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“If my people] turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins” – 1 John 1:9

In Jeremiah 37, 38 & 39, we read about a King, King Zedekiah who disobeyed God.  He allowed Jeremiah, God’s Prophet, to be put in the dungeon. 

Fortunately for Jeremiah, God sent Ebedmelech the Ethiopian to save him.  And he did.  He managed to get Jeremiah released from the dungeon.  And although Jeremiah was not truly free, he was freed from the dungeon, saved from an agonizing death and brought to the King. 

The King asked Jeremiah to tell him the truth and promised he would not be killed for it.  Through Jeremiah, God warned King Zedekiah to surrender.  He warned him that if he didn’t, he would not only die himself, but his entire kingdom would be burned.  But King Zedekiah refused to listen and he suffered those exact consequences.

In Jeremiah 38, we read of Jeremiah being freed and sent home.  And God also saved Ebedmelech, because Ebedmelech trusted God and saved Jeremiah from the dungeon.

Clearly, God is Merciful, but God is also Just. As human beings, it’s only natural that we prefer to focus on God’s Mercy. But it is also important that we remember God is also Just.

Sometimes we fail to listen and obey our Lord.  We’re human.  But because God is Merciful, He give us the chance to repent and turn back to Jesus.  But since God is also Just, if there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness.

God’s Gifts are so many, but sometimes we are so busy we don’t take a moment to “see” them.

The beauty of the world in which we live is one such gift.  God created this world to be a beautiful home for us.  The sun, so beautiful it can take one’s breath away.  The sea upon which the sun creates millions of lights for us to enjoy is a wonder.  The mountains filled with leaves lit up by sun light are amazing.  The rainbow, a reminder of God’s Promise to us, are beautiful beyond words.  The rain, reflecting the sun has a piercing beauty that reaches all the way to our very souls.  There are simply  no words to describe the wonder of the sun rise, for it is that beautiful.  The stars that fill the sky at night remind of the endless possibilities that exist.

And God created it all!

And one thought to comfort us in these difficult times, do we really think that the God who created this entire world and us – can’t take care of us?  Do not Fear ?

And these gifts are always there, no matter where we are!

So next time we are feeling down or afraid, we have only to look up.

For the God who created such a beautiful world for us to enjoy, Loves us with a Love beyond our understanding.  He will not let us down, for His Love will always lift us up!

Should we? Can we? We all know that the truth: it is hard to pray for those who reject God’s Will and do so much to harm the innocent.

But God did not call us to His service to be wimps, lol.

We can and should pray for our nations leaders. but it is they who will need to choose repentance and God’s Grace. And repentance does not just mean just being sorry, it means changing.

Wish them well and pray they choose wisely.

Because we who have chosen to accept Christ have already been forgiven so much-we need to forgive others as well 🙂

There are many answers to this question in the Bible. However, here, we are not talking about the person who sins and repents. Instead we are talking about those people and countries who refuse to obey the Lord and do NOT repent.

In Ezekiel 19, the Bible writes what is referred to as a Lamentation. A lamentation is a deep expression of grief or sorrow. There are grave consequences to refusing to obey God, consequences that can not be ignored or escaped. But because God loves us, He takes no joy from our sufferings, rather He suffers with us.

Ezekiel 19 is really about the grief that came from the fall of Israel. Because Israel had evil kings, kings that did not obey God, Israel fell from God’s Grace.

America is in the same place as Israel was many years ago. Blessed for many years, America as a nation, has turned away from the God who has Blessed it so richly for so long. Rejecting the lessons of the Holy Bible in favor or earthly desires, America, as a nation, has fallen from God’s Grace.

But as frightening as that is, we have something that Israel did not have. We have Jesus. So for us who believe, we need not fear. Christ will be with us – all the way 🙂

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”-Psalm 119:105

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” – Psalm 19:111

A friend of mine reminded me of these verses.  The “cancel culture” continues to grow out of control. 

But we who follow Christ need not fear.

The Bible gives us a “Roadmap” for our lives and is available to all.  And even better, if we memorize its’ verses we can “Hide them in our Heart” ?.  And then no power on this earth can “cancel” them.

As a friend reminded me,“Evil can not remove The Holy Spirit from our hearts, only we can do that with our personal choice. “  And no one can make us make that choice!

The “cancel culture” may be able to get companies to stop printing or selling The Bible, or they may even attempt to change what it says in print, but they will never be able to take God’s Word from us, because God’s Word lives in us ?

We’ve all heard of the 6 Dr. Seuss books that will no longer be printed. The “cancel” culture is alive and well, but the problem is-who decides?

I heard a story a long time ago regarding WWII. According to the story, there was a Jewish book shop owner who sold many books, many of them to the Nazis. He knew that the Nazis were taking many of his Jewish friends to the “camps”. But he figured “they” would never come for him. After all he reasoned, they bought their books from him. In his mind, they needed him! And then, “they” came for him too

He had forgotten or didn’t know that evil can never be appeased. The more evil destroys, the more it wants to destroy. Evil never sleeps. And evil is never satisfied.

We’ve seen this before.

If we wait too long, it won’t just be our children’s books they will come for, it will be our Bible’s.

Why our Bibles? Because the Bible will never say it’s okay to do whatever we want.

But as it was for the book shop owner, it may be too late

Don’t Wait-Hide Your Bible In Your Heart!

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold”-Matthew 24:12

Ever get super busy, just doing “stuff”. Perhaps it goes something like this, you run to work, then you run to the grocery store, than you run home to fix dinner, you race to finish dinner and then race to do the laundry…And you just keep running. I am sure guys have a list too :).

There’s not much time for “feeling” in there….

Or perhaps you turn on the news only to find there are so many dreadful things happening in our country, indeed in our world, that it leaves us numb. From a global tax to the cancellation of Dr. Seuss, there is not much good news out there. Perhaps worrying about Covid 19 for so long, has turned us numb. Perhaps the recent election did.

It’s easy to see how it happens.

But keeping our hearts “warm and compassionate” is really important! Especially these days… Love, compassion, kindness-they all come from our hearts. Which is why we can never let them grow cold or hard!

“Harden not your hearts”-Hebrews 3:8

But do not worry, for we are indeed Blessed. Because any time we are concerned that our heart may be growing colder, more calloused, all we need to do is ask God to soften our hearts. And He will 🙂

“Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” – Zephaniah 2:3

What is the Day of the Lord’s anger?  It’s the same as the Day of God’s Wrath in Revelations.  There are many verses that are relevant to God’s Wrath and there are many things that are important to know, below are two.

The first is God is Just.  Those who reject Christ will suffer the consequences and those who reject the teachings of God will suffer  And although forgiveness is available through Jesus Christ, it is only available through Jesus Christ,

God is also Merciful.  He understands out fears and our weaknesses.  That is why Jesus came to Save us.  He loves us.  And as terrifying as Revelations is, those who seek our Lord and righteousness may be “hid”.  In other words, safe. And that is what Zephaniash 2:3 shares with us.

Seek our Lord while He may be found that you may be “hid” when the Day of God’s Wrath comes.

“Sometimes “Daddy” is all we can muster. Stress. Fear. Guilt. Grief. Demands on all sides. All we can summon is a plaintive “Oh Father”. If so, that’s enough – Max Lucado

Then it is always good to say Thank You 🙂