There is No Time Limit with God!

Good morning to all on this Glorious Sunday  morning. Waine is in route from Jamaica and I am in Hawkinsville this morning. Can't wait to see my man! The weather in Georgia had been very cold for the past week. High's in the 50's and lows in the 20-30's. We have almost settled in to our new home thanks to Ms. Bertha. Our practice continues to grow with new patients coming in every day, so continue to pray for us and our patients. Also pray that our next new business venture is blessed. We are trying to start a medical supply company. I am tired of making large companies with poor quality rich. God has placed this venture on my heart and I know he will make a way. Also pray for Tracy's business. She is venturing out to be a private Autistic counselor much like Melanie. Maybe there will be a Florida and Georgia Play Connection!!

 

We have come to the end of the book of Jeremiah, chapter 52 verses 1- 34, "Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him.  There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah.  Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death. On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.  He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.  The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon.  But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.  They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.  The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver. The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed.  Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred. The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all.

 

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison.  He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.  Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death." Amen! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of Hi Word.

 

It took 37 years for Judah to be restored-37 years!! How many of us would wait 37 years for God's planning. Some of us can't wait a day or a hour. Abraham and Sari didn't wait and look at the strife they wrought with the Israeli-Arab conflict. We feel let down if God doesn't instantly give us what we want. What I have learned is that God will answer your prayers immediately; the length of time it takes to reveal the answer is dependent on our "spiritual antennae" to pick up the message. When you are in-sync with the Will of God the answers come very quickly. When our hearts are not receptive then the wait becomes longer--as I learn to let go of my will and stop struggling His plan and Will are revealed to me. As I let His plan come worth and allow Him to fight my battles then the happier I am and His plan of action comes to light that more more quicker. Just last week I was faced with some challenges. The old me would have started to fight and to argue; I instead laid the issue at the Cross and will wait on the Lord to handle the issue. I am not anxious anymore because I know that God will handle the problem or give me a different perspective of the problem. Either way I have victory.

 

What I have taken away from my study of Jeremiah is that disobedience has real consequences BUT regardless of our disobedience the Will of God will take fruit. Out of the dust of Judah came Christ. God's plan is forever and has no time limit. Death however will conquer our time limit, God's plan will be fulfilled for you if not through you then through your seed. Why not let go of the struggle and let God's plan for you take fruit today. The decision is yours.

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie



Where are the Jeremiahs?

Good morning from Kingston Jamaica. Waine and I are here for his annual golf trip. I will be returning to the States on Monday but this little 4 day rest did me a world of good. The kinks in my neck have all but left. There is something about Jamaica that can cool e out . I felt myself relaxing as soon as I got to our little house. I even slept longer!! Our friend Sonja has been staying at our place and got the TV/cable going, the Internet going and the phones hooked up. Thank God for friends!! I had left this mission for my dear husband whose interpretation of what I wanted was a small Internet wireless card that we had to share and went down on a regular basis. Men are truly from Mars!!

 

We are on the count down in Jeremiah, chapter 51 verses 1 - 64, "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.  I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster. Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy  her army. They will fall down slain in Babylon, fatally wounded in her streets. For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens. The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.

 

Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for His temple. Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The Lord will carry out His purpose, His decree against the people of Babylon. You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed. The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you. He made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.

Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, including the people of His inheritance—the Lord Almighty is His name. You are my war club,  my weapon for battle—with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman, with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials. Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord. I am against you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth, declares the Lord. I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord. Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. Prepare the nations for battle against her—the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule. The land trembles and writhes, for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand—to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there. Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified.

 

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out. May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon, say the inhabitants of Zion. May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia, says Jerusalem. Therefore this is what the Lord says: See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter—then sleep forever and not awake, declares the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels. I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall. Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,”declares the Lord. Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the Lord in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem. We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord’s house. But days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,” declares the Lord.

 

The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. The Lord will destroy Babylon; He will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.  A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.  I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty. This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames. This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall. The words of Jeremiah end here. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

Boy how the mighty has fallen. The Babylonians have now seen the power and authority of the One True and Living God. King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful ruler of the day. He commanded armies and weapons. He had wealth and vigor but at the end of the day he had nothing because he did not have God. Nebuchadnezzar surrounded himself with idols and false gods, chief among them himself. At the end of the day, his day, he was left with nothing. That is how Satan works, He is a liar. He will have you believe that your power is so awesome that nothing can come against it. He should know. He, Satan,  thought he was more powerful than the God that created him and in the end has spent his eternity isolated from the love of the God who created him. Satan knows first hand what life and existenence is like without God which is why the scriptures say he prowls around like a lion trying to devour all that comes in his path. Satan is just about destruction and he will lie to deceive those that are vulnerable.

