Is this what you get if you morphed Hillary Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Reagan Theodore Benson Carnes Arrived!
Sunday afternoon, my brother Ben and his wife Ashley, had their first baby (brace yourself for the name) Reagan Theodore Benson Carnes, he is going to have a tough time spelling all of that when he gets older, but I am sure he will manage! Ben is huge into politics, and thus he chose republican names for the little rug rat, however I have chosen my own nickname for the little one, Clinton Obama Edwards Carnes, not because I Support them, but because I have to be the pesky older brother!
Anyway, this was an awesome outfit to take the new one home in! Congrats Ben and Ashley!!! And welcome Reagan!
Craving Chinese
Grrr!!!! I am craving Chinese food!!! Yet, I look in the mirror and like the fact that I can see results and have lost weight, I fit in pants 1 size smaller than a month ago, and I can wear smaller shirts, so I just say No! I don’t know how much longerI Can hold out…
What Are You Looking At?
I was reading through Jeremiah again today, as I am studying that book right now. The entire first section of the book is dealing with Israel and Judah’s turning away from God towards false gods, stone and wood…they choose to worship the created over the creator. To put it lightly, God is furious with them, and He uses all kinds of analogies to describe Israel and Judah in their sin.
This verse stood out to me today: Jeremiah 5:21-23
Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.
If I look at my own life I have to wonder how many times I take my eyes off of God and put them on something else? God tells me I am foolish for doing so! He declares how Big and Powerful He is in this verse, “…I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries that I set.” God is saying, “look I control the oceans!” Maybe Christians should go take a field trip to the beach and see who can stop the waves and who can control how far they come ashore. We cannot do it, yet everyday Christians and the church take our eyes off of God and we put them on things that God created versus on Him, the One that created all things, or we put them on ourselves as if we can control our life and what takes place around us.
I wonder how many of us are like Israel and Judah? Does God look at us and say, “Oh people with eyes who cannot see and ears that cannot hear?” Maybe today you should take a minute to examine what you are looking at…is it everything except God? Or is your focus on the one that controls the oceans?
A Merciful God
I was reading through Jeremiah 3 today and came across verse 12…this verse stuck out to me because it shows just how merciful the God that we serve is. Once again Israel has given itself over to the worship of other gods, the true and living God compares Israel to an adultress wife (or a camel in heat in chapter 2), but God calls out to Israel with open arms…
“…O Israel, my faithless people,
come home to me again,
for I am merciful.
I will not be angry with you forever.”
The cool thing is, no matter how much we mess up, God is willing to take us back with open arms as well. He forgave us at His death, knowing that we would still screw up…a lot! Yet he still gave us the opportunity to be a part of his family and he still gives us mercy when we need it.