NO REFUGE!

Lamentations 2...

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

I was going to skip a post on this chapter because Jeremiah is so graphic in his description of the destruction of both the city and its people.  I thought...what could I say?   Maybe this: "And because the people refused to hear, the Lord brought the destruction foretold on Jerusalem?"  As I read through the chapter a few times, however, I began to see many applications for us.

Chapter 2 of Lamentations depicts absolute destruction and devastation for Judah and the city of Jerusalem....Everything the people loved and trusted in was destroyed.  God's people either died of starvation, or by the sword, or were carried off to Babylon in chains as slaves.

Every "horn" of Israel was cut-off.  Every horn means every strength. The people had no refuge.  NONE.  Not in the walls around the city, not in the army, not in their temple, not in their religious rituals, not in their homes, not in their leaders or in their kings. They were trapped like animals, killing and eating their own children for sustenance. "The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied." If the people left the city they were slain by the sword if they remained in the city they died of starvation.  They had nowhere to turn and no one willing to help them.  All their allies had abandoned them.

Jeremiah makes it clear from his writing that he knew it  was not the Babylonians who were were really in charge...they were servants of the Lord God...doing His bidding.  This was God's chosen people...His beloved...they had been given so much.  They took all their blessings for granted.  They enjoyed the gifts but did not worship the Giver.  To them had been given the oracles of God and to them had been given the privilege of representing Him to the world.  They were very accountable.  God kept His word...to bless them when they obeyed and to chasten or discipline them when they did not. They had not obeyed. Judgment time had come...just as had been promised ...their little ones were fainting from hunger at the top of every street.  The suffering was so intense that Jeremiah says this about it: "What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,"...He had run out of descriptions and says that their wound was as deep and wide as the sea.  If only they hadn't listen to the false prophets...if only they had turned...now the cloud of His anger was over head.

Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So what are the applications for us.

Whatever else we might deem important in this life pales in comparison to what we do with Jesus. The only thing that is important is our relationship with Him...everything else will either burn or be destroyed..It is the one thing WE CAN take with us.  It is the one thing that can and does save us.  We run after so many things in this life...Run after Him..spend your time with Him and His word. It is the one and only thing that is necessary...

Another one that screamed out at me was that our children really do suffer when we as parents sin. Jeremiah cried copiously for the babies and the young children that were killed or were starving in the streets. Sometimes our sin affects many of those around us.  The leaders of Jerusalem refused to listen and led Israel astray by telling them what they wanted to hear, not exposing there sin and not calling them to repentance.. Consequently the entire nation were either killed or went into servitude.

Jeremiah did not get offended.  He grieved not for himself and his own pain and suffering but for the people he preached to and prayed for. The very people who rejected him and persecuted him.  Jeremiah did not allow offense to get in the way of love and obedience.  What an example that is to us.  Girls, sometimes we can get so embroiled in conflict by getting offended that we really grieve the Spirit of God and put stumbling blocks in the paths of those whom the Lord wants to reach.  It is not about us...It is about Christ...we are here for one purpose to glorify and magnify Him.  God wants us to overcome evil with good...to put on love..to owe no one anything but love....to put off offense...to commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously...to let our gentleness be made known. (getting the picture)  Surrender to His Spirit and allow His love...His fervent love...to be poured out on those around you.

Jeremiah's ministry in terms of converts was not a success,  BUT he wept for God's people, suffered for telling them the truth, did not get offended and was rewarded by being  identified with Jesus...WOW...see Matthew 16:13-14. Jeremiah suffered...was despised and rejected...was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and instead of it making him bitter he surrendered and obeyed and allowed it to make Him more like His Lord.. You could meditate on that one for a long long time.  Think of it the next time you are offended or search your heart and find unforgiveness there.  Remember always "it is about Him".


Last one...God suffers long but God does discipline those that are His...consequence and judgment come if turning does not occur.


Love
Mom...who loves Jeremiah!

Lamentations 2

 ¹ How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
      With a cloud in His anger!
      He cast down from heaven to the earth
      The beauty of Israel,
      And did not remember His footstool
      In the day of His anger.
       ² The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied
      All the dwelling places of Jacob.
      He has thrown down in His wrath
      The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
      He has brought them down to the ground;
      He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
       ³ He has cut off in fierce anger
      Every horn of Israel;
      He has drawn back His right hand
      From before the enemy.
      He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
      Devouring all around.
       ⁴ Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
      With His right hand, like an adversary,
      He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye;
      On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
      He has poured out His fury like fire.
       ⁵ The Lord was like an enemy.
      He has swallowed up Israel,
      He has swallowed up all her palaces;
      He has destroyed her strongholds,
      And has increased mourning and lamentation
      In the daughter of Judah.
       ⁶ He has done violence to His tabernacle,
      As if it werea garden;
      He has destroyed His place of assembly;
      The LORD has caused
      The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
      In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.
       ⁷ The Lord has spurned His altar,
      He has abandoned His sanctuary;
      He has given up the walls of her palaces
      Into the hand of the enemy.
      They have made a noise in the house of the LORD
      As on the day of a set feast.
       ⁸ The LORD has purposed to destroy
      The wall of the daughter of Zion.
      He has stretched out a line;
      He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
      Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
      They languished together.
       ⁹ Her gates have sunk into the ground;
      He has destroyed and broken her bars.
      Her king and her princes are among the nations;
      The Law is no more,
      And her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
       ¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
      Sit on the ground and keep silence;
      They throw dust on their heads
      And gird themselves with sackcloth.
      The virgins of Jerusalem
      Bow their heads to the ground.
       ¹¹ My eyes fail with tears,
      My heart is troubled;
      My bile is poured on the ground
      Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
      Because the children and the infants
      Faint in the streets of the city.
       ¹² They say to their mothers,

      “ Where is grain and wine?”
      As they swoon like the wounded
      In the streets of the city,
      As their life is poured out
      In their mothers’ bosom.
       ¹³ How shall I console you?
      To what shall I liken you,
      O daughter of Jerusalem?
      What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
      O virgin daughter of Zion?
      For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
      Who can heal you?
       ¹⁴ Your prophets have seen for you
      False and deceptive visions;
      They have not uncovered your iniquity,
      To bring back your captives,
      But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
       ¹⁵ All who pass by clap their hands at you;
      They hiss and shake their heads
      At the daughter of Jerusalem:

      “ Is this the city that is called

      ‘ The perfection of beauty,
      The joy of the whole earth’?”
       ¹⁶ All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
      They hiss and gnash their teeth.
      They say, “We have swallowed her up!
      Surely this is the day we have waited for;
      We have found it, we have seen it!”
       ¹⁷ The LORD has done what He purposed;
      He has fulfilled His word
      Which He commanded in days of old.
      He has thrown down and has not pitied,
      And He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you;
      He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
       ¹⁸ Their heart cried out to the Lord,

      “ O wall of the daughter of Zion,
      Let tears run down like a river day and night;
      Give yourself no relief;
      Give your eyes no rest.
       ¹⁹ “ Arise, cry out in the night,
      At the beginning of the watches;
      Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
      Lift your hands toward Him
      For the life of your young children,
      Who faint from hunger at the head of every street.”
       ²⁰ “ See, O LORD, and consider!
      To whom have You done this?
      Should the women eat their offspring,
      The children they have cuddled?^[a]
      Should the priest and prophet be slain
      In the sanctuary of the Lord?
       ²¹ “ Young and old lie
      On the ground in the streets;
      My virgins and my young men
      Have fallen by the sword;
      You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
      You have slaughtered and not pitied.
       ²² “ You have invited as to a feast day
      The terrors that surround me.
      In the day of the LORD’s anger
      There was no refugee or survivor.
      Those whom I have borne and brought up
      My enemies have destroyed.”

Christ:The Wife's Heart

 From Chapter 7 of Martha Peace's book the Excellent Wife.

We've reached Part II: A Wife's Responsibility...Uh oh.

Chapter seven I think is aptly named...Christ the Wife's Heart. The heart is the seat of our will and our emotions. As such it becomes a battleground where a spiritual war is waged. It is definitely where my battle is waged.

Has Christ completely captured your heart? Are you ruthless with anyone, anything or any desire that attempts to gain influence or worse yet control your heart? Is your heart Christ controlled or over run with the influences of the world and day to day living? Having read this book through many times I have noticed that the themes are intertwined and repetitive and have come to see this as a good thing. Scripture is also repetitive. We as humans maybe need to hear things more than once so they can reach our heart. I exhort you now to examine your own heart and ask Christ to show you where your desires and His desires are not in alignment.

What is your heart set on? Is it so set on a certain thing that you are willing to sin to get it? Are you willing to tear down your house for it, disrespect your husband, or make your children listen to you rant and rave. Remember circumstances don't cause us to sin...our idolatrous hearts that meditate on wrong things do! Set your mind on the things above. Ask yourself that (what is your heart set on) in the middle of an argument with your husband. Ask yourself that when there is strife with your children. Ask yourself that when you feel discontented with your lot in life or feel that you have been slighted in some way. Ask yourself that when you are not getting what you want. (I wish I had done this last night when I attempted to bring something back to an unnamed store in accordance with their return policy...although I outwardly remained calm, I inwardly seethed...my desire was thwarted and I got angry!) Having done this repent of any wrong desires and ask God to give you the right desires (see pages 65-69) and by faith make the decision to move in the direction where Christ is leading you. Do it whether you feel like it or not, asking and counting on Him to align your will with His. Little by little you will see the fruit.

This process is the key to the whole Christian life. It is a moment by moment dying to self and living for Christ. Putting off the old man and putting on the new. Remember you are part of God's plan. You have works that He has prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. You can't fulfill his perfect plan for you unless you are living for Him and dying to your wants and desires. You can't do that without surrendering moment by moment to God's Spirit and allowing Him to live through you. As a believer God promises to work all things together for you for good, but imagine what he can do with a Christian wife who is fully submitted to Him and His desires. Imitate Christ who fully submitted Himself to His Father making our redemption possible. Put all your energies and efforts into living for Christ not just outside your home where people can see you but more importantly live for Christ inside your home.

Earlier I asked if you were ruthless with those things that might attempt to gain influence over your heart. This can be subtle. Be aware of what you are reading, watching, listening or even who you may be keeping company with that may influence your heart in the wrong way. When your heart is under any other influence but Christ you and your family will suffer and Christ will not be glorified.

Do this and watch the Lord work and your life become like the tree that is planted by rivers of water in Psalm One.

You Are What You Think...Uh oh...

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
 
Woe is me, my mother, That you have borne me, A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent for interest, Nor have men lent to me for interest. Every one of them curses me. --Jeremiah 15:10

Jeremiah was a persecuted outcast among His own people because of the destruction he foretold as God's prophet.  People avoided him like they would avoid calls from a collection agency today.  The Lord then encourages him by telling Him that it would be well with the remnant and that he himself would not be turned over to the enemy. He would not, however, relent from bringing judgment on His people nor would He shield Jeremiah  from the persecution that came and would come would from his own people.

In response Jeremiah says this:

Remember me and visit me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.In Your enduring patience, do not take me away. Know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke. Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, Nor did I rejoice;  I sat alone because of Your hand, For You have filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed? Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream,  As waters that fail?--Jeremiah 15:15-18

Remember God had just finished telling Jeremiah that destruction would come...He would not relent.  Jeremiah then tells God what is on his heart.   He asks God to remember him, protect him, and take vengeance on his enemies.  He tells Him that His word was like food to him and that it was the joy and rejoicing of His heart.  But in the next sentence he reminds God of how much His people are suffering and how much he is suffering and how difficult a job God had given him.  He even says that God is like an unreliable stream...as waters that fail.  Uh oh...Jeremiah called the fountain of living waters an unreliable stream.  Now I like how Jeremiah did not pretend and just speak the words that he knew he should...he truly did pour out his heart.  I was "with" Jeremiah at first...especially when he was talking about how difficult a job God had given him.  Jeremiah was, however, God's spokesperson and as such more was required...Here was God's reply...which I was a little shocked at...but God really spoke to my heart through it.  After all....we who name the name of Christ are all ambassadors of Christ...we need to represent Him truthfully.  Here is God's reply:  

Therefore thus says the LORD: “ If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them.  And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you,  But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with you to save you  And deliver you,” says the LORD. “ I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,  And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”--Jeremiah 15:19-21

Did you notice what the Lord says in verse 19...I had to look three times...and then make sure I knew who He was talking to.  The Lord tells Jeremiah "if you return, then I will bring you back".  Wow..God is saying Jeremiah needed to repent!  Now in the reread I understood why.  Jeremiah was not speaking words of faith...and He was misrepresenting God's character.  (My guess is that the meditation of his heart had not been on what is right in the hours before he spoke those words either).   God told Jeremiah that He would restore him if he would stop uttering worthless words and begin to utter worthy ones...take out the precious from the vile. (15:19)

Girls, this is such an important lesson for us! What are we meditating on?  Do we speak words of faith to one another when we are discouraged...do we think or speak them to ourselves...do we remind ourselves when we get discouraged of who God is and what He has done??  Or do we whine, complain and doubt? Now if you are hearing from your lips words of doubt, whines and complaints, especially in your unguarded moments, the chances are very good that you are not meditating on the right things.  Your mind is on yourself rather than God. Look at what Jeremiah said and see where He went wrong. "I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, Nor did I rejoice;  I sat alone because of Your hand, For You have filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed? Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream,  As waters that fail?"  His words are saying that he thinks he deserves better because of what he has done and what he has been through.  He questions God and even tells Him He is unreliable!

