FOCUSING ON THE LORD RE: EARTH AND HEAVEN!

THAT'S WHAT I COUNT ON!  FOREVER AND EVER!! AMEN!!!!
IN THE PAST 45 YEARS, WHEN DRIVING AND SEEING AND REJOICING AND FILLED WITH UNDERSTANDING OF THE LORD,  I'VE LOVED TO SEE THE SKY, THE CLOUDS, THE TREES, THE ROCKS, THE ANIMALS, THE CHURCHES, AND THE WONDERFUL PORTIONS OF THE LORD ALL AROUND OUR NATION AND OTHER NATIONS WHEN BEING THERE.  I'M A SMILER AND A REJOICER!  

FOCUSING ON THE LORD CONSISTENTLY IS WHAT I MUST DO NOW, SINCE I CAN'T DRIVE ANY MORE,  AND IN THIS PROCESS MY BRAIN AND BODY ARE THINKING AND THINKING MORE AND MORE OF HEAVEN.

BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOURS.

JEREMIAH AND I!

THE LORD HAS LAID ME ON MY BIBLE TO JEREMIAH.

LAST WEEK IT WAS JOHN,

 BEFORE THAT IT WAS ISAIAH,

AND BEFORE THAT WAS PSALMS.

WHEN READING JEREMIAH MANY TIMES IN THE PAST THIRTY YEARS OR SO, I'VE UNDERSTOOD

MANY, MANY TIMES THAT,

 SPIRITUALLY WORKING FOR THE LORD,

JEREMIAH AND I ARE MUCH THE SAME.  

A STRONG REASON IS ON ME NOW WHEN SO MUCH SINFULNESS CHANGES AROUND AND ABOUT 

THE INSIGHT IN THE

CITIES, STATES, NATIONS.

JEREMIAH, WAY BACK ABOUT 2600 YEARS AGO,

HE WAS STRONGLY HEARTBROKEN.

AND I'M DEFINITELY HEARTBROKEN, TOO.

WHEN I'M IN HEAVEN, I TRULY LOOK FORWARD TO

MEETING HIM, AND I ASSUME HE IS

MY BROTHER!

HIS MERCY ENDURES!!

CAN COUNT ON HIM

 FOREVER AND EVER!!

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN SEPTEMBER, '85, WHEN

DAVE AND I WERE IN THE NORTHERN MINNESOTA AREA

VISITING MY LONG-TIME FRIEND, SUSAN, AND  STAYING AT

HER HOUSE A DAY AFTER WE WERE MARRIED IN OMAHA.  THEN, ON A DAYTIME PIECE, WE DROVE TO LAKE ITASCA,

 ABOUT 30 MILES FROM HER HOME,

WHERE THE BEGINNING OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER OCCURS.

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WAS

 A PRAISE AND A BLESSING FOR DAVE AND I 

WAY BACK THEN... SEPARATELY OR TOGETHER... AND ALSO EVERYONE IN THE WORLD

 BEFORE AND AFTER, 

FOR CENTURIES AND THOUSANDS OF YEARS. 

HEAVENLY FATHER IS ALL I/WE CAN COUNT ON 

FOREVER AND EVER!!! 

[AS I SAID "FOREVER AND EVER" AT THE TOP AND NOW AT THE BOTTOM.  ON MY HEART CONSISTENTLY! HALLELUJAH!]

 

HE CAN DO IT ALL!! I'M A GRATEFUL COOKIE!

I RELY UPON MY LORD, OUR FOREVER GOD,

MOMENT-BY-MOMENT,

DAY-BY-DAY!

LOOKING OUT THE LOCAL AREA IN OMAHA

OR THE AREAS IN OTHER PARTS OF OUR NATION

OR OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.

WORD-BY-WORD,

EMAIL-BY-EMAIL,

FACE-BY-FACE...

THAT'S ALL WE CAN COUNT ON

FOREVER AND EVER.

BLESS YOU AND YOURS FOREVER

ESPECIALLY WHEN WORSHIPING

AND SHOWING THOROUGH ENJOYMENT

AS THE LORD HAS 

MADE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

[AND THE OTHER PIECES OF MANY, MANY OTHER 

PLANETS AROUND AND ABOUT THE WHOLE

MILLIONS OF PIECES THAT CAN BE SEEN

THAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER CREATED.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE THEM ALL

AND VISIT OUR MILLIONS AND BILLIONS

OF SPIRITUAL FAMILY AND FRIENDS

FROM THESE LAST THOUSANDS OF YEARS...

OR MILLIONS OF YEARS. 

 GOD IS WHAT I CAN COUNT ON AS I'VE SAID,

 FOREVER AND EVER.] 

HIS NAME IS GREAT!!

HE IS GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS!

LOOKING UP, SEEKING UP,

IS WHAT COUNTS, FOREVER AND EVER. 

CALLING UNTO HIM IS WHAT COUNTS!!

