Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday of fall. Waine and I are in Hawkinsville and just enjoying the beautiful weather and each other. Waine's mother, Violet, fell while trying to get into her wheel chair and fractured her shoulder. She is 89 and although frail still has her wits about her. Please pray for her healing.  I am reminded daily of God's Hand on and in my life and I thank Him for His mercies.

I am continuing my trek through Jeremiah 12 verses 5 - 17 "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? Your relatives, members of your own family— even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you. I will forsake my house, abandon My inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her. Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack? Go and gather all the wild beasts; bring them to devour. Many shepherds will ruin My vineyard and trample down My field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before Me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares. Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe. They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the LORD’s fierce anger. This is what the LORD says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. And if they learn well the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—even as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD. Amen. May the Lord ass a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

In the previous four (4) verses Jeremiah was lamenting how it appeared that the evil doers prospered and basically God's response is that Jeremiah had to learn how to take the heat or get out the kitchen. God also brought some light to Jeremiah's complaint reminding him, that those folk who he was admiring for worldly riches would soon have their lives torn from them because of their disobedience; so while Jeremiah is busy wanting to be on the other side of the fence God was reminding him that in due season, that fence would be torn down, trampled, stepped on and the people put to ruination. This whole disobedience of the chosen ones greatly troubled God; their propensity for worshipping idols and false gods weighed heavily on our God. His heart is broken because His promise to Abraham was continually being challenged by Abraham's descendant so much so God is now opening the door to the "promise" to the Gentiles, "As surely as the LORD lives’—even as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people."  I praise God for that foresightfulness and His plan that all should benefit the inheritance He promised to Abraham through the sacrifice of Christ the Lord. Hallelujah!

Be careful when looking over the fence that you do not get confused with the landscape. Most of us have enough junk in of own backyard to deal with to be worried about the junk in someone elses yard. When we commit a request to God, He will honor that request and provide the abundance when we are ready to receive it. When it will further our Kingdom building efforts and more will come to know Him because of the light that shines in our life. As CChristians, we are to take on the entire armor of God daily so that we can fight the Good Fight and others will come to know God through us. Be encouraged and allow God's work to take hold in your life.

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.

Stephanie