Good morning to all! Waine and I are on the count down to Christmas and I think I can say without hesitation that recent events in the news would underscore the need for the "Reason for this Season". I pray for those 20 mothers and father who dropped their little cherubs off at school only to be told they would not be coming home because a 20 year old kid thought that his needs, whatever they were, took precedence over the needs of others. That is what sin is. Putting your needs as the most important and then ignoring those instincts that would allow you to consider the welfare of others. The tragedy to those family is 100% today and for every day they draw breath. The tragedy for God is that men has rejected His formula for salvation. I pray our country reflects on the culture of "me" and takes the opportunity to focus on the free Gift from God through His son, Jesus.
I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah, chapter 44 verses 1 - 30 "This Word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis—and in Upper Egypt: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins because of the evil they have done. They aroused my anger by burning incense to and worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever knew. Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today. Now this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant? Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse and an object of reproach among all the nations on earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your ancestors and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your ancestors. Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach. I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine. The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her? Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, “Did not the Lord remember and call to mind the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your ancestors, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the Lord could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became a curse and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed Him or followed His law or His decrees or His stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.” Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, “Hear the Word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have done what you said you would do when you promised, ‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the Word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign Lord lives.” For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose Word will stand—mine or theirs. This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,’ declares the Lord, ‘so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.’ This is what the Lord says: ‘I am going to deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who want to kill him, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who wanted to kill him. Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
I was listening to a NPR news program yesterday with Carlton Preston. He is an evangelist who preaches the Gospel of Inclusion, which basically says that you don't have to profess and accept the Deity of Christ to be reunited with God. He basically is preaching the belief as promulgated by satan to Eve and from Eve to Adam that one didn't have to adhere to the doctrine of God--that God would not allow us to perish if we were disobedient. Well I think these Jews in Jeremiah were of the same misconception. The truth about God hangs on 2 Commandments--that we love God with all of our hearts, mind and soul. That we accept this love through the forgiveness purchased through the sacrifice of Christ. And then we love one another just as God loved us. So simple and yet so hard for some people to accept. The Jews of the tribe of Judah did not want to be obedient to God, they wanted other gods which then led to their destruction. Likewise Carlton Preston now preaches that there are many pathways to God, even though God has told us that there is only ONE path and that is through Christ. Satan would have us confused 100% percent of the time because he wants to be the god of our lives. He is that narcissistic. He cannot fathom that there is a being greater than himself and then uses the logic of morals to fool us into thinking that we can get along through this life without God through Christ.
This world is sick, sick, sick and our job as Christians is to spread the joy of living with God through Christ. This world needs Jesus. Not Buddha, not Mohamed, not the stars, moon and other firmaments. It needs Jesus, more than ever and what am I doing to see to it that they hear this Gospel of love and truth? Jesus is the reason for the season. Do not be deceived that you can have other gods in your life and prosper. Do not be blind as the children of Judah were. 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. Amen.
Stephanie
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