A Robin red breast. ( Romans 4 v 13 - 21 )

There is one bird I am very fond of, no not my wife, I mean the feathered kind, a Robin red breast,yet I never see any in my garden. We do put food out for the birds ,I even put up a little bird box ,and yet so far no tenants, I live in hope,maybe I should put a little sign up in the trees ,with the words home for let,and another with words ,'Robins welcome'. Just the other day I notice a Robin on a neighbours fence, maybe I should bribe it to come and visit my garden. I am sure you are wondering why I am writing this,so am I ,I suppose I am just sharing something with you, I suppose we all have something that we wish,that doesn't happen,but we can hope. Hope is so very important for all of us,it is devastating for someone to hear the words,'I am sorry, there's no hope'. There was a man in the Bible his name was Abraham ,he had a wife called Sarah and God promised him that  his wife would have a child ,and yet nothing happen,he grew older,and his wife grew older'They had reached the point were they could have no children, but Abraham believed what God had promised,we read that,hoping against hope he believed it would happen,and you know something , it happened. Who knows maybe a Robin will come into my garden one day,I can hope.

God is ( Jeremiah 31 v 3 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Lamentations 3 v 22 - 23.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases                                                                                               His mercies never come to an end;                                                                                                           they are new every morning;                                                                                                                     great is your faithfulness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Most Christians are familiar with these words ,because of the hymn written by Thomas O. Chisholm, I wonder if many appreciate or know that it is based on Lam 3 v 22- 23 ?. These words were written by a man who witnessed terrible suffering ,he also had experienced a great deal of difficulties in relation to his God given ministry. Many of us can understand much of the pain that comes with suffering, but  the words in Lam 3 v 22 - 23,are a challenge to all of us ,to look at life as this man declared it. In the midst of all the devastation, he speaks of the steadfast love of God and His mercies. Why did he say this? why was he able to say this, because if you read the history of the nation of Israel/ Judah,he realised that they all deserved to be judged,but in spite of that God did show mercy and did show love,.In NT terms, God was manifesting His grace, to His sinful people.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Amazing Grace.                                                                                                                                                                       

Bad memories ,Good memories. ( Lamentations 3 v 16 - 33 )

Things were awful ,death, destruction, all appeared hopeless,he declares, my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is  CP Lamentations 3 v 17 - 18,C Wright comments,''Beaten, broken,imprisoned, mauled, shot,mocked, trampled...reeling under such a battery of injuries the Man reaches the point of total despair''.he calls this ,' Bad memory'. it is very hard to forget bad memories,or to escape their depressing wounds .What does the writer do?,he replaces them  with , 'Good memories',Joseph did that, when faced with what his brothers had done to him ,( Read the account of his life in Genesis 37 -50 ) ,but he also knew his God, and why it had happened,Here is what he said to  these wicked brothers,'' Even though you intended to do harm to me,God intended it for good''.God is sovereign in the best of times ,and in the worst of times, it is a hard lesson to learn, We can let the bad memories,rule our lives,and destroy us,or we can focus on the good memories ,on a God who loves us,a God who  is good,and will work everything out for his children's good. ( Romans 8 v 28 )

The false and the true prophets. ( Lamentations 2 v 14 )

For forty years Jeremiah spoke Gods word to the people, he warned them,challenged them, to no avail, and his words came to pass,which was an evidence that the word was from God. ( Deuteronomy 18 v 21 - 22 ) But there were other so called prophets ,they challenged what Jeremiah proclaimed ,which was a message of judgement and a need to turn away from their sinful practices, and seek the Lord,one only has to read the book of Jeremiah to see how far they had wandered from God. The false prophets said that there would be peace, when the true prophet Jeremiah said there would be war, exile, and defeat at the hands of the Babylonians,and who do you think the people loved ?,the false prophets. ( Jeremiah 5 v 31 ). Today, beware of those who are false preachers ,who never mention sin or Hell,or suffering for Christ,who distort the true message of the Gospel, who never mention holiness , who water down the word of God. We need more than ever true prophets, men who will preach fearlessly,the word of God, who will preach the truth,we are not to be swayed by personalities,and false promises.

An enemy. ( Revelation 2 v 4 - 5 )

'The Lord has become like an enemy,he has destroyed Israel', ( Lamentations 2 v 5 ),That's an amazing statement,after all, God was His people's protector,defender,from the moment they left Egypt many centuries ago,time after time again He delivered them ,now says the writer,he has become like an enemy. Often nations have gone to war,declaring that God was for them, and never never really thought, if they were for God.Hitler used the term providence . Israel could rightly speak of having a special  relationship with God, even today they pray,'All Israel have a portion in the world to come,as it is said.Your people are all righteous, they shall inherit the land, they are the shoot that I planted, My own handiwork, in which I glory' ( Jewish prayer book) So anything goes,no anything does not go, they may think that ,but ,instead of God being their friend, he had acted as their enemy.  The depth of their rebellious attitude,became so bad that instead of delivering them  of old from their enemies, He delivered them to their enemies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Boast not of a special relationship ,                                                                                                           with God, it will not stop God                                                                                                                   dealing with us as our enemy, if                                                                                                                 we are in rebellion against Him.

Judgement is coming. ( John 3 v 16 )

The suffering of  Judah  with its capital  588- 587 was appalling , it is reckoned that 80 percent of the towns and villages were destroyed or abandoned.Before Jerusalem fell it endured an eighteen months  siege, the suffering during that siege was horrific,with women eating their babies,the survivors of which the prophet Jeremiah was one,he was allowed to remain, but most of them had to march a thousand miles to Babylon. Why did God cause this to happen ?,well Jeremiah writes ,'the Lord was right for they had rebelled against His word. ( 1 v 18 ). There are many people who judge God for the wrongs in this world, for the suffering in this world,but the words of Abraham come echoing down to us through the ages,when he said,as he pleaded for those who might have been righteous in Sodom,''Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is right '', ( Genesis 18 v 25 ). Yes ,whither we like it not, God is a Judge,and one day ,He will judge all the earth (Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 ) ( 2 Timothy 4 v 1 ) ,that judgement will be a righteous judgement. God sent His Son to bear the punishment  for sin on the cross,of all those who trust Him to be their Saviour.no judgement, will fall on them . Make no mistake, judgement is coming on all who reject Christ ,flee from the wrath of God, and trust Him as your Saviour , before it is to late.

False security ( Matthew 6 v 22 - 23 )

So continuing on in the book of Lamentations ,lets consider 1 v 7,'Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wanderings, and all the precious things that were hers in days  of old''They had lost everything, all they escaped with, was their lives,nothing else,all the comforts they once enjoyed, gone, all the friends they knew, many of them were gone,the thing they considered most important like the temple was gone.As regards the temple it had become a symbol of security, in Jeremiah 7 v 4, they were reminded that their security was not in bricks and motor, but in God and a godly relationship. In Ezekiel 8 - 10 we have the prophet ,who lived in Babylon at the same time as Jeremiah,being taken to the temple in a vision, and there he witnessed that it had become a place of idolatry,  it had become so bad that the presence of the Lord left the temple,so it became an empty shell,that fostered in the people a false security. Israel had to learn a hard but necessary lesson in their suffering,that putting their faith in that which was false, had dire consequences, and what applies to Israel of old, applies to us now.                                                                                                                                                                     The Lord is my light and my salvation;                                                                                                      Whom shall I fear?                                                                                                                                    The Lord is the stronghold of my life;                                                                                                      of whom shall I be afraid?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ( Psalm 27 v  1 )