Ao Nang beach in Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand by kallerna

Good morning, beloved,

So good to be in His presence this morning, a quiet, still morning, here is the Biblegateway‘s verses of the day:

Jeremiah 23:²³ Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off?²⁴ Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.

This morning, I begin a new adventure. 🙂 We are all going to my parents’ church to take part in their VBS. My son, Daniel, my niece Macey, my son, Noah and I will all be guides. The rest of the fam will be in the VBS as participants. In years past they have given the guides 15 minutes or more in guide time with their kids and now it is cut short. I understand. Yet, I get all excited about talking to them about the verses, the background, the context, the (well, imagine me in person…on caffeine..)and  me wanting you in heaven with me. 😉 I love this VBS, watching the kids praise the Lord with the hand motions, I cry every day…in fact my sweet niece Macey watches me…are you going to cry Aunt Cara? She is always my helper. I LOVE THAT! So we worship together. We pray together. She has no clue how much I pray over her life during our prayer time. I love that kid so much. Her heart to be there with me and help me. Daniel with be our other helper this year. So basically, we’ll be set. 😉 And I’d better not cry this year, or else.

Yet, in this, somehow, I broke my middle toe. Ahem. On Friday night…not good. Very painful. I’m not sure how I’m doing all this…I’m doing it, people. This is kingdom work. Will you pray with me?

This week, tho, to prep myself in the morning, I am going to show you all the verses they are going to learn and give the context. So brief break from Sermon on the Mount…we’ll be back on Saturday. 🙂

First day, is Jeremiah 32:

¹⁷ Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You—

¹⁸ You Who show loving-kindness to thousands but recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them. The great, the mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name—

¹⁹ Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to rewardorrepay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings,

²⁰ Who wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so], both in Israel and among other men, and made for Yourself a name, as at this day.

What can we learn from this passage and draw away? There is so much…

First, the names Creator God: You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!

Then…the great, the mighty God: the Lord of hosts! Friends, I love this name and I hope after I define it you will too..

Hosts:  that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host

a) army, host, 1) host (of organised army),2) host (of angels),3) of sun, moon, and stars,4) of whole creation

So from this definition, what do we learn? We learn God is warrior God. He is the leader of the army of angels. He is over all of creation. Read what Chuck Smith says:

1. Some people have gods that are not so great. Gods(small g) that bring them into captivity and bondage to things that destroy.

2. Whatever ambition, desire, or ideal that rules your life is your god.

a. Some are ruled by money.

b. Others are ruled by the desire for sex.

c. Some are ruled by the desire for fame.

d. None of these are wrong in their place, but to be a slave to them is sad.

3. He is a mighty God. In fact He introduced Himself to Abraham as the Almighty God. El Shaddai.

4. Lord of hosts. We are told in the scriptures of the vast hosts of angels in heaven. In one place they are numbered at over a hundred million, plus millions of millions.

5. They are there to do His bidding and will.

6. When Peter drew his sword to try to defend Jesus in the garden as they were arresting Him, Jesus said, “Put away your sword, do you not realize that I could order 10,000 angels to come to My defense if I so pleased?”

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