APOSTACY - Is this you?????

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!!
   Last weekend (Thurs.-Sat) I was at the U of D Ministries Conference in Dallas.  Wow!!  If you ever get a chance to go to a Christian Conference or retreat - don't miss the opportunity.  It was GREAT!!
   On Friday I wrote about a lady I met who has an amazing testimony, which is real, and you can honestly see the difference in her life. Whoa!!
   Well, in Jeremiah, he was telling the people of all their apostasies.  And some may say- what is an apostasy?  An apostasy is a turning away or abandoning what one has believed in.  This starts  in a slow, small calculated way.
    We are excited about going to church, worshiping the LORD, and enjoy the fellowship of one another.  Then we begin to put our faith in others rather than the LORD; suddenly they do something that disappoints us. Next we think a break from the church and fellowship for one week is okay; then we miss more, and along the way someone shows us some "things" that are "fun", yet not of the LORD.
   What happened?  We went from walking on the red carpet of God, to walking on 2 carpets-one of God and one of the world.  The next thing you know we are fully engaged in the world - "enjoying ourselves" and "having fun."
    So, it starts with satan being the "light" or "fun" we can have outside the church and it begins with 1 person, you, then it spreads to the family.  Slowly, but methodically it permeates to our friends, community, state and then nation.
    In Jeremiah 2 to 3:5  God takes his people, protects them, and leads them out of captivity, yet the would still turn to worthless idols.  God took them to a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness and they defiled his land, corrupting the possession God had promised.
   The priests, rulers and prophets turned against the word of God and spoke against God, worshiping, once again, worthless idols - Baal.
   God asks the people, through Jeremiah, why would you exchange worthless gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all?  Jeremiah proclaimed God saying the people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols, worthless pieces of wood, stone, and steel.
  The people have abandoned God, and do not wish to be "a slave to God", yet they are slaves to the ways of evil, and, worse, they tend to enjoy the evil ways.  What have they gained through this constant disobedience?  They are gathering more condemnation from God, but they see it not and wish to heed not the words of Jeremiah.  Wow!! Read Jeremiah 2:1-19.  Tomorrow I will continue with 2:20. But I ask you to think about the children of God and where they went.
   Now, I ask you to think about your life, the life of your family, and where our nation is building its alliance----with Baal or with God?  Love you all.
  In Christ's Love and Grace
   Johnny