So many times I find myself thinking like Jeremiah here.  Focusing on what I am not getting instead of being thankful for what I have.  Meditating on doubt or whining and complaining against God. When we do that, we don't even have to call the Fountain of living water an unreliable stream because we are already telling Him by our complaining and whining that we can't trust Him. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, as a man thinks so he is and anything that is not from faith is sin. 

Our access to His grace is by our faith....when we speak or meditate on words of doubt  or when we question God we quench the Spirit and do not walk by faith. Listen to your words and thoughts, girls, in unguarded moments...they will reveal much about your heart.  If you are complaining against God...feeling dissatisfaction or perhaps even anger for where He has you and what He has you doing and/or  facing, then you need to repent.  I know God does not want us to ignore what we are feeling...that would be self-deceit and He Himself tells us the keep our hearts with all diligence.  So what do we do...exactly what Jeremiah did...pour our heart out to God...He is not surprised at what we are going to tell Him.  Repent, ask God to align our will with His and increase our faith.  When we falter, we are to renew our minds with Scripture and remember what He has done for us in the past and the hope we have for the future.  God promises us tribulation, but He also tells us that He will be with us and that we are more than conquerors...the battle has already been won and the battle is not ours anyway.  His grace is sufficient.  His love is perfect.  We are to trust Him through it all. I end with some verses in Philippians.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing,  that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,  holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.  For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.--Philippians 2:12-18

Love
Mom

Sin Makes You STUPID!

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

 Lamentations 1: 9 ..She did not consider her destiny; Therefore her collapse was awesome; 

Here is the fourth reason not to sin...

Sin makes you stupid - For Judah the warnings were loud and clear...several prophets preached to her of coming judgment...Jeremiah for 40 years.  God's people, however, played with fire and they got burned. They refused to believe that their rejecting the word of God and living according to their own desires would bring God's punishment. Sin always eventually or sooner rather than later brings judgment.

Now all of us know that judgment is coming...both believers and unbelievers.  I was an unbeliever for 35 years, and I knew that judgment was coming; but I kept putting off coming to the Lord.  I thought I had to clean myself up to go to God...or I thought my life would be boring as a Christian and figured I would have fun while I could...but the bottom line was I did not want to admit my need...I thought I could fix whatever situation I got myself into. The things I did were so stupid...I knew they would have consequences later on but I did them anyway...Sin really does makes you stupid. AND it never starts off big...it starts off small and as your heart becomes hardened against the conviction of the Spirit it increases until you find yourself doing things you would have never thought possible. You begin to be blind to consequences and you lose the ability to see around corners, so to speak.

Finally, the Lord in His goodness, mercy and compassion, allowed my heart to be broken over a situation and I KNEW I had nowhere else to go.  Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death...but the gift of God is eternal life in His Son. The ultimate judgment is hell and it is reserved for those who go all their lives refusing to look up and acknowledge God.  The Bible tells us that even the demons believe and tremble...but knowing with your head and believing with your heart are two different things.  When your heart believes something your actions will follow...You can believe something intellectually and do nothing about it.  Romans 1 tells us that we are all without excuse.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.--Romans 1:18-23

When I think of sin making us stupid, I think of the story of Moses lifting the serpent up in the wilderness...the very story Jesus was telling Nicodemus in John 3. Here is what Jesus said in John 3 and the story from Numbers follows:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.--John 3:14-17

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.--Numbers 21:4-9

Would you believe that many refused to look at the serpent on the pole and died! It seems like such an easy thing...just look at the serpent on the pole and be healed...don't look and die! Many, many many of us do the same thing.  We refuse to lift our eyes to the cross and believe and be saved. We know in our heart of hearts that judgment is coming and  yet refuse to look. God does everything He can to get our attention...just like he did for Jerusalem, but He will not force belief on anyone.  If we continue in that refusal, we will ultimately die in our sins and live eternally separated from God.

Even after coming to God through belief in His Son, we can still resist the Spirit of God. Maybe we start to make a practice of a certain sin and continue in it, despite God's warnings to us...knowing that God will not allow us to get away with it forever...knowing  the law of sowing and reaping...knowing there will be a day of reckoning.  Yet in our pride we refuse to acknowledge it, because we are loving our sin at the moment more than we are loving God, or we are allowing offense and unforgiveness to cloud our vision.  Now, no one, not even us (John 10:28) can snatch us out of His hand, but we miss out on so many of His blessings this way and have to be led around like a mule rather than guided with His eye.

I don't know about you but I do not want to have to be harnessed and led around like a mule...I would much rather God be able to guide me with His eye.  What is the remedy? James says it best in Chapter 4 beginning in verse 7.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

There is your prescription and it is filled with humility...Girls, when we draw near to God and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls; He changes us and conforms us into His image.  We see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior and readily put off our sin knowing the price that was paid for it.  We put off our offenses and forgive knowing HOW VERY MUCH we have been, are and will be forgiven!! The Word, girls, "ARIGHTS" our thinking.  Going any length of time without it causes our mind to become clouded...He wants us to seek Him daily...The Bible is your sword of the Spirit...it is your only offensive weapon.  If you do not use it, you are defenseless against the wiles of the enemy.  As you saturate yourself with the Word...it washes the filth of the world away...As we  keep our minds on Him by keeping in the Word, we are transformed daily into His image.

Our sin does make us stupid...but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and with Him is knowledge of the Holy One.  I will end with the last half of Proverbs 1 starting in verse 20.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud outside;
      She raises her voice in the open squares.
       ²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses,
      At the openings of the gates in the city
      She speaks her words:
       ²² “ How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
      For scorners delight in their scorning,
      And fools hate knowledge.
       ²³ Turn at my rebuke;
      Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
      I will make my words known to you.
       ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
      I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
       ²⁵ Because you disdained all my counsel,
      And would have none of my rebuke,
       ²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
      I will mock when your terror comes,
       ²⁷ When your terror comes like a storm,
      And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
      When distress and anguish come upon you.
       ²⁸ “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
      They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
       ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
      And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
       ³⁰ They would have none of my counsel
      And despised my every rebuke.
       ³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
      And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
       ³² For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
      And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
       ³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
      And will be secure, without fear of evil.”--Proverbs 1:20-33

Love
Mom who is done with reasons not to sin even though Lamentations gives many more...

