Lamentations 3

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lam 3:23

I have struggled with my weight ever since college. I went to Basic Training for the National Guard during my freshman year and got into the best shape of my life. Of course after getting home, I could never work out to that same level and I began to gain weight. Eventually I tried a method called "The Weighdown" which is more emphasizing how much you eat over what you eat. So I really just tried to moderate my portions, but I remember one day that I ate a lot of junk all through the day. My wife told me that the weighdown book says to put a day like that behind you and start over the next day. What a relief that was to me, that I hadn't totally blown everything in a day.

We've all had days like this, and apparently the great prophet Jeremiah was no different. He had moments that he felt completely cut off from God, and the first half of Lamentations 3 is pretty depressing. But then we see so much hope in the second half, that I could hardly pick which verse was my favorite. I love verse 21 where he recalls the God he serves and he has hope. But verse 23 is even better to me, because it reminds us of the lesson that God built into the days. The sun goes down and the moon comes up and the day is over and done. Then the sun rises again on a new day. It's the same with our sin. Did you fail in your efforts to resist and leave sin behind yesterday? Well, today is a new day! You can seek the Holy Spirit to give you reminders when you begin facing temptation. Ask Him to remind you of the failure and disappointment you felt in your day before. You can be a new person. God doesn't hold onto the past...people do. If you're willing to repent and move forward, the Lord is waiting on you. Nothing you can do will diminish His love for you. So lay out the failures of your yesterday to Him, and embrace the new day He has given you today and serve Him in it!

Lamentations 2

Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions; and they have not exposed your iniquity so as to restore you from captivity, Lam 2:14

I was watching a church service on TV one Sunday morning as I got ready for church. I always enjoyed hearing the music while I started my day, and one particular morning I got to hear the pastor preach. He was held in high regard as a preacher of the Word, and was talking about relationships. He said that in a church their size, several thousand strong, there were probably some people who were unmarried but living together in the congregation. He said that wasn't "the best idea", but never called it sin and didn't develop the point at all. I'm sure there were some there that day that found themselves in that situation, but because the pastor didn't really emphasize the problem with it, the people didn't either.

Talking about sin is not fun. It brings up old hurts, regrets and reminders of our failures. But as Christians, we need to be prepared to confront our sin at any moment. In Lamentations, we learn part of the failure of the people came from the men of God they trusted. These prophets were responsible to point out sin in the lives of the people, but not only would they not tell them the truth about their sin, but they would lie to make the people feel better! How would you react today if your pastor told you that they see sin in your life? Would you be embarrassed? Would you prefer he just lie and say nothing? The proper response would to be thankful. When a pastor shows a believer his/her sin, the purpose is to help you get over your sin. These prophets probably felt they could keep everyone happy if they were told who great they were. The problem was, their lives weren't great, and we need to be prepared to examine our own lives for sin, and to listen to the admonitions of those around us. Will you be quiet for a few moments today and ask the Holy Spirit to show you areas of sin that are remaining in your life? Will you ask Him to prepare you for the moment a pastor or friend shows you your sin? There are few acts more loving than that.

Lamentations 1

She weeps bitterly in the night and her tears are on her cheeks; she has none to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Lam 1:2

Is there anything worse than the soap opera that makes up the lives of teenagers? My youth group growing up had 50 kids in it, and one of the worst things that could happen was that a boy and girl started dating from the group. As was the usual custom, they would break up soon after and then everyone had to pick a side of which friend they liked and which one they were mad at. It was completely ridiculous that one day two people could be friends and then next day, they just had anger towards one another. Not the best example in the church for lost teenagers.

It's amazing how the things we once loved become the source of our greatest disappointment, just like a boyfriend or girlfriend we thought we couldn't live without. Before Christ we did what we wanted, when we wanted. But now that we know who He is, it changes our lives. And those choices that were made so easily before have become our enemies. Those who lived for alcohol and eventually made the turn away from it, find it to be one of the hardest choices to leave behind. Sin all seems great until we realize that price that was paid on a cross to overcome sin. You know that your sin never gives you satisfaction, so why do you go back to it? It entices like a lover, but afterwards beats you up. Going back to the things that defined us before Christ will never give us the satisfaction that Satan promises it will. You need to make a clear and conscious effort to leave the old you behind. Just as Jerusalem realized, all their old pals were gone when the day came to pay for their sin. Jesus died to make you a new creation, not re-creation of the old.

Jeremiah 52

They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. Jer 52:18

There are plenty of real estate companies throughout our country, but did you know there are companies that only deal in church real estate? They sell old buildings to smaller congregations and help growing congregations find new locations. The more disturbing trend is when a church building is sold because the church is dying, not growing. To see businesses that are operating out of buildings that were once houses of worship for God is disturbing. We live in a country where the gospel witness is already dwindling and losing the presence of an entire church in a community certainly doesn't help.

The priests were actually warned that this event of verse 18 would happen when Babylon came into Jerusalem. These pagans would have no respect for the worship implements in the temple and only saw the material value in these items. So the priests were warned to hide the items so they would be preserved for use when the people returned to Jerusalem. Instead, these items lost their significance and were probably just melted down. I fear that the church as a whole is losing it's significance. Churches that were once growing and vibrant have in some cases died off altogether. When I lived near Memphis there were once-beautiful, large churches sitting mostly vacant on a Sunday morning because the area of town had gone bad. But which went bad first? Did the church lose it's first love and forget about the people? Or did the community go downhill and the Christians left? In either case the story is sad. It's certainly sad to see non-believers come into the temple and remove the significance from these items of worship, but I consider it much more sad to see Christians today remove the significance from entire churches! Does your church reach the people around it? Do non-believers see value in the existence of your church because of the care and love that your church shows for people in your community? If the church loses significance in our nation, let it not be because we helped it along.

Jeremiah 51

Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud Jer 51:61

Barry Bonds' final year with the San Francisco Giants had to be a nightmare for him. The evidence that he had been using steroids was piling up for the home run hitter, and many fans felt he had disgraced the game and should quit. So from stadium to stadium there were masses of fans yelling "cheater" and holding up signs to the same affect. However, I never saw any stories of fans coming up to him in public and saying the same things. In fact, all his interactions with fans were by individuals asking him for his autograph. The boldness these fans had in a crowd was lost when the words would be completely their own.

There is a lot in this chapter, but I found myself praying on this issue last night so verse 61 was an easy one to settle on. Jeremiah writes this incredibly long prophecy against Babylon and he sends it with Seraiah to Babylon. Seraiah was on his way there with King Zedekiah, so I presume Jeremiah decided not to make the trip and to allow this man that he trusted to share the prophecy. No words can be said against Jeremiah on this issue, because he had certainly proven that he was willing to take the punishment for saying true things that were not well received. But think about the task given to Seraiah. He is supposed to walk into a bustling and thriving Babylon, and tell them they're all going down at the hands of God. That had to be a frightening proposition as he may have worried about what would happen to him for saying such things. He was in a large crowd coming from Judah, but when he started to say these words there would be no one on his right or his left. His only comfort was that he was speaking truth that had been given by God himself. Have you ever withheld words that you promised to say to somebody? Maybe you were going to address how they hurt you, or how they let you down, but when you were face to face with them you didn't say a word. Then you need to evaluate where your words are coming from. If you have doubts about sharing something to someone's face, you need to ask for wisdom. Perhaps the Holy Spirit was holding you back from saying something that you shouldn't, or perhaps you just became too worried about saying difficult, but truthful things to someone. Before you have difficult conversations you should pray, just as I'm sure Seraiah did before he shared those words with the Babylonians. Pray that the wisdom of God will lead you to say what you should, and hold back what is unnecessary.

Jeremiah 50

"In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the LORD their God they will seek. Jer 50:4

I know it's a happy moment, but watching families reunite is always tough for me to watch. I saw a video sometime back of military dads coming home and surprising their children at school after being away in Iraq. If a dad ever wanted to know what his kid thought of him, that's the moment that you see no contemplation of what to do or what to say. The tears, hugs and I love yous come freely. While I'm sure being away from your family for such a long time is so heartbreaking, being loved and received in such a genuine way has to restore all the loneliness that the solider felt away from his family. Those fathers were always ready to receive their children.

People often claim that the God of the Old Testament is an unfeeling, uncaring God. But in the midst of all the tragedy that the Jews will face at the hands of the Babylonians, He still loves them and plans to restore them. And we see here that He doesn't just restore Judah, but all the people of Israel. There will no longer be a divided kingdom, but one nation of God's people. What will make the change that allows this? It's not the willingness of the Lord, because He was always willing. The people are weeping and seeking the Lord. They have finally been broken, and as a result they will be restored. When we sin, it's just like we have been separated from our Father, who is always ready and waiting to receive us again. How do you come to the Lord when you have been disobedient? Do you come saying "I'm sorry"? Or do you come embarrassed over your sin, knowing that it has delayed your continuing development as a Christian? We try to rank big sins and little sins, but any sin is a moment that we choose to halt our walk to be more like Jesus and continue to be more like ourselves. Let's ask God to keep us humble, and that He would break us over our sin. Let us come to Him with our disappointments and failures, knowing that He is lovingly ready to restore us!

Jeremiah 49

Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might. Jer 49:35

I often listen to other preachers just to get another look at how other churches worship the Lord through their Sunday morning ministries. I was watching one preacher who was walking around with two pieces of paper and no Bible. I assumed that he probably had his scripture typed on the paper, so I continued to listen and watch. Then he started to "quote" scripture, and by quote I mean horribly paraphrase. I can't recall the chapter and verse, but he said that the Bible tells us that we need to show our strength and that God doesn't want weakness, but strength. Actually the Bible says that when we are weak is when we are strong. When we choose to trust in His strength over our own, that is when we can be used most effectively. Otherwise our own abilities, and our trust in them, gets in the way.

We all have strengths, but the issue becomes when we forget who gave them to us. The nation of Elam had a particular strength when it came to warfare, which was their archers. So how could God let Elam know right away in their battle with Babylon (really a battle with God), that they were not going to win? He takes away their strength. He removes their archers in some way during the battle, and once that occurred, all that was left was the losing. Have you identified your spiritual gifts as a believer? We all have them, and they have been given specifically by God to be used in our lives. The problem becomes when we accept the praise of people, and we fail to redirect the praise back to God. He is the reason we can do everything and anything. And when the pattern continues where we accept all the credit and distribute none to Him, that God may take that strength away from you first. And what will you do? Will you struggle to accomplish more by your own efforts, or will you swallow your pride and come in humility before God. I know that I can preach, but only because of the Lord. And times that I have walked off thinking too highly of myself have been followed by times of praising the Lord and repenting over my sin. I appreciate this gift, and I want to be a good steward of it in order to retain it.