Oh wow, it’s starting… TREE POLLEN!!! I never used to be allergic, well…. rats… and it rained 3 days and wow relief… Who knew the smallest POLLEN could be so powerful in overwhelming our systems. Maybe we should remember this for spreading faith, yes spread seeds but first be the busy bees that pollinate the blooms of people’s faith. Spread the Word, bring it directly to each person. DON’T OVERWHELM THEM – that is for the Lord to work on opening eye and ears – we are to just be present COVERED IN POLLEN.
In seed spreading, we could toss or drop seeds into any soil. In pollination, the POLLEN has to get to the right flowers, so imagine the right Word getting to the right ears. And by the Word, I mean also our actions consistent with the Word, the encouragement, the kindness, the gentle chastising too.
POLLEN can fly in the wind, but it’s a good thing for bees and moths to both feed on the flowers and POLLEN, and for extra POLLEN to cover their fuzz. Then a vehicle for transport is established to get POLLEN to the same alike flowers, fast… Fly fly fly, jump jump jump, buzz buzz buzz!
The Fruiting of Faith starts with the POLLEN of patience, of perseverance, of prayer. The seeds of harvest start with the hearing of hope.
Let us be busy bees today!
Pollinate and ACHHOOOO…
God Bless You!!
AMEN
—
Matthew 4:17-25
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judæa, and from beyond Jordan.
If last week’s word of the week was Strengthening, then this week my word is ENRICHMENT. Yes, enriching the soil, like in the garden, and enriching our lives with nourishing feedings of the Word with enrichment to GROW.
One growth is to appreciate what God thinks of us over what anyone else does. Our enrichment is physical often in hearing, but our mindset is SPIRITUAL in focus and refocus to pick up on the cues and clues to our strengthening. In other words, we need to realize that GOD IS FOR US!
A song aptly placed in a youtube feed for me was “The Blessing”, a 2020 song by Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship, also sung by Kari Jobe. Ah 2020, do you remember that we thought in 2020 about 20:20 vision – and trust the scriptures that the Lord has envisioned us in each of our days – sometimes strengthened and sometimes needing strengthening. The lyric in this song “The Blessing” rings out loud and clear: “He is for you. He is for you.”
The other song that hit me perfectly right is Mudcrutch’s “I don’t scare easy” – sung by Tom Petty. We should not scare easy if we are in our best intentions and have some experiences that DID scare us, but shouldn’t now. We need to know that we got through certain experiences before and we will get through them again…
If we could step through our days NOT with more hubris but with humble confidence in HIS LOVE, in the Lord’s strength and purpose, we could approach life with more energy and stick-to-it-tive-ness. We could stand more strong in the wind. We could remember that we are always a child of God, no matter what. And this gives us also the freedom to not retaliate nor swing back, but turn that other cheek on our way OUT of the way of barbs that won’t stick.
Romans 8 reminds us of God’s everlasting love: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
And the book of Numbers 6:24-26 gives us the familiar blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
SO, to be enriched with Spirit is to know that God sometimes puts us in locations that might get heated, but we are the cool of the Spirit to muster through. Then the coolness of hot and cold people also will remind us that there is no victory in the world or winning over people, our victory stand is with the Lord in His stance – we are more than conquerors in HIS LOVE.
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8
The Lord bless you and keep you Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you The Lord turn His face toward you And give you peace
x2 Amen, amen, amen Amen, amen, amen
. The Lord bless you and keep you Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you The Lord turn His face toward you And give you peace Amen, amen, amen x4
. May His favor be upon you And a thousand generations And your family and your children And their children, and their children
.x4 May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you All around you, and within you
. He is with you, he is with you In the morning, in the evening In your coming, and your going In your weeping, and rejoicing He is for you, he is for you He is, He is
. Amen, amen, amen x4
—
Romans: 8:28-39 NKJV
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
God’s Everlasting Love What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long;We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It’s the growing season, yes we love to work the soil. I put more into the veggie garden than I get out of it, and yes the soil is more expensive than the seed!!! So this year I’m changing it up for container gardening for peas and beans and strawberries. My garden needs weeding too, because I do see strawberries making a comeback there too, strawberries propagate by runners, a shoot to become rooted, and sow down the lane…
We in faith, like the plants need good soil to root, plant ourselves and fruit. We in faith also have to branch out into new soils or spread seeds outward because new soils mean we are reaching, spreading the ABILITY to grow, not just tending close by.
We know we are to spread seeds, but God does the ultimate miracle of growth… Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven – so many parables about seeds and soil and growth – as well as spreading them. I find too that the Lord has invested SO MUCH into the soil – so MUCH in so much as sending Himself down here to accomplish growth for everyone – the opportunity for salvation – the teaching to repent – the gift of the forgiveness of sins. The stage is set – the soil is poured and the nutrients are available. The Lord wants to have a well-watered season, and fruit in good yields.
I recently heard an interview with Rick Steves, travel expert, and Martin Sheen, TV and film star, about India and how experiencing travel puts into perspective our needs and wants. Travel is a whole level of privilege. It taught them to count blessings looking at the situations of impoverished people, and how they were grateful for having a passport and ability to get on a plane for their work – to travel the world . We can see the scenes on TV, but the in-person experience of the people changes your perspective. We grow by experiences.
We also surely grow in faith by experiences. We understand that Jesus loves all people (and there certainly are a lot of people in the world), and so we must keep working the soil – around us and sending seeds ahead – spreading faith – and enriching our own.
May we, like Jesus’s disciples, keep leaning into the learning and then sharing all that we have insight for – may we keep growing to keep teaching…
Amen
—-
Mark 4 excerpts
The Parable of the Growing Seed
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
BEHOLD Baubles and Bargains and Brownies and Bathrooms and Bed, Blessings to Lay One’s Head.
My Saturday was SO BUSY, I BLESSEDLY was most thankful to go to bed after a BUSY day. Basically weekend warriors work at wacky combinations of wows on weekends. Days off are days ON. And we get WORN OUT.
Basic living is what we need, right? But we surely live anything but basically these days – especially in blessed american dream dedication. Days are both blessed and burdened with baubles and busy. I could babble on about baubles – but I need to be back to the basics.
So what is the busy we should be basically doing? Be less burdened? Be more basic? How about BEHOLDING BLESSINGS and BEING THANKFUL. There is where we find BLISS!
Jesus said to a deciding disciple: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Basically we have to live life more lightly. LIGHT as in less burdened and LIGHT as in lit up for Christ – LIGHTING the WAY of HIS WAY – BEING LIGHT AND SALT!
I know it’s hard to be a full-time disciples for Jesus, but for a basic purpose, we best live “making due” and be thankful for what we do have! We are supposed to be BOLSTERING the BRIGHTNESS of the DAY – and yes, taking a battery recharge for ourselves. You can’t be ON all the time from artificial light, you need to tap into a resourceful recharge. (Thus me/us resting now and pondering the restart for today.)
Yes, our days are filled with busy. Yesterday I was selling Christmas stuff at a local non-profit rummage sale at a historic site, gifting smiles and daffodils in my Santa suit, for “Christmas in April” – people were shocked and laughed – I sold about half my room contents in bargains that the people appreciated – they also appreciated looking inside the renovations of the place – chatting – and just reminiscing… My favorite was little kids with their treasures (like little bird figures) which we either gave away or inexpensively sold. My ultimate JOY in seeing JOY was a 20-something who saw the wooden painted plaques for a video game and I gave them away at 2 for $1 – and he gave me a hug in astonishment and glee – yeah – JOY in the TREASURE find…. FUN… Then we had to take the time for packing packing packing the leftovers for another sale day. My Christmas stuff was easy – 3 bins consolidated – but oh those vintage tea cups of fine china, from the other room, which were priced at pennies practically to simply unburden the big collection of attic finds, they took some time to repack. It is interesting to realize that these items, so beautiful and useful, came across the seas from places far away 75 years ago plus. They might have been used well or just viewed. I remarked that we are trying to practically give away something that an ancestor may have fought for as an inheritance…
Busy continuing, I then zipped home to grab a shower and be on the road again to a friend’s invitation to bingo fundraiser for the betterment of a cat shelter charity, lots of “B2’s” and “G52’s” but no winning except for the blessings of friendship and food, and thus the blessings of clean bathrooms, public and home, and the ultimate daily blessing of BED, whew!!!
Put a basic need in the busy lives we lead, how do we find the blessings? But just BEING and just BELIEVING in a purpose greater than basic living. Being with people who are thankful. Being thankful. Believing in thankfulness. It is a lesson for us, in learning from life now, to approach each day with less lust of life’s loads of loots, and be more transient, less trashful and more true. We need to truthfully TRUST in being TEMPORARY in this world, and just enjoy one day at a time.
Jesus Himself said there is a cost to discipleship, that He Himself has no place to lay His head, must keep moving, must go out to work His Word-spreading work. We have work – in the worthy living of life. We have rest – in the restfulness of realization of temporary work in the here and now for eternal rest.
Isn’t life funny? We surely are human and we accumulate stuff and dust, we are human and fight for stuff like teacups that once were inheritance but now that outlive us, and maybe are burdens to pack in future generations for them to move or sell. We pour money into extravagant but fun events for foodies, but now eat off paper plates and fill trash cans with waste. (Trust me we wasted none of the yummy food from the bingo event last night – I just ate the leftovers of chicken salad sandwiches and half a brownie for breakfast, yum). Life is funny as we pay money for a chance to win something like at bingo, that we could have just bought ourselves, but for the sake of a good cause, sure, it’s about community… Our jolly allows the recipients of the money to live better (in this case cats to have shelter and food while they await the home that will spoil them!). I enjoyed the event, feeling the normalcy in joy, and the blessing of friends of friends, knowing my gut said my blessing is to be thankfully present at all things in the present. I appreciated the normalcy for the woman next to me too – who had her arm covered and had been going thru cancer treatments. I also marveled looking across the room that 5 years ago we would never be here – we flew out of that covid era – it is like a distant memory now… Do we count our blessings for that?!? I also marveled at the historical site rummage sale that we are just a few stewards now of back-breaking work to build the infrastructure of the day – including indoor plumbing – are we thankful for that? I hope so!
So – what is the message in my wandering of pondering, plunked down in my restful den of a house? That we need to take our rechargeable spirits, and recharge them and look where to shine the LIGHT today – and if we have human limitations of needing daily down time, we have to simply be thankful to have what we have when we have it. And when we feel low, we should look for Jesus’s LIGHT. And we have to remember that we have to BEHOLD BLESSINGS – no matter what they are – even in trials – whether they are brownies at bingo – or baubles at bargain prices – or blessings of modern bathrooms and beds.
We take the blessing to lay our head – into the rest of the ONE, Jesus, Who did not rest from His mission even if He did rest from his long days. Let us be MOST thankful – that He has shown and shone us the Way. Be the Light and the Salt of the day!
Amen
—-
The Cost of Discipleship Matthew 8:19-22 NKJV
And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
—
Matthew 6:19-34 NKJV
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Lamp of the Body “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
You Cannot Serve God and Riches “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Do Not Worry “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The label on the bathroom towel dispenser “MARATHON” reminded me of the Jackson Brown song, “Get up and do it again.” That we are in a marathon of life. That life changes and yet doesn’t. There are common situations all around, even if the scenery or seasons change. Then there’s core situations that instruct us that “what is old is new again”. No matter what season or place we are in, we best to keep moving, learn from the past, and apply newness to the new times. Times change, but yet how many repeated scenarios will we encounter? Many… Many…
Marathon life. Keep running… Don’t forget to shine… If the Lord doesn’t change, He doesnt, and if our gifted salvation is secured by our belief in the Lord, asking forgiveness, it is, then who are we not to be working out in the world with a renewal of faith every day. Jesus said to remember this and SHINE.
Today I’m helping with a rummage sale for a local non-profit. Selling for proceeds, yes, because they need money to paint the place to preserve it, but also since clearly things at the sale are priced to move – they don’t want to keep it all!!! Reducing the volume of what surely was donations and attic accumulations and what not. Dishes are a quarter, the stuff is OLD and yet not. The stuff is simply A LOT! And if we don’t sell it we have to pack it up! So we want to sell it!!!
My marathon marvel moments were MANY last night, the first time I stepped into the sale set up… First this is a reminder for the many church rummage sales of the 70s, that my mom used to volunteer with. Stacks and stacks, and people chomping at the bit to come in. Other marathon memories include taking my kids to this mansion to absorb history and remember that we are to remember. But what got me last night walking in to help price, was that the SAME CHRISTMAS donations that I personally brought were there for me to SELL, AGAIN, haha, Lord that is funny. After selling for my friend who is moving, these are now the SAME in the room that I am staffing for selling today… weird and not… It’s like I’m in a loop of my life for a reason. And yet I think the lesson here is just keep living life… This is an opportunity to share and to shine – and have fun for a good cause – and really – I hope we DO sell it and not have to pack it up and sell it again…
I heard the birds chirping last night as I was putting price tags on – it is definitely spring and we could even leave doors open in the warmth of the weather… it was a short long winter and spring has sprung. Yet I am going to wear my Christmas outfit because it is funny – humor is timeless. SO we have no excuse to not get out of our ruts of winter and move forward.
Our scripture for motivation today is Jesus reminding us to live life and keep living it – no matter how many times around the sun – we need to shine the LIGHT of HIM. We don’t shine to shine our accomplishments – we shine to show that He is still lighting us up from within… We as believers are called to be salt and light. – let us shine and not put our lights under baskets – let us keep salty preserving the goodness trusting inside of us. Let us KEEP LIGHTING UP FAITH IN EACH OTHER!
Ok – time to keep going and get rolling…
It is time to shine….
Amen and please read: Matthew 5 – Believers Are Salt and Light
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
It is Easter coming – and we condense an already condensed 3 years of ministry into a month of study – and watch and feel Jesus in His Journeying… Some days easy, some days hard… I would say that it was a novel new day each day – yet Jesus KNEW EXACTLY what He was walking into…
Jesus Begins to Preach (Matthew 4:12-17)
When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –THE PEOPLE LIVING IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; on those living in the land of the shadow of death A LIGHT HAS DAWNED.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
A Jesus Journey never stops…
My journey this past year and 10 years has no scale nor complexity that Jesus had – but yet I realize that this Jesus Journey for each of us is mapped out in a TRIP-TIK if we choose to open that up with the Lord’s account – and study the roadmap of life. Our lives can be the open road or the intricate mountain passes or the tiny street nooks of fun things to look at. Really our Jesus-journey is for each of us and so varied even day to day…
I enjoyed my trip yesterday – gave a talk and saw the operations of a very impressive small group. When someone said “You are getting so much mileage out of that 4 weeks sabbatical” I reply YES I AM! – I did not imagine that I could use it to drive encouragement to as many people as possible AT WORK, as the opportunities to speak to big small groups of people and especially individuals fell right into my life-mission “TRIP-TIK”. WELL… YES… Yes, I actually DID know and was excited for the possibilities. I knew that both for my learning and for the eventual teaching, that it is SO IMPORTANT to take folks on this journey of science and life… and oh the people you will meet – and all that fun stuff in between. It is not all about me – but about the gears turning inside the mindsets of the folks you get to talk to – the folks who are going places even when sitting simply at a lunch and learn before dashing back to the lab. It was a joy of seeing minds turning for the places that the students of life will go…
So yes, I hopped in my Subaru and with my PowerPoint slide decks fully decked out – these are encouragement slides and science journey slides that I started making at the same time I started my sabbatical – I even wondered at my hyper-drive to spend 3 hours one Sunday afternoon at the beach plugged into the electricity of the boardwalk pavilion to work on 5 slides which are beautiful to me – and meaningful to my experiments – and a treasure of trivial stuff that is not trivial. So, with these slides in hand, I jumped at the opportunity to visit one of our sister-sites. SO COOL TO SEE IN PERSON! I also brought my own posterboards of my science fair of me – and just like the day before this, when I was a science fair judge – you need good shoes to keep journeying on this life journey… and good tires too as yesterday was rain rain rain – but no problem for my new-ish tires…
Crossing the BIG bridge, in to and from the event, and seeing the majesty of the steel towering, I was impressed with visual beauty of engineering usefulness combined with the strength of it – that bridge was sturdy – and I am sure and hopeful that the engineering designs allow it to withstand extreme weather conditions and whatnot… Can you imagine the folks sitting up at the top and overseeing their work – knowing that generations to come would benefit from their day to day back-breaking work. Now imagine that small scale – at the work bench – at the engineering discussions – at the data crunching – at the anything that you do locale… Imagine that again in bigger life-scale – and then in God-scale – and then come back to that Jesus Journey that Jesus went on during his short time on earth… It is not just engineering and timing – it is a whole Majestic view of God’s Sovereignty to take us on our journeys just like Jesus took Himself on His… God is walking us back to Him – and giving us Mountains to both look at and climb, valleys to admire and slide into, and flat even life fields too – just walk the narrow way rather than the wide wander.
I have the best advice that I can give – live today in a Jesus-Way… Just be open to the opportunities – and get out there and meet the people – and be the “encourager” or use whatever spiritual gift you have for this life journey… KEEP WALKING… Good shoes… Maybe bring a good PowerPoint set of slides or posterboards too… Take your smile and your listening ears…
Bring your Jesus Journey to where He needs you to go.
Jesus, He Went His OWN Way, and the devil went away (for a while). Jesus stood strong against temptation by the devil in the wilderness, which is where the Spirit led Him, to pray and fast, which was to fulfill prophecy. Jesus prevailed by speaking His OWN Way of Scripture into His direction. Jesus quoted truth: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’, and ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’, and ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’… Quoted from the truth. Jesus also rebuked the wrong use of Scripture when the Devil tempted Him. We too must remember that the evil one twists truth, but Jesus lays our way and His Way STRAIGHT…
Follow Jesus really closely and don’t let the devil distract. Let Jesus Keep Us On Track.
Like Jesus, in hunger, reach for the daily bread of His Word over the worldly wilderness of wanting.
And keep walking…
Amen
—
Luke 4:1-13 NKJV
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Fast Fast – we like everything FAST! And yet we yearn to slow down…
We also think too fast and comprehend too slowly – we are human.
We need a moment!
Even Jesus went to the wilderness – more for just a moment – He went 40 days at times – such a long time… Actually He wanted to go, did not hesitate – and he went to rest NOT like a spa but to be apart from the world but in the mind of His SPIRIT – Jesus went to pray, to fast, to be tempted like us humans, and to demonstrate worship in the way He knew was the best way – to completely TRUST – by being completely in God’s Hands.
And God sent angels.
God ministered to Jesus (like to us) with extra hands of angels. God told Jesus (and those there at John the Baptist’s scene) that He was Pleased with His Son. Then Jesus took the time out to go to the wilderness. Mark’s gospel is the shortest but to the point: And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Jesus already knew that the Spirit led Him there – required Him to Trust – would be there WITH HIM.
Angels are everywhere – the wilderness is wild but not barren.
My cat sits sometimes looking at the wall – I wonder of her wondering – but I think she is looking at angels who are telling her to sit – to wait – to rest. I can’t even imagine the angels who are attending me attending us – except that they are – and that they are for all of us for God’s Spirit in us sake. Angels are working all the angles in our lives – especially the spiritual battles that we are not even paying attention to. “Angels are all around us” – we say this phrase but do we know the scriptures? I went to google and “AI” found angel scriptures. Really “AI” is algorithms for the searching, then let us say “AIM”, I will make a new acronym, to be “Angels in Ministry” – and for us to be in the receiving. The AIM of life in this wilderness of earth is for us to be in the receiving – in the trust – in the living of our lives.
All around us is God’s AIM – that is God’s Angels in Ministry.
Let us accept their help.
Amen
—
Mark 1:9-13 NKJV
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
MORE AIM – Angels in Ministry:
Psalm 91:11-12: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone”. Psalm 34:7: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them”. Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all of them ministering spirits sent out to serve, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” Matthew 18:10: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.” Exodus 23:20: “See, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”
My friend’s son made a cute easter craft project and all the people around Jesus were every which way around the paper. Yes, that’s how life, even post Easter, feels at times, like a trampoline of life. Jesus would understand!
Jesus knew and knows about storms of the weather and the storms of life.
It WAS a wild storm last night, well a normal storm, we forget sometimes that this is how weather works, storms are “normal” – and thus building codes as they are, and it’s why there are drainage places, and places to take cover. It may feel like April fools with cold weather – but yes this too is “seasonal normal”…
I don’t live in tornado areas, my prayers for those folks for sure. We here have “normal storms”. I live on a hill, close my door and ignore them. Well ignore most of my fear now that we don’t have big trees here anymore. And I tamper my fear down while waiting for my youngest to come home late from work. It’s a normal storm so normal concern is normal. (The cat however knew the severity of the storm! Her eyes said volumes! And she knew to hunker down.)
I want to enter this month of Easter thinking of the storms and retreats of Jesus walking the earth. It was just 3 years on earth, that’s so short, yet every step was meaningful and real. Including and especially the retreats. Jesus took retreats, sometimes out of the storm, sometimes into a storm, ALWAYS praying through the storms and through the calm. I hope we remember the Lord’s STRENGTHENING and tap into it.
Jesus weighed not just the day in His sight, but the whole of all from the beginning of time. Jesus IS Alpha and Omega and every little letter in between. Jesus being the Word, provided the letters too to explain His journey. Luke tells us that He often withdrew and prayed. The Lord’s STRENGTHENING came in praying.
Jesus prayed in obedience not in requests alone. Alignment with God is not God aligning with our will. There are storms, there is HOPE, and with God there is guidance and strengthening.
“The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.”
Let us start this month with the wind still blowing, the storms still passing, but ourselves walking with Jesus, standing with Jesus, resting with Jesus, and just plain living with Jesus as we trail out of and into each day. Let us pray through our way, HIS WAY, and always one day at a time…
Amen
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Luke 5:15-16 NKJV
However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
GOOD MORNING! The beginning of March- if you can remember that far back – we roared like Lions – roared like the weather and I think it was quite the roaring March weather. Don’t you? It is now the end of March and March goes out like a lamb and? Wow – yeah!!! More peaceful and calm, and is it teaming out there with new life – like lambs being born – like beautiful spring flowers opening – like beautiful daffodils. So – instead of roaring like a LION – let us take a second to be quiet like a lamb – and maybe think thankful thoughts for spring – maybe take thankful moments to remember easter coming up. And I will pray for my message to be meaningful and part of God’s action plan.
Moment to be silent… thank you…
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I LOVE THIS INSIGHT WRITTEN IN ECCLESIATES: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
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I love SPRING – before summer gets too hot – and wow we are MOTIVATED in Spring to get moving – I got outside yesterday – planted flowers and cleaned up my yard. I had to pull some leaves out so that my daffodils could bloom less encumbered… They weren’t going to wait for me – and that is like the Lord – He works in HIS TIME… There’s scripture and great song lyric: The Lord makes things beautiful in His time.
SING: Lord, please, show me everyday — As you’re teaching me Your way —- That you do just what You say — In Your time — In your time, in your time – You makes all things BEAUTIFUL – In your time…
And today we’re going to talk about the Lord making things happen – our God of action – helping us – some would say tolerating us – when we are to respond to God’s call and maybe delaying –
and I will be sharing just a small snippet of Gideon and his calling and his answering the call, But especially about God IN ACTION…
I am appreciative of this sermon series coincidental with our mission statement – to Know God, Show Love, Grow Community
TODAY we are learning KNOW GOD – by Knowing God in Action – and I love that – ACTION!!! – both by God and by us – and when we are to be “Responding to God’s Call” – there is BOTH the need for us to “Be STILL” – and to “BE MOVING” – but most importantly remembering that God wants us to “BE HIS”…
For being STILL – we remember a previous speaking of Elijah that he had to be still and “hear” God in the stillness and in the gentle whisper of the wind.
