i figure that if you hear something 4 times in a span of about a week, it must be important, and something to take to heart.
instance #1:
last week, i spent a few days up in the chicagoland 'burbs hanging with mo, my sis erin, and her best friend kim. it was a blast! anyway, while we were there, erin was making a cd for a friend as a Christmas/thank you present. on the cd, she wrote the title: new mercies, and a reference from Lamentations 3. i thought, "that's a cool title. i like that she put a scripture reference on there." and didn't really think anything more about it.
instance #2:
early this week, i was having a text conversation with a great friend, and she sent me a text that said, "Lamentations 3:18-26." i looked it up, and was a little surprised (and excited) to see that it was the same reference erin had used last week! before i go on, i'll share:
So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
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.
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;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
instance #3:at church this sunday, one of the college students shared special music. a beautiful song called, "not guilty anymore" by aaron keyes. if you haven't heard it, i suggest you do! (conveniently, it's on
youtube with a little video to go along--not the official music video--also not the full lyrics). anyway, the lyrics to this song really caught my attention. i'll share those as well (turning this into one of my longest posts ever, i think)...
it doesn't matter what you've done. it doesn't matter where you're coming from.
it doesn't matter where you've been. here me tell you, "i forgive."
you're not guilty anymore. you're not filthy anymore.
i love you. mercy is yours.
you're not broken anymore. you're not captive anymore.
i love you. mercy is yours.
can you believe that this is true? grace abundant i am giving you.
cleansing deeper than you've known. all was paid for long ago.
you're not guilty anymore. you're not filthy anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.
you're not broken anymore. you're not captive anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.
there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Jesus.
you're not guilty anymore. you're not filthy anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.
you're not broken anymore. you're not captive anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.
you are spotless. you are holy. you are faultless. you are whole.
you are righteous. you are blameless. you are pardoned. you are MINE!
you're not guilty anymore. you're not filthy anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.
you're not broken anymore. you're not captive anymore.
i love you; mercy is yours.i got to thinking about the lyrics for awhile, and realized that even if it isn't an exact correlation to the verses in Lamentations, the song still sends a very real message of the fact that God's mercies are new every morning! He has forgiven us. He continues to forgive us every day. what an amazing thought!
instance #4:another great friend of mine recently wrote a post on her blog about the new year.... hopefully she won't mind as i just quote a little of her post:
"Already I can feel a sort of waning of New Year’s enthuasium. The house is quite clean, the New Year’s rituals upheld, the jaw set, the new plans implemented. And yet, I wonder, will this all really be? Will all that I hope for really come to be fulfilled?...
These January resolutions become March revolutions, hardly noticeable stirrings of new being within, secreted new life moving, revolving, and coming to term. Because He is faithful to finish the work that He has begun in us....
Day by day Christ will fill us, and week after week He will produce good things in our lives. In Christ’s time, the time shall be fulfilled, perhaps in unexpected places at unexpected times in unexpected ways. And the new us will be birthed, reading: Produced by Christ.
It is simply ours to come and let Him dwell within.
No, it may not be in our time. And in the days and weeks and the blur of time in between, we may give up on us. But God never does. We may think we will never be more holy, more healthy, more whole. But can we take faith? The time will be fulfilled and we will be made new.
And the good news along the way is that His mercies are not new every year, they are new every.single.morning."so, anyway...all of this to say that God's mercies really are new every single morning! and that it has taken this series of four events for me to really focus on what that means. and to realize that even as i struggle with things--past sins, current relationships, an undetermined future--i can continually go to Christ. i can lay these things at His feet. He will forgive me. He has forgiven me. sometimes i struggle daily, and that requires daily surrendering. but Hope is there! He gives mercy over and over and over and over again. every morning.