HE TRULY IS ALL WE CAN ETERNALLY COUNT ON!

OUR WORLD CHANGES;

HE    DOES   NOT !!!

OUR REDEEMER IS STRONG!

TRUTHFULISM STRIKES AGAIN... STRONGLY!

REALITY THERE, WOULD BE REALITY EVERYWHERE, TOO!

WORLDWIDE, DONCHA THINK?

I SEE TV, ETC, STUFF NO MATTER WHEN I'M WALKING OR DRIVING AROUND AND ABOUT.  IT'S A CONSISTENT PART OF WHAT IS FOCUSING ON GOOD STUFF AND BAD STUFF. 

ROOT AND FRUIT

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT

"ROOT" AND "FRUIT"

COULD BE A POETIC RHYMING

PORTION BY JEREMIAH?

WELL, THE LANGUAGE, OF COURSE, HAS BEEN TRANSLATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

AND I KNOW IT DEPENDS HOW WE SAY OUR WORDS.

  BUT THIS MADE ME SMILE.

SO I WROTE IT DOWN, AND I'M SHARING IT

IN A WAY THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU SMILE, TOO.

HEAVENS AND EARTH...HE CREATED!

OUR LORD DID MAKE THE EARTH!

 

HEAL ME, SAVE ME...& I PRAISE HIM.

LAND, HEAR HIM!

A LAND ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE.

THAT'S ALL THAT COUNTS.

IT MUST HEAR THE LORD

AND MUST POUR THE WORD UPON US

FROM ITSELF, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.

THAT'S WHAT I COUNT ON.

 

PRAISE AND THANKS TO OUR HOST...

NOT ONLY HUMANS AND OTHER PHYSICALLY CREATED BEINGS TRUST AND WORSHIP AND THANK THE LORD, 

BUT ALSO THINGS CREATED BY OUR PRESENT-DAY ARTISTIC MEMBERS OF THE WORLD

 ARE WORSHIPING THE LORD.

DONCHA THINK?? 

YOUNG BRIDE...BARREN DESERTS

AND EVEN THOUGH I AIN'T A YOUNG 'UN,

I HOPE I WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW HIM...

MOMENT-BY-MOMENT,

DAY-BY-DAY,

YEAR-BY-YEAR.

HE'S ALL I CAN COUNT ON FOREVER,

EVEN THOUGH BLESSED BY MANY

LOVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS,

INCLUDING MY DEAR EARTHLY HUSBAND.

HIS MERCY AND KINDNESS

AMEN!!

[AND THANK YOU MY DEAR LORD.]

HMMM... JOANNE? JEREMIAH?

My middle name is "Joanne".  Called by that constantly.  Don't even know when I discovered I had another name, Carolyn, until I went to school.  Anyhow, been the "normal" one for nearly 68 years.

However, the first time I read the prophetic portion of the Bible, and just skimmed them, some of the Jeremiah bits and pieces stuck on me even then.  Why?  Because he looked so depressed, so sad, so often serving so many and speaking the Word from the Lord ... and then slammed to the side, again and again.

WAY back then, probably in my early 30s, I truly felt like a "Jeremiah".  Looking around, speaking out, giving what I perceived as "practical spiritual advice"... usually through stories, scripts, VBS, Bible-class teaching... often went out well, was received with appreciation.  Sometimes, joy and laughter, which was my goal in a rather side-way to break into thinking and hearts.  THEN, occasionally, misinterpreted, misunderstood, and threatened.  Accusing of lying, in a spiritual creative manner.

So, what hit me on my Christian side?  Depression.  What had hit me personally since about the age of 5?  Depression.  Simply a significant part of life.

When reading the Book Jeremiah, over and over, and a few commentary portions, it has been obvious that he was serving the Lord, calling the people forward, sorrowful when losing dear friends, and horrified when being forced to Egypt with the ones who were escaping from Israel.   When the men had asked him to pray and tell them what the Lord wanted them to do, the Lord had said very clearly they were to stay in Israel.  They thought Jeremiah was lying, and that he was a Babylon fan, supporter.

What I didn't realize until recently, when reading it in the Chronological Bible, that, when forced to Egypt, he didn't die immediately.  It indicates that he lived until he was about 90.  This means that he was in Egypt approximately 26 years,  forced to be there with those who didn't believe his word.  He spoke the them occasionally, in their face, but there's no indication of what he truly went through there.  He began in Jerusalem his early 20s, did it in that general area for about 40 years. Then was in Egypt for the 26 years, as I mentioned a recently.  How crazy would that seem to those of us who serve the Lord, speaking His Word, teaching those around us, encouraging, giving straight-forward instructions?  

At my present age, when I came to the Lord at 20, began teaching in my early 20s, I have been ministering in one way or another for about 45 years.  And, just as what Jeremiah went through, I have/am, too.  Some agree with my viewpoints, some don't.  Some think I'm WAY too picky, some think I'm not picky enough.  Some smile with appreciation, some roll their eyes.