For being MOVING – let us remember our GOD OF ACTION – remember the sermon on Isaiah where Isaiah first said: “For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” Essentially saying “I’m not worthy” – and GOD IN ACTION – an angel touch to Isaiah’s lips in a purifying manner.
“with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then Isaiah felt able to respond to God’s call willingly: “Here I am , Send Me!”
And OH, what amazing prophesy that Isaiah was able to deliver to the people of the time and to us: this is an excerpt from Isaiah 40, I am SO glad that Isaiah responded to God’s call and wrote these words:
“Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
Yes – we our God of Action IS a Shephard.
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SO – our opportunity today is to learn about OLD TESTAMENT worker Gideon – God calling Gideon, speaking to him – This is like God speaking to us – for sure – and what strikes me is when we are able to know God enough to talk back to Him and know He tolerates that – YES to QUESTION HIM!!! yeah! – This is a perfect topic for me – and for us – for Gideon – like verifying verifying – double checking – asking for proof…
Gideon was a man who was minding his own business – and an angel of the Lord came to him while he was threshing wheat – he had to do this hidden – down in a winepress to keep quiet – afraid for the Midianites who were an issue for Gideon’s people of the day… These scriptures are from Judges 6:
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” – God had the confidence to try to convince Gideon “am I not sending you?” – meaning ‘I GOD have got this!!!’ And yet Gideon had to be sure…
WOW – CAN YOU IMAGING US MAKING GOD WAIT – OH YEAH – WE DO THAT ALL THE TIME… AND GOD WAITS!
Gideon did prepare that offering – and then FIRE flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. 22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace.
SO GOD HAD GIDEON’s ATTENTION NOW… Then God forced the hand of the situation and stirred up the conflict between all the groups of the area – by having Gideon destroy the false god Baal’s altar and build one to God – and make a sacrifice on that one…
Our God of Action was setting the stage for a battle – one in which Israel would triumph by Gideon’s lead but by God’s Plan and God’s Power.
But not before Gideon QUESTIONED GOD!!! We learn this was “the ask”:
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised — 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew ONLY on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”
REALLY? IS GOD A MAGICIAN? IS THIS LIKE A PENN & TELLER SHOW?
BUT REALLY: 38And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew – a bowlful of water.
WOW – GOD DID IT – AND OH – YOU THINK GIDEON WAS SATISFIED?
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
WOW – GOD DID IT AGAIN – I CAN make fun of this BUT I SHOULDN’T AND I WON’T – BECAUSE I TOO AM GIDEON – QUESTIONING A PLAN FOR ME – AREN’T WE ALL?
Gideon wasn’t testing God’s sovereignty or testing God’s plan. GIDEON WAS TESTING GOD’S SPECIFIC CALLING OF HIMSELF – and if he believed this prediction to come true – AND OUR GOD OF ACTION SHOWED TO BE A GOD OF WAITING – AND A GOD OF PATIENCE – AND A GOD OF PROMISE – AND A GOD OF ANSWERS – AS WELL AS A GOD OF ACTION…
Gideon was testing God’s specific calling of himself… BOTH: Is this really YOU God asking me? (Emphasis on God). And is that really You God asking Me (emphasis on ME)… SO GIDEON wanted to know: LORD DO YOU HAVE MY FRONT AND MY BACK?
Did God punish Gideon? NO – He NOT ONLY let him ask, God performed miracles – very specific miracles upon request. It wasn’t like Gideon meant to ask like asking ‘a genie in the bottle’ – can I have riches and etc. Gideon didn’t even ask like Solomon would – for wisdom. Gideon actually asked “if it is really YOU, Lord…?” AND “Is it really me???????????”
YES, GIDEON IT IS YOU.
Gideon kept asking God many times to prove this was THE CALL… that the plan was TRULY from God – and if it would succeed – remember Gideon said ‘hey Lord – You didn’t help on ON TIMELINE”… HMMM…
Later we will see that Gideon DID answer the call after all. But in all this questioning, God kept RINGING – and then God kept the line warm until Gideon came back and said “Yes Lord”. God was like “can you hear Me now? Can you hear Me now?”
AND we don’t have time to read all thru the battle plan today but I urge you to sit sometime this week with this judges scripture – AND SEE THE ACTIONS THAT GOD TOOK – HE Wanted Gideon to fight with such a low number of soldiers – YEAH – Because the Lord wants it to be known that it is HIM Who made the victory.
Gideon was like modern day us – checking the Caller ID before picking up the phone. And he didn’t just look at the area code because you know those cellphone spammers – using our own area codes, Gideon would be like someone who would pick up the phone and say: IF that really IS You, Lord, Can you give me proof? You know that advice that we should ask for a code word, so we verify that we don’t get scammed.
Gideon wanted proof. Gideon wanted his version of code words – miracles that no one else would know about – remember he was hidden in the threshing floor – this conversation was just between him and God – and God certainly allowed this line of questioning because God really DID want Gideon in this plan – HIS PLAN… GOD PICKED HIM – God picks US TOO… and waits for our answer.
— A side story – my daughter successfully took her driver’s test yesterday – and we were watching her (after a successful parallel park) go up to the light for the road portion – and immediately wondered if she was going to take the right on red – this is by the mall…. WELL, she said later that she wondered the same thing – she knew she COULD take the right on red – and she asked the driving official – she felt comfortable enough to ask! – And it is a common conversation we all have – “can I take this right on red?” – well the driving official said “I can’t answer that question.” Hmmm… well, she waited and that is safest of course – and isn’t that like US asking God as a friend “can I do this? Should I do this? Can You wait here until I am ready?” and instead of God saying “I can’t answer that” – God may wait with you in the silence until the answer – or God may give you signs, like He did for Gideon…
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It was convenient for Gideon to pick up fleece, a common sense object of the day that certainly held water, if you have ever washed a wool sweater. Yeah
Here is a fleece – and I have a beautiful memory of my son loving this as a youngster in a reading nook of his room – it holds a lot of water when wet!
I know it is NOT a coincidence with easter coming up that we think of our March going out like a LAMB – and we know Jesus as a LAMB on the move.
Isaiah gave us prophecy – AND WE NOW KNOW THIS OF JESUS – THAT GOD IS A GOD OF ACTION.
Remember the Isaiah 53:6-7 scripture. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him (JESUS) the iniquity of us all. – He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
Jesus was silent action as that lamb that day and He continues to be a God of VOCAL and PHYSICAL Action for THE DISCIPLES AND for US: Like Doubting Thomas, Jesus showed Himself… JESUS then said to the apostles to wait until the advocate comes – at pentacost – WAIT FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT…
WE SIMPLY ARE TOLD TO TRUST AND TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME.
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QUESTION: SO, are we like Gideon and have to HEAR, SEE God in Action ? – and we can take this reminder that it is OK to say: “what’s the plan today Lord?” – what is the plan here? and the Lord waits for us to figure it out and often he does send a signs…
Remember, “THE SPIRIT” CAME UPON GIDEON – remember that the Holy Spirit comes and re-energizes the situation for us – we can ask for a fresh filling of Holy Spirit – this is not like gold dust that wears off but a filling of Jesus HIMSELF – a comforting – an understanding – and a DRIVE…
Deborah, my name sake, was a Judge in the scriptures before Gideon, she was all about telling people that God’s victory is already won. Deborah said: “Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” We need to believe that…
We don’t think that our actions are as monumental as Gideon’s for a big battle – but they are for us and for the Lord… Each step we take with the Lord, for the Lord, is part of His victory. Because at the bare minimum, IT GIVES US THE CONFIDENCE TO TRY to live each day in His Love.
I want to close with a great Lauren Daigle song speaking of theLord with us :
I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low
Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know
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You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
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And I believe – Oh, I believe – What You say of me – I believe
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Please pray with me: Lord, May we hear YOUR Call – see YOUR Actions – and take our part in YOUR Work. We know Lord that the best first place to start is to LOVE YOU – and know YOU LOVE US. We know Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is YOUR PURPOSE, the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Thank YOU, Lord, for standing by us, waiting on us, and strengthening us.
Recently I decided it was silly not to purchase more bowls and little plates and silverware that I found that matches my main set – sure I have yardsale forks that I got for a quarter but we in our house have a fondness for “our real forks” – lightweight and good – and less fumbling thru the drawer around cheapo ones that I usually take to work… Plus I got 2 more ice tea spoons in my pattern – LONG STORY – but those are just awesome to use… Well, it was a little splurge I decided to go for – and easy to get them (even though they are now “vintage”) through some online selling – really easy – and I negotiated the price and shipping too. So, I’ve added 12 forks to my collection and 2 cool ice tea spoons. The bowls? Well they disappear everywhere, not to mention ones (RARE) that broke – yes I managed to break some… These bowls are so useful, just the right size and yeah… I negotiated and paid $3 each – cheaper than when I originally got them probably at the outlet itself, ummm over 30 years ago. Silverware was probably more expensive than the outlet I was at, but like I said now it is “vintage” geez… I don’t REALLY need these things for any supper sit down – I don’t try to match usually – but occasionally it is nice to sit down to a nice Easter meal with everything attempted matching – just nice – and whom are we – yeah whom am I to be so human – but I am. I really am… I am human and picky and yeah – and we may try to blame our modern society but we also buy into that human-worldly visual lifestyle as well, our comfort zones of stuff and yeah… There is one fringe benefit of our humanness however, it is that we have a Lord who understands and Who forgives humanness – and Jesus said there is nothing that tempts us more that He will allow – yes Jesus understands and even better, One Who brings us one day to HIS SUPPER!
Nothing whets my appetite for HIS SUPPER than reading the book of Revelation and knowing that there is an end to the chaos and madness of the world we see and have yet to experience (whew!). Jesus will set all into place – a place for Him to be King – and place settings set for Him and for us, for the “Supper of the Lamb”, because Jesus and His Holy Bride (that’s us as the church) will be sitting down to dinner, yeah… I won’t care what kind of place setting I have then – I won’t be looking at the food even if I were looking at Jesus. So, in making myself unworldly now, it would be best to follow Jesus’s Breadcrumb trail and snack slowly on it – not devouring a whole handful – but take it in like popcorn, one kernel at a time.
Jesus, Our Daily Bread… and MORE…
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus, His Supper, we will explore.
Someday when we walk through HIS DOOR…
Someday we implore…
And we will hear the angels ROAR:
“Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Amen
“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”
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Revelation 19 excerpts NKJV
Heaven Exults over Babylon
After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Christ on a White Horse
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
“A family that pray together stays together” – that is a great saying – my family spread to both east and west coasts early on – and honestly any of us with ancestors who came on the boats in the great immigration era should remember those people endured leaving family that they never saw again – letters were sent and sometimes packages in my family – but no plane ride home to visit – all my great grandparents would have left home in the same ages of my kids now at 20 something – that is just the way it was…
I remember my Dad today with finding a newspaper clipping about his 1st communion and other articles, like with scouting. I remember many blessings growing up like family trips and family stories – remembering this morning while giving my cat water of when my Dad who vowed that he hated cats said to my mom: “we need to get cat food – there is a stray in the garage” – and wouldn’t you know it? we became cat people – as the stray was pregnant and had her kittens under my bed – on a green velvety blanket that was my grandmothers. We gave all of them away except one who became my cat.
Spreading the love and taking care of others – that was my Dad – taking care of your fellow man – and realizing to be appreciative for everything you have – and treating them fairly – and all this good advice that still fills my brain and my heart. I had over 50 years with my Dad before he passed few years ago. I remember his stories (and to make sure I have good brakes for the car)… I recently found during family history searching, newspaper articles about our family. I found the great scouting article where my family spoke of their many sons in scouting and how good it was. I found a letter to the editor about my Dad as a persistent newspaper carrier, telling folks they needed to buy a subscription – VERY CONVINCING – I also found what we discovered years later that he was a hero for saving a boy who broke away from his troop and fell at a scout camp in the rugged terrain. We also found good articles of the dedication of my grandmother as a den mother.. cool…
A family which prays together – and plays together – and all that – well I found an article from the parochial school of my father’s first communion – a family which worships God together… It is comforting to me that it was my grandparents who instilled faith and instruction into my dad and his siblings – by enrolling them in parochial school. Even if my father railed against the hypocrisy in the catholic church and the unfortunate but totally human going-wrongs of the day, I am encouraged that the Lord’s teachings still got instilled in that generation – including first communion. My faith is that faith was instilled early and demonstrated weekly and daily and moment to moment by my Grandmother.
I remember my Dad taking great concern for visiting my Grandmother in the nursing home every day – yes every day – sometimes in the morning before work – sometimes at lunch – sometimes after work. I trust that my grandmother, is in Heaven by the Love of Jesus. My Grandmother, whom I never heard complain ever, even with a noisy roommate and with many aches and pains of leg amputation from diabetes and cancer from mesothelioma,. And I remember my Dad talking about his father – about the generosity of helping others – about the chickens they bought and then had eggs more than they could handle and beng directed to go give them to all the neighbors – that my grandfather would have directed them to take their wagon and go door to door not to sell but to give away… Yeah – family who takes care of others…
I thank the Lord for these memories and my family. I am grateful for these newspaper articles for new memories.
My connection to a lamb scripture today – is that the Lord told the families in the first “Passover” – to share between neighbors – to make sure there is enough but not too much – to take care of their households and of each other. I would know that my family was trained to take care of each other by the generosity of the Lord – the Lamb gives of Himself – and no one is to waste it – like the Lord’s Word which comes to earth and never returns void – always shared to do His Work.
May we always be remembering good memories – and may we always be thankful to the Lord for all our life experiences good and bad – and the perseverance the Lord has enabled in us to survive and yes to thrive… Amen
Thanks Lord for my Dad and family… Thank You, Lord, for You!
Amen and amen…
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. Exodus 12:1-3
The roar of the storms passed us – actually we flew ABOVE them yesterday – what a way to pass a storm by rising ABOVE it. Really for us it was just the wind and not like the tornados of the south – God bless those people. Let us pray the fierceness of the LIONS of March were going out in a storm… And let us pray the Lamb of gentleness to remain – weatherwise and comfort-wise.
John the Baptist (recorded in the apostle John’s gospel) recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God – even though He had not known Him to recognize Him by sight. Therefore the Holy Spirit – the same that made John leap in His mother’s womb – leapt in Him as this was prophesy moving into motion. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Remember Jesus chose to follow this storm system of living in a fierce world that was not ready for Him – not recognizing Him – and loving the people all the same. Jesus could would and did RISE ABOVE THE STORM.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
So, let us remember (also on this St Patrick’s Day) – a prayer attributed to the Irish but universal to us all: Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
And let us remember the LAMB OF GOD has come to give us PEACE.
BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS.
AMEN
John 1 – King James Version
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [the Baptist]. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus
By Faith, people do LOTS of things and BY FAITH we easily flew yesterday, both in the plane, train, bus and automobile AND flew through time. It was 40 years ago that I was last in Michigan, but years melt like hugs for cousins (I am youngest of 23, now we have next generation of my kids and so forth into the future).
Yes. It’s SO good to have come to my uncle’s memorial service long weekend in Michigan, and so good to simply click click click feel the ease of modern travel with old-fashioned friendly skies. So good to see my kids overtake with their traveller’s smarts too, experienced at flying. This is experience that’s not too much expense. My advantage that I take it all in stride, including talking my way into easier situations… It’s The Friendly Skies we fly.
Well, BLESSED as we gathered last night at the hotel for pizza reception travelling cousins from 5 plus states, before today’s military service at the cemetery (we are north of Detroit). Saw 2 remaining aunt’s, who with my mom (arriving this morning) are the 3 remaining spouses of the 6 brothers, my uncle being the last one to pass.
BLESSED to fly over God’s Fingerlakes too! And oh the ice on the great lake Erie was gorgeous. BLESSED to see ithaca in the distance, see the NYC skyline and Statue of Liberty from our Newark flight. We easily took the train to the plane and shuttle and rental car… by faith it all worked out. My great grandparents steamed across the ocean from Ireland and saw lady liberty, wow what would they say, seeing their next and next generations now… WOW. By faith they forged ahead, let us not forget.
BLESSED, while waiting at out gate, to see the little birds drink from the water fountain in the airport. Yeah, they got in somehow, so at least they have something to wash down their french fries. God provides. And if He takes care of the birds, how much more He cares for us…. yeah…. by Faith we know that this is TRUE.
The March Lion of Scripture is that Faith in Action shuts the mouth of Lions, as said the writer of Hebrews, likely Paul, recounting the faith of those who came before Jesus and trusted God. The people of the Scripture stories had SO MUCH FAITH, and yet never say Jesus in the flesh to finish the prophesies, but they had faith. We are encouraged to have faith, not just for adventures, it’s faith in life everlasting and life everyday and especially in God’s Sovereignty. We can “have Faith and live it too!!!”
Scripture says faithful people gained what was promised – shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword – their weakness was turned to strength !!! I’m SO THANKFUL for the Lord God Almighty to coordinate life and living it.
Let us trust Faith in Action and take action in faith. Let us live the BOLD lives God gave us to live. LET US TRUST IN HIM!
AMEN
—
Faith in Action Hebrews 11
Faith in Action
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
I ventured out to the park in the sunshine for I felt like I was emerging from a winter hibernation, even though I have not been hibernating. Felt like a long winter (it wasn’t) and a long week too, even if it was only Wednesday. The park meant SPRING and I could use some SPRING IN MY STEP returning. I appreciated some of the beautiful first flowers of spring – not looking delicate like snowdrops, but these were precious and hearty and BOLD yellow treasures low to the ground. (bold, new, and not eaten either, but enduring)
Emerging in SPRING is like SURVIVAL with new and renewed life. Emerging from a Lion’s Den of danger or gloom, harshness or harm, such the classic of the Lord’s pattern for us all. Life after Death. Maybe not a dying death at all with His protection. Classic Jesus jumping in front of the lion for us. SAVED.
Classic Jesus is also allowing us to be bold in witness about life in the midst of trouble. And WOW – I just read an online article that led with “Sharing Jesus in the Lion’s Den” – when I know that I have been writing this whole first half of March about lions mentioned in the bible… Wow, it’s about a brave witness to Jesus who ventures to the middle of the tense protests demonstrating about the middle east war, blockades and forever bad situations. It’s a sad strife of this life we have seen years upon years. This person stepped into the Lion’s fight not just the den. BRAVE.
The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
I know it’s not normal to be so BRAVE, but Jesus is not normal but extraordinary and Jesus is fully powerful God, and His Righteousness and Strength combined with His Compassion and Love, give us the ability to emerge dangers, to Shine Boldly, and to Love in a merciful way. Daniel is our example to keep faith. Daniel worshipping the Lord in a public way even when forbidden escaped the punishment and told of the Lord’s provisions.
Worship Forbidden? If we are allowed to worship, let us remember those who couldn’t and those who still experience opposition, and pray them Daniel’s commitment and Jesus’s Presence and Protection.
Let us therefore be BOLD like the image of SPRING FLOWERS in the waning Lion of Winter and LET US SHINE, let us EMERGE and even enter new Lions’ Dens of tough activities, knowing Jesus takes us only where He is willing to go.
And Jesus IS EVERYWHERE.
Amen
—
Daniel chapter 6 in the Den of Lions
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly!
“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For he is the living God
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.
He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
I believe in the Lord and in His amazing mighty way and His total everything, especially when my cat bites me to wake up, stop dreaming unproductively, and for me to say Hey, I’m up Lord, I’m Yours.
Ouch, it’s not a break the skin bite but it meant business. The cat (of course a mini-lion in her mind) wants action on my part, well not necessarily the cat, I believe that angels direct my cat. I’m not crazy just faithful in paying attention to her paying attention to a power bigger than a bite.
I believe that all creatures and creations are made by the Lord and He uses them for His goodness, wonderful power, and His pursuit of us. It’s not nature vs nurture, it’s nurture of God over all including the amazing natural and even worldly world which is like dust to the Lord, useable and beautiful dust in transition.
I believe in the Lion’s Roar and the Lord’s Mightiness and control and if He wants a lion to eat you, well yeah… I’ll take a cat bite any day listening to the Lord rather than being eaten by a Lion. 1Kings20:35-36 By the word of the Lord one of the company of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but he refused. So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.
OUCH – that’s worse…
So let’s get up to God’s Will for us today. With Him in Control – we can step wisely and while listening. Don’t take it for granted that the Lord is there but He will be there either way. And let us remember to trust Him, hope in Him, and obey Him.
Therefore let us listen for the Lord – His Word is louder and sharper than the Roar of any lion or the Bite of any cat…
More “LION” scripture references can be found in the warnings of Amos – a prophet trying to tell the Israelites who have disobeyed the Lord, not followed Him, to realize that not only does the Lord mean business, but that He will give them the business. A Lion as a fierce animal and the Lord as the Law. The Lord as the power and the might. The Lord who is jealous for His Own people.
In our Lion scripture of Amos 3, first we are told to remember that the Lion does not roar for nothing – and it is not easy to tear anything from a Lion’s mouth. As for the Lord – He WILL roar as He DOES have something to roar about – He told His prophets to tell His people of all His plans and He did and does roar for their attention and for their commitment to listen.
To the folks who are not paying attention to the Lord, Amos reminds: He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the Lord God Almighty is his name.
Let us pay attention to the Lord leading and let us remember that as the Lions roar, the Lord Almighty surely roars for us!!!
AMEN
—
AMOS 3 NIV
Witnesses Summoned Against Israel Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing? Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken— who can but prophesy?
Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.”
“They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord, “who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted.”
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “An enemy will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.”
This is what the Lord says: “As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued, with only the head of a bed and a piece of fabric from a couch.”
“Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
“On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished,” declares the Lord.
—
AMOS 4:11-13 NIV
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.”
He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the Lord God Almighty is his name.
We’ve heard the phrase: “Sometimes bad things happen to good people.”… Simple enough to say “things will get better” but always hard to remember. We pray for perseverance and hope. We have been thru tough times before and we should know that in the tough times, the tough spots of life, God brings us the LIGHT, the LOVE, the LIFT, because He is LORD!
The people of Lamentations, the chapter and the times, when Prophet Jeramiah was writing to inspire and console, had problems, BIG problems, but the scriptures remind us that God’s LOVE and POWER does and will outweigh the issues of the world. The words to inspire include: I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.
So, yes, the world can be tough, the situations that trip us up, and issues that become like those LIONS that drag us like prey… We think the Lord has turned his backs on us and yet GOD is more LOVE than He is correction, we must remember that the Lord is LOVE and He Lights the Way.
Keep it simple – just follow HIM.
Amen
—
Lamentations 3:1-26
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.
He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.
Like a bear lying in wait,LIKE A LION IN HIDING,he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink.
He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 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.
