout my life, but never really understood exactly what it meant. Upon studying this a little further, I found out that the balm - a resin used for medicinal purposes, was available in Gilead, which was just a little over a day's journey for them. Though it was near, the people refused God's help.
I think this reference to help for physical difficulties they were having was used as a comparison of how close the Lord had always been to them, but they refused Him, and/or His help in delivering them from their sin.
The Lord is just a breath away - He hears the earnest cries of one who is lost, and is immediately on the scene to save and forgive. If you are one who does not yet know the Lord in a personal and intimate relationship, he's waiting for you to cry out to Him. He's given each of us a free will, and does not force himself onto anyone. He uses His Holy Spirit to woo us to receive Jesus as Lord of our life, and He will come into your life and reside within you to be to you as he was to Jeremiah, a Comforter. The Holy Spirit always points the way to Jesus.
If you are a believer and have fallen away from your relationship with the Lord, He is still there, and is still just a breath away. He can and will forgive any and all sin, so don't let Satan deceive you into thinking that you can't return to the Lord because you've been in sin. That's just one of his lies he uses all the time on believers to keep them from living a life of freedom in Christ.
I was thumbing through an old Baptist Hymnal last night, looking for the words to a particular hymn, and I ran across one of my favorite hymns that is sung at the end of services, when the invitation to receive Jesus is open. Below are the words to "Softly and Tenderly"; read carefully this beautiful old hymn, and ask the Lord to let it penetrate and minister to your heart.

1. "Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling; Calling for you and for me
See, on the portals He's waiting and watching; watching for you and for me
Refrain
Come Home.....come home....You who are weary, come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner, Come home!
2. Why would we tarry when Jesus is pleading; pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies; mercies for you and for me?
Refrain
Come Home....come home....You who are weary, come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner, Come home!
3. Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing; passing from you and from me
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming; coming for you and for me
Refrain
Come Home....come home...You who are weary, come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner, Come home!
4. Oh! for the wonderful love He has promised; promised for you and for me
Tho we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon; pardon for you and for me
Refrain
Come Home.....come home....You who are weary, come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner, Come home

That is what the Lord has been doing since the beginning of time - calling out to each one of us to come to him. He tried calling out to the people Jeremiah was weeping and mourning for, and they never responded to his call, and were now facing torment and destruction.
Don't put off today, making that decision to make Him Lord of your life, or to return to him and re-establish your relationship. Make today a new start in your life. We are never guaranteed tomorrow, and once you pass from this life into the next, you won't have that chance. Please don't take the risk of losing that chance that He is offering you now!

Have a blessed Friday...
Janelle

The Voice of Truth

Chapter 8: 14 - 17 starts off with the people finally seeming to realize that thier sin has brought the coming judgments down on them.
"Why are we sitting here? Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.
We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing but there was only terror.
The snorting of the enemy's horses is heard from Dan; at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles. They have come to devour the land and everything in it, the cry and all who live there.
'See, I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,' declares the Lord'".

The people of Judea and Jerusalem have come to understand that there are consequences of sin. They confess they believed all those false promises of peace from the leaders of their land; promises from those who were leading them further and further into their sinful activities.
The Babylonians were compared to venomous snakes - something that the Lord actually had sent among his people before, when they had gone back to their sinful ways. I'm sure that they were aware of this, from the passing of the tales of their forefathers that had come out of Egypt. At that time, the Lord told Moses in Numbers 21: 8 - 9 - "The Lord said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived".
Only the people who looked at the bronze snake on the pole and believed God, lived. This is an illustration of Christ's death on the cross, and the necessity of a personal faith for salvation.

Psalm 58, written by David, also speaks of venomous snakes; his comparison being that of how the words of the judges and leaders of his time, had abused their power to mislead the children of God. This seems to be what the people of Jeremiah's time allowed to happen as well, and now they were about to reap the consequences of their blindly following their misguided teachings.
58: 1-4 - "Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? No, in your heart you devise injustice and your hands mete out violence in the earth. Even from birth, the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skilled the enchanter may be".
The words of the wicked rulers were so convincing to the people, that they were deaf to the appeals of God to turn away from them, and turn back to God with repentant hearts.

Do you see a pattern here?

• The people who followed Moses out of Egypt to the promised land of God, rebelled against God by following false gods and the words of the wicked who wanted to have power over them.
• The people in David's time were also being misled by unjust judges and rulers; deaf to the call of the Lord for them to repent.
• The people in Jeremiah's time were now in the same situation; they too had fallen prey to the false teachings and false promises of those who were in authority over them.
• Are we repeating history here ourselves? God has surely blessed our nation since it's foundation in 1776, but how much longer will he continue to do so, when so many are trusting in any and everything but him; choosing to follow their own desires, and putting their trust in the words and promises of peace and prosperity from those who are now in authority, as well as the ones about to come to the seats of authority in our land. I repeat that it is our duty as Christian believers, to pray for our leaders; pray for them to seek Godly wisdom to lead our country. Pray that they will justly deal with those who have abused their power in the large corporations, which has brought us to this current state of economic disaster.