Conflict and the Urge to Dominate and Win...

Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife [is like] releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts. 
Prov 20:3 [It is] honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.
Read a few more to get warmed to the subject. :D

Proverbs 21:9 Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Proverb 21:19 Better to dwell in the wilderness, Than with a contentious and angry woman.
Proverbs 27:15 A continual dripping on a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike;
Prov 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised [is] wisdom.

Are we getting the message? The Lord repeats this theme in a multiple of ways over and over again in His word. (Kinda like we do with our kids, sometimes) He must really want us to hear it.

If only we could remember just at the beginning of a conflict what an impact we have on our families by the way we respond. Many of us respond to our husbands in ways we wouldn't even consider responding to a friend or someone outside our home. It is not a question of knowing how to respond...I think most of us know how to respond. Sometimes, however, with those closest to us we get lazy. We forget God's purpose for us. We were created to be helpmates for our husbands and the caretaker of the home and children. Responding with anything other than a humble and gentle spirit then is rebellion against God's perfect will for us.

Hear this next part...it is important. What you communicate to your children through your relationship with your husband will stay with them for the rest of their lives. That should be a sobering thought. Children will learn all the fundamental lessons of love, forgiveness, joy, humility, compassion, patience, self-sacrifice, virtue, sin...I could go on...from observing their parents interact. What YOU teach them right or wrong will be rooted deep in their hearts. If you are patient, your children will be patient. If you are loving and compassionate, your children will display these qualities. If you turn to Jesus for help, so will they.

As wives do what you can to send the right messages to your kids. Don't say...but my husband...change your behavior...NOW. Don't look back...press on for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. Answer your husband with grace and humility. Let your gentleness, as the bible says in Philippians, be known. Are you known as a gentle woman in your household? I am not, but oh, how I long to be.

Humility as John MacArthur says is the perfect antidote to the self-love that poisons human relationships. Meekness is the willingness to suffer injury or insult rather than inflict such hurts. It is what Jesus was at the cross. He had the ability to retaliate but instead He allowed Himself to be led as a lamb to slaughter. Meekness is the opposite of being out of control as we might think. John MacArthur says that meekness is not weakness, but rather supreme self-control empowered by the Spirit. Think then of meekness as power under control. Meekness makes a decision to put the other first. This type of attitude heals and edifies.

Don't look at what the cost of behaving this way will be to your pride. Yeah, it will be humiliating ... focus on the results. What will be the outcome or fruit of your changed reactions. Sometimes we can get so embroiled in conflict that we can no longer see the big picture. The next time a conflict starts try to step back and view it as a play in which you want the godly outcome. Look fully into the faces and eyes of your children. Really see the damage and the hurt you are causing. By the power of the Spirit who dwells in you, put aside your own offense and make the sacrifice of righteousness. Again do not concern yourself with how others in your household react....YOU respond rightly...You be the first to change...and see what the Lord will do with your obedience and faithfulness.

NOTE: I wrote the above in my car while waiting for one of my daughter's classes to finish. I was tested as soon as I arrived home on this. I failed miserably. It is clear to me that this is an area that Satan does not want us to persevere and will do what he can to condemn and thwart our efforts. Look up! Press on! Make a practice of having a gentle and quiet spirit. Most of all remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Be convicted but not condemned.

Our own selfishness gets in the way of the relationship we want to have with our husbands. Look to His word and His Spirit for help. It is not about what your husband said or did...it is about glorifying our Father in heaven in our words and deeds. Worship Him through your right words and deeds. Teach your children how to respond biblically. Pouting, manipulation, outburst of wrath, selfishness and nagging are all learned sinful behaviors. Change them using Scripture to show you the more excellent way.


In closing, you have one time around with your family to do it right. If you are behaving selfishly and causing conflict or increasing the conflict with your bad reactions in your home, repent. Surrender to the God's Spirit in your heart and diligently apply these qualities in your day to day marital relationship with your husband. You will be amazed at how your obedience will not only be a blessing to those around you, but to you as well as your family follows your lead and begins to respond with these attitudes also.

HOW TO RUIN YOUR LOOKS!

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

We are continuing in the Book of Lamentations Chapter 1, and we are looking at reasons NOT to sin...In the last post we saw that sin caused affliction and eventual captivity. The third reason not to sin is that sin steals our beauty. Lamentations 1:6 says this:

And from the daughter of Zion  All her splendor (beauty - KJV) has departed.

Sin robs us, girls, of our beauty!  I can testify to this. I can look at pictures of myself in my early twenties and see the progression of sin in my eyes and in my face and even my hair. They make me sad to look at today because they remind me of my sin and how much sorrow I caused to myself and to others close to me.  I am a woman who has been forgiven much and because of that I am ever so grateful for God's grace! So how was my sin reflected in my looks.  My demeanor no longer looked innocent...my face was hardened...the lines were no longer soft because my expression was one of a woman driven by her own selfish desires.  My eyes did not reflect compassion but had a hunted, haunted look that is characteristic of someone seeking their own. I had a bald patch on my head from anxiety.  I had to style my hair in a certain way to cover it...it is a good thing it was the eighties and poofy hair was the style.

Our own selfishness (the opposite of love and God is love) is reflected  not only in our looks but in our thoughts, words and actions. We become what we worship...most of us worship self...our own desires...and our world becomes smaller and smaller as we see it only through that one lens.  Don't take my word for it...go to the mall...look at even the 13 and 14 year old girls and you can see what they worship and what they spend their time on...look at their demeanor...their faces have already begun to harden.  Look at an older woman 20's or 30's perhaps and you will see the same thing multiplied.  Watch a mom whose heart is set on herself and the things of the world in a store with her child.  I know you have seen it and it is UGLY.  Even if the woman were gorgeous by the world's standards her selfishness would so mar her beauty at that moment that most of us would not be able to see it.  Look at a child who has been left to her own way...her face as she is being denied...it is not attractive. Taken to the extreme our own sinful desires can make us animal like and grotesque in appearance.

As we continue in sin our beauty is replaced by sorrow and weariness that come from being enslaved to things that do not profit.  No amount of make up will hide it.  We are not taking His yoke upon us (Matt 11:28-30) but the heavy, heavy yoke of the world of bondage to things that do not profit temporally or eternally.  Futility abounds...our burdens become great and we multiply the trials and problems we face.  