Too excited not to write it in gratitude… Oh, the crumbs of my leftover pizza are like the crumbs of my thoughts dropping everywhere… (PS I highly recommend an air fryer for re-crisping pizza!) I am happy to write about how GOD IS GOOD and we savor His Blessings…
Between last week and this week, I had wildly different experiences at concerts, both FABULOUS. Last Friday night 80’s music, I knew every song, and oh fun night of dancing singing along with my friends, plus 1000 others, everyone could record it, no one stopped them. A free-flowing fun… Then tonight was an elegant singer of Broadway fame. Oh fabulous and you could hear a pin drop as we waited on every note… no photos or recordings mind you, no standing nor dancing, a much fancier-dressed crowd. Elegant… ELEGANT!!!
Both concerts fantastic, both in the same venue, and remarkably I had the same seat, pretty much. Both were the cheap seats, but the riches of experience for me IS in this deep dish of experience of life that was and is palpable and palatable.
And speaking of DEEP DISH, I just finished my airfryer reheated lunch leftovers of a detroit-style deep dish pizza, made excellently and scrumptious. And like the concerts last week and this week, wildly different, it was 2 types of wildly different deep dish pizza at lunch, in contrasting savory flavors. The first pizza like eighties pop with spicy sauce, mini pepperoni and a big eighties’ hair-sized piped-dollop of smooth ricotta cheese. Glad I ate that one first. Then the second deep dish pizza was smooth cheese, mushrooms and arugula with balsamic drizzle, it was ELEGANT pizza… MMMM… So yes from a POP concert then to an ELEGANT concert, I bracketed that inside my fun perky pizza to elegant taste in pizzas. Yes, it was a life palooza of pizza and performance.
For friends it was a good girls night out to dance 80’s, and leapt at the really in expensive tickets months ago before it sold out, but contrast, for this Mandy Patinkin concert I thought to go alone right after work, not even knowing if I would go. But nothing impeded me, nothing popped up in interference, so after extra time at the office, traffic zipped there on my way home, and I got a cheap seat (there are no bad seats in that theatre) from the way way back, in my own row practically, just enough solitude to absorb my own pin drop thoughts as I sat there and soaked in the sounds of meticulous life music… After a fun lunch with the girls from work, and more work work, this was the ELEGANCE of alone time which is never alone, of thanking the Lord for the time, means, venues, the deep dish of life…
The best “LION scripture for March” (and it was LION March weather last night with the crisp cold) – that I can relate our “deep-dish life” experiences to is a Proverb 19:12: “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass...” and I have to say that God’s favor in our ability to love life and live life is that dew on the grass – gentle and generous... Any favor – any rest – and sweetness of laughter of friends, and blessed aloneness of thought, is that dew on the grass – that deep generous dollop of life – that favor… AND aren’t we all living in favor for the generosity of our Lord and King? Not material items or trips or pizza – but living IN His mercy and grace – that is our dew blessing on our lives and even on our graves when we step into glory – there is no King’s rage anymore in that sense – there is only dew of LIFE and favor of LOVE. We should savor this all knowing God is in control. “The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”
Another proverb: “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.” – it is with understanding of the blessings of the Lord that we can sit in a deep dish of life and savor dew on the grass of His Blessings…
May you have deep-dish plans to prevail today – may you soak in the dew of the blessings of the King.
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
It’s the theme of the moment, to live IN the moment. Yeah!
This March (and always) we must march in the moment – humble ourselves to NOT overthink nor overstep – stay walking with the Lord at the pace of the day, whether a standing march or full forward strut. Whatever you do – don’t march ahead into the unknown – always walk with Jesus.
The month of March is also a month of lions weather-wise, roaring into spring, but don’t get carried away like a mud slide into anxious thoughts. Don’t give fuel to the devil to shake you up. Our advice from scripture is always to wait upon the Lord. The Lord requests us to remain calm, like the succinct advice from Peter:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
***We must TRUST the Lord, that covers our future, so don’t worry about the future. Worry gives the roaring lion of the devil a running start.***
***We must TRUST the Lord, He took care of us in the past. He has a “track record” – a proven track record. Jesus defeated the devil, keep remembering this.***
***We must TRUST the Lord, He is present in the present with us. We are protected in place and placement if we allow ourselves His Peace. ***
STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH. MARCH-ING INTO PEACE.
Keep March-ing in the Moment.
Amen
—
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1st Peter 5)
Ash Wednesday is a day to remember there is no escapism from our mere mortal status, from dust to dust, us AND our oppressors, the Lord is the One who will fight for us. The battle belongs to the Lord. Mere Mortals are Made More with God shepherding.
For after lent comes Easter – we are to remember that we ARE saved – Jesus rescued and rescues and will come again.
And so escapism scenarios, and just plain hiding from life won’t work. Escapism is not the same as surviving best. Yes, we all do wobble, but Psalm 23 says to WALK through the valleys of shadows, don’t stay and linger.
In another “March in like a Lion” themed instance, Isaiah warns about the escapism of the ancient Israelites and Judah-ites thinking Egypt is their friend or at least a less evil compared to being carried away to Babylon for an exile said to be for 70 years. The Lord is purposeful in His ways, and Isaiah also told of the eventual downfall of Babylon. Isaiah later also speaks of a Messiah to save. We know Jesus came and finished the prophecies, and Jesus will come again and defeat evil one and for all. Even evil is exiled from existence eventually. Wait upon the Lord.
Salvation Secured Saving – it is the Lord who Saves. Be available for transport and be working for the Lord despite danger and disillusionment with the world. Make moments meaningful despite monumental challenges.
With coming from ashes and returning to ashes, we are to be reminded about God’s creation in us and God’s win over sin and death. Our ashes could be from burning through life, fiery and giving it your all until there’s nothing left in the tank. God’s ashes are His handiwork to move us more freely, and God-efficiently, thru life and into forever.
Don’t fear the ashes of death. Won’t in our travels we be lighter then? Dust trails behind us and in front. We will be rescued and restored, we will be with our Lord.
March Lions roar, but WITH the Lord, our souls will surely soar!
Amen
—
Isaiah 31-32:4 NIV
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.
But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.
This is what the Lord says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey – and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor – so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights. Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”
Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made. “Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the Lord. whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
The Lord walks with us and reels us in, and “reals us in” to reality too. Realigned with God is how we are to live our lives. In reality, God gets the “Lion’s Share” and more.
God is surrounding us and instilled in our Spirit and us in Him. God loves us like no other. Even to wandering people, like Israelites and Judah-ites in Hosea’s time, God said and says: I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.
This March, for the “Roaring in like a Lion”, there is no bigger nor better Lion than our Lion of the Lord. GOD MEANS BUSINESS and PROTECTS and HOLDS His people, as a Lion would for cubs. This is for the wandering of old and the wondering of new. This is for us, we can not deny God as love pulling us in.
For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you…
They will follow the Lord; He will roar like a Lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling…
The Lord Almighty LOVES, He will Roar and implore His people to come to Him.
Let us be His. Let us walk in His Way.
Amen
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Hosea 11:1-11
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.
“Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities. They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. They will come from Egypt, trembling like sparrows, from Assyria, fluttering like doves. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.
“Create in me a clean heart.” – The song and scripture was so moving that I choked up, rolled tears down from my eyes in the concluding acts of “David” (Sight and Sound’s Production that I finished watching online). As David prays, offering his broken spirit in sorrow for sinful adultery with Bathsheba and the battle-sent murder of Uriah – sinfulness and greed taking over his backtracking, he himself heard the message from prophet Nathan of the slaughter of a lamb. David found himself again offering prayers to “be washed white as snow” – David had tears of repentance and remarkable re-fixation upon the Lord. He was always “after God’s heart” and shows us that the deepest sinner can still return to be the most sincere God seeker.
The more the trials, the more we can rely upon God – in good and bad.
David in the musical remembered the days the Lord was with Him as a child playing the harp and writing the psalms of songs, and David realizes the Lord is ever-present and faithful.
“The Lord is after your heart – be after His” David urges Solomon, his son in the closing acts of his life and the play… The musical closes with David and all singing Psalm 23 boisterously and a visual of Jesus raising David into Heaven. Beautiful… Soul stirring and truthfully soothing.
Jesus came as the Lion of Judah and was slain as the lamb, in God’s Plan, in knowledge of salvation’s power, taking away the sins of the world, as far as East is from West.
We say that the weather in March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. March 1st for us was like a lion sleeping and then awoke with wind storms and cold… Surely the end of this month will be much warmer, calmer, and we will have felt triumphant over winter. Lion to Lamb.
We might relate this to that Jesus came in like a lion to this world, because Jesus IS as the Lion of Judah, the King, and then relate to Jesus leaving as the Lamb, but remember also Jesus, the King, IS the Lamb slain before the beginning, before the foundation of the world was laid down. Jesus knew He would lay down His Life. Jesus always was and is the Lamb, innocent and sacrificial. Jesus was led by His loyalty to God the Father and by His Love for all of us. The sacrificing servant is oru example, as Jesus is also the Shepherd.
Jesus is the Lamb and the Lion, and Jesus is our Lord and King.
We best, in any and all weather, GO with Jesus, because God goes with us.
Be after His Heart.
Amen
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Psalm 23 of David
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
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David speaking to King Saul in 1st Samuel 17 how the Lord protects: “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. [Goliath]” Saul then said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
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1st Kings 2:1-4
David’s Last Words to Solomon: When David’s time to die was near, he told his son Solomon, “I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be a man. Do what the Lord your God tells you. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and His Word, by what is written in the Law of Moses. Then you will do well in all that you do and in every place you go. Then the Lord will keep His promise to me. He has said to me, ‘Your sons must be careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul.
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Psalm 51:9-15 of David in repentance: Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Applying the Power of Prayer is an everyday choice.
My cousins are doing preparations for my uncle’s memorial, couple weeks from now. In communications, our other cousins and I have been discussing travel via text and email and even phone calls. Prayers on getting there following prayers on if we are going. We discussed back and forth about driving vs flying, attending vs not, some wanting to go but being financially crunched, and the logistics of going with immediate or close-by extended family or not. When both my adult kids decided to go, it became a little easier to decide to fly, instead of the many hours car trip… It was and is both logistics and family need in consideration. I too have my tipping points of comfort.
Applying the Power of Prayer is an everyday choice. Prayers on getting there safely apply to both plane and car and train, packing and work and all. Prayers help. Prayers PLEASE the Lord. Prayers show we KNOW WHO IS IN CHARGE. Prayers acknowledge that we need the help of the Almighty. PRAYERS WORK.
APPLY PRAYER in everything.
One cousin was going to travel but now is not as she weighed it back and forth, and she prayed on it and decided she is going to stay home and send her best to everyone. In our discussion came relief for a decision. The prayers helped her for sure, she needed to have that assurance for she already had a gut feeling about not going.
Me too, my gut feeling of flying switched therefore from not a burden into more of an adventure with my crew, as well as a teaching moment in adulting with logistics of flying as waiting rather than driving. We could have arranged many choices, but THE RELIEF IS IN DECIDING and GOING WITH IT. Then steps to follow get laid down and you can return to other life planning. Best we pray and yet acknowledge multiple paths are viable, like ice cream flavors there are many GOOD choices in life. There might be bad choices in life too, but consulting the Lord is always GOOD. LISTENING IS EVEN BETTER.
Other and ALL planning and adventuring surely are best in ALIGNMENT WITH GOD, VIA PRAYERS FOR GUIDANCE. Respecting the absolute TRUTH that God’s ideas are above ours, makes us realize He sees the future best.
Best we not be too worldly and be weighted down. Applying prayers puts us on HIS FLIGHT.
Up Up and Up…
Amen
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:4-8
Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Rejoice always, PRAY CONTINUALLY, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
It’s a short month, February, and March comes quickly with warming weather. Oh I am going to get some outside things done if just for an hour today, and I should walk too… It is still winter and a cold snap we complain about, and yet it WAS nice to snuggle in, be indulgent (even too restful for myself) in indoors activities this short long winter… I’ve had not marathon TV days, but snippets of time in the evenings, good stuff and junk too… BLESSED online offerings too. I am in the middle of watching the Sight and Sound production of David, a tremendous overview of the shepherd boy turned king and hand-chosen ancestry to Jesus’s birth… David was a man after God’s Heart.
The music in this show came with pre-written lyrics – a musical after God’s heart – as David writer and singer of over 70 Psalms. The placement of certain Psalms in the scenes of his life connect the context to content. The lyrics set to melody in various arrangements from traditional to contemporary, are then placed at the appropriate time frame for David’s life: joyous in joy moments or expressing sadness and fear yet trusting God. Psalms of true lament, as David like us was flawed, and wrote and sang Psalms in reminders of God’s faithfulness by singing PRAISE.
A praise for the Lord God Almighty is purposeful and pertinent because the Lord Himself instills in us this ability to PRAISE. God fills us with love too as GOD IS LOVE and this means the opportunity is always appropriate to try to apply LOVE in tough situations with tough people. Tough love too. For extraordinary extravagant LOVE is God’s existence. Psalm 103 reminds: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
A friend once said: “God has no choice but to love”… and for this we PRAISE! Psalm 56 states “I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you.”
May we apply PRAISE and apply LOVE, today and always.
Amen
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Psalm 103 Of David.
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
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Psalm 56 – For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack. My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record? Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?
I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling,that I may walk before God in the light of life.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
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Psalm 56
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack. My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record? Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?
I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
He has MADE us for this purpose – to live forever and live in the NOW.
He has SAVED us for this purpose – to LOVE Him forever and for loving Him in NOW. Love others too.
He has MADE and SAVED us for this purpose – LOVE HIM and TRUST HIM!
In THIS Time – FOR THIS TIME – Queen Esther is our example. I recently finished watching the elaborate musical theater Sight and Sound production online, a tremendous performance and released online right in the middle of our covid-era. The added precautions yes, but the necessary release as a live performance on television plus now online recording means God has additional opportunities to share His message. We learn so much of His protection in our study of Esther (and in how we got out of the covid-era).
In Queen Esther’s life, we learn of the sacrifices she made for her time to save the Hebrews from persecution – yes to save herself – save Mordecai – but also to RISK her life to save her people who worshiped the One True God. In doing this, and taking down an evil pursuer troublemaker, she would preserve all the Jewish peoples for they knew from their line of King David, and fathers Jacob, Abraham, that the Messiah would come to earth to save ALL Jew and Gentile in prophecy fulfillment.
Queen Esther was born for that time and that purpose – and how about us? May we not be needing to take down empires but yes we are to call on God to chip away the pursuit of evil in our midst. We are for THIS TIME and THIS PURPOSE – which starts with the basic purpose that we LOVE our God Who Loves us. And TRUST the God Who Loves us. And ACT under His presence and protection.
I spend much of my time cleaning up things – but not as much as I spend leaving things around – it is a losing battle but also one that we wage everyday if we choose to – we’ve got lots of stuff here in our modern day – just don’t let it accumulate to trip you up.
I’ve been cleaning in my family farmhouse – I call it cleaning UP not cleaning out – no need to move stuff anywhere but the good stuff is buried in the not needed stuff. I try to clean up at home before the not-needed stuff encumbers and covers my good stuff that I DO want people to save one day. I was reminded of a task I did last month, cleaning a closet in the church basement, which I knew was next to the heater and safer that way plus just stuff was lost and tossed in there. I pulled out old Sunday school materials from 10 years prior, study guides, even an old film projector surely from the 60’s. It was important to clean up and condense, yet appreciate the past efforts to build community in the church. I just left the film projector – someone else can rediscover that treasure later. The books I put up on a shelf of a lending library because the best shared part of the Word is when you lend an assist to another person. HOPE and LIFE freely given.
Of course one of my favorite finds this week was the little birthday book from my great aunt – with non-scriptural but witty proverbs and poems – plus important scriptures like finding Psalm 27 after reading and writing about Psalm 27, and to add the Hat Trick – I SHARED Psalm 27 – sometimes WE are the ones who create the “coincidences” that we long to see in the world. The CLEAN UP portion of cleaning is to decide what helps other get UP or stay UP – or believe UP – and turn their faith UP. That is our goal too – to “FAITH UP” each day – look up and look into HIS Ultimate CLEAN UP – Salvation.
The little book provided a proverb “It is far better to do well than to say well.” paired with the whole John 21 scripture statement by Peter: “Lord, Thou knowest all things.” – and that is a GREAT CLEAN UP scripture – because just before the risen Jesus had breakfast on the beach for the disciples who met Him at the sea of Galilee, Jesus had told them to “fish over on THAT side” – and wow did they “clean up” gathering so many many fish. Jesus knew where to “clean up” – and He still does – His Salvation is a net of collection and wash – Jesus cleans us up with forgiveness – Grace and Mercy – and a clean of His Blood ransoming our sins.
So let us clean up our HOPE – for Jesus cleansed and cleans and He calls us back to reinstate our clean slate – like He did for Peter in that John 21 chapter, also urging Peter to “feed my sheep”. Jesus also reminds us to HOPE – like the witty non-scriptural saying: “Hope is as cheap as despair” – true – might as well HOPE rather than despair.
Jesus is our CLEAN UP – so let us FAITH UP!
AMEN
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Here is the scripture for Clean Up Clean Up – Faith UP!
John 21 NKJV Breakfast by the Sea After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”
They answered Him, “No.”
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.
This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
Jesus Restores Peter So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
The Beloved Disciple and His Book Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 54:17b
I recently told my daughter, as we drove, that the apartment complex on the way to her work was where a friend of ours used to live before she passed from diabetic coma about 5 years ago, passed way too young and yet lived a full life to that point. My family loved her and she loved us and surely shaped a kind heart in our children as their forever Sunday School teacher and VBS craft lady. She was the sweetest and loved the Lord and loved people, most generous even when she was living on borrowed time and borrowed dime. She knew was not perfect, never pretended that. and knew she needed the Lord and people. She was in frail health with asthma and more, I’m appreciative that she didn’t fret through our covid-era of uncertainty that folks with good health freaked out in. I’m thankful that she is in Heaven for the most important reasons of wholeness in healing and seeing and embracing our Savior Jesus. I’m so thankful for the calmness of Heaven knowing God is in control even in the current spiritual battles waged for us in spiritual realms. I am thankful for knowing that now.
My friend was in my dream just this morning, she looked well, a white blouse, sat calmly next to me, I rarely saw her calm, and she spoke of something that now escapes my awake mind, only that we spoke of the realization that she was past into Heaven, knowing calmness, and passing good vibes back to us on the other side of the holy divide, (and maybe passing good candy too, lol)… Interesting dream that disappeared from my mind so rapidly like a vapor, even I wrote a wonderful devotion in that pre-awake moment, in my head, gone now, all I remember was there’s Isaiah scripture to now look up pertaining… give me one minute… ah yes.
Ah, there are so MANY good scriptures in Isaiah of being certain that the Lord fights our battles, wins our wars, lives to lead us, died to save us, rose to rescue us, and now calms us in any storm including death. Jesus is our Salvation and STRENGTH.
Interesting how we are to think of STRENGTH for the day, and we need it. Especially we need to have STRENGTHEN to remember God has a calmness in Heaven which could be passed to us on earth if we remember that He has everything under control. Nothing in His Word returns void.
Yes, better than heavenly candy is heavenly calmness that we will have, let us tap into that now, today, and be strong to live the life we are called to live. “Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength!”
Amen
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Here are a few Isaiah scriptures, please do read for STRENGTH:
This is what the Lord says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.” Isaiah 56:1
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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 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. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:8-12
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The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. Isaiah 52:10
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“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.
Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! Isaiah 51:7-9
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…. ISAIAH WRITES 500 YEARS PRIOR IN PROPHECY AS IF JESUS HAS ALREADY COME HAD ALREADY WON – HE HAD HE HAS HE WILL HE WON.
All of Isaiah 53:
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you,…” Isaiah 55:1-3
You ever been down rabbit holes? Earthly holes no, but worldly ones yes! Me too! Those goose-chase activities to find answers, but the goose or rabbit unobtainable and you get lost in focusing on a distraction. Plus you might be wasting time (like clicking on endless web browser links) or you might be enriched in knowledge, like reading an encyclopedia of tidbits while chasing down something else. Rabbit holes could be fun with “other stuff” you dig up – or a rainy day project. Rabbit holes can be distracting from other obvious things to look at and do.
I DON’T think there are rabbit holes of faith-leading. I instead believe there are faith-leading openings that might appear like a rabbit hole of intricately faceted issues or distraction, but are instead Light-leadings of Spirit and flattening plains of stepping stones. Follow in Faith because the Lord is purposeful. Sometimes we have a foot stuck in worldliness and either we pop it out quickly, or it settles in like slow quicksand, or we apply Living Water by inquiries to Jesus of why? how? when? which brings us to WHO, oh YOU JESUS.
Once we release our angst to Jesus, the Living Water makes our stuck soil into not just the mud release but includes a wash off in one sigh of faith realized. Freed. The Lord levels the steps we take when we walk with Him rather than anticipate the problem hike.
Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path…
It’s not the steps of life, but the fear of taking them which hinders us.
The Lord is the strength of my life.
Let the Lord LEAD… intricate knowledge… simple signs… sheep gated gallops .. Wholeness views over hole-ness of distraction. In-His-Temple-protection and safely being placed upon a rock high enough to see all that the Lord has accomplished for us and brought us through – all while listening for His Shepherd voice and focusing all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord…
When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
BELIEVE.
Amen
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Psalm 27 NKJV
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
My Uncle Joe, last of my father’s brothers, passed on Sunday morning. I learned late morning, between giving my sermon on Elijah with big gusto joy – and the Eagles superbowl big gusto win, important win for the city of Brotherly Love. My Uncle Joe was many years active and his body was giving out – but his spirit was certainly flying high all the time – he had the best smile and laugh – level headed and much success in business, not that that matters in ALL of life’s purposes, because LOVE is most important, read Corinthians 13 for anything without love is just noise. GRATEFULLY, my uncle – all my uncles and dad and our families were and are FILLED with LOVE.
In general for my uncle, we saw that emotional calmness plus good and God smarts goes far. Uncle Joe lived not extravagant but smart for allowing and building comfort in his family. This was and is a success story of taking care of family in big ways – and them taking care of each other – brotherly love – they cared for each other – and our immediate family traveled a lot to see each of them, my Dad was youngest, the oldest was a number of years older then the other 5, as his mom passed away young and their father, my grandfather whom I never met, remarried to my grandmother. So grateful their blended house was never an issue according to my dad and uncles – of course they were all great and they were all different too.
Ah – Joseph of the bible, was taking care of his brothers – I just finished watching Sight and Sound production of the story, link is below, marvelous story, of trouble and redemption, pain and forgiveness, this is a story we find Jesus in spirit and strength for sure inside Joseph’s character. We also see troubled brothers with jealousy but ultimately the best line in this section of the Bible: “what you meant for evil, God meant for good.” Because Joseph became the ultimate rags to riches who then saved nations and families and these brothers and families who become no less than the twelve tribes of Israel.
Building upon brotherly love – brotherly shove AND brotherly love. May we all be so faithful and so forgiving as Joseph. If you haven’t read the story or watched the story, I highly recommend it.
And as we connect with family now during these newly tough days after my uncle has passed, we are GRATEFUL for these brothers who became pillars for our families now.
And thank you Lord for building families, Yours from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into David and Jesus and opening for Gentiles and Jews alike. Leading the Way for us all to understand LOVE in Jesus, ultimate LOVE.
Amen and thank you for prayers for my uncle’s family.
1 Corinthians 13 NKJV The Greatest Gift Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
SIGHT AND SOUND – I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE ONLINE STREAMING SUBSCRIPTION, I’m going to use a couple months at only $9 to watch them all this winter: https://www.sight-sound.com/tv
And the long wonderful scripture story of Joseph, Jacob, from Genesis 37-50:
It’s probably because I was watching the star of the movie “Wicked”, Cynthia Erivo, in an interview, because I woke up singing “It’s time to try defying gravity… I think I’ll try defying gravity… And you can’t pull me down…”
It’s catchy, I’ve enjoyed the musical since it first came out 10 or more years ago, love the twists of the plot line, even if we really wish we could fix the misunderstandings of her powers, and make everyone and everything live happily ever after. I am surely a Pollyanna – but you got to go with optimism…
The movie version is good, if only it was FULL LENGTH like the musical, then again that’s too long without intermission. I’m looking forward to the second part later this year. That’s OK, I know how it “ends” – all made up of course.
Defying gravity – maybe we can think of not flying through the air, but Defying gravity of a situation. I don’t mean ignoring true gravity of sadness and horror, tragic circumstances too which may not be corrected. I mean defying the deliberate pull downs of ruining JOY, or evil ways trying to pull the darkness over light – it can’t do that.
Love never fails, try defying “gravity” with that!
God is LOVE and we have JOY to break our earthly tethers and to keep moving even if the grief of life. Laugh through the tears and look bigger picture. Yes, cry when others cry – but rise up in knowing “Joy comes in the morning”
Jesus Himself knew to look past the evil knocking people down – many times defying Satan on individual scales, plus the ultimate defying gravity of RISING FROM THE DEAD. We know how it ends – with a new beginning – let us remember to not let this world hold us down – we are but travelers – and our home is Heaven.
Jesus wants us to believe in His Ultimate Win, and trust and praise God in all circumstances. Whether raising Peter’s mother-in-law from the dead, or chasing out impure spirits who know His Name and Power and Almightyness, Jesus Overcomes and so can we.
I can imagine Jesus singing movie lyrics too: “If we work in tandem, There’s no fight we cannot win, Just you and I, defying gravity, With you and I defying gravity, They’ll never bring us down”…
EXACTLY !!! Joy, Love, and Defying Gravity. Jesus will lift us up!
Amen
Luke 4:31-44
Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit
Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
Jesus Heals Many
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Psalm 30 NKJV The Blessedness of Answered Prayer – A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David.
I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
I cried out to You, O Lord; And to the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper!”
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
SO EXCITED to be sharing God’s Word TODAY – Superbowl Sunday!
We will have tailgating, shaking off the pregame jitters, a good huddle, the HALFTIME SHOW, hunkering down in the 3rd quarter, chariots of fire and angel reinforcements in the 4th, OVERTIME!
Let’s cheer for Prophet ELIJAH!!! E – L – I – J – A – H ! ELIJAH! It’s a God Thing…
PREGAME – The Children’s Message
So – let’s start with TAILGATING WITH GOD! Yeah, we love game day food. Here’s an amazing story INTERESTING way food was provided by God! Even in a drought! God called upon a man named ELIJAH – to be a prophet – which is God’s way of sending out information and advice – to talk to people thru a prophet who would tell them what is going to happen and how it would go down.
Well – God needed ELIJAH to do a lot of things – but there were people who were not supportive of either Elijah or any prophets of God – they wanted to hold the power and do their own thing…
Two people, a couple, Ahab and Jezebel were king and queen of Israel, in the time well before Jesus came to earth. Jezebel – you may have heard that name as a troublemaker – and she and and Ahab stopped listening to our One True God, in favor of the worship of Baal and Asherah – false made up gods. Jezebel was responsible for the deaths of many of God’s prophets. Prophets were holy people who listened to God and tried to help the people by telling them what God wished. Prophet Elijah – a good guy – was trying to do God’s work. But there were people chasing him… It was a bad scene – but God got him thru it and kept him safe.
Do you think it is a good thing to talk to God and trust God when we feel unsafe or scared or lacking something? Yes – we all have jobs to do – and if God asks us to go somewhere or do something – surely we are to remember that He is with us – just like now.
God said to Elijah: “… I am sending you to the children of Israel who have, as a nation, rebelled against Me; – do not be afraid of them – nor be afraid of their words – You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or not… “
So Elijah did go talk to Ahab!!! Elijah was to Announce a Great Drought – he said directly to Ahab the king, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my [God’s] word.”
So Elijah did what God asked even it was unpopular – and God protected him – then God told Elijah to hide in a Ravine. God sent THE BIRDS! Yes – football birds? NO – RAVENS – God said “You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
What??? – YES! The ravens – which are black birds like crows – brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
God took care of ELIJAH – God sent him “into the game” – Will God take care of us in whatever tasks He asks? Yes, He will – and He will use AMAZING ways – sometimes even the birds – All creation is in His Power – used for Good. Amen Let’s pray: Lord – you won the coin toss of this game of life before we even stepped onto the field – you have us safe and already headed home – we have the home team advantage with You, Lord.– may we always trust You – AMEN
SERMON 1st Quarter…
Now – like Football – ELIJAH is feeling out how he is going to play in this game – of course it is not a game but you know Elijah had those pre-game jitters (and middle of the game jitters too – but he hit the field!
YIKES – that football and farmer’s field would have been BONE DRY – remember God send a drought – surely to teach king Ahab a lesson about His Almighty power. – SO that brook dried up – where the ravens were bringing Elijah food and he was drinking – so God sent him to on a journey.
God said: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” YES THINGS WERE DIRE !!!
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said.But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
AWESOME… ELIJAH surely was strengthened in both his travels and in his assurance that God would take care of Him – and whatever God’s plan was with him and the people…
This is great because the Second Quarter? – oh – now the game was getting tougher – and tragedy struck for the widow – and it was time for Elijah to have a really important HUDDLE with God!
Second Quarter… breathing life into the game…
Here is the story: “Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. The woman said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and HE LIVED. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
Now this huddle of Elijah and God was so key – Elijah could see the problem and questions God – and we too must regroup = this might seem like a retreat into the locker room sometimes and not come out until we are rehabilitated – like from an injury – or sometimes we play hurt… We see Elijah has performed a miracle for the boy – and his mother – this is reminiscent of the miracles that Jesus performed healing the sick and raising the dead like Lazarus and Jarius’s daughter = these acts are for the people watching to understand the mercy of God and the POWER of God. We too must realize that God can breath life into our lives = into our game plans – and often uses our friends to get us rallied and back onto the field…
HALFTIME !!!!!!!!!!
Woohoo!!! It’s TIME FOR THE HALFTIME SPECTACULAR!!! This grandeur is unparalleled – for God’s got something to show Ahab (and Jezebel and the false prophets) by – through the real Elijah devotion of working on God’s behalf. !!!
Let’s set the stage for this powerful production! Elijah is daring enough to talk to King Ahab directly – he does not believe in the almighty God of the Israelites – think Elijah is the trouble maker. But really Elijah is the truth teller – a prophet sent from God: he said to Ahab “I have not made trouble for Israel,” – “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. [that’s the fake god they worship] – Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Queen Jezebel’s table.”
And they gathered on the mountain – Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “Get two bulls for us – cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord.The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
WOW WOW WOW – what a challenge – and the false prophets of the false god called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. THAT is quite the half time spectacular song and dance but with no fire – NOTHING HAPPENED with a fake god… At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” – So they shouted louder – continued until evening – But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
WHAT???? Did you ever see Prince doing the half time show in the POURING RAIN? Playing purple rain? This is 4 LARGE jugs of water poured all over the altar and all that dry wood he just placed!
“Do it again,” he said, “Do it a third time,” he ordered – water ran down the altar and even filled the trench.
Elijah prayed: “Lord, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
This was not just a show – this was a SPECTACULAR POWER DISPLAY OF GOD – WOW !!!
*** THE POINT IS GOD WANTED THEM TO TURN THEIR HEARTS BACK TO HIM ***
3rd Quarter = time for Elijah to hunker down
WOW – you can imagine that Ahab and Jezebel are not happy with Elijah now!!!!
And Elijah had one of those “are you sure Lord that this is really the way? Am I really OK? Can I really go on? God surely gave Elijah the knowledge and the protection – to keep moving – and the power of the Lord came on Elijah and he ran down the field – he kept moving!!!!! Yes –
Elijah is back on the field, bit oh, the other team is chasing Elijah, YIKES
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and even killed false prophetss – So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life – went a day’s journey into the wilderness… Elijah said: Wait, time out time out!!!
Elijah needs a break…
He came to a bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
Elijah is so exhausted, all this running! The chase and the people are against him… he has no strength, who does God send? The sideline crew comes running onto the field. Gatorade and medical care. Actually ANGELS came at God’s request to tend to Elijah. Food and sleep…
Then Elijah rested… isn’t that us too, an awful day, people chasing us or maybe we just perceive the fight and our minds run away from us – it’s awful, awful. God wants us to rest, calls a time out to sleep, eat something, God says His mercies are fresh each morning.
Elijah is watching the world in turmoil – God says well, yes, but you’re still on my team and I need you… and the people, they need you…
And here is that scripture that gives me chills –
We are to remember that the Lord is ON the field with Elijah – and us – again from 1st Kings
The word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came. When you get there, anoint a new king – and anoint Elisha as a new prophet to succeed you…
The Lord gave instructions to keep moving… think of the whisper- maybe in football terms Elijah and we have the best in helmet headset microphone system that connects us directly to God.
May we yield to the Holy Spirit even and especially in a whisper, listening close…
Let’s get back on the field, it’s the 4th quarter…
4th Quarter – 2nd Kings 1-2 NIV
Elijah needs no “Hail Mary” football toss – Elijah is instructed by the Lord to keep running the ball – which you may know runs out the clock on the other team…
Elijah had a continuous mission to show the others who worshiped the false gods that the One True God was the ONLY God.. and even if others were worshiping – or wanting to worship false gods like Baal – again and again, Elijah was clearly gifted with responses that came from God’s Power. The fire of God fell from heaven and consumed more than just altars and sacrifices now – it consumed Elijah’s enemies too.
SO – here is the last game play in this earthly superbowl of Elijah –
ELIJAH PASSED THE BALL – NOT TAKING CONTINUED GLORY FOR HIMSELF – knowing he was a team player: ELIJAH PASSED THE BALL TO ELISHA – ANOTHER PROPHET –
Here is the scripture: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
Yeah – God’s power was still on the field… and Elisha continued God’s work – Elisha even had a second experience of seeing God’s chariots of fire – the Angel Armies – later on the servant prophet Elisha would pray for another servant to see: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
YES – we too have angel armies all around us – they are fighting for us in today’s world – fighting an invisible-to-us fight in the heavenly realms – remember that God is with you and He IS fighting for you!
FOREVER OVERTIME !!!!
SO WHAT ABOUT THE END OF THIS GAME? IT WAS A SUPER SPECTACULAR SUPERBOWL RIGHT?
BUT ELIJAH WAS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN – HE DIDN’T DIE BUT GOT RELOCATED – GOD SENT ELIJAH INTO FOREVER OVERTIME!!!
Let us rework the song lyrics now – “FLY ELIJAH FLY!!! God has won this Victory…”
‘So in conclusion to my sermon of a prophet man who stayed in the game with God’s grace and mercy – encouraging us that we can do this too!
And it is written in the scriptures that Elijah is the messenger for Jesus to come – it is
Overtime for Elijah – and we do see him again – a special guest appearance in the transfiguration of Jesus – from Matthew 17 – Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
And all of them saw a bright cloud covering, and heard a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” – WOW –
Jesus said: “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him” – the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. John the Baptist like Elijah was calling for people to repent – to ask forgiveness for going astray – and that is us too – Jesus asks us to believe in Him – in the power of God – to worship the Almighty…
So please pray with me:
Lord, it is not a victory lap that Elijah is having in heaven but still working the sidelines of earth inside the real workings of Heaven. As Elijah is in overtime – may we also be in our bonus time – the real life experiences of living for God and keeping moving up the field… May we know that there are sometimes turnovers and intentional grounding of strenuous times of life – but God has got this – and we will overcome with His help = with His angels tending to us too. May we, Lord, Trust and obey You – AMEN
It’s the prediction of a snow storm that gets SOME of us EXCITED. A friend was looking forward to 5-8 inches fresh powder for skiing, I just like the clean look of snow and the excuse of inside relaxing tonight, as the next few weekends I will be busy outside of the house.
I am of course excited for the big game tomorrow, which I plan to enjoy on a couch at home. Our biggest concern, and I bless you the same, would be WHAT to eat rather than IF we can eat. May we all be blessed with place and provision.
A big IF exists for food insecure folks, especially kids in tough situations. A family filled with love can still have empty bellies. Our church is running a food drive collection for non-perishables. Provisions are blessings to share. And if shared with us, may we beam the Light of the Lord going forth, paying it forward… God provided, provides, will provide. God is the ultimate power before, now, and in the future.
Food was not an issue yesterday at my work tailgating fun party… Whew, so much food… Comradery abounded too in sharing… I was so full that I didn’t even mind the later separate evening fundraising event I went to after, a puppy bowl charity with work friends, had run out of food, well practically run out for the last of us. I did get an apple cider donut, that was more than enough. The chef said it was more that people were taking big helpings, but I digress (and digest). Honestly I am still full this next day from work, but I gleaned some chicken wings, in the fridge, and chocolate cake leftovers. That’s not gleaning of course, just seeing leftovers not going to waste, yeah. Yeah blessed. I’m warmed in heart more than you know for the joys we find in workplace families, we have to kindle those too.
Gleaning is the biblical benefit given to many poor, food insecure, folks working in the fields, to collect leftovers from the first round of harvest so that they too could eat. It was God-commanded and realized in the time of Ruth, who gleaned even as a foreigner Moabite in the area of Bethlehem with her Israelite (Judah-born) mother-in-law Naomi who returned from painful hardships of losing husband and sons. Naomi was bitter at the painful life she felt the Lord had dealt her, but even her situation was worked back into both the storyline of God’s chosen people as well as Jesus’s birth line family tree. Naomi saw the faith rekindle in her, gleaned hope.
Ruth gleaned grain. And in so feeding the people, God regained a remnant of holy spirit-seeded-lineage people to keep the prophesy alive that the Messiah would come through “David’s house”. The HOPE planted was cultivated by trusting God, Yahweh.
The “Sight and Sound” video of RUTH, which I just watched and highly recommend, was as part of an easy $8.99 monthly subscription (or $5 one-time) showing online: https://www.sight-sound.tv/browse I plan to watch them all in my downtime for resting in this winter. The musical scenes of angst and of truly divine HOPE. Hope for more than a meal, for a satisfaction of soul. And that’s what Ruth realized, and that spilled over to Naomi. The people remembered that God provides.
A joy of provisions shared to others by Boaz was also joy received by the Lord’s provisions of PURPOSE to Boaz. Such JOY is given by God to experience the gift of giving. Boaz is overwhelmed with the blessings God gives in return. Likewise the Lord rejoices with His children returning to Him. God’s greatest gift is Jesus’s salvation to bring us back to Him. All who hunger FOR HIM are satisfied IN HIM.
There is no one on earth, nor food or provisions, that we should put in front of us, distracting us from our Redeemer, Jesus the Bread of Life.
Be SOUL satisfied.
Amen
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The story of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi in the Word of the Lord FULFILLING THE SOUL SATISFYINGLY: Jesus is our Guardian Redeemer
“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
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Psalm 107 NKJV by David in Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons – Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High, Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two.
Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.
Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders.
He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place, And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease.
When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth.
Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord
I uncovered a tiny devotion book I’ve held on to, “Windows towards God”, which I say “found me” 10 years ago. I feel like the Holy Spirit left it there for me. Now I don’t read it often but I treasure the little reminders of my big-memory faith journey items. “Windows towards God”… The writings are very short and to the point, yet tell wonderful stories that really connect you with how faith comes to us to strengthen us…
I think most of these stories ring true no matter what generation, this book is 75 years old, that must remind us that God’s Word is ETERNAL.
Not all devotions hit you just right all the time, but the tiny devotion I read today reminds us of how GRATEFUL we can be for the sunshine – not just the light but the hope – not just the physical sunshine and warmth but the OUTLOOK for it. Seek it out.
The sun is obscured too much during darkness, the little devotion says, but the sunshine comes through… And the sunshine comes through the cracks for the people struggling with health issues, physical and emotional crisis, and downtrodden times… There’s an internal light just trying to reach to us as well as break out of us, because remember, the darkness has not overcome the LIGHT.
I remember my friend telling a story where it was pitch black camping and they gave each camper just a birthday candle, the tiniest of lights, yet so intense. Therefore we also must be hopeful and follow HIS LIGHT. The smallest of hope is the biggest brightest part of our lives.
A favorite thing I heard this week: “If we say that ‘we’re hanging on by a thread’, it needs to be coming from the hem of Jesus’s robe.” Jesus IS our LIGHT. May we always LOOK and see Him when all else is confusingly dark, black as night, or when we truly are face down in suffering. Let the Lord lift our eyes, our countenance and our hope.
Amen…
Look for the sunshine through the cracks… and the LIGHT within.
I prepared for this ice storm and I have to say that they got this forecast spot on! freezing rain and ice this morning but warmed up and cleared up by noon – we saw it coming – we know to stay in – and my prayers for those forced to venture out… I would say to appreciate this “mini-lockdown” – and see what God is having you learn in it…
I can say this because an ice lockdown for me 10 years ago was SO SO SO IMPORTANT in my faith journey – the first 6 weeks of awakening – and the writings that I hid (but knew later were the most instrumental in processing and writing down my journey for others) – remind me of God’s faithfulness.
So – 10 years ago the ice storm here was awful and dangerous and not predicted as far as we knew. and we were stuck at the girl scout event – a great one I must say – we were overnight rockclimbing and sleeping on the mats in the gym… cool… (sleeping after the dance party that is) My daughter was a teen then and these were the oldest girls in the troop – now, 4 troops later my troop leader has girls just a bit younger than this age – scouting is the amazing blessing my family has enjoyed for years…
This was 4 weeks into my awakening 6 weeks. My troop leader was and is amazing and gave me support and comfort when neither she (nor I) knew WHY the events of the evening set me so philosophical thinking… God knew – and God gave me space and ice to get me thinking – and what a blessing to have written out my journey. These writings are the raw originals with edits only for grammar and typos.
Here are the 2 writings from 10 years ago and such blessings to remember…
TRUST GOD in life today and every day and especially in the ice…
Amen
Writing #31 (make sure to read #32 after this one)
Rock Climbing and Life Lessons, 17Jan2015
Tonight I failed, twice. Everyone is fine, but rock climbing fails can be fatal. We are fine and having fun rock climbing with the girl scouts. But I failed my “belaying test”… was I over confident? Or just a beginner’s mistake? I got my hand caught in the mechanism and I was stuck and in pain… I was testing so the trainer had the rope too he had my back and the person wouldn’t have fallen (this time) but still I was in pain and I twice lifted my hand off… he failed me right there… says it happens all the time, he will retest me in the morning… I was and am upset at myself, for over confidence, for not working thru the pain… for taking my eyes off the climber and my hands off the rope…now, I know this was a common mistake the first time doing it… but I hate to fail… and worse I interpret everything that happens these days as God trying to tell me something… and I relate this to my helping people… what if I extend my hand, my ear, my compassion, and then let go of the rope?… what if I take my eye off the climber… if I am going to stand for something and offer to help and be bold in what I do… how am I going to handle it if the person falls?… I try to watch out for people… I feel pride sometimes in helping people whereas I should feel prayer not pride… I should feel humble that God showed me someone hurting… chose me to help…
I ask myself, what if I can’t stay consistent… I will so try try try! There is no easy answer… my tears… I had to remove myself from the fun scout event in this overwhelming sorrow and stress. I was so blessed to have my troop leader, my silly sister, come up beside me… comfort me and tell me what I would tell anyone else… these things happen.,. and you can’t always prevent the crashes… you can’t always stop the pain…
Tomorrow I will take that test again… I am going to put myself out there again… and I am going to pray and keep my eye steady and my hands moving, listen and watch… it’s too important to me to not help people, it’s too important for me to not trust God…
My second fail tonight was my lack of trust and my motions on the rope may have caused my belayer to slip with her hand too… she will be ok, but more painful than mine… her hand was stuck… I didn’t trust when I saw too much slack in the rope… I didn’t trust and she got hurt… I found I was next to a fenced wall and scaled it as fast as I could… Sometimes God closes a door but opens a window… I scaled myself to safety.
So how can I trust God unfailingly? I am weak and only God can help me learn how to trust Him 100%. I have to trust… I have to get out of the way and just put 100% of my trust in Him,… otherwise it is going to cause someone pain and I will come crashing down.
Writing #32 (make sure to read #31 before this)
This is an important follow up to last night’s post… It is not lost on me that while hot tea would be appropriate to drink here on the cozy couch by the Christmas tree (I wrote this after I got home from the ice storm) that instead the extra drink from my kids’ happy meal is (yes) ICE tea… I am drinking ICE tea…
And God Sent ICE, 18Jan
After my fails at belaying and trusting during rock climbing, I couldn’t wait to get back this morning to try again. Luckily we stayed overnight; I had good therapy of silly moms until 1am, a good solid five hours sleep. We had 2 hours to climb in the morning. but I knew I had to leave an hour early to get to church class… and because of Girl Scout falling ill with fever, I was leaving even earlier – which meant only half an hour of climbing for my daughter… she was not happy at the least because rock climbing appears to be her life calling now…
But then God sent ICE. Icy freezing rain covering everything… Church at 8 o’clock cancelled 9 o’clock canceled… I zip through social media , phone calls, texts … will my 10 o’clock class be cancelled too?.. prayerfully hoping (not that we should have left anyway because the roads were the worst… shut downs, many car pileups)… ICE…terrible to say, but the JOY as I knew they would cancel, and they did… I could tell my daughter that she could climb the whole two hours… and climb she did, wow she is amazing!
After the flurry of texting etc about church canceled, I turned my attention to myself… it was time to retrain, refocus, retest … it was time to belay again, this time I was so determined, practiced and said I will belay my own daughter… I will never take my eye off of her… I would give my whole hand to keep her from falling… not worry about a possible pinch like I got last night. Well, she was too exhausted, I asked for a volunteer… guess what? The daughter of my friend who I left hanging last night when I pinched my hand… she is the one who volunteered… yes I would give my hand for this daughter too… With steady, even-keeled serious Keith our trainer, by my side, we started the test… she climbed, I belayed, I gave her advice for foot holds… I had good technique Keith assured me… I didn’t take my eye off her… She was to randomly fall four times in my test…she did, I found the right position for my hands… I didn’t drop her or forget about her… I saw her safely back to the wall… and safely down when we were done. I passed. No, I didn’t make a fuss… quiet victory, humbled achievement.
Now that I am certified, and my daughter will be wanting to go to the climbing gym, I know there will be more pain and pinches ahead… but I have better technique, better focus… it is not just rock climbing I am talking about… it’s counseling, it’s reaching out to people, it’s LIFE. Focus on your technique, never lose sight of the climber, keep the faith, and pray for God’s guidance.
The ice gave me extra time to climb my personal mountain, made us slow down and not be overconfident on our drive home… And on my ride home, one of my teenage passengers was named Grace. I drove home with Grace, the free and unmerited favor from God.
Efficient Sufficient Proficient Magnificent SIGNIFICANT – EVIDENT – God is amazing and we can be RELIANT upon Him.
