Jesus is the Rcok for a Weary Land

Good morning to all on this 1st day of August. Waine and I are in Orlando. Mackenzie and Brooks traveled with us to Orlando to celebrate Kai's 3rd birthday. Kai is quite the wonderful toddler. So loving and generous with his kisses. Ms. Hailie has quite the personality. She doesn't back down from much and is already exerting her will in little ways. It was Monkey Joe's on Saturday followed by brunch at the Grand Floridian with Disney characters and family. We had a blast catching up with Michelle and Marco and Mackenzie and Brooks had a grand time beating up on Poppop in a game of dominoes. We will be driving back to Atlanta today so pray God's traveling mercies for us. Being with family is always an enriching experience--the tapestry of personalities paints a wonderful picture. I am sure all will agree even if it is through reflection.

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 9, verses  1-6, "Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep 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. Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them 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." Amen and amen.

Jeremiah has a voice! He has, up to this point, communicated the directives of the Lord to a very foolish and unrepentant people but today Jeremiah has a voice!  He is lamenting over the sinfulness of the chosen people of God. He describes them a crowd of adulterers and liars. Friends cannot trust friends and no one speaks the truth. They are lost in their own iniquities and their sinful ways. They deceive themselves into thinking that they can live without God and therefore are consumed with their own sins. And that is how SIN works! Sin at the base of it, wants you to think that God is not needed in the equation of your life. That you are enough in and of yourself to  navigate life. What SIN fails to tell you is that since this life we lead is a GIFT from God it would stand to reason that you need God to get the most out of life. Without God, then your life is a series of lies, manipulations, deceptions and self serving behaviors. All in the pursuit of self fulfillment and happiness.

If you have been watching the US news concerning the need to raise the ceiling on the amount of deficit the US can support, you would have seen examples of everything Jeremiah saw. You witnessed people with tongues like a bow, shooting arrows of lies. You saw friends deceiving friends and people of power more interested in their own point of view than reaching a good conclusion. I did not see one group of the "conservative Christian right" get on the TV and ask for God's wisdom to solve the problems this country has. I didn't see our President ask that the factious right and left come together in prayer. I just saw people trying to exercise power. I think the message of Jeremiah is so relevant for the US today. The US is supposed to be a nation that is devoted and built on Christian principles so where are the prophets of God? Who is out extolling the Words of God for a lost nation?  As God admonished the nation of Israel to repent and turn from their evil, deceitful ways, so too is God tell our nation to do the same. We live in the midst of deception; in our deceit we refuse to acknowledge God, declares the LORD.

As you go about your Kingdom Building today, let the Light of God shine through your life so that the people in darkness can come to the saving Light of Jesus, the Christ.  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 and give you peace. Amen

Stephanie