Book of Lamentations

Lamentations

Candice Roberts

I recently found a quote on Pinterest (you men may have to get a lady to explain that to you). It said, "Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the reason is you’re stupid and you make bad decisions." I laughed hysterically when I read this and mentally made a list of all the people in my life that it applies to. And then I read the book of Lamentations. And then I felt like a big jerk!

In Lamentations this week we find the prophet Jeremiah not laughing at the plight of sinners, but weeping for them. When the Israelites find themselves facing the repercussions of their sin, Jeremiah presumes a posture of brokenness instead of a posture of piousness. Lamentations challenges me to find a new way to look at those who are ensnared in their own sin

How should I approach those who have made poor decisions and now find their lives in ruin? How, as Christians, should we respond to those who have not turned to God and keep turning again and again to their sin? There is an obvious answer. As Christians, we should respond like Christ. And how does Christ respond to sinners?

Matthew 18:12-14 Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd who would leave 99 sheep to find 1 lost one.

Mark 1:21-28 Jesus casts an evil spirit out of a man no one else will touch

Mark 2:13-14 Jesus makes a thief his friend

Mark 2:15-17 Jesus eats with sinners and says that it is the sick who need a physician

Luke 6:37-42 Jesus talks about not judging others

Luke 8:44-48 Jesus tells Simon that those who are forgiven much, love much; referring to the immoral woman

Luke 15:8-10 Jesus says a person should search for a lost coin even though she has 9 others

Luke 15:11-32 Jesus is like a father rejoicing when his lost son comes home

Luke 19: 41-44 Jesus weeps over the rebellious city

Luke 23:34 Jesus prays for the forgiveness of those who are crucifying Him

John 4:1-38 Jesus shows kindness to the Samaritan woman (aka sinner)

John 8:1-11 Jesus shows mercy to the woman caught in the act of adultery

If our perfect Savior and Lord acts with grace and compassion to those who are lost, how can I do less? If our Savior weeps over the plight of sinners, how can I sit and laugh at them? After knowing that Jesus showers sinners with mercy, how dare I rain down judgment upon them?

Besides this, I have completely ignored the fact that I am a sinner too. Romans 2:1-4 " You may think you can condemn such people (sinners) but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"

Does God’s kindness, tolerance and patience mean nothing to me? God forbid. My prayer this week is that we would all take a look at our attitudes. Are we broken like Jeremiah for those who have been broken by their sin? Do we have an attitude of mercy like our Savior? I love the words to the worship song, "Hosanna".

Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause As I walk from earth into eternity

May it be.

Book of Jeremiah

The Life Project: Jeremiah

Paul Pope

Have you ever watched as a loved one steered their life towards destruction? It is incredibly disheartening to see a path to safety and health for them, but watch as they choose otherwise. Making it even more difficult to swallow is trying to talk to this loved one and instead of a "thank you" we receive a middle finger and are rejected.

This is the experience of Jeremiah. God chose to speak His words to Jeremiah so that Jeremiah could relay His words to the nation of Israel. Time and time again, Israel refused to listen and Jeremiah watched as they suffered the consequences. His nickname was "The Weeping Prophet." He earned this name because Israel’s disobedience broke his heart. Instead of getting angry, throwing up his hands, and becoming bitter, like I would be tempted to do, Jeremiah cried. He cried for them because he never stopped wanting more for them, he never stopped loving them, despite their rejection of him.

One of the key verses is Jeremiah 17:9 which says:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Going all the way back to creation in Genesis 2, God created humanity with a pure heart. He also gave us free will and in Genesis 3 we exchanged our pure heart for the heart described above in Jeremiah 17:9 as we embraced sin. Sin is an all encompassing problem. Our perspective and orientation is altered by our fallen nature towards ourselves. Through pride and selfishness we turn inward and become unable to accurately assess our motives. We learn to defend and deflect any feedback that says we are not perfect. We want to believe that we are as good as everyone else, if not better ,and will do mental gymnastics to prove our value and worth as compared to others. We deceive ourselves about our motives and think we are fine when we are totally off. Or we may think we are off when we are fine.

This all sounds pretty hopeless, especially if there is no answer to the question at the end of Jeremiah 17:9. Thankfully, God gives us an answer in the next verse.

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind. Even to give to each man according to his ways. According to the results of his deeds.

It is God who knows our hearts and in order for us to come to truly know ourselves we must come to God. It is through Him that we will find our answers. It is in Him that we find truth. As we seek to form an accurate view and understanding of ourselves, the only possible route is through a connected relationship with God.

God knows the deep recesses of our soul. This may be a bit intimidating for some to consider the fact that God knows every sin we have ever done and knows the motives for every behavior. There is no way to hide from Him. The question is why would you ever want to hide from Him? He provides the light necessary to reveal truth from the lies in our lives.

Ultimately, there is no sin that can separate us from the love of God if we have placed our faith in Jesus. (Read Romans 8:1-2.) Let the light of Jesus shine into the dark places of your life so that He can bring about victory, deliverance, and redemption. We all want to be free, so let’s allow God to root out those things in our lives that continue to entangle us .

Life Group Questions

1. Describe a time when you watched a love one choose time and time again to go down the path towards destruction. What did it feel like?

2. What is the difference between becoming angry because of the poor choices of our loved one’s and weeping?

3. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Is it true? What does this look like?

4. How does it feel to know that God knows your innermost thoughts, feelings, motives, and desires?

5. Having confidence because of our faith in Jesus that God will forgive us of our sins when we confess them (Read 1 John 1:9). What sin do you need to bring into the light?

Day 1: Leaving for Guatemala

Day 1: Leaving for Guatemala

Saturday morning (5/12/12) I said goodbye to my kids as my mom took them to the Race for the Cure in SLC. Bryan stayed behind so he could see me off for my trip. We got ready and went to breakfast at Denny’s before we met everyone at the church. The bus wasn’t working so we had to drive a caravan of SUV’s to the airport. We had a group prayer and group picture and we hit the road.

We had a couple hour wait in SLC to get to Dallas. Once in Dallas we had a mad dash to our gate to leave for Guatemala. We boarded as soon as we got there. I think because of the size of our group, they held the plane for us. There is where we met Pastor Matt’s dad, Larry, who came in from Denver to join us.

By the time we got to Guatemala City and got through customs it was around 7pm and what surprised me was how dark it was. Like pitch black, middle of the night, dark. We had a bus waiting for us and two of the people from VisionTrust Guatemala team were there to meet us. We got the bus loaded up, suitcases on the roof, and drove about 15 minutes to the bible seminary.

I was rooming with Kathi, Jane, and Kelly. Our room had a set of bunk beds and two single beds… with a bathroom. It was nice, just like a dormitory. Next door to us was the guys on our trip and next to them was the other 6 ladies. There were other groups staying there as well. We had breakfast and dinner at the seminary for the most part, if we didn’t go out to eat at real authentic places… such as Taco Bell and McDonalds J

I was able to FaceTime on my phone with my family to let them know I was there and ok. We went to bed pretty early that night b/c we had an early start on Sunday morning. It was going to be Community Day at the village.

My Bags are Packed... I'm Ready to Go

Ok... my bags are packed, however I think they weigh too much. I need to dump everything out, go through it and try again.

I have contacted the credit card companies to let them know if my credit cards are being used in Guatemala, its probably me and not someone who stole my information.

I have written a letter authorizing my husband to seek medical treament for my kids if necissary. Praying he wont need it. I will go crazy if something happens to my kids and I am not close by to help them.

I have signed up for overseas medical insurance... if something happens, they will life flight me out of Guatemala and bring me back to SLC at no cost.

I went the day without my flat iron, to see what my hair is going to be like there. (This could be disasterous).

I already celebrated Mother's Day with my mom and mother-in-law.

My phone now has an international plan on it... although it's still an arm/leg to call anyone.

I found out we are going on a ZipTrek tour through the jungles and volcanoes of Guatemala on our last day. That will be super cool... if someone will shove me off the platform, because I dont think I can jump off myself.

So... that's it. I think I am ready. I think I did everything I am supposed to do. I guess if I forgot something its not that important. Prayers for safe travels requested :)

The Book of Isaiah

The Life Project: Isaiah

Pastor Matt Roberts

Faith: The Belief in things unseen. We talk about faith so often in the church we take for

granted its reality. We do not often discuss or voice the fact that faith is not easy or that

it does not come naturally to us. I for one have a tendency to struggle with faith. To be

quite honest I love things that are seen, tangible things I can put my hands on, things I

can control. Belief in things unseen is hard for me. It means I am no longer calling the

shots and this is a very uncomfortable seat for me to sit in. Yet I know that this Christian

walk is a walk of faith. How can I struggle so mightily with something so basic? I wish

someone had taught me what it looks like to live in faith a long time ago!

In Isaiah we find a man who seems to embody the very idea of faith. When he speaks of

God he speaks with a conviction and clarity that is staggering. When reading Isaiah I

am left with little doubt that this is a man that took God fully at his word. When God

spoke it became reality in the heart, mind and soul of this prophet. In my eyes this is the

greatest gift of a great man of God. A gift that probably left him very frustrated in the

faithless world he lived in.

If Isaiah was anything like me he was probably absolutely appalled when people missed

things that seemed so obvious to him. Let me explain through my own life: I hate mess!

It really drives me crazy. When I walk into a messy house or a messy office it is all I can

see or focus on until it is cleaned up! This is why it never ceases to frustrate me to

watch my kids walk right OVER mess without recognizing it. Every time I will state the

obvious through a very sarcastic question (which my kid’s must LOVE!). “Did you not

SEE that mess you just trampled over?” Their answer is always the same, “No! I didn’t

see it Dad!” It is so hard for me to accept that answer, how can you miss something that

is so obvious to me?

Isaiah had the same struggles. Check out this awesome and somewhat sarcastic rant in

Isaiah 22:8-11:

"8 God has left Judah exposed and defenseless. 9 You found the weak places in the city

walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool.

10 You took

an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the

city wall.

11 You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water. You looked and looked

and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city

, never once

consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.”

War was on it’s way to Judah. The people and their leaders were desperately trying to

fill every weakness in their defense. The nation was running around like a chicken with

it’s head cut off and Isaiah sat back, appalled. How could they have missed something

so obvious?! You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to God! Judah

had spent so much time dealing with the things they could see, building up their

confidence and security in things like walls and pools and houses that they missed the

ONLY thing that could really save them. A living God. If only this truth could be as

obvious to me as it was for Isaiah.

I am so envious of this man. When God spoke, it became undeniable truth for Isaiah.

Read his prophesies about Jesus in Isaiah 9:1-7, 35:5-6, 50:6, all of chapters 52 and

53. When it came to things of God there was no “what if” in Isaiah's vocabulary. Over

600 years before Jesus would be seen by shepherds in Bethlehem, we read the words

of a man who was confident in a truth he would never see, confident in a God that

everyone else in his world was stepping right over. If God said it, Isaiah lived it as

reality. There was no greater proof needed. Wow! Isaiah is a book written by a man of

great faith. A man who allowed the things unseen to guide and direct every word he

spoke and every move he made. Could there be a higher compliment paid to anyone?

Even as I type this tonight I am pretty sure the word guilty is appearing in black ink

across my forehead. It is so easy to lose FAITH in a world that is so preoccupied by

STUFF. My desire for you and I as we read through the book of Isaiah this week is that

our faith muscle will be reactivated! That we will find a renewed focus on the things

unseen. That the simple faith of a prophet of old will move us, make us and change us

this week. I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of missing out on the awesome

adventure that is a byproduct of a life of faith. I leave you with the introduction to one of

my favorite chapters in the Bible,

Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is confidence in what we

hope for and assurance about what we do not see

. I encourage you to read it this week

and allow faith to spring forth in your life!

Suggested Reading Of Isaiah

Monday: Isaiah 1-11

Tuesday: Isaiah 12-22

Wednesday: Isaiah 23-33

Thursday: Isaiah 34-44

Friday: Isaiah 45-55

Saturday: Isaiah 56-66

Favorite Colors Swap

<center><a href="http://www.ourdandelionwishes.com/2012/05/mamarazzis-favorite-color-swap-received.html"; target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g328/OurDandelionWishes/FavoriteColorSwap.jpg"; /></a></center>

I participated in Mamarazzi's Favorite Colors Swap... I got to know Jolene over at http://richjmylife.blogspot.com/ and got to find her some fun blue stuff... and in return she sent me some great pink and black stuff!

In my box I got:
A Photo Album
A Cross
A Bible Bag- which I am super excited about!!
A Candle
A Picture holder with my intital on it
A Bird statue that my daughter has already claimed
A Angel with zebra wings... super cute!
A Pen
A Picture fram

Thank you so much Jolene... I hope you enjoy your gifts as much as I enjoyed mine!
Thanks again to Mamarazzi for setting this up. Love your SWAPS!!

The Countdown is on... 10 more days!

10 more days until I leave for Guatemala.

I'm not nervous to be there yet... I'm nervous forgetting to do something. Forgetting to pack something I need, forgetting to notify someone that I will be gone, stuff like that.

I've given the teachers and updated emergency contact list, got to remind the husband he's got to take his phone off silent during the day in case the kids need him. I've notified the credit card companies that I really will be out of town in case a charge comes through. I've got to go to the bank.

Ty is ready to kick me out the door... I think she said something about she's going to enjoy the break from me. (Not sure how I feel about that comment)... but Drew is going to have a harder time. He is a tender heart. Its a good thing this is only a week long trip b/c me being going is going to take some getting used to. I am the constant in his life... He's been through a lot in his 9 years on this earth and this could be rough. Bryan and I talked about it last night so he's aware. I think being able to FaceTime with them will help.

The pile of stuff I need to pack is getting bigger and bigger. Its in a corner of my room. I am trying to figure out how to get all I need into one bag. I may have to break down and pay the $25 for the 2nd bag. We'll see.

I am just excited :)