Lamentations 3 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Lamentations 3:19-23

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness. 

 

The first part of this passage is a good description of our lives before Christ. The middle is when we come to believe or have hope, and hope has a name. It’s Jesus! The last part describes well our lives after Christ!

 

I can remember the days before Christ saved me and just how bleak and downcast they were. Nothing meant anything, and everything was heavy! But then Christ saved me. He filled me with His peace, His love, His mercy, and His grace. He said to me, “You're worth it,” and He has proved it time and time again! I need the mercy of Jesus more than I need air! I’m a sinful man, selfish and self-seeking at times. Pride and arrogance know my name well but not as well as Jesus knows it! Who I used to be or what I used to be doesn’t define me any more. Now I’m defined by my King, who paid my ransom and set me free!

 

Think of it this way: there isn’t anything any of us could do to earn one day in His Kingdom and His Presence, but because of what He gave that one day on a hill called Calvary, we can spend every day with Him!

 

Lamentations 3:58 - You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.

 

It’s all about Jesus!!!! He did it to redeem us, not to destroy us!!! God bless! I love you all!!! Glory, Honor, and Praise forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit! 

 

 

Lamentations 3:22-25

Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. 

 

Leading up to these verses and after them is a laundry list of offenses against the Lord and the punishments for those offenses. It’s filled with despair, death, sadness, and grief, yet the writer of this book still knows that the Lord is there and that the Lord is his only hope!

 

When I’m going through storms in life, it’s easy for me to forget that God is always there and that no matter what, He is with me! I have to remember that the world may crumble around me, but the One who will never crumble is with me!! I may not get the outcome that I want, or it might not be as easy as I want, but His love is unfailing and it’s new every morning! That tells me that each day, I can start new with God in my corner!! What a great promise that is!!

 

You may be right in the middle of a hurricane, but you are not alone if you put your hope and trust in God!!!

 

I love you all, God bless, and Glory to God!!!!

 

 

Lamentations 3:39

Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?

What a question, and if we are honest, at some point in our lives, we have all done this. We have found ourselves in a situation of our own doing, all the while complaining and wondering “why me?” We can view ourselves through rose-colored glasses and find our punishment unfair and unjust. But when we look at it through the eyes of the Gospel, we see that the punishment we receive pales in comparison to the one Christ took for us.

When I get focused upon myself and what’s going on in my life, I lose sight of Christ and the truth. The truth is the punishment I deserved was laid squarely on His shoulders, as He drug that cross and my sins to Calvary. The truth is the mercy I was given far outweighs the punishment I received, and that my friends, is what truly is not fair. It is not fair that my King had to die for a sinner like me. It is not fair that the One who knew no sin became the sin offering for our souls. It is not fair that they returned His unconditional love with jealousy and hate as they nailed Him there to die.

God is just, God is righteous, God is holy, and He does not punish us to destroy us completely but rather to deliver us and draw us back to Him. So today, if we face a consequence for our sin, let us not complain but rejoice that it’s far less than we deserve! Thank You, Jesus!

Isaiah 53:6-8- We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished.

God bless! I love you all, but His love will correct us in order to save us! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Lamentations 3:55-58

I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. 

 

In a book that is filled with grief, suffering, and shame, these verses are sweeter than honey! One thing I realized is that this book is a book of brokenness but not total abandonment. I can relate to these verses so much. I lived a life of brokenness, a life of nothingness, and a worthless existence, if I’m to be really honest with you.

 

Then, in the Lord's mercy, I went to jail, and that’s where I found myself in a pit that I no longer wanted to be in. I no longer wanted to be buried under my addictions, shames, and sins, but I didn’t have the strength or wisdom to pull myself out.

 

This morning, during prayer, the Lord reminded me of that day in Greene County Jail when I was pacing in the bathroom, sweating because there was dope in there, and I could have it. He reminded me that I came to Him broken, weak, and helpless and that without Him, I was doomed. I had no chance outside of the Savior.

 

So, I prayed, and I paced back and forth, back and forth, and then suddenly, like a great chain breaking and a veil lifting, I could feel His love and freedom. It was no longer the dope I desired or craved but more of Him. More of this Jesus who set me free, not because I prayed long and elaborate prayers or tithed a bunch of money, not because I was diligently studying the Scriptures for hours a day, and it definitely wasn’t because I was a good person. But only because He came to save sinners like me. He came to set the captives free. He came to save those who couldn’t save themselves. He came to restore, redeem, and reconcile us to the Father!

 

My friends, there is no other, and there is none better than He who can take the enemies of God and transform them into the children of Light! Thank You, Jesus, my King, my Savior, my Friend, and my Hero!

 

Ephesians 5:8-10 - For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

 

John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

 

God bless! I love you all, but He loves you so much more! Glory, Honor, and Praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!