LAMENTATIONS 2:20 - 3:66 MAINTAINING FAITH IN THE MIDST OF OVERWHELMING DISASTER: During the time of judgment and discipline from the Lord, it is easy to feel loneliness and a sense of abandonment. That is part of the process. God uses that time to show us that our discipline is deserved and we cannot sit in judgment of God or blame Him when the pain hits. During this time, we will be broken and cleansed. There has to come a "tearing down" before He can rebuild us. Brokenness removes our resistance to the restoration process. Repent and reconnect with God, "pour out your heart like water before the Lord".
LIFE IS HARD; AND GOD IS GOOD: Chapter 3 is the longest - 66 verses (3 verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet). Chapter 3 describes our pain when we refuse to repent, either because of ignorance or because of rebellion and selfishness. It feels as if God has turned against us. We can feel torn in pieces, abandoned, falling apart, weak, trapped, broken, bitter, devastated. In fact, (v. 22-33) says, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not." These are some of the most beautiful words about God in the whole Bible. God's "mercy" never fails! God "causes grief" and He "afflicts", and so often the "mercies of God" are hidden and hard to see. He "does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men". James 5:11 says that the "outcome of the Lord's dealings" are "that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."
Lam 3:22 is also translated, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies shall never come to an end." The Hebrew word for "steadfast love", also translated "mercy", is "racham" which is actually from the word for "womb." It is the action of the mother's womb on the fetus to cherish, nourish and protect it. It is used 32 times in Lamentations! This "love, compassion, or pity", is never used up, finished, or completed. There is always more. While there is nothing "new" about God, our experience of Him is always new. The past is never held against us, and every day is a fresh start. "The LORD is good to those who wait for him". This is because it is HOPE that lies behind and buttresses our FAITH. Our hope rests on the attested-to character of God.
ANCHOR FOR MY SOUL: Looking at the mass of dead bodies, young and old alike (over one million), and seeing and smelling the fires burning, Jeremiah raises his voice and sings again: "For the Lord will not cast us off (reject us) forever. But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies." The purpose of discipline is restoration, not destruction. In the midst of death, he sings of Life. Never once did he ask, "Why God, Why?" But instead, he sang it: God's mercy is dependable - something you can count on when things are falling apart. As bad as things were, it could be worse. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real danger, the real trouble, is that we shall be destroyed if we flinch or rebel. Instead, we "sit in silence" like Jeremiah says, and put our confidence in the character of God: full of pity, full of mercy, full of compassion, righteous, just, constant, faithful, patient, eternal, loving.
WHEN GOD SEEMS TO HIDE HIMSELF: When all we SEE is devastation all around us, when "outsiders" mock us for trusting God, and our hearts are broken, truly broken....(v.50) we wait for God to see from heaven. (v.52-54) We feel pursued, buried and cut off. "We call on the Name". "GOD DREW NEAR"...(v.57) and said, "FEAR NOT". "You have redeemed my life" - - - words spoken from the pit.
RESPONSE: You may find this hard to believe, but I have actually been here, on a place where I didn't believe God would or could do anything to help me. I probably deserved whatever God "dished out", but I didn't feel that way at the time. I just remember feeling so "cast off" by God. No matter how much money we spent, who we hired to help us, how much we prayed, how much we begged God, nothing seemed to do any good. The pain I was feeling was from grief and it felt at times like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. But, backed into a corner, I knew that it was God or nothing. I must admit that I did not come quickly to the place where I rejoiced or gave thanks like it says in 1 Thess 5:16-18. For a long time, I believed that God had abandoned me and life became unbearable. These verses in Lamentations 3:53-59 became my lifeline. Jeremiah knew what he was talking about. He had lost it all, he had borne it all, he had felt it all - - - and still he said, "Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord."
HEBREWS 1:1-14- "THE HEAVENLY CALLING"
WHO IS THE REAL RECIPIENT OF THIS LETTER? Heb 3:1 tells us this letter is for "partakers of the heavenly calling", "holy brethren". The name, "Hebrew" means "to cross over to the other side", "to transition". There are 86 OT references in Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews serves as a commentary and explanation of Numbers, confirming that the OT is, indeed, symbolic and to be spiritually understood. In Numbers, the "crossing over" was over the Jordan River and into "the Land" - and it is likened in Hebrews to crossing over into "God's Rest" by faith (chap 3 & 4). Just as, in Numbers, going across the Jordan River represented a death to the Old Man and a resurrection on the other side to "newness of life" (Rom 6:4), we find that to enter "God's Rest" requires us to go thru the "veil of flesh" - we must die to SELF! The focus and emphasis of Hebrews is JESUS and our calling to be like Him, ("the heavenly calling"), and so there is no record of the human author of the book.
