8.22.12

We, Aug 22 "Day of Praise"
Have you ever played "Where's Waldo?" Ya know, you've got a whole bunch of other little things drawn on a paper or a whole bunch of plastic stuff in a tube. And you try to find the character Waldo in the midst of all the other stuff.
Well instead of looking for Waldo, in the midst of all the stuff that we bring on ourselves or that the world throws at us, we're going to look for the promises of God through Jeremiah.
Have fun! There's almost too many promises of God to count, displaying again that God does not desire the death and despair of anyone. But God wants to restore us to joy if we'll but yield to the Holy Spirit that would turn us back to God so we can live and live abundantly.
Here ya go! See what you can find!
Jeremiah 33:6-13 - (New International Version (NIV))
6 "[The LORD declares] 'Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. 8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.'
10 "This is what the Lord says: 'You say about this place, "It is a desolate waste, without people or animals." Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,
"Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
    for the Lord is good;
    his love endures forever."
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before, ' says the Lord.
12 "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In this place, desolate and without people or animals —in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks...' says the Lord."
Here's the list I counted, so we can turn to the LORD and trust in his promises today --
1 - health,
2 - healing,
3 - heal my people,
4 - let them enjoy,
5 - abundant peace,
6 - security,
7 - back from captivity,
8 - rebuild them,
9 - cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me,
10 - will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me,
11 - will bring me renown,
12 - joy,
13 - praise,
14 - honor before all nations on earth,
15 - hear of all the good things I do for it,
16 - they will be in awe,
17 - will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide,
18 - will be heard once more sounds of joy and gladness,
19 - voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord,
20 - saying, "Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
21 - for the Lord is good,
22 - his love endures forever,"
23 - I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before, ' says the Lord,
24 - will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.
In eight (8) verses, that's twenty-four (24) blessings that God desires for us instead of the consequences of sin and brokenness!
Dear God, Turn us to yourself! Turn our hearts to search for your abundant blessings that we may surely find many of them and encourage others to do the same!
Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson