Arms Open Wide

Jeremiah 30 (The Message)

Jeremiah 30
Don't Despair, Israel
1-2 This is the Message Jeremiah received from God: "God's Message, the God of Israel: 'Write everything I tell you in a book. 3"'Look. The time is coming when I will turn everything around for my people, both Israel and Judah. I, God, say so. I'll bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they'll take up ownership again.'"
4This is the way God put it to Israel and Judah:

5-7"God's Message:

"'Cries of panic are being heard.
The peace has been shattered.
Ask around! Look around!
Can men bear babies?
So why do I see all these he-men
holding their bellies like women in labor,
Faces contorted,
pale as death?
The blackest of days,
no day like it ever!
A time of deep trouble for Jacob—
but he'll come out of it alive.

8-9"'And then I'll enter the darkness.
I'll break the yoke from their necks,
Cut them loose from the harness.
No more slave labor to foreigners!
They'll serve their God
and the David-King I'll establish for them.

10-11"'So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant.
Don't despair, Israel.
Look up! I'll save you out of faraway places,
I'll bring your children back from exile.
Jacob will come back and find life good,
safe and secure.
I'll be with you. I'll save you.
I'll finish off all the godless nations
Among which I've scattered you,
but I won't finish you off.
I'll punish you, but fairly.
I won't send you off with just a slap on the wrist.'

12-15"This is God's Message:

"'You're a burned-out case,
as good as dead.
Everyone has given up on you.
You're hopeless.
All your fair-weather friends have skipped town
without giving you a second thought.
But I delivered the knockout blow,
a punishment you will never forget,
Because of the enormity of your guilt,
the endless list of your sins.
So why all this self-pity, licking your wounds?
You deserve all this, and more.
Because of the enormity of your guilt,
the endless list of your sins,
I've done all this to you.

16-17"'Everyone who hurt you will be hurt;
your enemies will end up as slaves.
Your plunderers will be plundered;
your looters will become loot.
As for you, I'll come with healing,
curing the incurable,
Because they all gave up on you
and dismissed you as hopeless—
that good-for-nothing Zion.'

18-21"Again, God's Message:

"'I'll turn things around for Jacob.
I'll compassionately come in and rebuild homes.
The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations;
the mansions will be splendid again.
Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows;
laughter will spill through the doors.
Things will get better and better.
Depression days are over.
They'll thrive, they'll flourish.
The days of contempt will be over.
They'll look forward to having children again,
to being a community in which I take pride.
I'll punish anyone who hurts them,
and their prince will come from their own ranks.
One of their own people shall be their leader.
Their ruler will come from their own ranks.
I'll grant him free and easy access to me.
Would anyone dare to do that on his own,
to enter my presence uninvited?' God's Decree.

22"'And that's it: You'll be my very own people,
I'll be your very own God.'"

23-24Look out! God's hurricane is let loose,
his hurricane blast,
Spinning the heads of the wicked like dust devils!
God's raging anger won't let up
Until he's made a clean sweep
completing the job he began.
When the job's done
you'll see it's been well done.
******************************************
God has been so good to me even after all the times I have failed Him. It's good to know He gives His love, favor, forgiveness to me. So many times in my life I tried to earn it. I can never earn it, I will never be good enough and that's the beauty of Jesus. He is the only one and the only way. He is the only one who PAID the debt once and for all, placed his blood on the throne and covered all my past and future sins. No one else did this but Jesus.

I have reaped what I sowed sometimes the bad. God has used my failures to teach me more about who He is and how He sees things. I have to remember everyday that I need a Savior.

I like Jeremiah 30. Came across it tonight not looking to read anything in particular. I can relate. God knows how many stupid things I have done and said. Daily. God is always faithful, He will always finish what He starts. How true that rings to me in my own life tonight. My journey is just that, a journey. I have not reached my destination, but thank God I have passed through the valleys, stood on the mountain tops, lost my footing, found peace, love, forgiveness and mercy that comes only from Jesus.

God has been at work in me and I can look back now and say "okay God, I see now what you were doing" I didn't understand it then but now I do.

I reflected tonight on what a tough emotional year this has been. Loss of dear loved ones, job loss, teen parenting, homeschooling, business, weight challenges, transitioning in church, and numerous little things. I see some things I did right and some things I might have done a little differently. But God truly is working things out for our good. At times it may be painful. I cannot say that everyday I have woke up with a smile on my face, but I know God is holding me.
God knows there are nights when I can't sleep, cry and relive, remember moments with Jen. It's all a part of life. We will experience grief and pain. It's not all happy times. Our praising should not cease just because we are having hard times. Our joy should come from knowing who God is.

Today was an extra special day in my faith. I saw some prayers being answered, some doors being opened, and some chains being broken. My 4 year old miraculously survived crashing through a glass mirror. How he did this, I do not know. He walked away with a bruised knee and slice on the arm.

I have also come to see this year that when God is moving and trying to get you to a certain place, the enemy does whatever he can to stir up strife and cause a distraction. Praise God I have walked through this. I already know it is coming, but just like Jeremiah 30 says God will repay, He will cut off the enemy, He will cut off all those that dare come against Him (not just me). They are dealing with Him, because I am His. And He will not stop until He has completed and carried out His plan. If God be for me, then who can be against me.

Don't be quick to plan your own life. Put your life in the hands of God and don't take it back. Be ready to let something go at a moments notice if need be to answer His call.

I have not blogged because of time restraints but God has been at work in the many things I do each day and I have at so many times wanted too. I will continue to post as I am able.

Dreaming Big Reflecting on the past but standing with Arms Open Wide ready for today

I close today with Arms Open Wide by Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvNdybdyeOc