MIND SHIFT

Introduction:

Any person in the Bible who ever did anything GREAT FOR GOD.. Was persistent

Noah... Worked on Building the Ark... 100 Years

Even when no one believed... He was Persistent

Abraham... I’m going to give you a child in your old age...20 years pass... NOTHING

Stayed true to God... God asked him to give up the SON... PERSISTENT

David... Kept herding them Sheep...Practicing his Sling Shot

Killed a Philistine...

Every body wanted HIM TO BE KING... Except the KING

King tried to kill...HARP... David was persistent.... MIGHTY MAN OF GOD

God cares more about how we finish.

The book of Lamentations consist of five intense poems were almost certainly the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC

Its believed to be written by Jeremiah

Lamentations 3:19–25 NIV

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 3

I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,

the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.

I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—

the feeling of hitting the bottom.

But there’s one other thing I remember,

and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22–24  GOD’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,

his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

They’re created new every morning.

How great your faithfulness!

I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over).

He’s all I’ve got left.

25–27  GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

Shift from reality to resistance

In the beginning of the passage he is only focused on the negative:

Lamentations 3:19 “19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.”

Lamentations 3:20 “20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.”

depressed, can lift your head

This is like being in neutral, my circumstance will push me from place to place

So verse 20 intensifies the negative memory, with the typical Hebrew structure, ‘remembering, my soul remembers’—i.e. ‘I vividly, frequently, painfully, wretchedly, continually remember …’, until my soul sinks down into misery and depression. To have lived through, and witnessed, the final choking fires of Jerusalem and the blood-soaked slaughter or capture of its starved inhabitants must have been an ineradicable and soul-destroying memory.

Then we see a intentional shift YET

Then he remembers that faithfulness of God

Shift from reality to reliance

‘Nothing is heavier than one’s head when one is struggling; raising one’s eyes requires great effort. Yet such effort is exactly what is called for here. The man takes himself in hand. He makes a decision, voluntarily affirming his faith, and acts with resolution and determination.’

We have to remember his faithfulness

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN HIS PROMISES

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO EVERY GENERATION Numbers 23:19 “19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

GOD FAITHFULNESS GUARANTEES HIS WORD Isaiah 55:11 “11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IS UNFAILING 2 Timothy 2:13 “13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IS ROOTED IN HIS CHARACTER Malachi 3:16 “16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.”

GOD NEVER LEAVES US Hebrews 13:5 “5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.””

GOD GIVES STRENGTH TO THE WEAK Isaiah 40:29 “29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

Shift from reality to resilience

Lamentations 3:24 “24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.””

The word portion means to have possession or share in the wealth or possessions. As children of God we have access to his possessions

Philippians 3:14 “14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”