During our recent camping trip, the amazing growth of one of our girl scouts was so evident – a wonder and amazement – really a miracle in God’s many miracles every day – and in some HUGE ways… How better to show faith than to trust God and praise God and rely on God.
She was born with issues – from liver issues – so sick for years and her family was on the search for a living liver donor – but her condition was so grave that she was upgraded on the donor list and at a tender age of 4, she got a life saving liver transplant – wow – searching and searching our prayers while God provided one – and then one day before leaving the hospital, the liver failed – actually liver transplant replacements usually fail from the connections of the blood vessels to the recipient from the stress of transplant. And another liver was available – she thrived – not without issues – and forever on anti-rejection medicine and dealing with common issues for that – but thriving… THRIVING, STAYING-ALIVE-ING, and with more energy than ever.
Truly an example of where we know God has intervened in this topsy turvy world we live in… How else to describe the power and energy to move forward than to rely on God. He is all that we need.
In a writing from a few years ago, I wrote that God is Efficient Sufficient Proficient Magnificent and SIGNIFICANT. God is our All in All – and here is the poem I wrote those many years ago to praise Him – to say that we can proceed thru today with our faith and by our faith.
Thank You Lord for taking care of our little BIG scout!
AMEN
Efficient Sufficient Proficient Magnificent
What wisdom can I bring to the understanding of how God IS SIGNIFICANT?
MY EXPERIENCE that:
His Word is Efficient.
His Way Proficient.
His Works Sufficient.
His Wholeness Magnificent.
He shares succinctly to today. We can’t and won’t know enough in our own questioning, BUT we COULD be satisfied, if just for today, only through our faith.
In faith:
Wise men walked.
Wandering men wondered.
Willing hearts heard.
Wonder-filled men worshiped.
Willingly would we?
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
His Word is Efficient
“For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand — I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” Isaiah 51:15-16
His Way is Sufficient
“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.” Isaiah 50:10
His Works are Proficient
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Isaiah 53:10
His Wholeness is Magnificent.
“To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.” Isaiah 54:9-13
My friend and I took photos of each other sitting on the bench, looking out at the water, pondering life… but honestly it was just the briefest of pauses, not even a minute each. Looking at the photos now gives us the time to ponder the moment and the lack of mayhem just then, but we quickly moved on as we were walking around the small lake with the scout campers.
We pondered just that moment that we got to sit, we could see the marvelous glory of God’s creations, sky, clouds, trees, water, creatures, sunshine, even mud (snow certainly had melted off there). We each ponder differently, but surely the instant we groaned in a sigh of relief was a prayer of praise that we made it there – the whole THERE – there as in: we got to camp, we got outside, we were alive, and ESPECIALLY with the acknowledgement of BEING BLESSED.
THANK YOU LORD FOR BLESSINGS AND FOR US KNOWING THAT YOU ARE THE ONE GIVING BLESSINGS.
It was the briefest of sitting down and oh what perfect bench support for our backs, that’s what we chatted about on the bench, that support, we both needed it with bad backs and with sleeping on floor mats. We both needed it, the SUPPORT of life, better backs to live better, and God’s backing to live best.
… all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be…
That’s ponder worthy: God has our back. God loves us to hold us close.
Thank you Lord, for blessings known and unknown. May I ponder YOU all the days of my life.
Amen
Psalm 139:13-18 NIV
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.
Well – 10 years – wow… How could I not send this at midnight – both because I can’t sleep yet at scout camping tonight AND for the wonderful 10 year anniversary of my awakening – wow – blessed – and a blessing to share it with you folks.
Fittingly I am up writing – yes just like the times 10 years ago where I had to write out my awakening at 2am – but these days it’s more normal at 5am… Well, tonight, up is a good thing because this weekend is camping – and Saturday morning I am HOPEFULLY sleeping at camp…
Chances are that it will be raining – and that is OK – because my whole awakening at the beginning I considered my “Christmas Flood” – and now life is my “Christ Flood Flow” – of living each day in His Living Water… wow…
SO – for this 10 years anniversary I am going to post both writings from that day – Feb 1st 2015 – see it was 6 weeks of awakening from Dec 2014 then Jan/Feb 2015, and then the day of KNOWING that I was 100% with Jesus. I could not and would not step back – no turning back no turning back…
YEAH, 100% with Jesus – this was not from someone asking or telling – but between me and the Lord – surveying my heart and soul and my mind – getting me in ALIGNMENT after a “Christmas Flood” of God interventions.
So Feb 1st – I am sharing two writings – Ripple and The Rising – from 2015…. yeah… Blessed to have the archive of my awakening at my fingertips…
Thank you for being part of my continued journey with Jesus…
Amen
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Note these were entered and numbered AFTER about a year of writing once I figured out how/where to place them – in a blog.
My goal in this spiritual journey was to find peace for my conflicted brain and heart and then later on I thought that at least I would at least find my spiritual voice to lead the many church groups I am in charge of… but this ripple effect of seeing faith is the nicest present…
A great ripple of my faith journey is the hearing of the ripple effect into other people’s faith journeys – three directly told me today – a couple yesterday – people who are being more dedicated to their own prayers – people who are reading into things and praising more… even our pastor [PJ] alluded to it [my awakening] in both his sermons (didn’t hurt I was sitting smack dab in front of him in the second service 😉 haha).
Maybe even more felt this ripple effect – and I certainly got the direct eye contact of some people as I walked the halls of church today – I felt this ripple effect – and I didn’t feel it boastfully – but humbly…
So I pause now to remember and reflect that our faith journeys have to be ours – ours alone with God – yes with the help of others – but everyone has a different road… I pray my ripple effect is really to help people learn to praise – I have to praise God for this journey and everyone has to praise on their own – you have to praise all the time – good or bad you praise!
The song “Ripples” struck me yesterday – not even knowing what the title was – I was perusing a new old Grateful Dead album ) – “Ripples” still resonates with me today – because I know God needs to make the ripples (with no pebble tossed by man) and I pray that God ripples into my friends’ faiths like He did into mine.
“Ripple in still water…”
“Reach out your hand if your cup be empty. If your cup is full may it be again. Let it be known there is a fountain, That was not made by the hands of men”
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“Ripple”
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia.
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung Would you hear my voice come through the music Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It’s a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Perhaps they’re better left unsung I don’t know, don’t really care Let there be songs to fill the air
Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty If your cup is full may it be again Let it be known there is a fountain That was not made by the hands of men
There is a road, no simple highway Between the dawn and the dark of night And if you go no one may follow That path is for your steps alone
Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow
You who choose to lead must follow But if you fall you fall alone If you should stand then who’s to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home
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Numbered #53
The Rising, 01FEB 2015
an email chain with my pastor whom I had not told until one week before this – that I was in this amazing journey – and he said he could tell… cool…
From: debbie Date: Sun, Feb 1, Subject: RE: thanks for great sermon To: Pastor Oh… I need to mention that I got a little lost on my way from the restaurant to my women’s retreat friend’s house… which brought me to road near the 911 garden of reflection… I had never stopped… but of course felt compelled to… I went and held onto the steel girder and prayed for those lost and for peace…I thought about the 3000 people Peter converted with one sermon all those years ago, and remembered it was 3000 people lost on 911… I prayed that they were found that day.
I picked up one of those plastic coins caught on the sculpture… turned it over… it was John 3:16… on Superbowl Sunday… my first time accepting 100%
Smiles…
On Feb 1, 2015 9:27 PM, “Pastor wrote: Thanks! The Spirit used you to inspire me.
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From: debbie Date: 02/01
To: Pastor
Subject: thanks for great sermon
that was a great sermon and “H” said she knew you were talking about me in the first service and I KNEW you were talking about me in the second service – I liked how you said something like – “just going to go with it…” and I thought you were very strong in your message… I was just smiling all the way through… 🙂
Post email note – I added links after the email chain:
Sting, one of my favorite artists performed a tribute to Bruce Springsteen, with his song “The Rising” – here are the links to Sting’s song and the original and live versions by Bruce – it is a tribute to a firefighter rising to the sky to the world trade center fires and then rising to heaven in that tragic day… was so on my mind the day I finally committed from 99.44% to 100% in my belief of Jesus that day at the 911 garden of reflection….
My goal in this spiritual journey was to find peace for my conflicted brain and heart and then later on I thought that at least I would at least find my spiritual voice to lead the many church groups I am in charge of… but this ripple effect of seeing faith is the nicest present…
A great ripple of my faith journey is the hearing of the ripple effect into other people’s faith journeys – three directly told me today – a couple yesterday – people who are being more dedicated to their own prayers – people who are reading into things and praising more… even our pastor alluded to it in both his sermons (didn’t hurt I was sitting smack dab in front of him in the second service haha).
Maybe even more felt this ripple effect – and I certainly got the direct eye contact of some people as I walked the halls of church today – I felt this ripple effect – and I didn’t feel it boastfully – but humbly…
(AND later in church I was running (yes running in church) in my new balance sneakers after a Sunday schooler – who decided he didn’t want to be there – he bolted all the way to fellowship hall… ugh… thankfully it was God’s timing for me to catch him – to rein him in. He was previously my kindergarten Sunday school student and that knowledge of him, and people in general, is INVALUABLE – if you can read the clues you can intercept…. you have to have open eyes to the clues… just like you have to praise or else the rocks will praise.)
So I pause now to remember and reflect that our faith journeys have to be ours – ours alone with God – yes with the help of others – but everyone has a different road… I pray my ripple effect is really to help people learn to praise – I have to praise God for this journey and everyone has to praise on their own – you have to praise all the time – good or bad you praise!
The song “Ripples” struck me yesterday – not even knowing what the title was – I was perusing a new old Grateful Dead album ) – “Ripples” still resonates with me today – because I know God needs to make the ripples (with no pebble tossed by man) and I pray that God ripples into my friends’ faiths like he did into mine.
Lord, may our cups be filled…
“Reach out your hand if your cup be empty If your cup is full may it be again Let it be known there is a fountain That was not made by the hands of men”
————-
“Ripple”
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia.
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung Would you hear my voice come through the music Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It’s a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Perhaps they’re better left unsung I don’t know, don’t really care Let there be songs to fill the air
Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty If your cup is full may it be again Let it be known there is a fountain That was not made by the hands of men
There is a road, no simple highway Between the dawn and the dark of night And if you go no one may follow That path is for your steps alone
Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow
You who choose to lead must follow But if you fall you fall alone If you should stand then who’s to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home
——————————-
Numbered #53
The Rising, 01FEB 2015
An email chain with my pastor whom I had not told until one week before this – that I was in this amazing journey – and he said he could tell… cool…
From: debbie Date: Sun, Feb 1, Subject: RE: thanks for great sermon To: Pastor Oh… I need to mention that I got a little lost on my way from the restaurant to my women’s retreat friend’s house… which brought me to road near the 911 garden of reflection… I had never stopped… but of course felt compelled to… I went and held onto the steel girder and prayed for those lost and for peace… I thought about the 3000 people Peter converted with one sermon all those years ago, and remembered it was 3000 people lost on 911… I prayed that they were found that day.
I picked up one of those plastic coins caught on the sculpture… turned it over… it was John 3:16… on Superbowl Sunday… my first time accepting 100%
Smiles…
On Feb 1, 2015 9:27 PM, “Pastor wrote: Thanks! The Spirit used you to inspire me.
—-
From: debbie Date: 02/01
To: Pastor Subject: thanks for great sermon
that was a great sermon and “H” said she knew you were talking about me in the first service and I KNEW you were talking about me in the second service – I liked how you said something like – “just going to go with it…” and I thought you were very strong in your message… I was just smiling all the way through… 🙂
Post email note – I added these links after the email chain:
Sting, one of my favorite artists performed a tribute to Bruce Springsteen, with his song “The Rising” – here are the links to Sting’s song and the original and live versions by Bruce – it is a tribute to a firefighter rising to the sky to the world trade center fires and then rising to heaven in that tragic day… was so on my mind the day I finally committed from 99.44% to 100% in my belief of Jesus that day at the 911 garden of reflection….
My hip and back physical therapy has been instructional, corrective, and strengthening. I need them all. If I don’t work them and strengthen, I go downhill.
ALIGNMENT!
I surely have less pain, more mobility when my hip is in ALIGNMENT, and the now old tear can heal. This is after I only slightly injured my hamstring, 3 months ago now, in a UNIQUE way of catching myself from falling. So, when I am OUT OF ALIGNMENT, from an anterior rotation of the hip with muscles and ligament damage that don’t keep it in check, then there is PAIN. Yes, out of ALIGNMENT, is what I can slip slowly into, during the week by normal life wear and tear, or enter out of ALIGNMENT quickly by mistakes, like falling. I can tell by the uncomfortable nature of sitting and walking. It’s not bad pain, but nips you, in the butt, if not “nipped in the bud”, prevented by ALIGNMENT!
FITTINGLY, my last book to read and write about of the Old Testament section of the Bible, a many years process to walk with the Lord, is Malachi, the scripture is all about ALIGNMENT with God.
Malachi reminds, like all the Bible does, to pray and listen, trust God, and actively live Godly lives.
We are to make a sacrifice of praise now, like a favorite Paul Balouche worship song, we are to also make a sacrifice of the “me me me” attitude.
We do not make a sacrifice of unblemished lambs but now we make PRAISE for the Sacrificed Unblemished Lamb of Jesus, ransomed for you and me, for our sins, for grace and mercy to be back in God’s Forever.
AND The Book of Malachi has much to teach about ALIGNMENT, and especially LOVE. For God’s Love is His motivation and means.
We are to LOVE the ALIGNMENT! And we are to love God and love one another as KEEPING IN ALIGNMENT WITH GOD, WHO IS LOVE.
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…
Yes, and when OUT OF ALIGNMENT, things go bad… That is us in REAL LIFE WEAR AND TEAR, or by our quick mistakes that result from our lack of focus and exercise efforts… and that’s reminiscent of the wandering and wondering of peoples (Israelites and Judah-ites old and new testaments) and those in corruption as detailed in Malachi.
Really, we are human, all of us go off the rail or fall asleep in our faith at times. When I am feeling better in my hip, I slack off on my exercises, it is natural for us. I (we) get complacent. Same is often true with paying attention to God. We get lacking in our focus, we run ahead or slow down too much, and we stop the most crucial aspect of faith (and physical therapy): it is in the STRENGTHENING!!!
We are to stay calm, collected, and in ALIGNMENT with God.
We are to remember to keep the faith, be strong from the Lord in especially our weaknesses. We are to keep in ALIGNMENT, and especially “when the going gets tough”, not lose focus. The beginning of wisdom is to get wisdom and have the awesome fearful awareness of God being ALMIGHTY.
The Refiner’s fire purifies and the result is a stronger purer faith…
But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings…
One last message I got from reading though the whole old testament and new testament, is that we know how this story ends, in a new beginning, in glory. Therefore I (we) in tough times, in the heat of the frying pan of life, have no right to fly off the handle. Yes, act, but not without consulting God.
God wins, Jesus has already overcome.
Amen
—
Malachi 1-4 NKJV
Polluted Offerings to God
The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
Israel Beloved of God
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”
Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever. Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’
Polluted Offerings
“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
“You offer defiled food on My altar,.but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts.
“But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?” says the Lord of hosts. “Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,” says the Lord of hosts, “Nor will I accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.
“But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the Lord. “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished – For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.
Corrupt Priests
“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.
“Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it. Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord of hosts. “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.
“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”
Treachery of Infidelity
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers? Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
The Coming Messenger
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.
“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien – Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
Do Not Rob God
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.
The People Complain Harshly
“Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the Lord, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”
A Book of Remembrance
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.” Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
The Great Day of God
“For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.
“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
It’s not lost on me that at this end of the week is Feb 1st, my 10 year anniversary of KNOWING I had awakened to know, accept, and never turn back from believing in Jesus as the Son of God, as my Lord and Savior, 100%. 10 years, ah just starting this journey, but wow how the Lord has sustained me!
This life with Jesus for each of us is both the pinnacle and just the beginning. The continued part of walking with Jesus is the TRUST, the calling Him LORD, and then the FOLLOWING. Yes, we are SAVED, and now we SAVOR that hope and understanding. May we also STRENGTHEN to allow God to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit given to us.
What a gift to catch up of Jesus’s Story! Ah, 9-11, those numbers speak of rescue and help, the code for emergency calls, and emergency rescues. The September 2001 9-11 to connect to my awakening, is with the 9-11 garden locally, as it was there, in reflection, standing touching the steel beam monument memorial, at the middle end of an all encompassing day, that only God knew and planned for me to be with Him. It was in that moment both a respite of reflection and a moment of me lost then found. AND I knew it!!! I knew my mental shift made a difference FOREVER for Forever, and all the difference now. The thought of God’s reach to reach out to each of us, and I awoke bundled and bouncing in our Fisherman’s Net. Saved.
So “9-11” to show up in numbers this week is meaningful to me for reflection upon the connectiveness of God’s journey to ours to mine. Nine through eleven, 9-11, is like the next chapters in Zechariah of my journey reading and writing thru the whole bible. It’s been a long journey, so worth it. It’s a garden of life we live in. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.
In Zechariah, the people are returning from exile. Aren’t we too? We are, returning to worship of the Lord forever by the shepherding of the Lord.
I think specifically that reading the Old Testament is like watching Jesus’s Home Movies, Him saying: “See my birth gets mentioned there!”, “See how Our Father had mercy there?”, “See how we warned people there, saved people there, set the stage for the prophets?”, and “From prophesy then we stuck the landing as if the world was really twirling like a figure skater, but we had it all under control. ” … hypothetical speaking of course…
Jesus’s Home Movies fly off the page in 9-11 Zechariah, as he tells how these wandering Israelites and Judah-ites fit into the future – and how He kept the remnant going:
“Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah…”
“From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler.”
“See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Yes! What do we do know, knowing both the Lord and SOME of His backstory? TO LIVE in appreciation of the journey. Accept God’s grace and mercy as marching orders for each day, and take in His strengthening for the journey ahead.
“I will strengthen them in the Lord and in his name they will live securely,” declares the Lord.
Amen
—
Zechariah 9-11:4
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
A prophecy:
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak and will come to rest on Damascus – for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord – and on Hamath too, which borders on it, and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful. Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire. Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod, and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines. I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.
The Coming of Zion’s King
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword.
The Lord Will Appear
Then the Lord will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, and the Lord Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women.
The Lord Will Care for Judah
Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle. From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler. Together they will be like warriors in battle trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.
“I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them. The Ephraimites will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord. I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before.Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria’s pride will be brought down and Egypt’s scepter will pass away. I will strengthen them in the Lord and in his name they will live securely,” declares the Lord.
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
So did you notice yesterday 1/25 was one month since Christmas?
Yeah Christmas, ancient history mentally now, so strange how we focus forward forgetting. Yes Christmas, so last year and feels like eons ago, yet simultaneously feels so recent, like was ONLY one month ago, like I still have candy leftovers etc. Yeah…
New Year’s was only 3 weeks ago. How about New Year’s and those resolutions? Still keeping faithful to them? Or mmmm…. game FOOD football season is upon us, how are we on health resolutions?
Maybe the best not resolution but restoration is to listen to God better, walk more closely. The people of Zechariah’s time perhaps wanted to act more devoted, but actually got trapped in rituals including fasting. God spoke to Zechariah and told them instead to tap into and feel more strengthened by God to REALLY be devoted.
The translations vary, but this statement question by God is truly pleading: “during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me – for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?”
Yes, God wants obedience over fasting or ritual worship. God wants to walk with us, us with Him, not fit into our plans but us into His. The exiled Israelites and Judah-ites of Babylon Captivity had not kept their eyes on the Lord.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’
May we try to simply let Him take the lead. Where He goes, let us follow. And may we simply be His.
That is both a resolution and a restoration.
Amen
—
Zechariah 7 NKJV
Obedience Better than Fasting
Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the Lord, and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?”
Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me – for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
Disobedience Resulted in Captivity
Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so theycalled out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
By God’s spirit I was fine, and my envisionment of treating myself later with ice cream helped, that’s how I got through the MRI chamber entrapment. Oh, tough, but doable. Nice breeze, nice time to rest, best view of lights above looking like sky with tree blossoms. But no music, sad, that might have helped, like in my previous MRI 7 years ago. So 20 minutes STUCK in the tube challenged me twice – pelvic hip scan then lumbar scan – for the pesky hamstring pull. It’s good to have good quality medical care and my socks said it all: “Without the Lab, Your Only Guessing.” Yes, we/I need real data for my health.
And then, oh no, the fear of coughing, YIKES. You know when you try to stifle a cough and you try to focus on NOT coughing and you can’t help it. TOUGH. I only interrupted twice, had the squishy ball pump to signal needing to pause, and the technician was forgiving.
I got through it... Yeah… Now, if I had had these visions of Zechariah, I probably would have been quite distracted and puzzling in my 20 minute moments, and then some, WOW… Zerubbabel of Judah rebuilt the temple of Jerusalem in the 500’s BC and is listed in the genealogy of Jesus, and (according to a quick google search and AI algorithms) scholars and non-scholars alike realize that any building up of Jerusalem, Judah-ites and Israelites, allows for Jesus physically and spiritually to come as Messiah, then and again. The prophecy detailed here goes with a plea that Jesus won’t come until the appointments time – depending upon the dedication of these exiled Judah-ites and Israelites back to God. WOW!
It’s OK if these are puzzling images, that’s why God sent angels to explain to Zechariah, about Joshua and Zerubbabel (examples of listening to God and of Jesus, coming and recoming, of building and rebuilding). We can’t understand everything by ourselves – we can’t move mountains without God – NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT.
But God Bless It. God Bless It, we can understand Jesus is Lord!
Amen
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The Bible Project video helps here:
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Zechariah 4-6 NKJV
Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees
Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘NOTBY MIGHT NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” [also translated: “God Bless It! God Bless It!”]
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”
Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
The Flying Scroll
I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’”
The Woman in a Basket
Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me. He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”
Four Chariots
I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”
When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.
Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.”
A Crown for Joshua
The word of the Lord came to me: “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”
Now, this is a great chapter. A great vision by prophet Zechariah of high priest Joshua, who is said to be wearing dirty clothes, with Satan next to him, but God responds that Joshua is a burning stick snatched from the fire, awesome… I’d like God to say that of me, wouldn’t you?
Snatched from the fire.
Prophet Zechariah is motivating the return of the people who’ve been exiled in Babylon, now rebuilding Jerusalem, God’s chosen place. It’s time for the people to listen.
The vision of Zechariah of Joshua brings in great symbolism: fire-burned to saved, dirty to clean, sinful to saved, walking in obedience, the Lord’s house and court, and the best line “I will bring my servant, the Branch ” (ah yes, Jesus, Who speaks of Himself as the Vine in the new testament), and speaking of the removal of sin… ah yes salvation…
Joshua also is a name symbolizing Jesus, from Joshua with Moses, to this Joshua, the names Joshua and Jesus, from the same root, both mean “the one who saves” and “the Lord is salvation”…
When we think of ourselves, may we realize that we are snatched from the fire when we call Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We can’t get out of the fire ourselves but be snatched by God, we can’t change our dirty sins but we can be covered over by Jesus’s recovering, saved as seen clean.
And the Lord says to Satan: “NOT this one…” So grateful…
Snatched from the Fire. Covered in Glory.
