Hi all,
One of the themes of this month’s series study (Jeremiah/Ezekiel below) is the Lord’s faithfulness. I have rarely seen so many individuals and families going through so many difficulties this summer, in addition to the usual transitions that take place during the summer. There has been much upheaval, and much settling and strengthening.
Jeremiah prophesied
That Jerusalem could be spared the wrath of King Nebuchadnezzar because God wanted to spare them. But there were other so-called prophets telling the king the Lord would rise up as in old and defeat Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah was helpless to change their minds because the king and the people SO wanted to believe God would not only spare them, but defend them.
Jeremiah watched Nebuchadnezzar carry to Babylon most of the population, including Daniel and Ezekiel. He was allowed to stay behind, and Nebuchadnezzar even commanded he not be harmed. But God promised him Israel would be restored. In ‘Lamentations’ (a funeral dirge for fallen Judah), Jeremiah observes:
“It is of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, my soul says. Therefore, I will hope in Him.” Lamentations 3: 22-24
The word ‘soul’ there means emotions and thoughts. There are times when we are so overwhelmed or don’t know what to do, all our other belief structures get torn away, our only option is to make the decision to turn it over to Him. That is the point we make the Lord our 1 and only, portion.
The word ‘portion’ here in this verse is exactly what it sounds like – a meal on a plate someone sets before you as your portion for that meal. That’s what you have to eat. Though today’s daily bread, meaning the issues and problems for today, are portioned to us by the Lord with the promise we won’t be tested beyond what we are able to bear.
But human nature doesn’t want to eat what He has portioned to us on the plate, so our eyes go looking for side dishes – bread, salad, desserts, oh we love desserts, those sweet ‘words’ someone had over here about Jesus coming to rescue me out of my portion, a dream over there someone else had, a calculation about His return over there, those make nice side-dishes don’t they?
But they aren’t our portion. They aren’t what the Lord has set on our plate. Notice in the verse that Jeremiah wrote: “The Lord is my portion, my soul says.” My soul says. That means it is our decision to turn away from the sweet desserts, the other side dishes we place our hopes on, to, by an act of our will, make the Lord our portion. We must make the decision to set aside all those side-dishes, to focus our soul on the portion set before us.
We can only do that if you know that you know, ‘Great is your faithfulness, Great is your faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see.”
Following the statement of His faithfulness, the verse closes: “Therefore I will hope in Him.” Our hope isn’t on the outcome we desired but now see stripped away. Our hope has been dashed to the ground, and we must decide to lay aside the belief structure we had, and strip ourselves down to the core of our faith: My hope is in Him. Not what He promises. Not in what I believed about Him but now I doubt. In Him. He alone is my where my hope lies. With Him.
When all the promises get stripped away, when things you believed and thought you knew of the Father God get turned upside down, all that is left is ‘the Lord is my portion.’
Sometimes, like Jeremiah, we suffer because of the decisions of others. Others are going through transitions ranging from children growing older to end-of-life care. In all things, He is faithful, promising to walk with us through the valley, not that He will pull us out of that valley. Trust Him.
Many people online have been saying the rapture is coming in September of this year. That would be nice, but I don’t see scripture telling us the time is just yet. Notable among them is Luke 21:24 and Romans 11: 25, in which Jesus and Paul said the end won’t happen ‘until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in’. Not sure we are at the fullness of Gentiles coming to the Lord just yet.
We are all just 1 heart beat away from Jesus coming for us, so live like He is coming today, and eat the portion He has set before you. Jeremiah didn’t want his portion, seeing Jerusalem in ruins, but when his whole life was destroyed and all that he loved, he said: “The Lord is my portion” and “Therefore I will hope in Him.”
KWOWI – In Uganda, we’re seeing the orphans being placed with families who qualify according to their foster care system, and will complete that transition this month. In Kenya we are seeing our sponsored children growing up with many desiring to receive high school and/or college. We have no formal policy yet for those who want to receive higher education, but we have, without notice or fanfare, provided funding for several children. If you would like to give into KWOWI’s general fund towards helping these children it would be a huge blessing. For instance, a single semester just for high school, is about $300 for tuition, books, and supplies. There are 3 semesters in a year, so it adds up, far more than sponsoring younger children in elementary school, yet education is the best way out of a lifetime of poverty.
This is a busy travel time for us, with 4 trips in the next 8 weeks. Chris is doing well, but we appreciate the prayers for his peace while we are gone. We tell him we need to go tell people about Jesus, and he always says; “It’s okay dad, you go.” Such simple faith, mentally about age 4 though physically 45, yet always wanting to please the Lord.
Thank you for your giving and prayers!
John & Barb, Brian & Amy