Now, am I a prophet?  I had never thought so.  However, about a dozen years ago, I was told that I am; by people and by the voice of the Lord in my mind and heart.  It has continued.  I'm NOT visionary, but, the way it's described, I have the ability to see what's coming down the path for families, towns, nations, when people are turning their backs to the Lord and accepting what's wrong in our world and rejecting what's right in the heart of the Lord.

Am I depressed?  Struggle with it a bit.  Both physically and spiritually.  BUT not as much in some ways, because I know that I know that I KNOW, that the Lord is the only One I can rely upon forever -- and I want Him to rely upon me to serve Him.

YES, I have a pile of dear friends, dear family, a WONDERFUL husband.  The main center of that, though, is that all of us love our dear Lord and desire greatly to serve and be with Him forever.

Will I end up taken to "Egypt" for another 20-plus years, because the people who have control over me in this world don't trust me and think I've been lying to them?  Maybe.  But must rely upon the Lord in my heart.  That's ALL I can ever count on, the only Forever One I can always rely upon for eternity.

When I meet Jeremiah in Heaven, I hope to see him filled with joyfulness, with extreme thankfulness ... and I will be joyful knowing that depression was left behind when he died, no matter how that occurred.  AND MY struggle with depression will be gone forever and ever.

I'll be a joyful worshiping grinner.  YIPPEE!!

[And, in Heaven, being called "Jeremiah", filled with his eternal joy, too, would be a wonderfully favorite name.  I sure wouldn't complain if "Joanne" disappeared.]      

  

PROPHETS... HEART AND MIND

Have you ever wondered?  Do you ever have the Lord tell you that you are a prophet?  And, when the answer is "yes" ... do you know what to do next and where you fit into the Christian world and the worldly-world?

I have friends who are very prophetic... and they have visions and dreams and "see" the other world.  Me?  No.  Well, very rarely, to say the least.  BUT, the Lord has told me many times that I am a prophet.  It's based on what He shows me through history or present-day activities that tie us to generations behind us, and preparing for those coming.  Best way to explain that, I guess.  People in my churches and in other nations have described me as a prophet, based on what I just told them historically, spiritually.

A number of times a year, I am led to read the prophetic portions of the Word.  The history of some of them is fairly well known, and what they went through had to be both wonderful and horrific.  

Isaiah, nearly 30 years after his prophetic involvement had ended, was martyred by being sawn in half by the son of King Hezekiah, Manasseh.  

Jeremiah, after about the age of 60, with all his heavy-duty prophecies, sorrowful much of the time, ended up in Egypt for approximately 30 years before he died when about 90 years old.  After being forced down there, by his own people, he talked to them, warned them about their ungodly decision to move there, leaving Israel unjustly. He didn't have a chance to go anywhere else.

Some Biblical prophets were accurately described, through the History portion of the Bible, by themselves and others, but in some cases we have very little info, if any, about them.  This has been much on my heart for weeks, months, years when reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many others, knowing much of what they went through.

When reading Malachi last week something really struck my heart.  According to the Reese's Chronological Bible, he was the prophet when he was approximately 27 years old.  Over the next 66 years, the Persian power dropped out of the world and Greece had taken over.  And then Malachi died. And, when you read Malachi, remember that he lived for much longer than another generation -- the average life in Malachi's time was 35 years.  He died at 93.  Saw much.

What do we know about that stretch of life for him?  Not much.  In fact, as I've seen online, there are a number of different opinions.  BUT if he was truly prophetic in his 20s, and didn't die until his 90s, and for those years saw more and more of what was going on around and about him, how did he handle it?  Was he heartbroken?  Was he angry?  Was he planting God-seed into the hearts of those around him?  Was he just living his life, doin' what needed to be done, helping people, sowing seeds, harvesting, raising a family?  Who knows?

Now, re: us.  Do you ever wonder, when we see so much, how it strikes our hearts?  We might not be able to say much to anyone, but we see what the consequences of our present-day cultures can/will be for the generation that will follow.

Do I sound serious?  Yep!  I am.  It's a day-by-day part of life for me.  Seeing too much, knowing too much, but I'm not entering very many side-doors.  Only want the God-door.

So,  knowing, historically, what prophets went through, isn't much different than what many of our present-day ones, world-wide, will be going through.

What can we do?  Trust the Lord.  Live with and for Him forever.

That's all that can ever truly count.

JEREMIAH 17:14 --- JOYFUL BEAUTY

YES, HE IS OUR PRAISE... FOREVER AND EVER.  AMEN!!

JEREMIAH 10:12

GOD HAS MADE THE EARTH BY HIS POWER,

HE HAS ESTABLISHED THE WORLD BY HIS WISDOM,

AND BY HIS UNDERSTANDING AND SKILL

HAS S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D OUT THE HEAVENS.