Amen
—
Zechariah 3 NIV
Clean Garments for the High Priest
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.
“‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
“‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
There’s a GREAT speech from Martin Luther King Jr, detailing many reasons for loving your enemies, as Jesus commands. Here is an excerpt – about Love:
“Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies…”
Sure they hype the weather, but do we embrace weather READINESS? Blankets and boots, salt and shovels, warm gear? Can you get Subarus excited for snow? WELL, YES! But it’s not the inanimate object getting excited, it’s US excited or at least implored to get prepared… WE CAN GET READY.
PREPARE – that’s for everything – plans and backup plans are good. Worrying about them is not. If we prepare anything, we should prepare our mindsets, how about we plan to follow what God plans. (Including His Plan for our future and even the second coming of the Lord). You know, too much hype is not good for anything or anyone. Weather anticipation or anything that brings us to a fevered level of anxiety. Instead, let’s PREPARE – prepare our snow shovels, prepare our cupboards, prepare our game plan, prepared our hearts.
Game plan? We hype sports, sure, but the teams actually prepare for the games. I’m happy my childhood favorite team inched one game closer to superbowl contention… There are hopeful fans painting their bellies and faces right now preparing for the Sunday games. There is real hope there for the die-hard fans, not just hype. And there are fair-weather fans jumping on the bandwagon, preparing watch parties to have fun… It is good to prepare – my friend prepared her house for a party and everyone appreciated it.
And one mention recently of preparing, this warmed my heart!!! I was SO EXCITED when my shorts-wearing kid took out sweatpants at the last moment in the car just before entering the ice hockey arena! Proud mom moment!!! Pants!! Pre-prepared pants!
So, our Bible lesson from Haggai is a life lesson too – have we prepared for the Lord? In any and all circumstances, are we ready to praise and listen? Haggai sent a message from God to rebuild, work, listen: “… now be strong… Be strong and work. For I am with you… And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”
The Lord told them to restore their faith and restore His Temple (destroyed in Jerusalem, rebuilding in a few hundred years before Jesus) – prepare for the Lord to be present in the temple and we could also see and read between the lines for the coming of Jesus. . . GOD’S GLORY IS OF JESUS COMING (AND RE-COMING) to the temple directly and to EACH of our temples. We must make room for Jesus inside our temples, clean it up and prepare our hearts.
So, we do thank the Lord for the opportunity to prepare. No hype needed, however the chaos in the world and the loosening of the control of evil is ever around us, and we need to strengthen our contenance and hearts. And the Lord Himself will shake the heavens and the earth, “once again”, therefore we must prepare for His Almighty Power…
Prepare to watch the Lord (and the weather)…
Prepare.
Amen
—
Haggai 2:1-9
And on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
I could have called this devotion: the cat been PROMISED that I clean out Christmas decorations and RESTORE more room in the windows!!!! She needs her space RESTORED!!!
Time to REBUILD.
Of course best time is spent in REBUILDING FAITH.
So, as per Prophet Haggai, we are learning about RESTORING PEOPLE’S FAITH AND REBUILDING GOD’S HOUSE! This is a chapter of the Bible timeline we rarely hear much about, the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem after so much exile and destruction. It was worth it!!! And this was the now rebuilding that would last into the Roman era.
“I am with you,” declares the Lord.
In our perusal through the old testament prophets, it’s been a rough road for the people of Israel and Judah, exiled and then allowed to return to their temple area (original building by Solomon hundreds of years earlier) but they didn’t restore the temple first, they restored their own houses first… And, as the Lord reminded them, they only scraped by…
The Lord then sent the prophet Haggai to remind them: “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Let us absorb this message – it us SO IMPORTANT to take care to RESTORE. Restore one’s health, one’s attitude, one’s prospects, BUT FIRST RESTORE YOUR REACHING OUT TO GOD. Restore the praise in your life. Restore the devotion and prayer life and yes, even your schedule for communicating with God directly… That’s the RESTORE message here…
Take this “midwinter break”, to decompress, allow downtime in order to gear up for “up time” – RESTORE faith and fellowship and fuel up… mostly, serve the Lord in Your FIRST resort not last…
There is a time to rest (but don’t over-indulge) then take a time to rebuild… And like God’s lesson to Haggai to tell the people, don’t neglect the Lord because God can bless you even more to abundance when you listen to His Plan first….
Our 1st and best restoration? Listening to God!!!
Amen
—
Haggai 1-2:8 NIV
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
THEN the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
The Promised Glory of the New House
In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
“Motrin ain’t THAT strong.”… The man at karaoke jokingly said last night about his toothache. He said he was tired and in pain from an extensive dental procedure, sat in his truck at home, almost called it a day, but came to this small church gathering anyway, a fun Christian karaoke event (that no less than 3 people told me about). He didn’t sing this time but felt compelled to stand up and witness that THE LORD FOUND STRENGTH INSIDE HIM to be there, and while listening (and singing along from the pews), his pain was gone, he knew it was the Lord. Cool…
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
I also could have rolled home and stayed in, the snow is not an excuse for me, but these cold nights are SO easy to blame for us not going anywhere. However I have a coat, gloves, a subaru, and a friend who invited me, to this Christian karaoke in a tiny cute church, my first time. I didn’t know how it would go, I would have sung, but everybody was lined up ready to sing and with such enthusiasm. Next time I will pick a song in advance… Even one particular first timer up to sing, who was nervous, had a friend to go with her, fittingly she sang Amazing Grace, and we all sang along, knowing and feeling that. The Lord says: something good is about to happen, yeah I sang along with that old-time show stopper… I marveled at everybody’s great voice, I knew I was hearing their strength in the Spirit, and saw the Lord’s Righteousness walking upright as they walked up to sing praise… How sweet the sound of spirit praise… pitch perfect praise…
Do we remember that the Lord will take care of us? Reduce our pain or push us into purpose? Will we really HOLD ON, and wait for the Lord? God has given us examples after examples to preserve, even in the worst attacks of the enemies, or the most annoying pain of living. I know this from living, and I know this from reading…
The last part of the writings of the prophet Zephaniah is true to the whole bible message that God will dig us out of the pit, rescue us from enemies, reward us for listening and worshipping, and just plain keep us on our toes to follow His Plan for us…
Let us be sheltered in Him on that upcoming day of His judgement.
If we’ve done something wrong, we should repent. If we are not listening, we should listen. If we doubt then we should believe. If we are going great, we should praise God’s faithfulness. If we just don’t know what to do, let us listen to God’s calling. Pray…
I really remember the song that brought me excitement for “something good is about to happen”… It’s an old classic I could tell, sung with a revival type energy… We may or may not be realizing we need revival, but trust that we do… All people and nations need to remember God will judge folks in His Time, and if we are too cushy and complacent then our enemies are around us as worldliness trappings and cushioned living to prevent us from adventuring out in His Strength…
Let us listen to these once again reminders to shelter in the Lord, not our own temporary dwelling… draw strength from His righteousness and let God deal with the mess around us, and we walk ahead WITH THE LORD to better things…
Something good is about to happen. That might just be God sheltering us, allowing us to sing His Praise or making us stand up to be seen. Don’t worry, just like karaoke, He will give us the words and WORD!!!
Amen….
—
Please read below – Zephaniah is speaking to all the oppressors in the divided kingdom time, and the elite of Judah and Jerusalem as well… don’t get so cushy in complacency… FOLLOW GOD AND HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU!!!
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
…
The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes.
…
“The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”
…
“At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.
“Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
—-
Zephaniah 2-3 NIV
Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations – Judah Summoned to Repent
Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Philistia
Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted. Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people; the word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. He says, “I will destroy you, and none will be left.” The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks. That land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes.
Moab and Ammon
“I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land. Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah – a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”
This is what they will get in return for their pride, for insulting and mocking the people of the Lord Almighty. The Lord will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the earth. Distant nations will bow down to him, all of them in their own lands.
Cush
“You Cushites, too, will be slain by my sword.”
Assyria
He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert. Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind. The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns. Their hooting will echo through the windows, rubble will fill the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed. This is the city of revelry that lived in safety. She said to herself, “I am the one! And there is none besides me.” What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists.
Jerusalem
Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant
“I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify.
I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them – all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord. They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.”
Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Time for the unknown-to-me prophet name of Zephaniah… a prophet placed at the right time to tell of God’s Plan. Then and now.. Zephaniah was in the southern divided kingdom Judah – seeing all that went down in Judah and Jerusalem of Israel. He warned and warned… pray for God’s shelter he implored.
We should take notice of these old times to understand the times ahead… There is evil in the world still, and God has a plan for the healing of the nations… this book is a microcosm of then and power demonstration of to come. Have Hope. Have shelter in Jesus.
The Bible Project video is so helpful!
I question why so many prophets and why for us to learn all these huge chunks of history… I believe a three enforcement and strengthening. This sounds like my physical therapy time, I already know issues of my situation, therefore strengthening is key for a better focus and function.
Let us continually focus and strengthen with knowledge of God’s Plan and Grace… it’s a bumpy ride at times for the world, but KEEP HOLDING ON TO THE LOVE! Let the Lord be our shield and shelter.
AMEN
—–
Zephaniah 1-2:3 NIV
The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:
Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord
“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea – and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
“When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord, “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests – those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”
Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited.
“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes. On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit.
“On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be destroyed. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.”
The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath – a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness – a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
“I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”
In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.
Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations – Judah Summoned to Repent
Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Just as I’m starting to write this 7am, I’m watching a utility truck outside my house.The sign on the truck door indicates that they are the people who are climbing the electricity poles and inspecting them, as I know there are replacements being installed.
There are four guys and i’m watching them and surely a set routine protocol, prepping their stuff. One guy also has his coffee and I noticed one guy is not wearing gloves in this snowy morning… After I write this out, probably go bring him some instant hand warmers. I’m blessed in Infrastructure of heat, shelter, electricity and water – may we never take them for granted.
The utility folks have gear and supplies, in carts and backpacks ready to climb, very prepared. And In wake of the news of the devastating wildfires this week in California, I’m sure that those firefighters were surely prepared. Very prepared but lacking crucial water. The article I read spoke of the epic proportions of this fire, not just one demanding all the water. Plus all the sprinkler systems, let alone hydrants, that were activated all at once drained the water pressure fast as well. It was epic critical collapse of systems overtaken. Many prayers. Many prayers in rebuilding too…
The Living Water of Jesus never runs dry. His comfort, His power, His presence., consistent and immediate and immeasurable. The scriptures state God never changes, love never fails, and He is ever present. Even when we take God for granted, He doesn’t change and He is supplied unending with our reach to Him. Remember, we don’t have to reach back, because we can reach FORWARD. God is everywhere.
Jesus not only volunteered to be pressed into service, the Holy Spirit follows us and leads us TO Jesus. We are to be directed embers of His love warming a situation and partakers even splashers into His Holy Living Water. His Hope unending and life motivating. He builds His Kingdom with His infrastructure of faith in us.
Let us move through our day, no matter what, and praise both the infrastructure as well as freshness of faith in us. God wants the good spread of the kingdom of heaven, and He will build and rebuild.
Keep moving… Keep growing…
Amen
—
PS – the guy grabbed his gloves… it’s been a lot of prep! So it is with God too.
—
Luke 13:18-21 (God bless the infrastructure of the Kingdom of God)
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
It’s devastating to see the fires uncontrollable in the west, and we have too many conflicts seemingly unstoppable in the world, and the struggles and strife that is overwhelming the people everywhere, so tough to see. I’ve heard an adage: if you put your troubles in a hat with everyone else, would you be afraid to get someone elses or seriously want to keep your own and deal with them… hmmmm… many of us probably would keep our own problems.
In general however, is this a bad time of life? But when has life been perfect? Never. Our faith friend, poet prophet Habakkuk, could relate to any generation’s troubled times, his time was a REALLY BAD TIME, living oppressed in divided kingdoms, seeing Israelites and Judah-ites attacked by Assyria just before Babylon tips the situation from bad to worse. So, Habakkuk brought his concerns right up to God, and God gave Habakkuk HOPE in knowing that the evil will eventually fall, and the PROMISE of a SAVIOR would he fulfilled and He would rise up while every knee will bow. The wrath of God’s cup will pour. The evil will cease. The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
We are asked to praise God in all circumstances, I have a new poem placard which says: “Happy moments, PRAISE GOD;
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD;
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD;
Painful moments, TRUST GOD;
Every moment, THANK GOD.” Yes! (it’s a quote from Rick Warren, I found out) YES!
THAT SAID, we should STILL bring our concerns directly up to God and especially listen to his Word, because already there are answers there: especially that we are to PRAISE GOD no matter what, find perseverance, trust in Him, follow Jesus’s life advice, and be Holy because He is Holy.
Prophet Habakkuk laments evil, but God responds that He will deal with evil with even more power. God is our defender Whom has gone ahead. Yes, the world is broken, but God will send a Savior to the world (we know this is Jesus Whom came and is here and will physically come again. The nations rise and fall, but justice returns and corruption will cease.
The evil will cease, but “the righteous will live by faith”.
We are to TRUST that God has this life for us under control. And we are to keep living in His Righteousness. Righteousness is God’s ability to “right” us, make us upright in His eyes by His doing and needing our faith. Habakkuk questions God and comes back with stronger faith.
Amen
***The short Bible Project video about Habakkuk’s writing is worth watching***:
—
Chapter 3
Habakkuk’s Prayer
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed – but he marches on forever. I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
It was remarkable to overhear, a God-fearing piece of advice given to the man next to me at physical therapy, practicing on the stairs. The PT repeated their sage advice to knee-replacement folks: “go up to heaven with the good and down to ‘you know where’ with the bad.” In other words, lead with good knee going up, putting your full weight on the trusty one longer. The opposite for down, the bad knee/leg leads down. (because the good knee can save it). Interesting.
Nifty advice – for knees and faith. Let us try to be good, put our weight on good motions, and trust one going up. Trust ONE going up, ah that’s where a devotion comes in – because if our knees or needs are out of whack or not, we will be kneeling in awe of God, Who has the righteousness, not us, we need a TRUSTY ONE to bring us to Heaven – Jesus our Savior.
Of course my mom’s advice rings in my head: “HOLD THE RAIL” for when climbing or descending the stairs – and surely we could take the MOST secure steps holding Jesus’s Hand.
In thinking of the very descriptive scenario of Old Testament prophet Habakkuk’s pleadings with God, while the exiled Israelites were under duress by the Assyrians oppressing them, and then knowing his supplications with God’s answers, we can see the decisiveness and fierceness of heaven and hell. Hell IS so awful and away from God and His mercy, we DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE. Instead let us GO WITH GOD.
Habakkuk asks:
Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
God answers: be patient, you will see, woe to evil, “but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”
So, the knees on stairs are a cute way of thinking about PT, and people for heaven and hell, but it’s righteousness and faithfulness which bring us up. Yes, good deeds and good knees give us a better life and help us each step of the way, true. But on bad knees and even good we know we can not get up to God’s level on our own righteousness, we need the Lord.
Not deeds but faith indeed.
And what about those “guilty people, whose own strength is their god” ? Heaven and hell will deal with them, we don’t have to take on judgment. And remember there is no joy in people going to hell. God takes no joy in punishment, none. These words from Habakkuk’s prophesy predict the scene at end times, mentioned in book of Revelation: “The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.”
May we all see the staircase and hold the rail. May we all know the Lord and be grateful. May we drink from the good cup of Jesus and not one of wrath.
Have God-fearing knees and bow in awe.
Amen
—
Habakkuk 1, 2, 3 (NIV)
The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
The Lord’s Answer
Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness – indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.
“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ Will not your creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, setting his nest on high to escape the clutches of ruin! You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by injustice! Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies! You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.”
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
Habakkuk’s Prayer
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed – but he marches on forever. I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
If there’s one thing that has gone unexplained this Christmas, for me, it is the appearance of what I could say is way too many christmas penguins!!! I have no explanation, but I have visualized more penguins this year, than ever. But it’s probably because I know I have a heightened awareness of noticing them. I don’t necessarily like this (nothing against regular penguins, mind you), I don’t like it because it reminds me of a falsehood planted by a movie “When Santa Claus Comes to Town”, showing one penguin “Topper” to work with Santa at Santa’s workshop – but it’s the wrong attribute of the North Pole, penguins are only at the South Pole (and remarkable animals they are) – it is the carried away portion of interpretation I don’t like, for no good reason. And I DO know that this is ALL SILLY and there’s plenty of Santa Christmas unexpected and unexplained – and SILLY. I mean I have no problems with other Santa misconceptions, I’m not sure why these penguins BUG ME this year specifically, except that my last resort (should have been my first resort) is to connect my situation of visualization with a spiritual perspective and I write what it COULD mean in a devotion… It’s all personal because I have to process verbally in some format..
(Hilarity aside, I do NOT want to collect penguins, so nobody send me one… And I already have a few.)
I started asking this morning: “Lord, let’s close this chapter away this year, ok?”, before I undecorate, let me know what I should write, process, penguin away. I know that there is a lesson in unexplained penguins with a yet connected Christmas experience – this is of a foreigner – so perhaps for my writing and certainly there’s lots in the pondering to explain in the real Christmas story of You without even placing it on a certain date that got introduced thousand plus years ago as a calendar feast day… Perhaps we can be reminded that as beautiful as this earth is, we are foreigners here. As beautiful as Christmas scenes are, You came in not with flashing lights and neon, but humbled as a baby, You were and still are viewed too as foreign and even radical in love, to so many who don’t know You, do not understood You.
Christmas unexplained became Easter realized for so many, including us in faith.
Lord, You are not of this world, but connected fully to it’s people, and creatures, and creations. You Lord, remind us to work in place, be Your hands and feet in our little corner of the earth, at Christmas and always. Ah… our mindset also must shift to not be afraid to humbly move away from comfort and into the foxholes of life, move into mission and movement. Take the baby of our Christmas faith and raise it up in foreign territory, like Joseph and Mary going to Egypt, and back, protecting the Jesus in our personal perspective and care.
I’m not ready to put away Christmas decorations yet, we only just now got some snow and the tucked away feeling that I allow myself for January (but not February because that finds me ready for winter camping with scouts and polar plunges etc)… but for now I will stay in and ponder christmas unexplained and process what can be processed with the explanation that as homey as we make it here in our houses or this earth, it’s still not our home.
Work in the world, like Jesus, but stay away from the trappings…
Let us waddle like a penguin in danger and away from it (like this ice this morning), walk like a penguin and yet fly in faith with Jesus to wherever we need to go, explained or not…
Christmas unexplained is faith realized…
Amen
—-
Paul’s exhortation to fellow Jesus believers in those early days:
Hebrews 13:1-2, 5-NIV
Concluding Exhortations
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
…
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.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
—
John 8:12-30
Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Dispute Over Who Jesus Is
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
It’s 2025, 3 days in… Thank God it’s Friday – that sentiment is great and the relief of whatever this relief is, going into a weekend, is palatable. Thank God it’s Friday is a known in a world of unknowns, especially 3 days in what we think is a new fresh year… yet already there’s been tragedies and continuing wars, fear and fear mongering hype, and hype for everything including the weather… the hype there comes deeper than the snow…
Deeper than snow or hype is evil, and we have seen enough this year alone, it’s sad that we deal with a broken world and there’s not going to be solid relief until Jesus returns (I urge “any cloud now” as we pray “Lord return quickly”) and because Jesus will put the devil out of business permanently, once and for all. We DO need to know Jesus already commanded Satan to backdown and we have to call upon Jesus to keep moving. We have hope day to day in Peace that people are trying to forge, us too – that’s where we also should be the peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers“, Jesus said, “for they shall be called children of God.” Most of all we need to be the children the Lord calls us to be.
And that’s where, in this new year, we can find our strength, in Jesus as PRINCE OF PEACE. Jesus, as Lord, understands us and the efforts to be peacemakers, especially urging us to see further than the now. We know of future peace and can apply that ourselves mentally for His sake. Like a blessing of new years, or any day off, or a Friday on a Friday, we can apply a peace mission as an overlay each day and keep moving forward.
Finding peace as a mission is not an impossible task like pushing an elephant up the stairs or bending spoons as a magic trick, both of which are mentioned in a great song by REM, “The Great Beyond” – singing about looking for answers in the great beyond, whatever the lyricist thought that is or was. The “trick” of living is not in mastering tricks or ease of living as much as it is in living in ease with knowing God’s in charge. We might be in a milieu of a messy world now, which hasn’t been non-messy ever since the Garden of Eden, but we can pause to pursue the peace inside, our peace which a PEACEMAKER made that for us, HolySpirit-style, and that is by Jesus Himself. Jesus IS a child of God, Who is God Himself. We must hold on to Him.
The Great Beyond has nothing compared to looking at JESUS’S FACE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US – better yet is feeling His arms wrapped around us.
I’ll listen to the song of the Great Beyond – but for this year, I will cling to Jesus in the Great Inside. Jesus put His peace protectively inside. The Great Inside. 2025…
Amen
—
Hebrews KJV chapter about Jesus, 10:20-25, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
I did learn that this is technically a Jubilee Year! Every 25 years celebrated. A year of mercy and forgiveness. The video I saw was for the Vatican Christmas eve. The continuity of forgiveness as the pope rolled through the door.
Yes, it’s still Christmas in Spirit and I picked up my ceramics project of painting the Nativity scene, nice and shiny now. Love the love.
Calendar Christmas and Jubilee and Easter are continuity of the Messiah making His Way to us. AND it’s the way of the forgiveness that Micah the prophet saw: But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
MICAH CONTINUES: Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.
GOD IS CONSISTENT AND REALLY FORGIVENESS IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE. YES!
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
Thank You Lord for the NEW YEAR, a JUBILEE year reminder for giving forgiveness, and the CONSISTENT NEVER-ENDING YOU!
It’s that early morning CAT wake up, drives me nuts, but I’m certain it’s not the cat’s fault, it’s ANGEL ARMIES surely, up correcting the situation I’m dreaming about and the cat is the pawn to actually jump on my bed and get ready to bite me awake. Then sits peacefully. Really. Not lying, it HAS to be angel armies. And it’s OK, because it was truly a non-productive dream, I had written stuff in the dream but dreaming that I was frustrated that I didn’t write down awake and it was gone (but I was dreaming about dreaming) and then I was dreaming gardening and food leftovers and being shamed for the waste. I still see the lady’s face, the mushrooms were still good enough but I composted them, ahhh but I know that was NOT a productive dream. And that’s when the cat came out loudly waking me up… 430am, new years eve. And no I don’t have any plans to stay up later, but it’s best that I consult both the cat and the angel armies for that too.
What is good to reflect upon at the end of the year? Not my woes, not my no-go’s. Reflection upon God’s blessings and the releasing of those fruitless frustrations – yes, that’s to be reflected and appreciated. Since I am 55, I have seen 56 new years, and to have a whole next year, Lord willing, that is a blessing in itself. One day at a time.
How about a year to wait on this cat?
Lord willing.
How about a year to spend more time with family? And friends?
Lord willing.
How about a year to spend more time with the Lord?
Lord requested!
How about a year to stress less and smile more?
Lord commanded.
How about a year to get healthier?
Lord please help.
How about a year to roll things off the back more?
Lord-enabled!
What would you do with another year? I know what we should do, we should TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME!
A quick google to find the right scripture, shows AI algorithms that find top picks: Jesus says it in Matthew, and the Psalms say it, and recently I was telling a Jewish friend to not over worry, remember that manna that God provided and DON’T be hankering for any quail. What God provides is both good and sufficient. Even Jesus at the manger was surely provided for, look at the crowded scene of my mom’s nativity.
Jesus? All he needed was provided too. I’m sure He did not worry at that moment. Took Himself as a babe to be in the most vulnerable position, and yet knew the plan going in, speaking of relief of “it is finished” for His numbered days.
So, in Psalm 90, Moses prayed a prayer for us, asking the Lord to direct us, appreciating our God is SOVEREIGN, ALMIGHTY and PURPOSEFUL. Jesus also gave us a prayer for daily doses of HIM, and to not worry…
Really, I will appreciate (even these early morning wakeups), to know Lord that You are in charge and You want us to be productive for You! And appreciative. May we number our days and make the most of them!
Amen (and can someone get this cat some manna?)
Amen and Happy New Year early!
2025 will be fine, one day at a time.
—
Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death – they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.
—
Jesus said in Matthew 6:5-34
Prayer
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Do Not Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It’s both a privilege and a need for vacation downtime. It’s not just a change of scenery that helps, but a change of one’s frame of mind in the same scenery, because a staycation even for one day can be so productive mentally for yourself. I’m planning half-days vacation to finish off the year. I’ll probably start my Christmas cards and various projects and just BE.
I enjoyed Christmas here and time up home too, and enjoyed that which was focused on family (work family too) and merriment – and church family and being in a spirit of giving. (Still giving leftovers too)… With new year upon us, and resolutions, it’s an important time to give up the most convoluted stress we hold: OUR EXPECTATIONS. God does remind us to take and live one day at a time, so expectations are our sinful stealing the future away to our own desires. Let us let the Lord lead and fulfill the time instead. God’s got this.
Nicely Christmas becomes (hopefully) a refocus on time with God, because God took the time to be with us, coming to earth. God didn’t just wait for the fulfilment of time to be with us, He made it, meaning He fulfilled it.
So let us take time with God, don’t just wait for it, but make it. Make time you take to be His.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Clearly God-dedication times are more mentally productive than anything else. Moments or months are best made by consulting the Lord.
When I take morning time to read and infuse scripture pertaining to my life and/or expounding upon how it pertains to all of us, or a few, it’s a mission of the moment. And absorbing scripture is a personal journey because in sticky situations, when prayed about, one will often be given direction by the scriptures.
God can move mountains, yet it doesn’t mean the instant resolution of problems. So often, like the serenity prayer, one will TRY to discern the things that you can change and those you can’t and the wisdom to know the difference. Best of course to PUT IT ALL in God’s Hands and see what He Hands back and what He doesn’t. We can’t do anything without God. REMEMBER, HE WORKS IN A WAY WELL ABOVE OUR WAYS.
So, in moments before this year’s closes, do not fret over the lost time or over-engineer the future, just BE. Just be in His Time for you. He MADE time and set aside time, we can too.
Walk with the Lord, decompress and all the rest. The Lord always has TIME for us.
Amen
—
Isaiah 55:8-12
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 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. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
It’s a great day for a walk. The weather is warm for this time of year. I made a trek to the cemeteries near home. Instead of greenery decorations, I decided to leave some gingerbread cookies… It was a great trip up home and now I’m driving back. Saw fabulous family. Christmas is all about making spirits bright!!! Christmas is Jesus being most humble.
And a walk in the cemetery was nice to remember my grandparents, my aunts uncles cousins… And there it is remembering spirits bright!
Imagine walking with Jesus in His day and now. Jesus walked A LOT, sometimes rode in a boat, and occasionally for purpose He rode an animal. Certainly we know He walked in religious duty to Jerusalem and back, and He walked into the wilderness occasionally for prayer and purpose. Even Jesus, fully God, checked in with God the Father Almighty.
The scriptures tell us: Proverbs 21:3
“To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice” and the infamous important Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
How can we walk closer with Jesus, closing out 2024 into 2025? Trying to not judge others, not judge our past too harshly either, and determine our best approach to the future. Make Spirits BRIGHT! . How about walking consulting the Lord? When we share love we are sharing the Lord. Let us ask Him the best Way in His Way. Walk in His Hand, not stopping either when He is pulling us, not feeling embarrassed when He is carrying us. Just be at HIS pace. Blessed.
And learn from history as we know many did not walk with Jesus. (Like some of Micah’s time.) Let us be His.
Today, tomorrow, 2024, 2025, forever.
Amen
—
Micah 6:1-8
The Lord’s Case Against Israel
Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say.
“Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.
“My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God
It’s still Christmas for people, for those still celebrating and for those who wait for loved ones delayed in visiting, or are in the hospital. The tree will hold, the fridge will preserve, the date on the calendar means little compared to the celebration stage. Just like every holiday, it is the celebrating that is a state of mind over everything. It’s the REALNESS of the SAVIOR over the symbolism, the CONNECTION over the commercialism of convenience. (And why would precious gifts go 50% off based on a date anyway if they were THAT important in life.) Let us choose Christmas cheer over gifts this time of year.
What’s real Christmas? Jesus arriving! Jesus arriving to fulfill prophesy (as written in Micah 5), be the babe of humble means from Bethlehem in lowly Judah, AND to be wonderful counselor, Jesus to be Mighty King of the ultimate Kingdom, AND to rule as KING upon His return on earth, AND to be acknowledged as KING of our hearts all the days in between… Real Christmas becomes Real Easter… Real Easter becomes a wait to see Jesus return from the heavens… “and He will be our peace…”
What about the Israelites and all the scattered Jewish people? Jesus Messiah will come back for Gentiles and Jews. Micah 5 states about a Savior: He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
Micah educates all that Jewish people will be scattered, but remain loyal to Israel: The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples – AND – lifted up in triumph over your enemies. This is not just ancient history but future prophesy. And with God’s “anger and wrath on the nations that have not obeyed me”,God will surely demonstrate His Almighty Power.
So Jesus keeps Christmas Spirit alive and we worship God for His Greatness, celebrating Jesus for His Mission, and stay tuned to the HolySpirit for directions on giving credit where credit is due: God from ancient old is still current and will reign again on earth. Jesus wants to reign in our hearts forever.
We know it as prophesy AND now TRUTH.
CHRISTMAS continues for those still learning about Jesus. Easter comes for saving all. And Jesus comes again to put all evil down forever.
Amen
—
Micah 5 NIV
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders, who will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they invade our land and march across our borders.
The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man. The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue. Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies, and all your foes will be destroyed.
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will destroy your horses from among you and demolish your chariots. I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds. I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells. I will destroy your idols and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles when I demolish your cities. I will take vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
I was just about to be at the “Dancing through Life” part of the movie, and yet I had an exit plan, meeting the roadside assistance tire repair person outside the theater, and plans to come back in, as I had already chatted with the ticket taker. Plus we took out the spare tire from the trunk in preparation, before going into the movie, and I had already told the tow people that I was in the movie. Seamless plan. Worked out great, had a plan, they knew the drill, so even on Christmas Day in the cold, it was like “Dancing through Life”… all OK… On the donut spare tire now, taking to the shop later today (it was a nasty pothole just before the theater and thankfully we have tire insurance, that plus roadside AAA is so convenient, pays off in emotional calmness for situations). Blessed.
And later now, I was thinking how I (we) escaped into movie land, knowing both the whole storyline in advance AND I certainly will see this movie version again to fill in the missed scenes. It was fine, escaping life for a moment in the movie and also capping off a great day of Christmas home-body joy. Dinner was prepped, eaten and stowed away in the fridge… Good food good people good day, a satisfaction of a finished Christmas prep too. Check Christmas pressure off my list, DONE. So, FLAT TIRE? A mere minor blip in the day. A slow decompression of a leaking tire like my breathing relaxing…. But a tire? Convenient chaos? It’s like knowing the movie in advance that you can anticipate the scary bits and be OK. So, an adventure of teaching today (my youngest’s car, his education), convenient as we both have the day off and an oil change scheduled, hmmm pre-convenient, hmmmm…).
Life has flat tires, but our emotional comfortable confidence to keep moving forward is OK. Insurance pays it forward. Life experiences prepare us. We will be OK. Keep moving.
Let me SWITCH to a separate thought and situation, an unexpected jolt I got 2 days before Christmas, I had learned of an unfortunate passing of a church friend in October, just heard of it now, so strange not to be in the loop then, so thetefore I can not process it now, but will. I was not in the mix of it, oblivious, and another friend, whom I also had not seen in months at my old church, was shocked that I didn’t know. But most there didn’t know until later either. We are curious how she passed, what happened with her cat, of which she sent me a cute fall photo where the cat adopted the table centerpiece. Cute. Our “aged” friend was in “decent enough” health just a week and couple days before she passed, when I had seen her last. So on that day we had gone to a renovated nature trail space, and I mentioned I was going to another friend’s church festival just after, a friend who had suddenly died earlier that year. Hmmm… it was a text message conversation after the nature walk, so I knew the last time I saw her, and it was not unusual for us to not chat for stretches of time. I don’t know her family well either, no connection there. Hmmmm…. (God bless her family, surely in shock.)
In processing hindsight, I’m glad that my friend was in a GOOD PLACE WITH THE LORD and she had an EXIT STRATEGY of TRUSTING THE LORD for all the next steps of LIFE, no matter our ages. A month away from a milestone birthday, she surely had thought about it, even if surely the quickness of it was not in her foresight. What about her stuff? Well, she won’t worry about it now, new life “with her Jesus”. (Prayers for her family for sure, and yet my friend is set in Jesus’s arms).
We know that the Lord is not just “LIFE INSURANCE” – saving us forever – He is also “ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE” – comforting us along the way – paving and paying ahead too. We can stay calm.
It’s like that backlit EXIT sign at the theater, there’s a plan to get out, there’s a world out there to ignore for a moment, an hour, a day – And there’s JOY on earth knowing Jesus came to make the Way AND show the Way.
In the movie I was watching, the wizard was no wizard, he had NO exit strategy nor ability to get the characters through the movie chaos. But OUR LORD??? Not only does He know the EXIT STRATEGY, He IS the EXIT STRATEGY, and Jesus IS the road to travel on too, every step.
Not “follow the yellow-brick road” but “FOLLOW THE JESUS-LAID ROAD” – that should be our life song.
EXIT STRATEGY? Check that off the Christmas list!
DONE
Thank you Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
Amen
(Praying for you all to have had a peaceful Christmas appreciating Christ.)
Recently I was helping a friend get her tree out of the garage, heavy but we were simply rolling it then carrying it by grabbing the white wrapped sheet. Two people easier than one and we got it done. I held the front and she held the back. Then as we stood it up (the weighted tree stand already attracted), we immediately started sliding the white sheet and lifted it up off the top. We had motions of knowing what to do and just then I had a Flashback – I had a Flashback – but not to my history but to ancient history that my soul connected to – I realized we were doing the reverse wrap of what Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathia we’re doing. They wrapped up the body of Jesus after death, and we were unwrapping this tree of Christmas, breathing life into the Christmas season and situation of the moment, and sighing of accomplishment. We both could be weary of the Christmas prep OR we could be strengthened by the mission of Christ. The completion of burial was but a pause before the JOY of Jesus Forever – the unwrapping of Christmas in our own special way was a forever moment in advance. This surely rang true in my soul as we were friends not just of this earth, but faith friends forever by the power of the Lord. We were in the midst of the Lord in His work of preparation.
From where and when Jesus was laid to rest, we know He rose. And from where He went into Heaven, we know He will comeagain. Our hearts do prepare Him room now by the HolySpirit, our hearts now open up a vintage soul of knowledge as the Lord has set all of eternity in us, and our hearts can find His peace. Now known, our eyes must be those that SHINE that TRUTH. Our hands to motion in His mission. Our vintage eyes hold a mystery of the Lord unveiled in our souls. What a wonderful Christmas gift He gives us, knowing Him. Immanuel, God with us.
So let us prepare Him room by unwrapping the trees, the gifts, but especially our souls for us and for others to know His Love. Let that Love shine…
Merry Christmas eve…
May we be prepared in our hearts, above all else.
Amen
—
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecc3:11
John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 19:38-42
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
Luke 1:49-55
And Mary said:
“…For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
1Peter 3:15-22
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Oh we’re getting down to the wire, and I started placing the ornaments on the tree, it seemed the right timing to start. I put Christmas movies on as well, to help my energy, I need Jesus to Jumpstart my battery. However I was starting to grumble to myself, I was complaining at Christmas, I’m sure it’s common, and there is a natural frustration in the preparation, this time of year. Terrible to say but true. And it IS WORK to pull Christmas decorations presents cards food, etc, all together, isn’t it?! and is it appreciated? etc etc? Hmmm…
Grumble Grumpy Grrrr…
And then…. I saw the reminder word: “JOY”, a JOY ornament engraved on a wood piece…
That’s the ornament sensation that snapped me back to remembering the JOY of Christmas, and it’s not about grumbling. Where’s my JOY? Jesus, help, geeze. I DID have a good day already, so why am/was I grumbling?!!! I did get time for this right now, but the “why didn’t I get help?” creeped in… well, I just then got help: HolySpirit conviction against complaining and a Jesus Jumpstart of JOY. JOY is the focus and the benefit of the season, so JOY has got to be a RETRAINING word, giving us (me) and a better focus on the deep meaning of Chrisrmas being Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
J.O.Y. can remind us of our priorities:
Jesus
Others
Yourself, in that order. You are last, Jesus is first.
And for Jesus? JOY is a fruit of the spirit given to those who open their hearts to heaven, their focus to growing, their branches to bringing forth God’s fruit.
And yes, my mental shift started, acceptance wise, not just because I like ornaments on my tree too, but that others in my house DO really appreciate it all coming together, any potential visitors would love to see the tree and ornaments. So, in this early decorating, when I found the star that was buried in the ornaments and placed it on the top of the tree I finally got the attention and agreement with the placements position. (And then people in the house started helping, whew…)
Yes, I got the star straight, and I got my priorities re-straight – to think of Jesus is to know He sacrificed and went the extra mile. To think of others is to especially know you can go the extra mile. And yourself? To think of yourself is to remember that you’re going to have forever to sit down and relax, so keep moving now.
And when you think of yourself and forever? Who brings that to you now? Jesus.
We are in the home stretch, so rest well, and rehydrate and rejoice, and re-JOY again and again.
Thank you Holy Spirit for the Jesus JOY reminder!
Amen
PS, later I found the magnet I thought I lost in a pocket, but there it was on my fridge and I misses it – it says: “PRAY HARDEST WHEN IT IS HARDEST TO PRAY” – YES!!!
And like a Christmas tree with hundreds of decorations and plenty of branches to decorate, let us remember that in ourselves there are many places to bear fruit. Jesus, the Vine, said we are the branches, so let’s keep keeping them open for the Lord to hang fruit! The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF-CONTROL. Galatians 5:22-23
Jesus will find many nooks and crannies to fill. Don’t expect these from the world, but in yourself as Jesus builds your faith in Him and life to live in God’s love. Especially Lord, please give us of Your JOY!!! Jesus could say J.O.Y. stands for “Jumpstarts, Oh Yeah…”
The laboring of Love, sweeter than anything, tolerant of hot situations, and surely God is in the mix all the time. Love Wins.
Perhaps we are not done with our Christmas prep, I’m surely not. I’m certainly not done with work stuff before setting that aside for a few days vacation. I’m reminding myself that I need to stop prep for Christmas to simply BE in Christmas, for example that the party I attended is actually mentally attended by me IN a Christmas Spirit, IN a jolly mood, IN JOY. And not just needing to collapse on their couch.
Then again, Mary and Joseph were laboring in their day just about now, Mary for sure about to give birth, the innkeepers were laboring busy, the Maji at some point started prep, and as for the gifts – someone labored hard to get them ready to prepare or purchase, and perhaps we all should tip our postal workers and delivery drivers just a little more for their back-breaking work.
Cookies – I attended a very unique if not the best cookie party concept ever – with friends just bringing dough and baking there, and sharing and eating… so just a little prep led then to a chatty fun bake-off… and what amazement to me were there were no duplicates.
The laboring of love, sweeter than cookies, tolerant of hot oven touches, and surely in the mix all the time.
The laboring (for anything) one could have is different when done together, it’s truly “many hands make light work”. And this is true of everything, work work included, and including decorating the tree, which my friend I visited gave me the privilege of placing the angel on. Beautiful. Not laboring there even if I was stretching to reach.
So what’s the labor of getting through day to day that plagues us with stress when we go it alone? What’s the deal with hard to get our selves organized or motivated? We are stuck in the go it alone mentality. BUT are we? NOPE! We HAVE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY WITH US ALWAYS. Maybe we have stretching to do, like my reaching up to put the angel on the tree, but if we tap into real angel realms of warriors, they can help us!
Jesus may have waited for being born on earth, BUT Him as God already was laboring in LOVE, already fully God. Mary waited for Him too, laboring in love. So it’s OK for us to wait AND labor right now, (just rest your legs more), and appreciate Christmas IN the labor too.
And Rest in LOVE too, because the laboring of God IS in love and for us to know to rely upon Him.
Jesus the Son, God the Father, Holy Spirit the advocate, Three in One, never change like shifting shadows of time. ALL OF GOD IS WITH US ALWAYS, not away or elusive, but surely right here to help. So close, God is allowing and helping every breath.
Ok, making cookies are checked off the list, eating is ongoing, but the sweetness of Christmas? FOREVER…
I didn’t know the snow would stick, it’s BEAUTIFUL!!! Just enough to be pretty, will probably melt later, won’t stick around for a white Christmas, but technically I can say we have snow! It’s even on the winter solstice!
It was sort of predicted, without the hype this time around! I had just gotten my “SNOWBARU” car decorations on, a new wreath this year with big flakes when the real stuff came, unexpectedly, and I appreciated it melting on a busy Christmas-time preparation day. Still much to do…
Expectation and appreciation for a White as Snow situation was unfolding in a manger in Bethlehem, in the Christmas gift of Christ. Isaiah forecasted this, he predicted in prophesy, and became a scribe of the Lord’s special message, for a Savior would come, Who would cleanse the sins of all “WHITE AS SNOW”…
Reading Isaiah, it is clear the earth’s people would take a while to respond, as the prophets told of Jesus coming, but only a few saw the light through the hundreds of years passing… Only a few knew to look. It’s so clear now IN the LIGHT, but for those who walk in darkness still, we pray they see. It’s still a long winter, so much to do before spring. If only we can see the preparation time as purposeful.
Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow”
So, in an AMAZING Way, the Lord brings as CHRISTMAS SNOW – His mercy and grace to last forever – to forgive us – to bring us into His fold. Jesus was prophesied to come to earth and shepherd us, although His physical body melted as snow, pain and sorrow in a short 33years before crucifixion, HE ROSE and rehydrated our lives with His Living Water, and separated our sin far away from us. WASHED CLEAN. Christmas, Easter and Forever.
A gift of a Savior is SALVATION FOREVER. Thank you Isaiah for your forecast. Thank You Lord for the snow, and You as our GIFT.
Now that is perfect Christmas preparation…
Amen
—
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 51:1-6 NKJV
The Lord Comforts Zion
“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.”
For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
“Listen to Me, My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, And I will make My justice rest As a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait upon Me, And on My arm they will trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished.
I felt the gumption to do some necessary cleaning before work. Wow, it needed it, all that cluttering stuff which blocks me from a clear floor and easy movement. Dangerous!
Importantly I picked up a loose scripture card. It must have fell out for me along the way – Oh, on The Way… Funny pun, Lord. In cleaning, I noticed that my hip didn’t hurt so much, my many sessions of physical therapy are paying off (yes, $ per session equates for more lifetime of strength – it is worth it), plus the people are wonderful, REALLY WONDERFUL. I’ve been feeling the strength and strengthening of my legs and hips AND faith. THANK GOD!! If I say that an injury could be turned into a blessing, it’s like saying (not jokingly): “Lord, Are You Pulling My Leg!?!” – like I can’t believe You have me going through this, yet, Lord, You say: “Find the silver lining, find the blessings of perseverance in the storm.”(yeah see scripture of James, counting blessings from trials). Well, the Lord IS NOT pulling my leg in joking but I CAN say that actually the physical therapists ARE PULLING my left leg, yes pun intended here, they found with my “minor” tear in the hamstring during a twisting motion injury, that one leg slips up SHORTER with a hip rotation (posterior I think), and they rotate and PULL me back to alignment. Mind you, this is not major pain but of that slightly annoying nature. So no joking, pulling the leg is a good thing!
And what was that scripture card? That I picked up with minimal effort and less pain just now? Well, of course the Word is here to STRENGTHEN us. We need to pick up the clues. Well amazingly, the card REALLY read: “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Paul encourages the Philippians and encourages us.
If we have a tough time in anything, let us hold onto the hope of not seeing but knowing internal faith that we will make it through, even STRONGER on the flip side. And let us remember this advice from Paul: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.“
Yes…
Yes… Jesus Overcame Sin and Death and Will Overcome the rest of our situations too… Let the Lord pull your leg or prod you or push you. Most of all, Let the Lord STRENGTHEN you.
Once in motion, always in motion… The science museum’s cool display of experiments included this one side panel showing a bowling ball and bowling pins FLYING EVERYWHERE by energy transfers… MOMENTUM written in visual cool panel segments that appeared when we moved.
Ah, yes!!! I know the NOT SO HIDDEN message here. The bowling pins shown flying from a STRIKE, are personally reminding me of the Lord knocking down my disbelief system, 10 years ago. “Strike” is a favorite writing. And for all of us, I see the momentum of God’s grace transforming us to be able to live more like Jesus.
And the science museum’s staircase Pendulum also reminded that with momentum, the knock down of little pins time to time is like the faith momentum in us… Objects in motion can be slowed down by friction, but FAITH in motion will continue to move (and be pushed) by the Holy Spirit.
Faith moments from the Lord’s momentum. That’s what happened in Ninevah after Jonah warned them, see chapter 3. Faith was taking on its own momentum and they repented.
Faith opens insight. Sometimes we are rusty and friction laden to get moving. That’s Jonah as a great example. Jonah hesitant to listen to the Lord, was transported by a whale over to Ninevah after he sat in the belly to sulk then sing praise. The warning he DID then deliver to Ninevah became Holy Spirit momentum in saving the people. God relented and forgave. Well, Jonah was used for a big push of moments in their lives, momentum to save could not be stopped. The Lord’s ways are above ours, yes.
Then the pendulum swung back to knock out some pins of Jonah’s self-righteousness and false priorities and anger (see chapter 4). Jonah had anger thinking the Lord really would destroy Ninevah, anger when he saw they were saved. And Jonah had anger when his little piece of sun relief (a shade leaf of a plant) was taken away – that’s us too when we seem to get angry when things don’t go our way… God used the plant as an example (read the cool story below about the worm used to wither it too) to show Jonah that if Jonah could be upset about his little situation, God could too, a bigger situation that God WANTED saved, His people and creations. God DOES long for His people to be saved, to turn their attention to Him, and to put down their worldliness in exchange for God’s forever. So when God saw Ninevah repent, God shared compassion, grace, mercy.
God relented from the disaster. God sent KINDNESS, which Jonah wanted previously himself, wanting God’s forgiveness for running away. So was it right for Jonah to be angry? Jonah was angry that God forgave the people of Nineveh. That’s us too, we become sticks in the mud, however our Living Water Jesus says we are supposed to forgive 70 time 7, to anyone who sins against us. We need to make clear boundaries, yes, but we should take the high road when we walk away from a scene. Can we do it?
