Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Lamentations 2:8


God will break down any walls that we construct to keep ourselves from the truth. 


Jesus is the truth. Jesus is life. Jesus is the light of the world. 


Jesus is the line drawn separating man from heaven. His salvation is the only hope for the world. God accepts us as we are but we will be changed to glorify Him in Christ!


God has the ability to change our identities too. Even when others choose to name us by our pasts, He calls us into the family of Christ, not by our blood but by His will. "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). First5 


This story helps me reconnect.
In John's Gospel Jesus has died. Mary is despondent. She visits the grave, but Jesus is not there. I understand her anxiety or panic… I've lost something vital. I need it. Where did you put it?
At this, Mary turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary."
Only one word. Mary
.
In saying her name, what freedom did Jesus give? We know that Mary has a connection with Jesus that is profound and life altering.
But notice this: the power of the relationship—which Jesus triggers with a simple affirmation of her name, Mary—is no longer outside of herself.
Or of myself. Or yourself.
Mary, (Jesus is saying) that which you seek, is already here.
Already inside of you.
Sabbath Moments


Lamentations 2:8

8 The Lord has purposed to destroy 

The wall of the daughter of Zion. 

He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn 

His hand from destroying; 

Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament; 

They languished together. The New King James Version


He measured  with a line, used in both construction and demolition and here as a metaphor for judgment. Faithlife Study Bible


Four weeks after the capture of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple, the palace, the homes of the people, and the city wall. The NKJV Study Bible


Those who misuse God’s prophets, justly lose them. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary


2 Kings 21:13

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria 

and the plummet of the house of Ahab; 

I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, 

wiping it and turning it upside down.


Isaiah 3:26 

Her gates shall lament and mourn,

And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.


Isaiah 34:11 

But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it,

Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

And He shall stretch out over it

The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.


Jeremiah 14:2 

“Judah mourns,

And her gates languish;

They mourn for the land,

And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.


Lamentations 2:18 

Their heart cried out to the Lord,

“O wall of the daughter of Zion,

Let tears run down like a river day and night;

Give yourself no relief;

Give your eyes no rest.

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