God, Your Life Planner!

Good morning to all on this Monday after Christmas 2011. If your Christmas was as enjoyable and filled with love as ours was, then you had a good weekend. Given our schedules, Waine and I don't entertain often however we hosted a party Friday night and we had a blast with new and old friends. We had dinner at our house yesterday and I can officially say that I have mastered the art of cooking lamb! Waine and I woke up praising God for His goodness and for each other. I fall more in love with the guy daily! I had the occasion to watch a movie, Soul Surfer. If you haven't seen it then you should make time this week to catch it. It will make Jeremiah much more meaningful for you. Also one of the Special Treasures I was given was a DVD that contained moments from my past. My niece found some old 8 mm film and put together a montage of images of our family. I saw my mother when she was young. There was footage of my baby brother Yoshio and my Dad, both of whom have passed. There is footage of my brother Koichi playing football and participating in a karate match. It is truly the gift that will keep on giving.

I am emboldened and continuing my journey in Jeremiah 17 verses 9 - 18, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools. A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the Spring of Living Water. Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. They keep saying to me, “Where is the Word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!” I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you. Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction. Amen. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

Jeremiah truly had a 1 on 1 relationship with God. He talked to God; he conversed with his Lord and spoke the things that were on his mind. Jeremiah knew the Lord could read his thoughts and that the Lord knew his heart. That being said Jeremiah is still speaking his heart out to God. Jeremiah was being persecuted for his beliefs and wanted assurance from God that He would continue to be the Refuge that Jeremiah needed. God loves this! If you believe in God enough to tell Him about your fears; about your need to know that there will be retribution for the persecution you have undergone;about your desire for prosperity, God will reward your faith. It is hard to have perspective when you are up close to a situation; when you are in the heat of battle you only see the enemy in front of you. That is the time to remember that God always has a 50,000 feet view of you. He has your front, your back, your left side, your right side, your top and your bottom. You are not vulnerable other than to your own doubt. Be encouraged today and pray for your enemies because God will deal with them for you. The God of Jeremiah, of Abraham, of Issac, of Paul and of Peter is your God. He is the SAME, yesterday, today and forever.  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Amen and hallelujah!

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