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