“Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, “Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’
-Jeremiah 33:1-9 NKJV
‘The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His mercy endures forever”— and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord. ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.’”
-Jeremiah 33:11, 13-14 NKJV
I hope some of these verses make your heart feel happy. For, the names within it feel familiar, and that can bring a fondness to hearts and minds to remember them and try not to cry from the memories of living with them. When walking through anniversaries, birthdays and holidays, it can be really hard to not feel the grief all over again. There are so many promises in this passage that you can’t stay sad, for His goodness and joy is His portion.
Jeremiah was in a real prison, but I like to speak into emotional parallels. Have you ever felt like you were in a prison? An oppressive relationship, a boss that is verbally abusive, or maybe it’s you that is your own worst enemy? The shoulder’s in your head is your daily prison. Yet, Jeremiah says the Word of the Lord came to him a second time. God sees us wherever we are in proximity and heart location connectivity. He then says, “call to Me. I will give you health and healing.” Then it mentions the voice, the voice, the voice. This voice is the persons of the brides and bridegrooms who choose the joy experience. Then He declared, “behold…I am doing a good thing.”
Jeremiah was in a hard place, and yet, this revelation was sent down into his heart and mind. What a lifter!! Jeremiah was able to see beyond. This is something we have access to too. This is not the last story of a man in prison who received mercy by the omnipresent triune God. I hope these stories of old are allowing you access into your own stories of today. He is for you. He has declared this over you again and again. I am with you! I love you! Come to Me and rest in My loving presence of bliss!
Well, this didn’t have the actual verbiage of sons and daughters, but it’s a declaration over His sons and daughters to believe beyond what you can see or are currently experiencing. In the midst of the messiness is His empowering mercy and grace to make it through the sludge of humanities hit after hit after hit. Folks, you can be thankful even in the midst of your biggest battles. Actually, when you flip into thankfulness, something within starts to shift and it’s a lifting experience that over rides the drips of emotional stressfulness.
Emotional stressfulness is not your portion. It happens, but it doesn’t have to stick to your heart and mind day after day. It’s hard to step into this level of understanding and activation, but faithing has a way of multiplying things in ways we can’t always understand. Yet, when you do call on Him quickly to take our worry, we find ourselves more grounded, thankful and secure in the shadow of His wings. At least, that has been my experience.
Thank you my menders for following along on my journey of discovery, humanity, and eternal things. I feel honored by the Father to be given this platform to express my heart scribing feelings. I have needed this to release all this word energy bubbling up within me. Its disciplined me to stay connected with Thee, which has humbled me to experience Him week in and week out. He doesn’t have to keep coming, yet He just doesn’t stop loving me. 😭😭😭😭 Menders, He hasn’t stopped loving on me!! No matter the loss of my husband, I have been deeply encountered by my beloved Bridegroom, and for that I am eternally grateful for His intentional loving kindness.
I learned this Hebrew word: Chesed. May this expand your understanding of what true loving kindness means.
Loving-Kindness and the Jewish Value of Chesed
In the Jewish tradition, kindness is expressed with the Hebrew word chesed (beginning with a “ch” sound, as heard in the name “Bach,” and rhyming with “bless-ed”).
Chesed, like many Hebrew words, does not translate precisely into English. The word means more than simply “kindness.” Often translated as “loving-kindness,” chesed means giving oneself fully, with love and compassion.
The Value of Chesed
The concept of chesed appears in the Torah more than 190 times. For this reason, many Jewish thinkers hold the value of loving-kindness up as Judaism’s primary ethical virtue.
In talks about chesed, contemporary Jewish scholar and teacher Avivah Zornberg has said chesed is “not just loving-kindness as it’s usually translated, but is also courage and imagination.”
Indeed, Judaism teaches us to lift up each day and make it special. With acts of chesed, we do just that.
Final thoughts:
Lift-up each day and make it special. Give yourself permission to live again. It may feel hard to breathe again at first, but it’s sooo worth it to believe/begin/receive/feel/love/create again. For every again is a gain in your beginning a-gain story. You are worth it, so go forth and live life like it’s your last within the bounds of health and faith.
Until next time,
Stay Tender
Connect to the Mender
Be a Sender
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