It is only when we gaze upon Him, behold Him, allow His word to penetrate our hearts, and worship Him can our countenance relax and His light shine through because we are now living for Him and not ourselves.  His desires are on our hearts and we are not longer striving for the futile and worthless things the world values.  We can relax knowing He is in charge...He is performing all things for us...He will perfect that which concerns us...and one of my favorites is that in the multitude of my anxieties within His comforts would delight my soul.  As we go through the trials of life with Him our faith increases because we see with heart knowledge that He is always there, He is faithful, He does not afflict us willingly, He is good and He is gracious, and He gives us a future and a hope.   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.--Jeremiah 29:11  


Look to Him...put away your sin...Behold Him and watch Him bring beauty from ashes.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.--2nd Cor 3:18   

Let your beauty be as it is described in 1 Peter: "rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.--1 Peter 3:4


Love
Mom

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”--Numbers 6:24-26

SEE YOUR END...

How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!  She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her All her friends have dealt treacherously with her They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits. The roads to Zion mourn  Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness.  Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her  Because of the multitude of her transgressions.  Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.--Lamentations 1:1-5     

 
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The Book of Lamentations is the book of the prophet Jeremiah's weeping. The first chapter begins with his lamenting  the destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the temple. What a tragedy this was.  God's people had been warned that judgment was coming...Jeremiah had preached this very message to them for 40 years and not one had turned and repented.  They had rebelled and rejected His warnings.

Some of the saddest words in Scriptures are found in 2nd Chronicles 36.  I can hear in them a father's plea to his daughter or son to return:   And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. there was no remedy. 

There was no remedy.  Nothing...no hope....they had missed their opportunity.  What is truly beautiful is that there was no remedy because He had compassion...He would not let them continue on in their sin ...He needed to afflict them by taking them out of the land he had blessed them with in order to get His message across and  bring them back.  “For they are a nation void of counsel, Nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end!--Deuteronomy 32:28-29

Girls, sin has consequences.  We don't always see these consequences when we are immersed in its temporary pleasures. The people of Judah certainly didn't. Sin  may be fun for a while but if no turning occurs...it always leads to judgment, captivity and death.  YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW.  Look ahead...see the end of what you are doing.  See where it leads and turn now while there is still hope! The Lord will have compassion!  When you continue in sin. you are sowing much sorrow for yourself.  I understand this with heart knowledge having resisted coming to Jesus until 35 years of age. The Lord truly does restore the years the locusts ate and He does make the crooked places straight, but I sowed much sorrow and reaped  much heartache and heartbreak not only for me but for those around me.  I am so thankful to God not only for His grace and mercy in saving me but for keeping me in His love.  If you want or need reasons not to sin keep Lamentations 1 bookmarked...it is full of them. I am including the first two reasons in this post.

Sin leads to affliction and captivity - We will become afflicted by and captive to what we value or worship.  (See you are what you worship post)   The word afflicted means depressed, cause grief, grieve or sorrowful...none of which are words I am enamored with.  If you sin, sorrow will soon be your companion. There is enough sorrow already to go around without manufacturing it for ourselves by sinning.

James 1:25 refers to the Word as the perfect law of liberty. Why? Because it frees us as we obey it.  John 8:34: Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Psalm 119:45 says that we walk at liberty as we obey his precepts.

Now, I know it sounds paradoxical (I love using that word) that a law could bring freedom but God's word is filled with paradoxes...He who loses his life will gain it...etc, etc.  You see in our failure to be able to obey the law, we see how hopeless and helpless our condition without Christ truly is...We see our need for a Savior.  We just cannot NOT sin! The law then brings us to Jesus when we acknowledge our need for Him.  God's grace saves us and our salvation  frees us from the power of sin.  It no longer has dominion over us...WE ARE FREE now to live as God intended us to live!  Not free to do as we please, but we are free to obey God!   For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in His Son.

Sin has been likened to a snowball rolling downhill, growing more destructive the more we let it have its way. Make no mistake when I am getting my own way and am allowed to continue to get my own way things do not go well for me or those around me...and as I continue down the road or hill so to speak, the path I took becomes littered with my victims. Girls, the best time to stop sinning is before the sin becomes too strong or is moving too fast to control. Think now of the sin in your own lives...there are some that I have struggled with that if I allowed them to rule they would make the focus of my life narrow crowding out everything else.

The bible tells us that where our  treasure is there our heart will be also. Ask yourselves this question....from the outside looking in would others, by examining your words, thoughts, actions and perhaps how you spent your time, be able to discern what your treasure was?  Would you be convicted by them as a Christian sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ or not so much?  God wants to give us life more abundantly...Our desires must become our servant and not our masters...this can only be done by allowing the word of God to penetrate deep into our hearts and then by surrendering to the Spirit of God as He works in us through us.

What does the Psalmist say:  How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.  With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.--Psalm 119:9-11


Love
Mom who again hopes you are noticing that the Word is ALWAYS the remedy!

Trust No One....Micah 7:1-8

Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits,  Like those who glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. That they may successfully do evil with both hands—The prince asks for gifts The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together.  The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.  Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father,  Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation;  My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me--Micah 7:1-8 

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

My goodness these verses up until the last one or two are very discouraging!  Micah laments that there is no godly person left in all the land.  He says it was like looking for summer fruit after the harvest was over. Reading these verses it would seem that there was no one we could trust...not friend, son, daughter, spouse, mother, father....The prophet begins with, woe is me! His eyes are on the people all around him and he is severely pained.  There is no one he sees that does good.  Truth was no longer a standard...everything was falling apart and confused.  The same is true today in the  21st century.  Micah tells us that even the best of them is like a brier.  OUCH!  Corruption and deceit abounded...everyone followed his own way and did what seemed right to him. Verse 5 advises us not even to trust a friend or a guide.

The prophet continues and says to be careful what we say even to our own mate! They may betray and disappoint.  Girls, only one of you is married, but there is an excellent lesson here.  I see many many married couples trying really really hard to have a good marriage...to find happiness.  They go to their pastor, self-help books, friends...anywhere for help and put a tremendous amount of pressure on each other.  They pile up expectations.  Their marriage becomes an endless cycle of stress.  Why? Because no spouse, friend, activity or hobby will ever satisfy us completely.  They are looking to each other to provide what only God can give them and when that occurs disillusionment and dissatisfaction will abound!

