Hope From Jeremiah

God sent his people into captivity because of their sin, and he punished them. But his heart was to forgive them, to give them hope and a good life.

 

Jeremiah 33:3:

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

 

Jeremiah 24:7:

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

 

Jeremiah 29:10-14:

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

 

Jeremiah 31: 33-34:

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness

    and will remember their sins no more.”

 

These promises are for us today too. God will give us a heart to know him. If we seek him, if we return to him, we will find him. If we call on him and pray to him, he will hear us. He puts knowledge of him in our hearts, forgives us, and remembers our sin no more. Thank you, Father. 

A Collection of Books

these are just a few of the books I've enjoyed recently.

You're the one that I want: a Christiansen family novel by Susan May Warren. Beautiful descriptions of grace.

 

Sequoia Scout by Brock and Bodie Thoene, breath-stopping adventure in California when it still belonged to Mexico.

 

Between Sundays, by Karen Kingsbury, football and foster kids, fathers and sons.

 

War room: prayer is a powerful weapon by Chris Fabry. Written from the 2015 movie, story of prayer as a weapon to save a troubled marriage.

 

The other Wes Moore: one name, two fates by Wes Moore. Two young men, African American, approximately the same age, from similar neighborhoods in Baltimore. Both grew up without a father in their homes. They grew up to follow two drastically different lives. The author provides a detailed list of organizations which serve and help young people in trouble.

 

Tiger in the sea: the ditching of Flying Tiger 923 and the desperate struggle for survival by Eric Lindner. A fascinating account of an airplane which had to make a forced landing in the North Atlantic in 1962, and heartwarming stories of survivors’ lives after. 

Christmas in July

A Christmas in July gift—a blog tour! 

Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway, which runs July 15-22, 2022 (contest closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on 7/22). At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the name of a Christmas song. Write them all down and provide all song titles (26 in total) on this Google form. Click here for a list of all participating authors and their links!

Note: You must grab all the song titles from every author in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway to be eligible to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card, plus a copy of each participating author's book OR first place prize of a copy of each participating author's book. At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (26 authors in all). 

 

I mostly write women’s fiction. Two of my published books are collections of women’s fiction novellas. But my third book, Millie’s Christmas, is a children’s story.

 

Several years ago in December, I decided to challenge myself to write every day by writing a Christmas story. When I started writing the first day, I didn’t know what a gift god was going to give me.

 

Millie’s Christmas has brought me such joy. Truly, I believe this story was a gift from God. I am not a children’s book author.

 

I promote this as a story for children kindergarten to second grade, but I believe people of any age can enjoy it.

 

MILLIE’S CHRISTMAS

 

This is Millie’s first Christmas, and Ruthie says she’ll love it. Ruthie is Millie’s best friend, so she’s sure Ruthie’s right, but why does Millie keep finding Ruthie and Ruthie’s brother Jake crying?

 

This story is told from the point of view of Millie, an orange kitten. Her best friend Ruthie, who is six years old, teaches Millie about Christmas—the food, decorations, music, presents—and Millie keeps hearing about Jesus. Millie’s friend Bruce, the family dog, also helps her celebrate Christmas, and sometimes gets her in trouble.

 

Then Ruthie’s big brother Jake breaks his ankle, and Millie also starts learning about sad things—like divorce—when Jake can’t visit his mommy for Christmas. Millie watches Ruthie’s family love each other through the sadness, and find joy in Christmas.

Now, it’s time for my Christmas song title: Jingle Bell Rock.

Save the holiday song titles from each of the 26 blog stops, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the song titles on this form for a chance to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card and a copy of each participating author's featured book OR first prize of a copy of each participating author's featured book.

Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Donna Schlachter, and her Christmas book Time Will Tell. You can find it at this link:

https://donnaschlachter.com/welcome-to-christmas-in-july-reader-blog-tour

Remember, the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway ends July 22 at 8 PM EST!

Psalm 8, A Precious Reminder

This Psalm reminds me of a beautiful praise song I have sung in church in the past, “Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” What a lovely memory.

 

Psalm 8: For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

    in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants

    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

    to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,

    the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

    which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

    human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels

    and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

    you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds,

    and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky,

    and the fish in the sea,

    all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

Father, let our praise silence your enemies. You, a great creator, care for people. You have honored us with asking us to care for what you’ve created. Thank you for this wonderful reminder. 

Grace and Truth, Amazing Promises, John 14:1-14

Jesus knew his time was close. He spent these final hours with his disciples, giving them comfort, answering questions, making promises.

 

Verses 1-6: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

Jesus makes an amazing promise—that we, his people, will do even greater works than he did.

 

Verses 11-14: Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

 

Lord, help me lean into your promise, and do what will bring you glory.