Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Friday August 21, 2009 and we will be continuing our studies in the book of Jeremiah, please read chapters 26-28 in your Bible or Click Here to read them. http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-august-21.php

Today's Message: Just Listen
Many people often wonder if God listens to them, the truth is that He is listening and all we have to do to get the answers is just listen to Him.

Many people that refuse to believe in or follow God do so because they do not understand how God would allow all the destruction and pain in the world. They fail to understand that God does not want to see any of His children suffer, He wants to see them blessed and prosperous in all that they do. Whether or not you realize it we are all children of God, the Evolutionists, the Buddhists, the Scientologists, and every other person who rejects the Word of God is a child of One God and One God only. How would you feel if your child completely ignores you, made an imaginary parent and worships it, disobeys you, and tells all kinds of lies about you? Much of the suffering and destruction of the world could have been avoided, God warns time and time again that it can be avoided. Before the destruction of Jerusalem God used Jeremiah to warn them, this time it was their final warning, “Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;” - Jeremiah 26:2-5. God is telling Jeremiah to go into the Temple and tell them what is about to take place and not to sugar coat it, be firm. There are times when we see someone doing something wrong and are afraid to approach them about it, but we must make an appoint to be firm and tell the truth, otherwise a lot of needless suffering can take place.

During the early part of Zedekiah's reign, God commanded Jeremiah to make a yoke and put it on his own neck, “Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;..........6And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.” - Jeremiah 27:2,3,6. The yoke symbolizes the coming captivity of the kingdom of Judah, because of their sin, God had appointed Nebuchadnezzar as ruler over all these nations. However, this proved to be a blessing to the people rather than a curse, “But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.” - 27:11. What this means is although they were captured by Nebuchadnezzar, they were safe as Jerusalem was about the be destroyed and after a time they will be able to return to their own land again.

The yoke is used to protect the neck of the horse, while shifting the load from the weaker horse to the stronger. It balances the load to where each horse can do its share of work. When Jesus taught, He used this same expression as to how we are to take up His yoke when things get tough. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30. When the load gets too heavy for you to withstand, Christ is waiting there to lighten your burden. He can not take that load unless you allow Him to receive it. You have to put that yoke on for yourselves, He is waiting there to help you, and when you take His yoke He will carry and balance the load for you.

I have had people, even some Christian's look at me like I am crazy when I say that God told me to do something, but the fact is God will speak to any person, they just need to listen for Him. That still small voice in your head is more than your conscience, it's God speaking to you. For example, just the other day I was at church and all of a sudden I get this thought in my head, you see I keep a skeleton key in the nursery just in case the kids lock themselves in the bathroom, that thought said to bring the key home with me. I did not think anything of it, but I did it anyway. When I got home from church I found out that my brother had somehow locked himself out of his room. If I did not have that key it would have been much harder to get in that room. So you see, God is always speaking, we just need to listen and obey Him more often, it will make getting through that door much easier.

Today's Prayer:

Dear God,
Lord, we often plead for Your attention and certainly expect You to listen to our prayers and You assure us through Your Word that You hear us when we call on You. For true fellowship to exist we too must listen to Your voice through Scripture, through fellow believers, through Your many works of creation, and through Your still small voice that is right there with us all day long. You have so much to tell us that will often encourage us, sometimes reprove us, but is always something that we need to hear  Help us to listen, to heed, and to be steadfast in our daily fellowship with You. In Jesus' Name.........Amen.

Have a wonderful, healthy, and blessed day/night and weekend. Woo Hoo! TGIF!

God Bless You,
Christina

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