Good morning to all on this 13th day of September. I hadn't realized that it has been 12 days since my last posting. No excuses. Waine and I are in Atlanta and enjoying the cool mornings that the fall brings. It has been a welcomed respite from the triple digit weather we have been experiencing in the South. We spent the last weekend with Kai and Hailie and their parents. They are two of the most enjoyable kids ever. Hailie can light up a room with her smile and Kai has Freddie beat for the "affection meter". My sister Velma drove from Miami to be with us and I appreciated her warmth and love for Freddie and his family. This is the age that I really enjoy my grand children and we are looking forward to Melanie and her family joining us for Thanksgiving. It is a real commitment on their part as they trek from Portland. Their presence will make this an especially memorable Thanksgiving. God is teaching me daily about FAITH--the ability to believe in the substance of my prayers before they happen. I thought I had learned that lesson but since God is still revealing His truths in this area to me I accept His blessing and thank Him in advance for my abundance.
I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 11, verses 6-17 "The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey Me.” But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep. Then the LORD said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem. Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress. What is my beloved doing in My temple as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your punishment? When you engage in your wickedness, then you rejoice. The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm He will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken. The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused My anger by burning incense to Baal." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Words.
These physical descendants of Abraham were given a COVENANT with God, Jehovah. The covenant was a PROMISE and had conditions - 1) love and serve the One True God, Jehovah and 2) obey His commandments. Now these physical children of Abraham were great at recording history and teaching them to their young. They knew the story of Abraham, of Moses and of Arron. They knew that they as a people were provided a covenant with God because of the faithfulness of Abraham and their other forefathers and what do they do? They start worshipping other gods and disobeying God Jehovah. They broke the covenant and in these series of verses God is telling Jeremiah to tell the Israelites that they would suffer the consequences of this breach in the Covenant. Just as Adam and Eve suffered the consequences of breaking their covenant with God, so too would the children of Israel. There is a lesson in this. God never breaks His covenants and covenants always comes with conditions.
We are the spiritual descendant of Abraham and we too have a covenant with God through Christ. The conditions are the same - 1) love and serve the One True God, Jehovah through Jesus the Christ and 2) obey His commandment to love one another just as we have been loved by God through Christ. When we breach this covenant relationship we allow calamity to enter our lives AND block the abundance that God has REALIZED for us. You see, we never have to wait on God for His portion of the Covenant with us. Once He speaks the covenant (eternal life through acceptance of His Son, Jesus the Christ) God has deposited His portion into our Spiritual bank. So why are there so many stressed out, unhappy Christians? Simply put, we don't believe the Promise. We talk the Pomise but don't walk the Promise. We are always looking to FULFILL for some future date the result of the covenant when all we have to do is CLAIM AND THEN ACCEPT THE COVENANT BLESSING. I am reminded of the children of the Exodus. The Promised Land could be seen all during the time they wandered in the wilderness. A journey that took 40 YEARS was meant to take 2 days. Why?? The sins of the Children of Exodus!!
What "40 year" journey are you on? Tired of traveling. Tired of looking for your abundant future. Then STOP, DROP and ROLL and proclaim this day that your abundance has arrived! Hallelujah and I pray that you will realize this day the abundance that God has for you, not in the future but today.
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. Amen.
Stephanie
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