So what is the answer:  First and foremost the only really good marriage is one founded on the word of God.  It is one where both spouses are submitted to God, loving Him and putting Him first. It is only then that they can relax and just enjoy one another's company and the fellowship they have in Him.  Their expectation is from their Lord...not each other...and their thoughts, feelings and actions are guided by the word of God and controlled by the Spirit of God.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

2nd Timothy 3: 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Micah continues further and says that even our family will disappoint and rise up against us. SIGH! SIGH!   So after saying all this what was the prophet's attitude?  Are you ready for this...His attitude was HOPEFUL!!!  I LOVE IT!  Look at verses 7 and 8.   Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation;  My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.

Girls...there is the answer...and it is not in politicians, friends, family or marriage...it is in Him.  The Lord is the light in our darkness...He is our hope...He satisfies and fulfills all of our desires...He is completely faithful! It is God that we need, girls...We are complete in Him.

Love
Mom who understands this a little more each day.

Thinking about Underwear, Jeremiah and God

¹Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
 ²So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
 ³And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
 ⁴Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
 ⁵So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
 ⁶And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
 ⁷Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing--Jeremiah 13:1-7



Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

Yes...God is saying exactly what you think He is saying. I KNOW it will be a word picture and a lesson I will never forget when I think about clinging and cleaving to my God.  I will never think of underwear in quite the same way again.  This passage comforted me by showing me the extremes God goes to get our attention.  That, girls, is a good thing.

God told Jeremiah to buy a girdle and put it on.  He then tells him not to wash it or take it off  but to go the   Euphrates, and bury it in a hole under a rock. Days, months, maybe years went by...and the Lord spoke to him again telling him to dig it up.  Jeremiah did as he was told...When he unburied the linen garment it was rotted, ruined and profitable for nothing.

So what was the point? Read the next few verses: 

⁸Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,⁹Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.¹⁰This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. ¹¹For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear--Jeremiah 13:8-11


God was saying that He had drawn His people, Israel, close to Him...as a girdle clings to  a man's skin; God wanted to be close to His people. BUT they rebelled and sought help in the wrong places and went after other gods. They walked in the imagination of their own hearts...believing their own lies and had done what was right in their own eyes.  Because they had put off their God and clung to their pride, they liked Jeremiah's underwear,  had become rotted and good for nothing. Judgment was coming to Judah via the Babylonians.  There in Babylon they would  finally be cured of their idolatries.  Their city and temple would be ruined just as the prophet's garment.

The application here for us is pretty obvious. Without the Lord, girls, we are USELESS. Rotten and good for nothing.  Girls...cling to your God...abide in the Vine. Put  Him first in your life always. We are made for His pleasure...to glorify Him.  If you are living for anything but the Lord, you are not living your life as He would have you live and will become unprofitable.  May it never be.

Love
Mom who is not quite done..and when a little overboard with the bold...

I love what Jeremiah says a little further down in Chapter 13 beginning in verse 15.

Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken.  Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble  On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness.  But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly  And run down with tears,  Because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. 

Jeremiah says if you won't listen I will weep for you...wow...I will weep for you.  He wasn't mad or flipping out..he was heartbroken for them.  How beautiful is that? What a heart Jeremiah had for God and for the people God had placed in his care.


Love
Mom

He is our Portion...

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,  Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning;  Great is Your faithfulness.  “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,  “ Therefore I hope in Him!”--Lamentations 3:21-24

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


So in Part 1 we looked at exchanging the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise and in part 2 we were reminded to remember like Jeremiah did, that His mercies and compassions fail not when that spirit of heaviness hits...that I can praise Him because I am NOT getting what I truly deserve. Instead I am getting His truth and His grace upon grace poured out in my life.

Next, (and last) we are to remember that the Lord is our Portion.

Whom have I in heaven but You  And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail;  But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever--Psalm 73:25-26

 I cried out to You, O LORD I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.--Psalm 142:5

I am going to go back here to the moment of my salvation...the moment it became completely evident to me that something inside of me had changed dramatically and that I WAS NOT responsible for that change.  I had gone through many self-help books both from the library and bookstores....I FINALLY cried out to God and bought a bible.  I had tried reading the bible many times in my life.  The strangest thing for me was that I could read anything else and understand what I was reading...but I had never understood the Bible.  I always had to put it back on the shelf because it was like I was reading another language...there simply was no understanding. I did not have ears to hear.  For some reason the Lord heard my cry this time and gave me the ears to hear His word.  The Lord knows our hearts and must have known that this time I really did want His help.  I remember coming home...sitting on the couch....opening the Bible up to Genesis 1 and before I reached Genesis Chapter 2 tears were streaming down my cheeks. The Spirit had spoken to my heart.  I understood!  Not just chapter 1 of Genesis but that He was my Rock in this world.  He was my Portion. That this book I had in my hands was exactly what I needed.  It was black and white, it was definite and most importantly it had answers. Truth truly resided here in this book.  I knew at that moment that I could stand.  I knew that I had what I needed to raise my family..to make it through life in this world. My eyes were opened to the God who created the universe and who also cared for me. Circumstances would change, emotions would change, my life would change but He would not.  Jesus Christ the same today, yesterday and forever.  He would be my guide, my strong tower, my help, my strength and my hope.  Girls, I went from quicksand to the Rock. Psalm 40:1-3 speaks to me of what the my God did that day in my heart.

I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to  me And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock,  And established my steps.He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God;  Many will see it and fear; And will trust in the LORD.

It truly happened in the blink of an eye...and His word by His grace has never been far from my heart or my reach since.

How do we have peace and confidence then and put off that spirit of heaviness? We remember, by His Spirit that dwells in us, that HE is our Portion.  He does not change...in Him we have peace...in the world...tribulation...but He has overcome...so He says be of good cheer..we face this world already victorious.  To base our life on anything else is to base it on that which is always changing....and thus constantly disappointing.  To base it on Jesus Christ is to base it on that which is eternal, unchanging and has value beyond this world.

No one knew discouragement like Jeremiah.  Here is the summarized advice that he gives that span the next 20 verses.  Listen to his words, girls and be helped and blessed. Hope in Him, wait patiently for Him, surrender to Him, know that He will not cast off forever, know that though He causes grief He will show compassion for He does not afflict willingly, search out your ways and examine them,and turn back to Him  Finally, we are back to where we started in the beginning...Praise Him...lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven and watch Him deliver!

Love
Mom...who has tears streaming down her cheeks in gratitude and thankfulness for what He and He alone has accomplished in my life.

Here is Psalm 40 in its entirety...

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
         And He inclined to me,
         And heard my cry.
 ² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
         Out of the miry clay,
         And set my feet upon a rock,
         And established my steps.
 ³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
         Praise to our God;
         Many will see it and fear,
         And will trust in the LORD.

