Major Prophets-DONE

Jeremiah 37-47 There is a theme running through these chapters--God's prophet is hardly ever listened to, even by those who should know better. Also, God is very long suffering towards His people, who are greedy, selfish, stubborn & evil. He gives them so much warning & chance to repent, but they are so busy living in the NOW, they don't care about the future. Like a T-shirt I saw the other day, Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now. God has great promises for His children who want to do the 'hard work' of Kingdom building. Most often, tho, we don't see it nearly as quick as we want.

Jeremiah 48- Lamentations 2 A picture of how my sins can be woven into a rope that harnesses me into captivity. I am especially mindful of Pastor Ralph's statement that 'what I starve dies, but what I feed grows'. Thank You, Lord, for a pastor that doesn't court his church with sweet talk, but helps us face our sin, so we can repent.

Lamentations 3- Ezekiel 12 God proves to be good...to the woman who diligently seeks. Don't be afraid of living among the people to whom we are sent. Our job is to speak to them, whether they listen is not our concern. Just like Ezekiel, we must 'eat the Book & make a full meal of it. Don't dabble, and immerse ourselves in it. Get all the words that God is giving inside of us. Listen obediently. Make them your own. And then, go. Ezekiel didn't want to go where God was taking--like I didn't want to go at first.

Ezekiel 13-23 God acts out of who He is, not how He feels. He acts in a way that evokes honor.

Ezekiel 24-35 Always remember that we are watchmen, waiting to proclaim God's word to our dying generation.

Ezekiel 36-48 I finished Ezekiel, reminded of the 'river of life' in 47, where the Lord had shown me almost 15 years ago, that He wanted me to jump in over my head, not just dabble around the edges, like I had for so long. This week, changes in my life have felt like a tsunami, and I am carried along. But I have felt that this is the will of God & it's right where I want to be! Thank You, Lord, for this reminder today. Your will for me, whatever it may be, is my 'River of Life".

Daniel The three in the furnace KNEW that God could do whatever He wanted. But even if He didn't save them from the fire, they would still worship Him. Like the quote from JK Dean that has helped me see faith more clearly. "My faith is not in an outcome: it is in a Person--no matter the outcome."

This is what Gabriel said about Daniel's fast: 'from the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding...your prayer was heard.' Persistence in prayer is so important. And sometimes so hard.