I love you with an Everlasting Love, declares the Lord!

Good  morning to all on this glorious Sunday morning. Much has happened since my last blog entry on July 8. Waine, our children and their children, my sister and her family and my brother and his family, threw me a birthday party in St. Petersburg Florida during the weekend of July 12th. To a little person, a good time was had by all and I was left feeling blessed with love of family and friends. Waine also celebrated a birthday on the 18th so we have had back to back celebrations. This weekend finds us mourning with those in Aurora Colorado and the savage, senseless shootings by a very deranged young man. I am reminded that this world, through Satan, makes people feel and believe that they are "owed" something and when their needs are not met they have a "right" to dispense their own idea of parity. I am reminded how sick this world is and how  more than ever, this world needs us as Christians to step up and proclaim the good news! When you have Christ in your life you are never left feeling helpless or hopeless.

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 1 - 14, “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people. This is what the Lord says: The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.  The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.  I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.  Again you will take up your timbrels  and go out to dance with the joyful.  Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;  the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.  There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God. This is what the Lord says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’See, I will bring them from the land of the north  and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame,  expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping;  they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water  on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father,  and Ephraim is my firstborn son. Hear the Word of the Lord, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands:  He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd. For the Lord will deliver Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,  the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden,  and they will sorrow no more. Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty, declares the Lord. Amen and Hallelujah! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

The LESSON here is that obedience leads to restoration and not just to the point you were blessed at before God chastised you but restored to double, and triple. Obedience is always filled with blessings here on earth. God is not a God that delays your gratification. He will allow you to grow your faith through trials; however He never withholds His Love, Grace or Mercy. He has PROMISED an EVERLASTING LOVE for us; that LOVE has been available since the beginning of time and is infinite and endless. When bad things happen it is JUST LIFE. When man allowed sin to enter our GARDEN, the natural result of sin is chaos and calamity. That has nothing to do with your individual disobedience. On the contrary if we could actually see how much calamity and chaos was old there to trap us we would all be very mindful that the love, grace and mercy of God protects both the sinner and the saint. Remember Christ died for us while we were yet in sin. You can't blame God for chaos anymore than you can blame trees from blooming or brooks from flowing. There is a natural order to both sin and grace! As Christians we are always recipients of God's love, mercy and grace and He wants us to share this to the chaotic world. We are instructed to do so with our lives and our testimonies. Take the opportunity to witness to someone today about the love of God which is everlasting; the love that saved a wretch like me to live and experience all the abundance that God has in store for me. God bless you today and may God bless your family and friends through you. 

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

God will Fully Accomplish The Purposes of His Heart

Good morning to all on this Sunday morning, July 8th. It is also  my mother's birthday. Hisako Tamori Jenkins was born on July 8, 1923 and would have been 89 today. Happy birthday Mom. She has gone on to be with Christ where I will see her one day because she and my father made sure that their four (4) children professed their own faith in Christ and accepted His Grace and Mercy so that we would all be in paradise together. What a gift both my parents gave to each of their children. Hallelujah and thank you Jesus for the faith and commitment of my parents!

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 30, verses 1-24, "This is the Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring My people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.” These are the Words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: This is what the Lord says: Cries of fear are heard—terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,  every face turned deathly pale?  How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds;  no longer will foreigners enslave them.  Instead, they will serve the Lord their God and David their king,  whom I will raise up for them. So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;  do not be dismayed, Israel, declares the Lord. I will surely save you out of a distant place,  your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security,  and no one will make him afraid.  I am with you and will save you, declares the Lord. Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure;  I will not let you go entirely unpunished. This is what the Lord says: Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.  There is no one to plead your cause,  no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel,  because your guilt is so great  and your sins so many. Why do you cry out over your wound,  your pain that has no cure?  Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you. But all who devour you will be devoured;  all your enemies will go into exile.  Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord, because you are called an outcast,  Zion for whom no one cares. This is what the Lord says:‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents  and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. From them will come songs of thanksgiving  and the sound of rejoicing.  I will add to their numbers,  and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor,  and they will not be disdained. Their children will be as in days of old,  and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them.  Their leader will be one of their own;  their ruler will arise from among them.  I will bring him near and he will come close to me—for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the Lord.  So you will be my people,  and I will be your God. See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back  until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart. In days to come you will understand this. Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

What a wonderful message. God sees us Christians as His people. We are His people and He DECLARES that He is our God! With this statement He not only has your back, front, sides, head and feet, you are part of His Clan. He counts you among those that will share eternity with Him and in addition to that He will fight all your enemies right here on earth and ensure that you are made whole. You don't have to worry about what men and women may say about you. You don't have to worry about idle threats. God's GOT THIS--meaning He has You and will protect you from all harm and will restore unto you any loses you may incurred as a result of your obedience to Him. Our job then is to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel that Christ was conceived, was born, lived a life among us, died for our sins and was RESURRECTED so that we would be saved from the results of our sins and live with Him forever. Our job is to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to accept the mercy of God through Christ. Our job is to share Jesus with the world! That is the message Waine and I got in Sunday School today. Our job is to share Jesus with a dying world so that we don't have to feel bad in heaven that we didn't share the good news of the Gospel. God will perfect His work in you daily as you let Him. Our abundant life is there for the taking as we yield to Him. Praise God today and share this joy with someone that needs it. 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



The Choice is Yours!

Good morning to all on this Sunday morning! God is in His heaven and all is right with the world. If you don't have this perspective then ask God to help focus your attention on your blessings! It is the first Sunday in July and July 1st. One-half of the year is already passed us and for Waine and I it has been an exciting 2012! There have been opportunities and challenges; the challenges continue to cement us as a unit and the opportunities just shower blessings on us. I know the plans that God has for me and my family; plans for propserity and hope and God is NOT man that He should lie. Hallelujah!

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 29, verses 24-32, "Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?  He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:  “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.’” Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says to all of us , "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." Satan and his minions will have us believe otherwise, just has Shemaiah tried to do. There are many among us that will try and tell you what the will of God is for your life. They will preach from the Word but then put their own spins to it. The Word of God is clear to those that believe. It needs no interpretation. God means what He saids in His Word and tells us to hide His Words in our Heart so that we will not be led a stray by the Great Deceiver, satan. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge or they would surley die. Satan comes along and then interprets this commandment to Eve who buys it hook, line and SINKER. God meant what He said to Adam and Eve and His Words are still true today. He commands us to love Him with all of our hearts and be obedient to His other Commandment to love our brothers as God has loved us. On these two GREAT Commandments hang ALL the laws of heaven and earth. When we love God we have a true desire to serve Him and to tell everyone about Him. It is not enough to be a good person; we have to be a Spirit filled, born again good person to fight the good fight against the evil one. Satan wants the world to believe that a Benevolent God would not allow so many people to perish. Well what Jeremiah has taught me is that God is not only benevolent, He is long-suffering and gives the world many chances to repent. But when the time is up it is up. God cannot exist in the same space as sin and so when your number gets punched and you die in sin, never having confessed Christ as Lord, the consequence of that decision is an eternity without God. The choice was yours and your chose unwisely.

Don't believe the Shemaiahs of this world. Believe that God is not man that He should lie. He has told us that we must confessour sins and then accept Christ as Lord. A grieving world needs this message. God has a plan of prosperity for all you acccept it. Our jobs as Christians is to get the Word out!

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

Stephanie