 ⁴ Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust,
         And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
 ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works
         Which You have done;
         And Your thoughts toward us
         Cannot be recounted to You in order;
         If I would declare and speak of them,
         They are more than can be numbered.

 ⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
         My ears You have opened.
         Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
 ⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
         In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
 ⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
         And Your law is within my heart.”

 ⁹ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
         In the great assembly;
         Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
         O LORD, You Yourself know.
 ¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
         I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
         I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
         From the great assembly.

 ¹¹ Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD;
         Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
 ¹² For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
         My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
         They are more than the hairs of my head;
         Therefore my heart fails me.

 ¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
         O LORD, make haste to help me!
 ¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
         Who seek to destroy my life;
         Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
         Who wish me evil.
 ¹⁵ Let them be confounded because of their shame,
         Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

 ¹⁶ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
         Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
         “The LORD be magnified!”
 ¹⁷ But I am poor and needy;
         Yet the LORD thinks upon me.
         You are my help and my deliverer;
         Do not delay, O my God.

Weeping or Whining....

My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.  My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption,  Till the LORD from heaven  Looks down and sees. My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.--Lamentations 3:48-51


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The content of this study is not  mine.  I will use my own words to explain but the ideas and the title are Jon Courson's.  I was so encouraged after reading it that I thought I would interrupt the Spirit of Heaviness series to share this post with you.

This is a  topical study from Lamentations 3:48-51.  Jon Courson considers the prophets Jeremiah and Jonah and discusses their similarities.  Here they are:

1.  Both Jonah and Jeremiah hesitated when called to ministry. Jonah hesitated out of hostility...he did not wanted to preach to the hated Ninevites.  He wanted God to annihilate them.  Jeremiah hesitated out of self-doubt. He said, "Lord, I can't speak...I am but a child."

2.  Both Jonah and Jeremiah were sent into a city.  Jonah was sent into Nineveh--the capital of the powerful Assyrian Empire.  God had a hard time getting Jonah into Nineveh. (if I can say that) He needed a storm and a big fish to get him there.  Jeremiah was sent to Jerusalem. God's city. In contrast to Jonah it was impossible to get Jeremiah to leave Jerusalem. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar sent an emissary to Jeremiah telling him that he could go anywhere else in the empire...Jeremiah chose to stay with the people.

3. They were both separated from their families...Jonah by physical distance and Jeremiah from his friends and family emotionally when his friends abandoned him and his brothers betrayed him.

4. Both were manhandled and both were cast into a pit...Jeremiah a cistern and Jonah the belly of the whale.

5.  Both cried out to the Lord and were delivered.

6.  Both Jonah and Jeremiah preached to the people. This is where it really gets good.  Jonah preached a one sentence sermon to the entire city of Nineveh.  "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed."  He offered no solutions, compassion or instruction.  Jeremiah preached to Jerusalem for more than 40 years with tears and a heart filled with compassion.

7. Jeremiah and Jonah both saw the people respond to God.  Jonah through his one sentence sermon saw the whole of Nineveh turn and repent in dust and ashes.  Jeremiah after preaching for forty years, did not have one convert. He witnessed the rejection of God.  Who would be the popular preacher today? I love what Jon Courson says here.  Jonah would be on the cover of Christianity Today and Jeremiah would be sitting in the back row of one of Jonah's Effective Ministry seminars battling discouragement.  But what an example Jeremiah is for us of endurance, obedience and leaving the results to God. Girls, the greatest revival took place through a man whose heart was NOT right with God. Paul says in 1 Cor 4:5 that we are not to judge anything before its time. Ministries cannot be evaluated based on who is successful and who is not because only God knows the heart.

8.  Both Jonah and Jeremiah sat on a hillside at the end of their ministry. Jonah whined about his gourd that had been destroyed by a worm, but Jeremiah wept for the people who were facing judgment.  The very people he had warned for forty long years. The people who had rejected, imprisoned, tortured and mocked him.  I might have thrown an "I told You So" party if I had been Jeremiah.  Not Jeremiah, he wept! He had compassion on them.

So what do we do...do we weep for those who walk in darkness.  Jon Courson's asks "if our tears were measured over the last 5 years...how many were for the unsaved?  We are so concerned with our little world. So concerned whether our gourd is providing us with enough shade...so concerned with our comfort...that we become very, very small people.

So how do we become more like Jeremiah?   In Luke 19:41 it says "And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it." Jesus stopped on a hillside outside of Jerusalem just as Jeremiah had done and wept over the city.  Knowing that they would reject Him and crucify Him. Knowing that the city would be destroyed in a few very short years. The answer girls is what the answer always is...Jesus. How do we become more like Him?  By spending time with Him...as we spend time with Him and His word we become more like He is. We see with His eyes...our hearts soften and expand...His grace and His love are there and shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit.


I want my whining to turn into weeping and my self-pity to compassion...Lord...soften my heart!

Love
Mom--who hopes you are noticing that the solution is always to immerse yourself in His word...

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord--2 Cor 3:18

The Spirit of Heaviness - Part 2

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,  Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning;  Great is Your faithfulness.  “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,  “ Therefore I hope in Him!”--Lamentations 3:21-24

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


I have been reading through Lamentations and have reached Chapter 3.  In the  first two chapters Jeremiah laments the tragedy of the judgment and destruction of Jerusalem.  God's people had rebelled against Him and ignored His warnings.  The time for judgment had come. Chapter 3 begins with the prophet's own pain and suffering as he watches his people face judgment...the people he had preached to with tears for forty years without one convert.  Imagine his distress. Jeremiah paints a graphic word picture of his suffering for us in verses 1 through 18. He tells us that God was like his enemy aiming arrows at him that pierced his loins and although his prophecies had been fulfilled, the people were still against him and ridiculed him. In verse 16  he says he is covered with ashes.  The final verse of this lament  says "And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD.”  Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.  My soul still remembers And sinks within me."  Are you getting the picture? Okay...now we come to the turning point where he takes his eyes off of his own misery, looks at the Lord instead and says in verse 21 that he has hope! Here he remembers God's mercy! He remembers that it is through the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed and that His compassions fail not. Girls if we do not remember this our souls will sink within us just as Jeremiah's did.

 I am a woman who has been forgiven much and truly think I do see the Lord's mercy and compassion.  Sometimes, however, the Lord reaches deep into your soul and shows you in a  more personal way a truth that you have prayed to understand more. 

