(July 2, 2009)

Prayer House News!

Tomorrow night is the True Freedom event at the Bandshell. I hope you can make it.

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Then on Saturday the 4th there are a couple of events going on.

There is a 4th of July parade in Somers. It will be held at 2:00pm. It will run down Hwy E from Shoreland Lutheran HS to Somer's Elementary. People can put their chairs or blankets anywhere along the route.

This is a kid friendly parade. It's about an hour long, and we toss candy to the kids! After the parade, there is a free ice cream social at the Somers Town Hall.

Then around 8:00pm a group from our church will be gathering at the Civil War Museum on the Lakefront to watch the fireworks. Get there early if you want to find a place to park your car.

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Culture!

continued from yesterday

Let's go back and look at a part of this verse that is easy to overlook. "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile."

The prophet says that it was God who allowed them to go into exile. God allowed it. This was God's plan. Is it possible that God is up to things that we don't fully understand? What could God be getting at here? Who's side is God on anyway?

When you get to thinking that God is on your side then you feel justified in desiring God's judgement on others. You begin to believe that because you are so much better than those sinners out there, that surely God will punish them for their actions.

Funny how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God for ourselves. Aren't you glad God didn't do to you what you want Him to do to others. Pray for the prosperity of your city. If it prospers you too will prosper. You can pray for judgement but remember, when it comes it will effect you too!

Jer 29:8‑10 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. (9) They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD. (10) This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.

3. Thirdly, live with Hope. The false prophets were coming along and telling them that this bondage was not going to last all that long so they should not become rooted in Babylon, they should live on the wing ready to fly at any time. Jeremiah, the true prophet, comes along and says this is going to last 70 years no matter what these false prophets are saying. "However," he says, "Don't be discouraged. Live as though Babylon is your home knowing all along you are a foreigner."

Jer 29:11‑13 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. (12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

God says, "You must trust in my plan for you. Even though you are in bondage I have a plan for you to prosper you and not to harm you. I will give you a hope and a future even in the midst of servitude if you seek me." Prior to this they had not sought God.

The reason Judah went into bondage was because they had grown lack in their pursuit of God. Even now the reason the prophet has to come on the scene is because they still were missing the point. They were focusing on their dilemma rather than the Lord. They had lost their pursuit of Him.

They were only concerned about their future and God was in essence telling them that they did not need to worry about the future because He has a plan for them. It is a plan to prosper them and not to hurt them, but they must learn to seek Him. They will find him once they search for Him with all their hearts.

What God was trying to tell them was that their hope was in him - not their situation. It's so typical of us to put all of our hope in the future rather than in God. Why were we panicked over Y2K? It's because we had not learned to trust in God. What God is trying to say is, "So what! So what if the whole system collapses. What does that have to do with you seeking me?" If fact, if the whole system did collapse wouldn’t it cause you to seek me even more?”

When our hope is in our situation we tend then to draw sides. We want God on our side because then we can justify our paranoia over the future. If we believe that God is on our side and not on the other guys side - then obviously the other guys are wrong and we are the right ones. That takes us out of the Jesus-like-approach to things.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Argument

A guy was telling his friend that he and his wife had a serious argument the night before.

"But it ended," he said,"when she came crawling to me on her hands and knees."

"What did she say?" asked the friend.

The husband replied, "She said, 'Come out from under that bed, you coward!'"