I urge to you to pray as I do, that my ears, my heart will be open to hear the word and direction from the Lord; that my eyes will seek him out in his word, enabling me to discern truth. We need to pray that our country will wake up from this spiritual stagnation caused by the deceptive ways of the world; to be alert to the words of truth that our Lord Jesus spoke to us, and follow the direction and leading of His Holy Spirit, to a place of repentence, forgiveness, and restoration.

On my playlist, there is a song called, "The Voice of Truth", by Casting Crowns. I hope you will find it on here and take a listen - it will give you encouragement, strength and hope in our Lord.

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

The Deception of the People

Continuing in Jeremiah 8: 4-9, The Lord is speaking to Jeremiah and telling him what to say to the people.
"Say to them, ' This is what the Lord says: "When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ' What have I done?' Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle. Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.
How can you say, 'We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord', when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have"?
The same question is prevalent for us today - why do people turn away, and refuse to return to the foundations given to us by the Lord?
Our society has become unrepentant for the multitudes of sins that are condoned in our country; everyone seems to have the attitude of "do whatever feels right to you".
The Lord says that even the birds follow their instincts put into them in order to survive, but the people behave unnaturally towards him. He has put within each one of us, a spiritual void that only He can fulfill. Men and women go off on so many rabbit trails, chasing after "stuff" and man-made methods of finding "peace"; they try all the religions of the world, in search of one that will "tickle thier ears" and make them feel good about themselves; religions void of any message of sin, one's need for a savior, and repentance. They will try anything but the only way to fill that spiritual void, and that is going to the Lord and accepting his gift of salvation found only in Jesus.
This passage also is the first place in the Bible where the scribes are mentioned as a professional class. They were the leaders of their time; they governed the people, much like our elected politicians govern us. The people then knew there were laws of God laid out for them, but they chose to follow the direction of "the lying pen of the scribes". I compare this to how the foundations laid our in our Constitution, by our forefathers seeking God's direction for our country, being overturned by a new generation of people who we label as the "far left liberal", wanting to change portions of our Constitution, and pacify entities such as the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and others who have no regard for the Lord, or his statutes. They say that to follow the things that were originally penned, are now passe, close-minded, and not practical for our current society. They are a strong force, and have deceieved many into following right along with their self-serving agendas. I'll repeat what the Lord said in verse 9 - "Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?"
It also says that the "wisdom" of these lying scribes will bring them shame, and that they will be dismayed and trapped.
Seems to me that the problems we face with our economy can be traced back to the leaders we have in Congress, having no oversight on the institutions that have brought us to this place of financial turmoil. They took advantage of the system, and now we all are paying the price of their greed and ill business practices. We now see our country put to shame, dismayed, and trapped because of the actions of those who have had their own interests put above the best interests of the people they are supposed to be leading.
We as believers, are called to pray for those who are in authority over us; to pray that they seek the wisdom and direction of the Lord. He tells us in II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land".
I have been praying that all during the election process here, and will continue to pray that for our country and our leaders. The heathen aren't going to be on their knees seeking God for his blessings on our country - it's up to those of us who call ourselves the Children of God, to stand in the gap and sincerely pray for our leaders and our country.

What Do You Follow?

Good Monday Morning! Brrrrrrr...it's only in the 40s here, and we folks in Florida just aren't used to cold weather!

Today I start in Chapter 8 of Jeremiah, and it begins with God referring back to what he said in the last part of Chapter 7 - the total destruction of the people of Judea and Jerusalem. He continues to point out specifics of their sins, and today it speaks of the sin of following after the stars of the skies.

8:1-3 "At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord".

The Lord allowed desecration of their graves, which was common practice in warfare in those days. It was an insult to the conquered people, and sometimes it was done to uncover any thing of value that might have been buried with them.

He is very clear in these passages that the worship of anything other than himself, will suffer the consequences of that sin. He specifically points out the worship of the stars and moon - astrology.

There are many places in the Bible where he says we are not to follow or worship the stars; we are not to seek them for direction, but there are many - even people in the church- who talk about what "sign" they are. Even looking at a horoscope, which might seem innocent, is forbidden by God. It opens the door to getting into the habit of reading it, which then becomes a form of worship.

If you want direction in your life - seek God. He will lead you down the path that he has for you; a path that ends in eternal life with him in Heaven. He will be with you on that path, when there are obstacles of life in the way, and will get you through them. None of the stars in Heaven can do that - they are created objects, and have no life in them; they have no means of guiding one's life.
What do you follow? The Great Shepherd, Jesus, says, "My sheep follow me and they know my voice". Do you know His voice, and are you following him, or do you wander through life aimlessly, following any and everything but him?