Jeremiah 42- Listen to God or disobey God - your choice

 Good morning everyone.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet would speak to the people, tell them what God says.  So what happens?  They beat him, put him in prison, and listen to what God tells him, yet disobey what God has passed on through Jeremiah.

   Jeremiah's heart hurt for the people.  They would ask him to speak to God and see what they needed to do, then do what they wanted to do.  Completely disobeying or ignoring what God has said.

   How often do we do this in our life?  You may not hear from God orally, out loud, but you know he is talking to you.  Yet, what do you do?  Just like the commercial of the 60's -- "Mother (in this case Father), please, I would rather do it myself."

   And how does that work out for you.  Often we are in God's favor and do something that later on when we look back we can see God's hand in the mix. HE takes care of us, in spite of our bullheadedness or ignorance.

  Here is Jeremiah 42 if you care to read it. Takes a minute or maybe 2 to read.

God told Jeremiah not to marry and to give his (God's) word to the people.  They would listen to Jeremiah and ignore and become angry because he did not tell them what they wanted to hear. (Some churches today tell you what makes you feel good, run, go to a church that tells the truth).

   We are not much different today.  Take time today to share the word of God with someone; to spend time with God; let the Holy Spirit lead; and then praise God for all he has done in your life.

  Thank you for reading today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Exodus 4: 24 Why did God plan to kill Moses?

 Good morning all. God is good all the time.  All the time God is good.         TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!!

   We are not always doing God's will.  As humans we stray often, however, when we do and realize it, pray, ask forgiveness and praise God for his favors.

   Moses thought he could argue God down.  Give excuses,  what if the people don't believe me that you (God) spoke to me.  Then God gave him 2 examples to show - casting down his staff, then hand was leprous 

   Well, you know I don't speak well. At this point God's was angered and told him his brother Aaron was on his way to meet him and he could speak for him.

    We all see Moses as this great savior of the Jews, the Hebrews, but the back story is not all rainbows and unicorns.  His life was saved by this wife. Look at

EXODUS 4: 24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

    Why was God going to kill Moses?  Because he violated the foundational covenant God made with Abraham and did not circumcise his son.

   What is a flint knife?   A sharp stone blade made from flint rock that were used specifically to perform ritual

circumcisions.  

  When she touched his "feet" many scholars say she touched his genitals with the foreskin.

     Then by calling him the "bridegroom of blood" Moses' life was saved by the blood of the circumcision.

  After Zipporah saved Moses' life he met Aaron, told him was God had said and then they went to the elders, told them and they believed.

   QUESTION:  What would have happened if Zipporah had not saved Moses' life?  Would Aaron have taken over? Did God have a plan B?  Speculation is fun; however, it all happened just the way God wanted it. 

 Praise God.  

    Thank you for reading with me today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

GRACE - 1 Samuel/2 Samuel

 Good afternoon to everyone.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH NO EFFORTS OF YOUR OWN!!!

   We all know about David in the Bible.  A lot goes on in the books of Samuel. However, I just wanted to mention 1 little item that relates to GRACE.

   David was hated by Saul, but loved by Saul's son Jonathan.  David and Jonathan made a pact or covenant to take care of each other and their families.

   Well, Saul and Jonathan were killed in a battle.  Jonathan had a son, Mephiboseth, who was crippled.

  Once Saul and Jonathan were both killed David became King of Israel. Then King David asked if any of Saul's family was still living.  Now you have to understand that in these ancient times when a new king came in he usually ordered all rivals and family of the old king to be killed.

   When David found out about Mephiboseth he had him brought to him.  Mephiboseth lived in hiding, fear of what may happen..

   Because of the covenant David had with Jonathan (Saul's son) he told Mephiboseth that he would be eating from King David's table and all of Saul's families land would be given back to him.

   Instead of death, GRACE was given.  God sent his son, Jesus, who died for our sins, and through GRACE we are saved and given eternal life.

   GRACE is a gift that is unearned, freely given, and a present to all of us IF we choose to accept it.  So, what are you going to do with this present?  We should be sharing it with the whole world and telling people the good news.

   Can we be like Jesus?  The more we study, the more we share, the closer we come to being like Jesus.  Just spread the word.  Thanks for reading with me today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

johnny

The Linen Belt - Jeremiah 13

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  Reading Jeremiah 13 made me think of us in America and the peoples around the world.  Are we as the linen belt God told Jeremiah to get in chapter 13?

  God told Jeremiah to buy a linen belt and put it around his waist but let no water touch it.  Then he told him to go to Perath and hide the belt there in the rocks. In ancient days Perath was the Euphrates River.  

    Then many days later (we don't know how many) God told Jeremiah to return to Perath and retrieve the linen cloth.  Now by this time the linen cloth was ruined and completely useless.  This is what God is saying about Judah and the pride of Jerusalem.

   While reading this I could not help but think about us in the USA and people around the world.  Are we close to God or becoming completely useless as the linen belt (cloth)?  I have to soul search--am I a good linen belt or worthless linen belt?

   God wants us to be his people of praise and honor to HIM.  Are we doing this or are we walking with 1 foot in the world and 1 or maybe 1/2 foot in the spiritual world?   Do you, do I serve God daily?  OR, just Sunday and maybe Wednesday but live like hell the rest of the time?  Time for soul searching for me as I read this.  What about you?  Where do you stand?  Food for thought.  