 

The sad thing is that so many people are deceived. Where are the Jermiahs of our day. Who is there to stand up for Jesus, the Christ. What God wants for all of us is the life He intended for Adam and Eve. A cool walk in the Garden with Him. What the world has chosen instead is chaos and misery all because the world would rather believe that there is a truth outside of the Truth that we were made to serve God. How does a cup say, "I don't want to  hold liquid"? How does a chair say, "I don't want to support your weight"? How does a car say, "I don't want to transport you"? We were made to serve God and then to receive His love. Outside of the Will and Purpose of God lies destruction.  The world needs to hear this Good News! God loves us and only wants our Good. Outside of the will and purpose of God's protective Love lies all the destruction that faced Babylon. Are you a "Jeremiah"?

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you nnd give you peace.

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Piece of Art!

Good morning to all on this wonderful Monday morning. It's 2:30 AM but I went to bed early last night so I thought I would get up and spend some time meditating on the goodness of God. Last week Waine and I were in Orlando with Freddie, Tracy, Kai and Hallie. We were able to spend some quality time with those 2 cherubs that are growing so fast. This weekend we moved into our house. Waine and I have bought a  house in Thomaston. As I reflect on this blessing I am the evidence that you can not imagine that breadth of God's love for those that love Him and are called for His purpose. When the scriptures tell you that the mind of man cannot imagine the Goodness and Grace of God, believe it. In Luke 6:38, Christ told His disciples,  "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”, believe it! Hallelujah, we serve a mighty good God and for those that might doubt what I just said, you just don't know Him!

 

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 50, verses 1- 46, "This is the Word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians. Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, ‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’ A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away. In those days, at that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors. Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock. For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill, declares the Lord. Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations—a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.  Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds.

 

Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on her;  do to her as she has done to others. Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land. Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them
was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 

 

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, at that time, declares the Lord, search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare. Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them, declares the Lord. Do everything I have commanded you.  The noise of battle is in the land,  the noise of great destruction! How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations! I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the Lord. The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of His wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished. Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for His temple. Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day, declares the Lord. See, I am against you, you arrogant one, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her. This is what the Lord Almighty says: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon. A sword against the Babylonians! declares the Lord—against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.  A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror. So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns, declares the Lord, so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it. Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me? Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon, what He has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate. At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations. Amen! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

Wow, how the mighty has fallen. 50 chapters ago Jeremiah was pleading with the children of Judah not to embrace the idolatry of the Babylonians BUT the children of Judah decided that these Babylonians, their custom, their worship of idols, was a better example to follow than the commandments of the One and Truly Wonderful God of their forefather Abraham. Look at Babylon now. If you read historical accounts of Babylon it tells of a story of an empire that flourished for a season and then was laid waste by the Assyrians. All that is left of the original kingdom of Babylon is a mound! I don't know how anyone can read history, read the Bible and then still doubt the awesome power of God. God sees and thinks in 3 dimensions--maybe that's why the simple mind of man can't understand the purpose and planning of God. His message is so simple--Love Him first --then love your fellow man just as God has loved you. So simple yet so hard, because Satan will have you believe that YOU on the throne of your life is better than God on the throne of your life. Wake up people, God only allows that type of disobedience for a season. A man's season may be his life time, but then, then, then comes the appointed hour of his death. This is his season and beyond that is the judgement. How stupid to squander your "talent" in your "season" just because you are afraid to surrender your will to the Will of the Father.

 

Let me tell you of the planning of God. About 5 years ago, my sister Velma, her daughter Michelle and her son-in-law, purchased a three dimensional piece of art work for Waine and I. It is a rendition of a kimono encased in acrylic. One of our bedrooms in Atlanta, had oriental furniture so Waine and I hung it on the wall of that room. The room was very small and dark so you really couldn't appreciate the beauty of the piece of art--but my sister saw the beauty in this peice of art and God knew that He was going to give Waine and I a house in Thomaston Georgia five years in the future with a bedroom big enough that this piece of art could really be appreciate it. My words are not doing justice to the fact that this room was made for this piece of art. God knew our future and used the love of my sister to bless Waine and I with the PERFECT piece of art for our bedroom. It is PERFECT and when God's Hand is on anything there is no struggle and life is PERFECT.

 

If you are struggling then perhaps you want to do  like me and surrender your will to that of the Father. I am by no means perfect and when I reflect on how God takes me, this imperfect vessel, to do GREAT things, I give all the glory to God! There is victory and release in a relationship with God through Christ. Perhaps its time you  let the world know.

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie