Great

Lamentation 3:19-24

“The thought of my affliction and my homelessness  is wormwood and gall!  My soul continually thinks of it  and is bowed down within me.  But this I call to mind,  and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;  they are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,  “therefore I will hope in him.”

 Jeremiah shows us how to lament our pain, our sorrow. It is raw. We lament because only God can handle where we are. When we reflect on where we are, we realize that there is none like God. The we can release all hurt to God and receive peace and that assurance. With that, we can resolve like Jeremiah that The steadfast love of God never ceases, his mercies never fail, they are new every morning. That’s quite a resolve! Ain’t nothing can deter us because of God’s love. We don’t stay in our stupid because of God’s love. Every day is a new day for to receive what he has for us. Receive it. Walk in it. Rest assured that he is faithful! enough for now.

Our Lies

Acts 5:1-11 NRSV

“But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2 with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” 5 Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. 6 The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him. 

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.”

Bottom line - lying will mess you up. Lying to Holy Spirit will kill you spiritually. In this case physically. There was no reason at all for their lie. Ananias and Sapphira pledged the proceeds of their land. They didn’t have to pledge but they did. So when they sold the land the proceeds were to go to the community of believers. 

It’s the little things that mess us up. The little lies are really big lies that we can see the full ramifications of- because we think it’s just a small lie. But our lies to self are also lies to self are also lies to God. And he will slow walk us down.

Our tithe helps the church but more than that- it’s out of obedience to God. Many times we don’t give God the tenth and wonder why we can’t work with the 9/10 we get to keep. 

Let’s just bear in mind and in heart what we say and do as our lies will mess us up. enough for now.

Shout it Out

Joshua 6:1-7

“Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. 3 You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, 4 with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.” 6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” 7 To the people he said, “Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

Look at verse two. Although Jericho was fortified against the Israelites they didn’t know who they were with . . . They didn’t know what God would do. Jericho then was less than four acres, and took about an hour to walk around. Although larger now it is 846 ft below sea level, the lowest city on earth. It held a strategic position. Joshua gave the instructions to march as per God’s command. It was actually a ritual. 

Jericho was a stronghold, that was taken down. There are strongholds in our lives. When we humble ourselves, and follow God’s already promises, big things happen. You see, God had already given Jericho over. He has already. We just follow instructions. Sometimes we just need to shout it out, shout it down, shout it through. The shout is a praise. We praise him and things happen. We praise him and we win. We praise him on the way to victory. You see, it’s already done. We just follow and move when he says move. He is so good to us! Whatever causes us grief is a Jericho that can be defeated. Shout it out! enough for now.