“HELLO!”

Week Forty, 2020

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).

One recent night I awakened and rolled over to check the time. It was 3:33. Immediately it reminded me of God’s phone found in Jeremiah 33:3. God says for me to call on Him and He will not only answer, but tell me great things.

As I lay there, I thought about the prophet and the times. The world was full of wars. It was a bad time to be alive. Jeremiah began his prophesy at a very early age and continued until Judah was taken captive and Jerusalem was invaded and Solomon’s Temple.

Time after time Jeremiah told the people of Judah that God was going to punish them, but the people refused to heed his warning. They called him a traitor, had him thrown in prison and threatened to kill him.

Jeremiah spent most of his life warning his people of severe judgement to come, if the nation did not repent of their evil ways and return to the Lord their God. He was faithful to his calling, yet had to endure an onslaught of mockery; loneliness; imprisonment and rejection. He wept over the city and was known as the “weeping prophet.”

Despite his divinely inspired message Jeremiah was subjected to unbelievable ridicule and witnessed his rebellious nation’s refusal to heed his warning, before being defeated, dispersed and sold into slavery. Jeremiah spent most of his life warning his people of severe judgement to come, if the nation did not repent of their evil ways and return to the Lord their God.

But right in the middle of this prophecy, right in the center of Jeremiah is a passage which prophesies of peace, prosperity, comfort and hope for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God tells Jeremiah to call on Him and He will tell the mighty and wonderful things.

Before I drifted back off to sleep, I did a twenty-five hundred year fast forward to today. I thought of all the sin so prevalent today. When is God going to say He has had enough? But in the midst of it all, I believe that He want to call us to remind us that there are great and mighty things and they are housed between Genesis and Revelation in His inspired Word.

May our world have a new great awakening as we turn from being a sinful nation and back to the Godly nation our founding fathers intended for our country to be.

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

I am coming to believe that the troubled times in which we live hold as much opportunity as they do challenge. These days present an incredible opportunity for people to wake up to the ultimate reality of the grace and power of God. History has proven that crisis can be a gateway to awakening. I am thoroughly convinced it will take an awakening, even a great awakening, to turn the tide. Helen Rae Stumbo

— o —

Joe Gibbs, Super Bowl coach and NASCAAR owner wrote of the qualities he expects from his leadership team, players and drivers:

  1. Demand excellence
  2. Show your human side
  3. Be available
  4. Let them be their own selves
  5. Bury your ego

— o —

When was the last time that you worshiped? I mean… truly worshiped? When you got so lost in Him. So moved by the Spirit that you let your walls down, forgot about everything and everybody else and you worshiped? You bowed down before Him filled with joy and hope and trembling fear?

Stop for a moment and worship. Stop for a moment and bow down. In our offices or cubicles. In our homes or dorm rooms. In our closet or other place where we pray, read, praise. Stop for a moment and worship.

Worship His holiness and His glory. Praise His creativity and His might majesty. Praise Him and worship Him for who He is and what He has done. Take in His awesomeness and His magnitude… Sing of His great love. Listen for His still small voice. Enter His gate with Thanksgiving, bow down and worship.

—Marty Stubbblefield

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

A people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both. —Dwight D. Eisenhower

A few dead flies in perfume make all of it stink, and a little foolishness outweighs a lot of wisdom. Sensible thoughts lead you to do right; foolish thoughts lead you to do wrong. Ecclesiastes 10: 1-2

Love people use things. The opposite never works. —The Minimalists

Every increased possession adds increased anxiety on to our lives. —Randy Alcorn

You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” —Charles Spurgeon

Wanting less is a better blessing than having more. —Mary Ellen Edmunds

Your life is too valuable to waste chasing material possessions. —Joshua Becker

A true man hates no one. —Napoleon Bonaparte