THE LONELY CITY
Suggested Reading: Lamentations 1-2
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
There are many covered stone streets in the Old City of Jerusalem. In this picture, one orthodox Jew walks up an incline. Imagine Jeremiah, who was left behind in Jerusalem, after most of the people were taken captive to Babylon.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail with tears,
My heart is troubled;
My bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.
According to the dictionary, a “lament” is a poem expressing passionate grief or sorrow. “Lamentations” is such a poem. Each chapter in Hebrew contains 22 stanzas, in which each section begins with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Jeremiah’s prophecies came true, and he had every right to say, “I told you so!” He not only knew the Word of God, he knew the heart of God! Here in chapters 1 & 2, Jeremiah cannot stop weeping. Can we hear the weeping in the voice of Jesus when He said of Jerusalem the words found in Matthew 23:34-37. Jesus ministered in person in Jerusalem, as did Jeremiah. Shortly before the next great destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus is recorded saying the words of Matthew 24:6-14.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I pray for the same heart of compassion and grief as was evident in Jeremiah and in Jesus. Grant me, I ask, the strength to bear a burden of intercession for my country and its great cities, towns, villages and country areas. Increase my capacity to care for people who are all very precious and of infinite value to You. I pray in the Name of the One who cared more than anyone else for people, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
As I write this I can see the street lights of Burlington, the lights on the Burlington Skyway Bridge over the entrance to the Hamilton Harbour (see photo below). The light is reflected off the snow and ice. The harbour is frozen over and the ships are docked at the wharfs for the winter. In the distance are the lights of the city of Hamilton. Fire is visible coming from the huge chimneys at the steel plants, Stelco and Dofasco. For a time I served as a Pastor of a Hamilton congregation. Often early in the morning I would walk to the brow of the escarpment which looks over Hamilton from the opposite direction from where I am now. There I would pray over the needs of these cities, sometimes weeping as I cried out to God for His mercy and salvation to come to many more people. I am committed to prayer and to experiencing a greater manifestation of the caring heart of Jesus than ever before.
Yours for a heartfelt concern for people everywhere!
David
I took this photo with my iPhone from my apartment window. In the distance, over the lighted Burlington Skyway Bridge, is the city of Hamilton. The bright light on the horizon sky in the middle is the fire coming out of the top of one of the huge chimneys.
One can see it takes “fervent love” as an outward expression of concern in prayer, acknowledging the state of others and for their well being. Just as in yesterday’s link, prayer and concern was deeply felt for a city. Your photo of Burlington today sheds a perspective of having passionate outward concern for the many souls contained within. One that prompts necessary prayer when perhaps standing on the Niagara Escarpment and looking westward toward the cities of Brampton, Mississauga, Burlington, Toronto, and others. The many, many souls other than self. Our community. Congrats to our Canadian Olympians!!
Received the following information yesterday …
“This weekend Crossroads is represented at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, TN. Our Founder, David Mainse, will receive the 2014 NRB Media Award for International Individual Achievement on Tuesday, February 25 at this international Christian media convention!”
Congratulations David!!
I add my CONGRATULATIONS to you Pastor David!! BRAVO!
Thank you Pastor David, for your perspectives on Intercessory prayer. Pray without ceasing… Your blog continues to be a huge blessing for me! More than I can ever say or express, may our Omnipotent God continue to bless you as you are a blessing to many others!
I must admit I never understood poetry and never did in school but I’m trying
Congratulations David !!!
Lianne Hogg
One must see the weeping if Jeremiah and it would be hard to refrain from saying “I told you so!!!”
Thank you or your heart for he people, may we all learn to include the many around us who are list, as we pray,
Enjoy the day The Lord has given us,
P.s. Thank you for your heart for the people, may we all learn to include the many around us who are lost, as we pray.
Jeremiah must have been devastated and disheartened, not to mention lonely, when Jerusalem was emptied of its occupants. If only people would have heeded his warnings.
I have a niece in Ontario who needs prayer for her recovery of 4th stage breast cancer. She is in an Ottawa hospital right now and gravely ill. She has three small children and a loving husband waiting at home. Her name is Susan. Please ask our heavenly Father to heal her body. Thank you fellow saints.
Lord, we bring Susan before you this morning. We ask you to bring healing to her body and remove all the cancer cells in her body. We pray for her family that they will see firsthand the Power of God in Susan’s life. We pray You will guide the doctors in her treatment and be with her husband and children. May they sense Your Presence and know that You care. “Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you” 1 Peter 5:7 AMEN & AMEN
To David Mainse. Congratulations on the 2014 NRB Media Award extended to you. What a great honour! God honours those who honour him. You have truly honoured the Lord these past 50 years and blessed you and multitudes around the world. I still remember the 1st TV program I saw, as you spoke on Noah;s three sons and they impacted the world. I would love to view that program again. I am also reading your book, “This far by faith” – and enjoying it. Finally,
I just want to say what a challenge it was as I read and taken a lot of time studying through Jeremiah! What powerful, challenging words uttered by the Jeremiah. I just had one word as I came to the end of so many chapters – many of them very long – it was: “Whew!!” Very heavy duty! Challenging to me personally – and to our society. God is speaking all the time. I want to really ‘listen” – then really ‘hear’ what I am listening – then ‘act” in obedience to His Word – in whatever situation or challenge I face. I was challenged so many times as Jeremiah repeated God’s Word to the people over and over. “Again and again” God says I spoke but you did not listen. The other statement that appeared a few times is “they turned their back on God …and not their face”. I find myself saying to God in prayer, ‘my face is towards you..and my back is towards self and sin and satan”. Thank you, David, for taking us through a very heavy duty book describing how God pleaded so much for the people to change their ways and be spared such devastation and suffering. A beautiful depiction of ‘the long-suffering of God’ – it seems we are living in a society that does not want to hear God either. It was such a moment when Jeremiah, speaking on God’s behalf, said, “it was painful to God”. I am reminded of the verse, “God is not slack concerning His Promise to usward, as some would count slackness; but is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence”.. “His hand is outstretched still”. A great challenging time with Jeremiah & God! Thank you. Samuel
PS – that program on Noah and his three sons was on one of your early tv broadcasts..how the three sons represented various peoples around the world…broadcast maybe in the early 70s???
I lament for the peace of Jerusalem and all the unsaved souls that Jesus came to save sinners and shed his blessed blood on that old rugged cross bring in the harvest of souls let there be many willing to go out into the harvest field including myself we lament fir the lost souls yet to be saved Bring them in Holy Spirit draw them unto yourself and God Bless David Mainse and God Bless you in al, your endeavours in Jesus name Amen
Thank you Lynda for sharing the physical
need of your niece and her family. I too
join others in believing God to remove every
cancer cell from her body, lifting the needs
of her family too, to the throne of grace and
mercy. Nothing is too hard for our God.
I was so moved this A.M. with the reading.
Then I read this quote from Charles Stanley:
Concern is productive. It is forward-looking
and positive. Anxiety is the opposite-it is
counterproductive, stuck in the present, and
negative. Concern motivates us to action.
Anxiety paralyzed us. Concern may very well
be marked by tears, expressions of sorrow
and sympathy, empathy, thoughtful reflection
and quiet time for meditation. In the end,
however, concern leads us to make decisions.
It leads us to the point of saying, “I choose to
trust in God, I choose to seek His plan and
purpose in this. I choose to take the action He
leads me to take.”
Blessings to each one today.
Faith
Amen. Have sensed the heart of God through the love and longsuffering of Jesus, Jeremiah and you, David. May we all have a deeper heart of compassion for the lost of this country and peoples around us. We join our hearts in prayer for Susan today for deliverance and healing. In Jesus Name. Amen!
Dear Rev David M,
Congratulations on the 2014 NRB Media Award! So well deserved after such a fantastic ministry of over 50 years. So grateful for your step-by-step guidance through the difficult scripture of Jeremiah. I definitely know that I will need to go through it again – hopefully soon with by bible study at church.
I’ll be adding my prayers to all my sisters and brothers in Christ for complete healing for Susan, in the name of the One and Only, Jesus Christ. Amen
Hopefully, all of you are having a beautiful sunny day as I am here in Montreal!
God bless you all,
xxx Carole
Adding my prayers for Susan and her family, for the healing power of Jesus to work through her doctors and any treatment she requires, also for that peace that only comes from The One who paid for our salvation.
In agreement with you bloggers, I bring Susan to Jesus, asking Him for His Perfect Will. In the Name of Jesus, I release Your healing touch to Susan. May she be completely healed from the top of her head to the tips of her feet. I place the family of little ones and husband before You also, asking that you bless them greatly, drawing them to Yourself. Thank you Lord for what you are going to do. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Can’t thank you all enough for your kind prayers for Susan and her family.