THEME: The most significant theme of Hebrews is to press on with God because the rewards are "better" than the pain of pressing. The real issue in Hebrews is not heaven or hell, but submission and obedience of faith. When pressure comes in our Christian walk, we are tempted to retreat to the familiar ways of handling them. But there comes a time in our Christian walk when we have reached the point of no return. We know too much to go back to being ignorant babies, and now we have enough grace to finish our course, but no grace to go back. Don't come this far in God, then turn back because of fear and unbelief. Everything we are reaching for is "better" than what we are coming out of. "Better" = "stronger, more vigorous, more useful: used 13 times in Hebrews. "Let us" is used 13 times also. Hebrews is a book of movement toward God. The "heavenly calling" must be PRESSED into.
FAITH: This last section of the New Testament (Hebrews thru Revelation) is all about faith - - - what it is, how to use it, the "energy" of faith, growing in faith, strengthening faith, the practical relevancy of faith, expressions of faith, unfailing faith, etc. etc. The purpose of Hebrews is to encourage us to persevere in faith. This is probably one of the most exciting portions of the whole Bible!
Our covenant relationship with God is like a marriage covenant. It is forever. It is binding. It requires more than just a wedding; it requires a marriage! It is relationship with God. Faith in your wife doesn't mean that the man believes she exists and that they got married at some point in time. Yet, that is how some people view salvation! Faith in God is not stationary - it has movement toward God. It requires both "labour", and self-sacrifice. Our thinking changes, our motivation is different, our values change, and our behavior surely is different! "All things are become new." (2 Cor 5:17) It turns out that our "heavenly calling" defined in Hebrews, requires mature faith, and that "salvation" isn't just an escape from hell!
FIVE WARNINGS: Hebrews shows us that Jesus' work is truly "finished". He has done it all and we are without excuse. John 10:10 says Jesus came to give us "THE LIFE" - abundant life of purpose. When we don't access that Life because of neglect, hardness of heart, willful sin, etc. we will be judged. The warnings in Hebrews aren't about heaven or hell: they are about this life and the consequences of not aggressively going after God. We face judgment and loss here and now, and even lose rewards in heaven. For sure we won't access God's Rest that faith supplies. Like the fearful and unbelieving generation who died in the Wilderness (in Numbers), we will spin out our 70 years or so and die without rewards, never realizing our potential in God.
Chapter 1: DEFINING THE "HEAVENLY CALLING": The bottom line for everything we do or believe is JESUS. He is not only our Savior, but He is our EXAMPLE. Jesus IS our definition of what the "heavenly calling" is. It is called "the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" in Philippians 3:14. So what is it? In a word, sonship. John 1:12 says " But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:" And 1 John 3:1, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:" Heb 1:6 calls Jesus the "firstborn" - the first of many. See also Heb 2:10. This is a position of intimacy, love, power, authority, privilege and obligation. It is also being the "heir of all things, the heir of God." (Gal 6:7; Heb 1:3) What is the principle obligation of a son? To be the "brightness of God's (the Father's) glory and the express image of His (the Father's) Person." (Rom 8:29) We have as our goal to be an accurate expression of God. All that we do and say is to bring "glory" to our Father. We are to manifest God's image. It says here that "prophets" and "messengers" ("aggelos"- or "angels") only brought "fragments" or "pieces" (like puzzle pieces) by "various methods"; but the Son, Jesus, brings the REALITY, the whole picture. Our position in Christ is "much better than angels" because we don't just bring a message; we are the message. A son, being made in the image of his father, more accurately knows his father's heart, his father's vision, etc. According to Galatians, this TITLE, "son", is for any saved Believer who has been trained to obedience (Heb 5:8-9). The principle characteristic of sons is obedience and "righteousness" - righteousness is conformity to God's expectations and order of things, carries the connotation of justice and is built on the foundation of holiness.
RESPONSE: I used to jokingly tell people that "I don't think I will go to hell when I die; I'm ALREADY in hell!" My life was full of chaos, bitterness, darkness, unbelief - just a grim digging in. My misery was based on ignorance and unbelief. WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!!! Get into the pursuit of the heavenly calling! If you are reading this, you are called to it! WARNING! It will cost you everything. Hebrews pretty much sums up what God is really after: a family of sons, who reflect His image and His likeness. HEBREWS: If I had read it and believed it and then obeyed it, I wouldn't have wasted all those years being bitter and unhappy. DON'T YOU FALL INTO THAT TRAP!