   If you have time it only takes a minute or two to read the link above of Jeremiah 13.  Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace.

Johnny

What do you do if you see a wrong or disagree with the current happenings?

 Good morning all and a happy Sunday to you. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

  Do you ever have a time or have seen times when action should have been taken, yet it was not?  Do we just take action carnally or spiritually?

  God wants us to do what is right. First, we SHOULD consult Him, however, the knee jerk response is to do it ourselves. 

   Do bad things follow when we do wrong and fail to ask forgiveness?  I was thinking about David.  He committed adultery, committed murder, then what happened.

   A prophet came to him and basically set him straight.  David asked for forgiveness, BUT, he still suffered the consequences of his sin(s).

   First, the baby with Bathsheba died, then a son raped a daughter -- when David found out about this he did nothing. So, what happened then?

   Then a son, Absalom, whose sister, Tamar, had been raped by his half brother, he then killed the half-brother Ammon (2 Samuel 13)

  Ansalom fled and went to Geshur.  The saga continues from here.  The point I am getting to is that when David heard about Tamar being raped by Ammon he was furious, yet did nothing.  Absalom waited 2 years before he enacted revenge on Ammon.

   When there is a wrong, are we to just sit by and do nothing?  This is what David did!!!  How often do we sit and complain about the government, the woke movement, the LBGTQ+ movement, yet we do nothing.

   We ask, well what can I do, I am only one person.  We can pray, share the good news of Jesus, write to the authorities over us, and speak up if you see a wrong.  

   That is a tough decision, however, if we let the Holy Spirit lead we can be heard.  Thank you for trying to follow in my ramblings today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

All this came from Abram (Abraham)

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. HE HAS RISEN, INDEED, CHRIST HAS RISEN!!!

   As I read the Bible and listen to research commentaries on the Bible I find the more I know, then I find out the less I really knew.  Enjoy the Bible, and how it is all intertwined and works out.

   Take Abraham and Sarah (Abram and Sarai originally).  Genesis 12 Abram is told by God: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

  Abram aka Abraham goes through several situations on his way before he has any children.  He and Sarah are past child bearing age and God told him he would be a great nation.  Soooo, the human side took charge and Sarah said take my maidservant, Hagar, and have a child. Abraham did and at 86 years old he fathers Ishmael.  And from here there are problems.  Then at 100 Abraham fathers Isaac.

   Problems are created here as you would imagine. Ishmael has been an only child for 14 years and then along comes this baby, Isaac, who gets the attention now.

  Well Ishmael and Isaac grow up. Ishmael has 12 sons and they are a nomadic tribe. Isaac has 2 sons.  Isaac's son Jacob had 12 sons and Jacob's name changed to Israel.  One son, Joseph, was a dreamer and Jacob's favorite.

   When Joseph was sent to check on his brothers, the brothers plotted against him and put him in a dry cistern.  Then along came some Ishmaelites and Midianites.  Joseph was pulled out of the cistern (well) and sold for 20 pieces of silver (have you heard 20 pieces of silver before).

   Now, what is interesting to me is that all these people originated from father Abraham.  The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, a son from Hegar; and the Midianites were descendants of Midian, a son of Abraham from wife Keturah.

  All this comes together for the Ishmaelites to buy Joseph and then sell him to Potiphar in Egypt, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.  And the wheel continues to spin.  

   I did find this very interesting how this all comes together, they are all related even though they are not aware of it.  All coming from Abraham and his sons, down to Joseph and it keeps going.  

   Wow!  What a wonderful book to read and study, God's word. Amen? Amen!!!

Thank you for enduring this lesson I learned just today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

p.s. I hope you found this as interesting as I did!!

Israel did evil before God; God went silent for 400 years

 Good morning all.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  MALACHI - the last book and prophet of the old testament.  God is speaking to Malachi and God does most of the talking.  It starts out in Chapter 1 of God saying He loved Jacob yet hated Esau. Then we get to verse 6 and God talks about a son honors his father, a slave his master, but where, O Israel is their honor to God? He talks about defiling the food for His (God's) altar.  Giving blemished or lame animals instead of the perfect animal.

   Chapter 2 God admonishes the priests. God says He will send a curse on them because their hearts are set to not honor God.  Also, because of them God will rebuke their descendants.

    God speaks to the unfaithfulness of Judah and that there will be a day of judgment.

   Chapter 3 God will come to offer judgment and testify against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, those who defraud laborers of their wages, ones who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, yet they do not fear God.

  God says He does not change, and because of this (covenant) the descendants of Jacob are not destroyed.  God says:" Chapter 3: verse 7 "

Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.  Return to me and I will return to you".  Verse 18 God says: "And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."

  Chapter 4 gives us the Day of the LORD.  Tells of Christ's return, you can read it below:

Malachi 4 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

  After this there was a 400 year gap of God being silent until John the Baptist and Jesus was coming about.  If you have a chance to read all of Malachi, a very short book, you will see the anger come forth from God because of the unfaithful and  lack of gratitude of the people.

Thank you for reading with me today. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny