Seek Him with all your Heart

 Jer 29:13

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Every year this day holds special meaning for me. It is the day that I found the Lord to be real to me. It was a turning point in my life that I still hold as the most important day of my life. It was a Thursday evening in a small church in Cucamonga, California. I don’t remember the message that Rev. J.E. Cook preached that revival night. I just remember seeking to find forgiveness and acceptance. 51 years ago, I knelt at an altar of prayer as these strangers gathered around me praying that God would save me from a life lived in sin to a new life in Christ. The journey since that day remains the same. I still seek and search for Him with all my heart. He has never failed me, and is always there when I need Him. It has been a life of seeking, a desire to know the will of God. “Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6:33 has been the journey and destination theme of my life. The path to my eternal destination is filled with failures, disappointments, and unwanted circumstances, but through it all He has never been a disappointment or led me astray. As I continue this journey, I pray that the Lord will let me see my kids and grandkids come to Him as I have known Him. He is everything to me and each day, I will seek Him with all my heart, and will be found by Him.

Return to the Father

 Jer.4:1
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

Israel, God chose these people to show the nations of the world that there was a God in heaven who ruled the affairs of men. Truth was revealed through Abraham and his descendants, and the many prophets that God sent to reveal God’s plan for all that will follow Him. But the hearts of the people turned away from the commandments that God had given them to live by. They wanted to be like other nations of the world who served idols and gods of nature, or images of earthen clay. This was an abomination to the God that called Abraham out of his country to serve a God that cannot be seen by men, but one that is seen by faith. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God called out to Israel to put away their sin and return to the truth they once knew. Israel left the ways of Jehovah God, they backslid from the teaching of their fathers. God still loves the backslider. He still chases and desires those that have left the faith to return to Him. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The conditions for those who once knew the Lord are required by all who want to reconnect and have fellowship with Jesus Christ. Confession and repentance, a turning away from sin are not negotiable. He loves us, and wants us, but we must be willing to leave our sinful way to follow wholly after God.  He waits with open arms and is faithful to call us back. Drop the sin that so easily besets us and let us run back to the one who loves us and desires to forgive us.

God's Plan for the Unborn

 Jeremiah 1:5
 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

The announcement of our 2nd grandchild was great news. We were eager to know if it would be a boy or a girl, but we had to wait until the “Gender Reveal” event day. Modern medical advancements have made it possible for parents to know whether their newborn will be a boy or a girl. Many parents choose to wait until the day the baby is born to find out the gender. The miracle of the birth of a newborn baby starts in the mind of God. God, who is all knowing, the creator of heaven, earth, and life, knows the beginning to the end. He is the Alpha and Omega. Before the time of inception, He knew the gender of the unborn baby. The creation of life is a beautiful thing. The Bible is clear that life starts before the baby takes its first breath of air. A baby is born, and God has already made plans for this newborn. The US Supreme Court ruling of Roe Vs Wade, allowing women to choose if they want to take life before the baby is born has caused a divide in our nation. Those who choose to keep life are referred to as Pro-Life, or Anti-abortionists, and those who choose to take life are called Abortionists. They choose to abort the life that God has created within them.  We live in a sad world where taking the life of the unborn is legally allowed and often encouraged by our society. The reasons are justified and often done for reasons of convenience. We realize that there are circumstances that cause us to justify aborting life. The life of the mother sometimes becomes a major factor, and we understand the hard decisions that are made. But God has a plan for each life that He created. He sets apart each life for His purpose, and ordains each life to serve the creator. He who is all knowing will bring to pass that which is good.

Written in Our Hearts

 Jer. 31:33
, ..I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The new covenant of grace is given to the Jews here. There will come a day that God’s word will dwell in our hearts. The Word will be in us and work through us. The law will no longer be a taskmaster that drives us to do what is right, but His word would be a natural flow that springs from our heart. A new day was promised to the Jews. There will come a day where everyone will be accountable for their own actions. For the law of sowing and reaping will not be applied to the seed of those who come after. No doubt, choices people make may have a far reaching influence on generations to come, but God’s judgment now falls on he who sows. The coming of Christ and the promise of the Father to send the Holy Spirit, fulfilled the law of the Old Testament. An “eye for an eye”, change to “Turn to the other cheek.” God’s word has become a love letter to those that read it. We follow his word and commandments because we love Him and desire to please Him. The Old covenant is not entirely eliminated, but it does reveal to us that God is good and faithful, and His word can now live in our hearts.

Nothing Too Hard for God

Jeremiah 32:17
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

It did not seem that there was any hope for Judah. Babylon was allowed to besiege their land, yet God promised that a day would come that Judah would once again reclaim what was theirs. At the time this seemed to be unlikely to happen. But Jeremiah realized that God, who is in control of nations and governments rising and falling, recognized that with God, nothing was too hard. There are things in our lives that look impossible. We recognize that unless God steps in, there is no hope. Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” The word of Christ was spoken to his disciples when things seem to be impossible to accomplish in the human. Especially when it comes to the salvation of the heart. There is nothing that man can do to achieve salvation with human efforts. Salvation comes only through Christ. The person gone deep into sin or the person who was raised in a well refined culture home all need to be saved. There is nothing too hard that He can do, He can save to the uttermost all who are willing to believe. We need to continue to pray for family, friends, and souls that are lost in sin. No matter their walk in life, Jesus desires to reach down and release them from the bondage of Satan. He has the power and desires that no one perishes, but that all come to repentance.