Lamentations

• Jerusalem is hungry, upset, defeated
• Jerusalem is destroyed
• God is still loving in suffering; we cannot hide from him
• He doesn't like to punish or sadden people, but He must be apart from sin
• God still comes and says "do not be afraid"
• Jerusalem loses status, cleanliness, food, safety, etc.

Falling Free

This book has been on my to read list for awhile and about a month ago I found it on the shelf at Ollie's and picked it up.  It quickly rose to the top of my pile to read.  It was not what I expected and just what I needed all at the same time.

I expected more of a memoir through her life.  And while there was an element of that to the book, it was about following God and how she did that in her daily life with her family.  It was a story about it being a great neighbor, opening your door, welcoming people and being like Jesus. 

Thoughts in my head that have swirled around without depth to them, I saw in words in this book. 

It was a great read, and it's already on it's way to a friend.  Good books are always shared!

A few more notes on Jeremiah

To know write from evil, you must know more Bible text. 

How often do we not like the message or task we are asked of by God?  We can't put Jeremiah in a well, but we can ignore him and walk away.  Free will choices.

Jeremiah lied as directed by the King, but truth is to reign.  Rahab lied to save too.

Jeremiah

I struggled through the book of Jeremiah.  It was sad.  It was hard, and I had a lot going on in my personal life that kept me from digging in more.  There were days and weeks where I didn't read. 

• God chooses Jeremiah for special work to carry His words out
• Israel's people are sinful and turn to idols, not God
• God offers discipline, but Israel complains to God and doesn't turn back
• Judah and Israel are evil and turn from God like prostitutes worshiping idols and doing evil; they come back pretending to follow God (they were not whole-heatedly there)
• God is angry & sends trouble/punishment
• Judah has no faith/God honor; they have all turned away and like it
• Jerusalem and Judah will be punished and destroyed for they walk in sin and enjoy it; they do not see their own wrong doings as God tries to warn them
• Jeremiah's message to tell the people to change their ways and do right
• You are hurting yourself with your sin, not God
• Obedience to God is not just making sacrifices
• When we believe our own lies & think our sins aren't serious, that's trouble
• Be sure what you read or hear is scripturally accurate
• Jeremiah is sad for his people
• Judah is caught in their own lies
• Punishment will come
• Do not brag, only about God
• Idols can't do anything, God is all powerful
• Destruction will come from evil
• Jeremiah will share God's message
• Plan to kill Jeremiah, but he prays and trusts God's fairness
• Jeremiah asks God why evil people prosper
• God is angry with Israel and has left them; he will return to them if they return to him
• God will remove their pride
• Discipline coming for disobedience
• False prophets teaching of peach in Judah
• The Lord's people have left him; He is angry; they are being destroyed
• Jeremiah is happy in God, but distressed in all the negative message to his evil land
• People will not care for each other
• Trust God, not people
• Mind is evil, look at the heart
• Keep the sabbath
• The Lord changed his mind based on people's obedience/behavior
• We are like clay in the potter's hands; God is the potter
• People are stubborn and it is hard to change ways
• People were against Jeremiah and wanted to kill him
• Judah will be destroyed like a clay, broken and cannot be repaired because the people do not listen
• Jeremiah is punished by a priest and mocked by his friends
• Jeremiah shared this message when the city was surrounded, Jerusalem and Judah will be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar because of the Lord's anger and decision, anyone who surrenders immediately will be saved
• Be fair and right, save those who've been robbed; do not mistreat foreigners, orphans or widows; dno't kill innocent people
• Evil king will be thrown from the land never to return
• God was upset leaders don't take care of their people
• A good branch (of David's family) will come soon and they will return to their land
• False prophets are not good
• We use our own words, God's message is HIS not ours
• Plant so we may grow and want to know God, not just pulled toward God
• War is coming to Earth for disobedience, a result of God's anger
• People want to kill Jeremiah, but they do believe his message is from God then
• Uriah speaking the same message as Jeremiah is killed
• People are captive in Babylon, Jeremiah through God tell them to make lives there and do good for their benefit but there are MANY false teachers/prophets and magicians telling lies
• A new covenant is coming; sins will be forgotten
• Jeremiah tells truth from God
• Jeremiah bought a field from his cousin
• The people will return; God will bring them back
• God forgave and washed their sin away for their return (washed away sin in the Old Testatemnt)
• People changed their hearts; tehy'd agreed to let their slaves go after 6 years and they did, but they changed their minds/hearts and made them come back
• There was a family that obeyed their ancestors about not drinking win and living in tents, God used them as an example to Jerusalem
• Jeremiah's words were written and read to allow people to learn to change to avoid coming punishment; the people feared, but the King burned the scroll
• Jeremiah was trying to go to some property to claim of his family when he was arrested and accused of going to fight against them
• He was imprisioned in the courtyard of the yard and given bread
• The officers didn't like the messages they heard from Jeremiah as they lowered him into a well of mud
• The Cushites took Jeremiah out of the well and back to the guard so he didn't starve to death
• Jeremiah gave the King a message about what to do from God; lied to the officers about what they talked about to share his life
• Jerusalem fell, people were taken captive except the poorest of the poor
• Jeremiah was set free to do as he wished
• Gedaliah became govenor to represent the people to Babylon, but he learned people wanted him dead; Ishmael killed him and people bringing offerings to the temple
• Ishmael let some live because they said there was good stored in a field
• Ishmael filled a well from King Asa with bodies of those from Mizpah
• Ishmael took captives
• Jonathan saved the captives from Ishmael, but heard his team escaped
• Army officers went to Jeremiah to seek God's guidance and they said they would listen if they liked or disliked the message from God
• God said stay in Judah, but they didn't believe and they went to Egypt
• Disaster will come to them in Egypt for the lack of obedience to the Lord
• Prepare for battle, there will be bloodshed, someday there will be peace
• God will protect the children of israel
• God sends messages for the land; people will be destroyed as judgement for their choices
• God was punishing Babylon for all she did wrong; Babylon would be completely destroyed for their sin
• God did not forsake Israel and Judah

Girl, Wash Your Face

Everyone is talking about this book lately.  A friend of mine and I were talking about it and the next thing I knew she's ordered a copy for each of us to read.  It was an east read; I found myself with a lot of waiting room time last week and finished it in 2 days. 

For all the conversation I'd heard about it; I had high expectations.  I was a little underwhelmed with the book.  I didn't find her faith to be in the forefront of the story.  I found it to be a little repetitive and occasionally contradictory.  I can see where some folks mind find value in her messages.  There is always room for improvement, but a few of them lessons she talks about I've learned just going through life to this point too. 

Taking Responsibiltiy for the Choices We Make

I finished reading this book last week.  It wasn't on my radar, wasn't on my to read list, wasn't sitting around in a pile for me to have time.  But I ordered a couple things online from a website, and in place of one of the items, came this book.  When I contacted them, they apologized, shipped my correct item and told me to keep the book. 

The title intrigued me.  It is certainly a lesson we are trying to teach the kids, but I hadn't thought about how it might apply to my life.  So it quickly rose to the top of my to read pile. 

I shared pieces of this story with my friends; I underlined and I was convicted in parts. 

It was a great read.