Such was my experience today after reading chapter 3.  While watching home video footage that had been taken in 1994 prior to my salvation, I had the opportunity to see up close and personal what my life and my family's life had been like without the Lord.  Now I remember it in the general sense but seeing it on tape and seeing the contrast of what it is today was a gift from Him to me.  It allowed me to see with marked clarity the Lord's mercies in not consuming us.  It also showed me how He took us from a life of self-worship, emptiness and eternal damnation to a life filled with and lived for Him whose end was heaven.  As I watched with spiritual eyes that I did not have back then I was so thankful for His faithfulness and was grateful that He did not give me what I truly deserved...death.  You know what...I may not be getting exactly what I want right now, but I am very grateful that I am not getting what I deserve. And even in not getting what I want I know that whatever I am or am not getting is the Lord's mercy and goodness to me. I know that He works all things in my life as a believer together for good.  I am  appreciative to the Lord for the miracle He and He alone has wrought in  my life and in the life of my husband and you, my daughters.   I saw the blessings I would have missed and what our end would have been without Him and I SHUDDERED.

After watching those videos I can see is His faithfulness, His compassion and His mercy in a way I was unable to before. This generated hope in my soul  and reminded me to remember, like Jeremiah did,  that His mercies and compassions fail not when that spirit of heaviness hits...that I can praise Him because I am NOT getting what I truly deserve. Instead I am getting His truth and His grace upon grace poured out in my life. So sing and exchange the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise and be grateful to Him that His compassion and His mercies fail not!

Love,
Mom

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”--Numbers 6:24-26

The Spirit of Heaviness - Part 1

To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness--Isaiah 61:2-3

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


The next few posts will be devoted to the spirit of heaviness...something we all experience often in our lives if we are thinking human beings.  The verses above from Isaiah are beautiful...it is so like our God to give beauty for ashes.  That is truly what He does.  As I said in my previous post...He transforms our deepest pain into our deepest joy. He turns our sorrow into dancing.  He makes all things new. He redeems, transforms and restores. Surrender to Him...allow Him to do that work in you. 

What does it say to do in  verse 3 when we are experiencing the spirit of heaviness...We are to put on the garment of praise.  I can't help but be reminded here of other places in His word where it tells us to put on and put off.

Colossians 3:12-17 says this: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Here in Isaiah 61: 3 He is telling us to exchange the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise.  It is a decision. We can put it on and put it off. Girls, we make this decision every day...do we moan and complain...yell and chastise when we are hurting and make those around us feel as bad as we do, or do we make the decision to start praising and worshiping. Do we by faith choose to speak psalms and hymns and spiritual songs...to sing with grace in our hearts unto the Lord and by default to those around us?

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.  It takes courage to sing when the darkness is closing in...but when you do speak and sing those words of faith...His grace is there.  You begin to feed your Spirit and the things of the world with all its darkness begin to fall away. You and those whom the Lord has placed in your care or around you will also be blessed and their faith will be encouraged by your example.  It truly is our choice.  I am facing that choice today...Today Lord I choose to put on your garment of praise...to trust you in the darkness...to know that You are my Portion, my Light, my Joy and the One who lifts up my head. I am closing with the words to Steven Curtis Chapman's song "All Things New".  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Q3NrB_eHM

 ALL THINGS NEW

You spoke and made the sunrise, to light up the very first day
You breathed across the water, and started the very first wave
It was You
You introduced Your glory, to every living creature on earth
And they started singing, the first song to ever be heard
They sang for You

You make all things new
You make all things new

Then the world was broken, fallen and battered and scarred
You took the hopeless, the life, wasted, ruined and marred
And made it new

You make all things new
You make all things new
You redeem and You transform
You renew and You restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You

You turn winter into spring
You take every living thing
And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again

You made the sunrise, day after day after day
But there's a morning coming, when old things will all pass away
And everyone will see

You make all things new
You make all things new
Come redeem and come transform
Come renew and come restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You

Now and forever You are making all things new
You're making all things new

Hallelujah...

Much Love
Mom
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Legacies and Epitaphs...John 17

 John 17:4 "...I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla:


 I am going through John 17 for the bible study Mary is doing at church and am being so blessed.  I started reading the chapter this morning and got only to verse 4.  "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do"...I want you to ask yourself two questions. The first is whose work are you doing? The second is a bit morbid but always something to consider.  If you only had a short time left to live, would you be able to say I have finished the work...would you hear well done good and faithful servant? Would you be okay with the legacy you would leave behind...with the epitaph that might be appropriate for your headstone?  I know i threw some extra questions in there at the end but they were just to clarify the original thought. : D

Let's look at the first one...whose work are you doing.  Jesus never did or said anything outside of the Father's will. (John 8:28-29) He did not follow the clamor of the crowd but followed in the direction the Father pointed. He spent time with the Father and knew His heart.  I see so many people running around doing "stuff" from morning til night never really stopping to consider...is it necessary and most importantly is it what the Lord wants for me or for my family.  Girls, spend your time doing the work that He has prepared beforehand for you to walk in. (Ephesians 2:10) That is so important for us to remember. People will pile on heavy burdens...their expectations are high. Worrying about what they think will give you ulcers, headaches and all kinds of physical and emotional ailments. You might also pile heavy burdens on yourself.  Don't do this. Instead, make a practice of evaluating all you do in the light of eternity. Let Him direct you morning by morning...He is the One to please...for "you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  Keep your eyes on the prize...the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Set your mind on things above.  As always, Jesus is not trying to make your life difficult. He is showing you the right way...as a mother would show a child the correct way to do something....He wants to ease your burdens not add to them...He knows you are but dust...Matt 11:28-30 Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. 

The next question...have you finished the work?   Do you have anything left undone?  Any sin that has got the best of you that you have not been ruthless with...any unforgiveness...any thing that the Lord has told you to do that you have left undone...thinking you will get to it another time. I think it was Amy Carmichael who said that the moment is the window to eternity. I have always loved that quote. It never fails to make me stop short and remember that yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not yet here and life does not come with a guarantee...glorify Him then moment by moment!

Girls, there is really only one thing necessary and that is to sit at His feet and learn from Him...and when you do that you will be seeking first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added to you...you will be clinging to the vine and fruit will be borne over time.  He will do the work...your job is really just to cling and learn from Him.  One of you is already a Mom and as a Mom you will all hopefully ask yourself things like, what legacy am I leaving behind for my husband, my children?  Am I/Did I point them to Jesus?  Did I "manifest" or illustrate Him in my life? It is the only legacy you need leave...if you have pointed them...your precious gifts from God...to Him...if the Lord is their Shepherd they truly have everything they need.

Love
Mom

Numbers 6:24-26  “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’