PSALM 102:1-28
IMPORTANT: Please refer back to the background information of Psalm 90-106: the "Numbers" Psalms - "Labouring" to enter in to God's Rest." HOW do we achieve "GOD'S REST" (Heb 3 and 4)? We give thanks and praise to God for His goodness, greatness and glory. This reassures our own hearts that it's right to trust God. (see Rom 8:7) It also excites our emotions to produce the "joy of faith" (Phil 1:25).
Psalm 102: When my heart is overwhelmed, my faith stays unshakable in a never-changing God. Prayer is like breathing. Prayer is what sustains the Life of God in me, no matter what is going on around me. Notice, that although the first 11 verses define overwhelming emotions that leave us weak and exhausted, IT DOESN'T END THERE. When we put our attention on our feelings during tough circumstances, we say things like "God is hiding from me." "My feelings are dried up." "I can't eat and now I'm just skin and bones." "I can't sleep at night." "I cry all the time." "I am withering away."
"BUT" (v.12) "There is an appointed time...." when God will extend His grace and respond to me. "He will respond to the prayer of the destitute..." This is because God "sits enthroned forever", "will arise and have compassion", "will be revered by everyone", "will hear the groans of the prisoners" (trapped in the "vanity" of the earth)... and "release: us. My circumstances are temporary. God is forever!
COUNT ON IT...... The principle of RESTORATION is as strong as God. Instruct your heart to trust God. Future generations count on you. You are not witnessing to just those around you! "Principalities and powers" (Eph 3:10, et al), "the great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1), and now "a generation to come" are watching to see what God does!
PROVERBS 26:21-22
Strife, arguing, tension, bitterness, anger and hatred are all like fire - they consume and destroy. Quarrelsome people don't just add "fuel to the fire", they start the fire! It's like they just seem to need the action. Gossip appears delectable - something we might enjoy hearing. BUT, gossip actually damages us deep inside, where our spirit resides. It acts like poison, leaving a residue of suspicion and distrust. We know in our hearts that gossip is wrong and that it is only a matter of time before the gossiper is saying something about us.
RESPONSE: For many years, I suffered from depression. Depression steals our strength and energy, our zest for life, our joy and enjoyment of life, many relationships, time when we could be doing other things, and on and on and on. I believe that, to some extent, depression is self-inflicted. I'm not talking about mental illness or a physical problem with brain chemicals, etc. I am talking about what is usually called "situational depression" - we have chosen to be negative about life's circumstances. I loved to tell people that "behind every silver lining, there is a cloud". I not only saw the half-cup as being half empty, I wanted to know who drank the other half!
Life wasn't fair. Of course, I blamed everyone else for my depression. "If only I had a handsomer, younger, more sensitive (to my needs) husband." "If only my children were more compliant and spent more time with me." "If only I had a job where everyone appreciated all I do." "If only I lived in a different neighborhood in a bigger house." "If only I had a lot of money...........was thinner..............was prettier...............was popular............" The truth is, none of that stuff would ever be enough.
When our circumstances, or our personal feelings OVERWHELM us, it is up to us to take it to God in prayer. It is our choice. Our real problem is not depression; it is unbelief! That is serious and it demands repentance. God takes it very seriously when we don't believe Him. Psa 102 says, "But Thou, O Lord...." and it tells us that He will act on our behalf. Whining and complaining is a very immature behavior. It is self-centered and self-righteous. Choosing to be a victim of our circumstances or our feelings is also very immature. It locks us into position. It puts us in a cage and locks the door. Not only that, but we doom our children to living in the same cage. We have to TALK our way out, or die in our cage.
My own mind is my worst enemy. Romans 8:7 says my natural mind hates God and cannot do anything God wants it to. That means that if I go by what my head or my feelings are telling me, I will self-destruct. Prayer is what SUSTAINS the spirit of a man. When we don't pray, our spirit suffocates and eventually dies. Prayer is not a whining session. It is a time, like Psa 102, when we reaffirm our trust in God. When we tell Him we believe Him, know that He is in charge and is working His purpose. He never changes, and in fact, He is eternal. As we speak these things out loud, our own heart is reassured and is forced into "God's Rest", or the life of faith. We have to tell ourselves what to believe. We are not trying to bring something into being; we say it because it is already true, whether our natural mind believes it not.
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