Can we take some of God’s momentum energy transfer to also make our moments to forgive? We need to. I bet the angels in heaven are like sitting in the big bowling alley and listening to the sound of pins smashing and flying, coming with each forgiveness transformatin moment on earth. Our moments from God’s Momentum.
Lord, thank you for the reminder on Jonah and in us.
Amen
—-
Jonah 4 NKJV
But it [God giving Ninevah forgiveness, sparing destruction] displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
What a difference a year makes! Just a recheck at the doctor right now, for my youngest, and no worries here, got a GREAT result! I am camped out, our 630am appointment. Last year was nerve wracking a bit, our regular eye doctor, a professor himself, identified a non-issue tiny cyst, surely just that, but wanted it checked anyway. So a year ago we cautiously awaited the tests and eventual great news of yes, just a benign little natural cyst. Now, a year later, a recheck and like camping in the waiting room, it’s a PROCESS, tons of people here, a four hour staged set of exams and consultation. It is know a known, what a difference a year makes, no worries and grateful for good medical insurance and doctors and health care, yeah!
What a difference a quick year makes, continued marching into the future… and WHAT A DIFFERENCE 10 YEARS MAKES!!! 10 YEARS now of my Spiritual Awakening season in life, when the Lord appointed the time to knock my socks off in a Christmas Flood, rolled STRIKES knocking down my disbelief system, and flooded my dry soil, causing me to think my head was exploding and causing me to write out my whole awakening. Wow, 10 years. 10 years, over 2000 writings now…
It’s not just a time to stop and marvel, even though I do sometimes, it’s a KEEP MOVING and PRAISING season for me, for a reminder of all our faith lives…
I do praise God’s grace and mercy and love in our lives, peace in pur purpose
I did not know then, for why I wrote this piece – but obviously now, the Lord was telling me to prepare my soul and brain for rain… the new reign of Jesus in me… this was a crucial start of my flood of awakening!
I wrote this and a diatribe before and a Lego Christianity piece after, and I then hid them in my car, hid all my first couple dozen writings in my car. I thought I was going crazy…
I don’t hide them anymore… and I cherish the years of being able to know to reach for the Lord.
Thanks Lord for my Christmas Flood Dec2014 – Feb2015, 10 years ago now! I posted into a blog one year later… I’m now over 2000 blogs with over 100 followers online.
CHRISTMAS FLOOD, 17DEC2014
This is my pivotal first piece to process what I didn’t know what was coming to me – a monumental earth-shattering life change – but it came… like a FLOOD
Christmas Flood, 17DEC
Christmas is like a flood of spiritual emotion, not a light or sustained soaking rain that allows the parched ground to slowly open up and absorb the much needed rain. Christmas is like that short downpour deluge of flooding rain, where only some water gets to the plants and the rest runs off into the gutters or low points. Like in modern construction, we (our spiritual souls) need to set aside flood plains, safe drainage areas so that the spiritual seeds that we have planted all year long aren’t washed away … that the parched spiritual soul is not choked by flood waters. So we can nurture, patiently, our delicate growing belief that God works in our lives every day.
We need sustaining rainfall. We pray for rain, yet do we prepare for it? In the movie “Facing the Giants”, the coach of a “bad news bears”-like football team is finding the need for an emotional awakening (as well as improved football skills) both for his team and himself. A colleague relates to him the story of the two farmers in a drought…two farmers looked to God for rain, but only one prepared for it, so which fields receive the much needed rain? The gist of the quote from the movie is:
“I heard a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain. And both of them prayed for rain, but only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain?” Well, the one prepared his fields for it. Which one are you? Mr. Bridges (the older advisor) continued. “God will send the rain when He’s ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.”
“Which one are you? God will send the rain when He is ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.”
Christmas finds us year after year flooded with buckets of wasted non-nourishing rain, excessive tinsel-covered giant hailstones and mud mud mud clogging and blocking our spiritual path…. If only we set up rain collection barrels to collect the deluge of Christmas excess rain to save some for watering our souls after the new year, to use all winter until we get to the next soaking rains of Easter, the greens of spring, the rebirth thru resurrection.
How can we prepare for rain? How can we dig trenches for excess while welcoming the much needed spiritual lift that comes with a baby in a manger. How can we? Pray. Pray for guidance. Pray for peace and clarity in your heart. Pray for the calming presence of God. And prepare. Prepare for the arrival for both spiritual and non-spiritual abundance. While you need to appreciate and delineate between the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and that of the showy, wing-flapping commotion caused by angels dragging your soul to the cradle…while you need to appreciate and delineate between your heart bursting with Christmas joy (think Dr Seuss’ Grinch’s heart growing “three sizes that day”) and your head saying ‘slowdown, wait, don’t get swept away with emotion’ ….
Either way, you need to prepare your fields for rain.
I love the little reminder that pops up on Facebook with an image of the Nativity and the statement that “The first Christmas was pretty simple. It’s okay if yours is too.” This significant statement both allows us to not be overwhelmed with elaborate, but also to remember what makes Christmas Christmas, and that is the Christmas Christ Child. Keep Christmas simple but don’t minimize the importance.
Christmas is spiritually complex as well as simple easy, in that Jesus did all the work, Mary labored in birth and Joseph labored in traveling and shepherding and Jesus labored in making it all come to fruition – human pain in and out of this world and God-level pain in the lamb being slain.
My pre-christmas weekend was filled with decorating and decorations, mine (got my tree lights on plus swept the empty boxes out of the living room as my “village” is now set up), and seeing the decorations of others especially helping a friend sell lots of treasures, plus seeing neighbors’ lights and etc…. I loved seeing the creches, new and old, as reminder of the real reason of the season… And I decompressed one moment in the sunshine Saturday, untangling mixed strands of golden plastic garland that called to me while I rested my feet sitting in a porch rocking chair.
UNTANGLED!!!
Isn’t that our Christmas prep in a handful – TANGLED and then UNTANGLED or put back away still tangled for next year. Let us try to untangle it all. That’s our mental challenge for Christmas: a mixture simple beauty with the glitter of unsimple reality. It’s the hype that gets us – There is hype of the weather and you realize it’s only rain. There is hype of the news, yet if you shut off your viewing of the media blitz, you can live in the moment more clearly than living in fear. Then there is hype of the Christmas Season, ALL TANGLED WITH BUSY!!! Life TANGLING what JESUS ALREADY UNTANGLED.
Jesus untangled the evil puzzle well before time on this earth began. The real meaning of Christmas is to give Jesus the opening on earth to crush evil, “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”, and to now await His return. Jesus won, Jesus wins. We could celebrate in awe of the power and sorrow of the need for Jesus. And yet let us live in spiritual soothing, live in joy and live in a victorious mentality. Not our victory but His, yet the spoils we enjoy are eternal life. Not that’s the present to unwrap! JOY in knowing our home is heaven! Imagine THAT tree of life!
Keep Christmas special and simple by remembering the JOY equating thinking of JESUS, then OTHERS, before Yourself. J.O.Y.
J Jesus
O thers
Y ourself
That’s keeping Christmas simply but NOT MinimizingLY.
Isn’t it funny when you overhear a conversation? Whether you’re supposed to hear it or they wanted you to hear it or they didn’t care if you heard it… It’s like being on the train and any conversation you have you have to realize other people hear… maybe we should talk about forgiveness more than griping, just a thought…
Well, the phrase I heard was: “I don’t know them from Adam.” Hmmm…. Agreed. We don’t know most people, or how they got from Adam or much about them. True. But in overhearing that statement, whether the person wanted me to hear it or not, they obviously didn’t know me from Adam either and how I would interpret any conversation from them. And for me, I write, I process, I read a room, I interpret. (And often we need to forgive even before we hear.)
One can say “l don’t know you from Adam”, but I’d have to respond with saying: “But you do know Adam, RIGHT?” … YEAH, If you knew Adam, you would know attributes of each person. It’s humans being broken, people having confusion, sometimes having moments of preservation sometimes warranted, sometimes greed, and people who hide their insecurities and wrongs. Knowing Adam means that we should know that people can be influenced by evil influences and lose track of how much God loves them. And you would feel God’s pain at the lack of peace. Surely we know God is Peace and He wants to be known.
If you knew Adam, you would also know that he would know the brokenness in families and culture, especially with Adam being father to Cain and Abel, one family filled with jealousy and seemingly got to the breaking point. Adam would see one rule follower and one who didn’t obey or didn’t understand the sacrifices necessary. One would likely feel compassion for the complications Adam lived with, especially banished from the garden of provisions, now having to toil harder.
That’s how we can look at people. And know without knowing.
That’s how we can have compassion, sometimes tough love, and sometimes just walking away. Forgiveness is key.
And how about that second Adam? Do you know the second Adam? Not the replacement model but the Restoration Role? We know the second Adam as Jesus. Recovery, Restoration, Really Ready, Real, Righteous, Redeemer. REACHING TEACHING LOVING. Jesus came to do all these things and He also came SO we would know Him and His servanthood, and know the path TO the Father is through Him. Jesus came and God wanted Him to be known as the Savior, the Sacrifice, and gift of the Spirit of God into each of us from before the world was formed.
We do know Adam and THANK GOD, we DO know Jesus. It’s important to know people are people. We have to be careful and at the same time, WE HAVE TO LOVE. We have to often steer clear and we have to sacrifice and walk into situations. Serving the Lord means sticky situations with humans like Adam, but clean consciousness of working with them in Living Water washed hopes.
At any rate, make sure we introduce the Jesus we know to the Adam’s we know… INCLUDING OURSELVES. Because certainly we do know Adam and have met him endless times. AND Prayerfully we do know Jesus and how to apply Jesus to a situation. Remember, Jesus already saved, God already won, so we are finishing out our time on earth here, picking up His process to peace, until Jesus comes again.
Amen and Peace
—
Isaiah knew these folks of darkness, all from the separation doing of the devil: ch8:20-22
Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.”
Isaiah knew of the HOPE: ch9:6-7
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called:
WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
It was just nice to have someone else plan the work party events, that’s how I adapted to an event choice that I thought at first was a bit iffy for the crew [and what a great crew we have]. Well, I was wrong about the iffy, we were grateful to have had a good time with great people. And we invited some of the former members of the department as well.
So yeah, I originally thought “well I didn’t NEED yet another trinket nor mug from a ceramics painting event”, and I don’t, but I was GRATEFUL to see on the top shelf of ONE I really COULD add to my Christmas collection, inside and out, and so I painted Mary and Joseph holding Jesus.
Ah, the Christmas scene is one envisioned much better than I could paint, and yet Isn’t that true where we put our own colors upon the opportunity of life. And therefore, and since the piece was just within our budgeted level, I embraced it and started painting 88 fleshtone, 13 basic brown, 35 bright blue, and prevailing purple to represent royalty in the Lord, even as a babe, in which scripture tells us Jesus was plain and unremarkable in appearance. I was grateful to have no embarrassment in expressing faith at work, especially with us having a multi-faith ERG employee resource group now at work, SO I gleefully painted and remarked how nice it was to simply sit and paint and relax. Ahhhh…
Embracing the Faith, gifted of the Lord, Who embraced us before we were even born.
Immanuel is “God With Us” and the scriptures remind us that God with us is also now: “GOD WITHIN US”. I enjoy the image portrayal of the ceramic showing the surround of Joseph around Mary around Jesus. It is the inside glow and greatness, for which I did attach earthly golden and deep purple colors to. It will show vividly after the ceramic has gone through the fire.
Isn’t that us too? Our spirit shines brighter after going through the fire. Faith is kindled and cools our furnace fiasco, our unquenchable burn through life. God gives direction from within, Holy Spirit flames and Living Water become steam to keep moving us like a locomotive, simmering like a cup of tea, and in awe of quiet peace in our souls like a sweet moment of a baby, a mom, a dad.
Now, we envision this scene from a little bit of clay, but really the simplest of portraits would not capture our hearts image. Isaiah said Jesus would be plain: “There is no beauty that we should desire Him” – so isn’t it most remarkable what our souls see over earthly eyes.
God With Us is Now God Within Us. Can not have a better view than that.
” A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Amen
—
Matthew 1:20-25 NKJV… behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
—
Isaiah 53 NKJV
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked – But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
—
Luke 2:25-35 NKJV
Simeon Sees God’s Salvation
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
The weather was so horrible yesterday for driving, and with all my errands plus commute, I clocked my time in the car in hours. When I got home, I was happy to be home. Living on a hill, I simply ignore everything going on outside. An occasional wind gust caught my attention otherwise I was not thinking about it, yes in a zoom call and then watching a TV show which is outside reaching me, otherwise IN is IN. Oblivious to the outside, until I laid down for bed and over my head out the window, I saw the moon beaming… The storm had passed and I was reminded of looking out. But quickly was asleep.
This is when I realized that my day, our experiences, are like being INSIDE the belly of the whale. Like Jonah do we have insight from being INSIDE the whale? Yes, I was protected inside the belly of the whale of my house, earlier surely protected in my subaru with great tires and traction, protected in my building looking out, and protected in my own mind with knowledge that God is in control. Even the zoom conversation of the crazy news did not deter me from knowing God certainly knows what is going on… (really we must be watchful but not frozen in fear)... When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord…
Oh – fear frozen? Jonah was not frozen but stuck, yeah. Was he fearful? Well yeah! Jonah must have been, but in his many days of adventure, I bet he thought about God being in control, I’m sure he remembered that terrible ship tossing and turning, and being in the water with no hope there. So, was Jonah grateful for the whale?
I don’t know about bellies of whales, but I wonder if Jonah had opportunity to listen for the whale coming up to the surface for breathing. Maybe that sound was like me seeing the moonbeam, a sign of hope in the darkness.
How often we are in the belly of the whale?!!! Rescued but still in danger, transportation in scary surroundings but not yet there. With hope but still seeing hellish times around us. Closing the door to ignore outside, only to see the outside invade our minds… Thinking we need a bigger whale, with breathing room. We have One = our lives realizing God is in control.
Yes, we are in a whale of a delivery from sin and death to salvation. This whale gives us the moment to say Lord, please rescue me.
When we feel like the walls of the whale and gastric juices are going to destroy us, remember it was the Lord who SAVED Jonah and brought him to his appointed duties THROUGH the awfulness of the mix. Remember, we too are still in this crazy life and times mix, listening for that breathing hope… And are we clinging now to the whale or wanting to be regurgitated into our days to get us to see the people God wants us to see, to do His work, which might be delivering a message of warning or of deliverance.
Was Jonah grateful for the whale or the whole rescue from his fear and from his disobedience? Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. Well, in hindsight YES! Was Jonah thankful for seeing the light after his time in darkness? In hindsight yes, and surely in the moment. In foresight perhaps too, because despite surviving the ship tossing and despite surviving the whale adventure, Jonah STILL had to do the original tough job up in dangerous Nineveh.
Don’t we have a ‘whale of a tale’ of how God pulled us out of the sea, but maybe we are still in this whale? Or maybe we have realized that regurgitation and now, we are IN our dangerous Ninevah, speaking of the SALVATION of God, of the KNOWING of Heavenly Hope.
If we have a whale of a tale, of warning or hope, it is certainly that we should have HOPE, AND THEN SHARE THAT HOPE.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Amen
—
Jonah’s Prayer and God’s Answer
Jonah 2 NKJV
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said:
“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me.
“Out of the belly of Sheol [Hell] l I cried, And You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
“Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Quite unusual to remember dreams, yet NOT unusual to have a vivid dream, one that woke me up. I dreamt for some reason that I was a new professor going to give a lecture, on PHYSICS, wow, like high-school level or college, yet the kids were little kids and the fellow professors came too, to evaluate me. Weird. The lecture hall was humongous and old and lots of noisy stuff was going on, like people were wandering in and out. And then I shut the doors and started the lesson energetically. The lesson was to be about potential energy. And?
Well, I started in a way to grab attention in the chaos, started with a light hearted comedic routine, a conversation about someone having potential… They could potentially do this or that… And I was just about to grab my transparencies and start the lecture officially, talking about potential energy, when I woke up.
HMMM…
Isn’t that the truth? When we wake up, we put our personal potential energy and potentially EVERYTHING we have to use.
What will we do today???!!! The potential is endless.
This interestingly, does relate to the next chapter as I’m reading and writing through the Old Testament – and what a blessing to stumble upon an old favorite – Jonah – and to get new INSIGHTS (and I don’t just mean looking from inside the whale).
INSIGHT IS FOUND LOOKING INSIDE YOUR LIFE, HEART, and HOPE in relation to these scriptures.
And the Lord, day to day, has insight into our own motivation, and fear, and that is where we start with Jonah, his fear. The Lord wanted him to go to a place he didn’t want to go and do the work of the Lord that he didn’t want to do, even so much to tell the people on the ship that he was running away from God. We do know that we can’t run away from the Lord. And He will remind us to count upon Him.
I have a friend who’s always saying that she’s gonna go to H.E. double toothpicks and not to Heaven. And that does pertain to Jonah, because the Lord does want us to be with Him, shepherded so much that we don’t get there by our works, only by His pull, His whale of a plan. Christmas-time is also perfect for discussing HOW the Lord came into the world for His mission, a mission to SAVE. Jesus accepted and fulfilled the mission, because the Lord does NOT want us to go to H.E. double toothpicks. Jesus came to the world to free us from the whale of woe, and bring us to Heaven. And that is our potential EVERYTHING, Jesus leading the way.
There’s lots of exciting things in the story of Jonah and there are movies and books and whales of tales (and tails). Jonah, even though he was a prophet, did not want to go preach at Ninevah, the city that was corrupt and scary. He jumped on the boat in the other direction and the storm raised by the Lord made the whole ship fearful. Here’s the part that I somehow breezed over in all my many readings of these chapters, (thus the reason to reread and get new insights), the sailors cast lots to identify Jonah as the cause. Cast Lots! The Lord surely stacked the deck against Jonah hiding, the Lord has the potential EVERYTHING to make ANYTHING go His Way, from lots (chance tickets) to storms, to people, to evil itself all working towards the purposes of the Lord.
Potential Everything… for Jonah, God got him to fess up, jump overboard to save the ship, get swallowed up in a whale for protection and direction and contemplation, because God knew He wanted Jonah for this job.
Potential Everything… for us to!!! God wants us to participate in the basics to the extravagant to the everything, in life. First the basic: BELIEVE. Next the potential: LISTEN. And of course the EVERYTHING: FOLLOW God’s Lead.
Jonah teaches that God will give us the motivation-moving whale too! Jonah shows that our faith will IMPACT other’s faith. Our willingness to BELIEVE and LISTEN and FOLLOW IS the Bible teaching that our lives can demonstrate. Don’t need to let others cast lots to find you, be BOLD in your potential energy to SHINE the Light, and then keep moving.
And apologize too for missteps – we are all prone to them – hopefully they don’t rock the boat too much. Jonah apologized, and made the proper correction at that point. And if we are in a storm, we need to cling to the Lord for calming it.
Well, lots of potential EVERYTHING to learn from the story of Jonah.
May we all see the light for when the whale’s mouth opens and spits us out into today’s POTENTIAL EVERYTHING adventure.
Amen
—
Jonah 1
Jonah Flees From the Lord
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Jonah’s Prayer
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
It’s that busy time of year entering the holidays and actually being in them without having done practically anything. I have eaten so many Christmas cookies from others, but my preps are crumbles in comparison.
And as for myself? Taking care of myself? Seems both selfish and sanity-necessary. That was the conversation between me and my physical therapist (still stretching this partial hamstring tear) and the lady stretching on the table next to me. Physical therapy, 2 hours twice a week is “me time”… funny but true, and we pay for it too.
I mentally said that in this season, something has got to give. Probably we all think that level between giving up and going forward. Like transporting the decorations to my office, but they sit in the box. Like needing to work on stuff and take vacation. It’s like giving into anxiety versus redirecting energy. It’s a rut we keep digging deeper into and not building stairs instead.
We do need to mentally say: this will happen and this won’t. And it does take something like a hamstring tear (or fill-in your issue here) to stop and work on yourself. Physically and mentally.
Mentally, however, I think (know) what “has to give” IS my STUBBORN head trying to DO this whole life thing ON MY OWN. No, I don’t mean just getting Christmas prep done, I mean mentally I need to RELY ON THE LORD 100%. That’s the rift that’s worse than a minor hamstring pull or losing a whole leg, that’s a rift of our will from HIS WILL, and from His guidance and abilities. God DOES know best, why do we struggle in being blind to it. If I complain about my rift compared to His? Hmmmm….
That’s the something that has to give, my (our) lack of consulting the Lord in advance, in the moment, in the struggle, in the JOY, in the EVERYTHING. And our “give” has to be giving back in PRAISE first. And then everything will follow.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, including the ones we have not yet realized were from Him.
I have experienced God placing me, pausing me, pushing me. Haven’t you? I have. I have received and been relieved, so why would I not expect Him to hear my call? I guess, I must know that in giving up my gripes, my mental mouth will quiet and I will hear His voice instead.
Something Has Got to Give? That would be kicking out my stubbornness, my will, my wants. Something Has Got to Give? Give in? My ears to listen. Give out? My praise for Him. Give? Myself.
10 years today I wrote a diatribe venting of my faith, and I realized then in part and realize now that it was me in unbelief with a higher distribution than me in faith. I needed to give 200% to God (that really 1100% as 100% of me with 1000% Jesus), remembering that God’s got this even if we don’t know or understand everything. WHY SHOULD WE? God’s ways are above ours. We need to listen to Him, and obey.
An abundant life is abundance from Him, and abundant listening and obeying from us.
Let us give God the DEVOTION over the “doing this all myself” attitude.
Thank you Lord.
Amen—
An Invitation to Abundant Life
ISAIAH 55
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you – The sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Contemplating Christmas is the shift of the season… my taking a half day off on Friday helped me move into Christmas mode… (plus wearing my Santa pants for comfort and warmth…)
The best inspiration? FRECKLES…
Seeing the FRECKLES of the sweet little girl’s face was seeing the CUTENESS of the season. I was at a Friday night girl scout party helping with the crafts, in charge of the hot glue gun, PERFECT for my skillet and my non-afraid finger burning. I am experienced in that by choice, hot glue guns over white glue are to crafts what the electric sewing machine is to a needle. Faster.
The FACES of the scouts, yeah 150 plus for a rocking dance, cookie, craft event, a service unit MEGA holiday event, were a reminder of the SWEETNESS of children. The beauty of seeing how God made us in His Image is seeing fresh faces. The faces of asking, trusting, and thoughtful crafting minds were the highlight of the evening, better than the Christmas cookies (which were SO GOOD), better than the event I just had left, a tree lighting out in the cold with Santa on his fire truck, BETTER than sitting on my couch contemplating Christmas containers in preparation… (Don’t worry, it will all get done somehow)…
Christmas is best prepared in the heart. Christmas is best shared in the hope. Christmas is KNOWING the LIGHT of the season and SHINING alongside… it’s not necessary to get in the flashy part of Christmas, just the spiritual part.
My Christmas prep includes visiting holiday houses, music programs, etc. And yet helping is better than watching. And those freckles? I was a freckled faced kid too, in sweetness we can help guide the next generation to know sweetness in the Christmas season.
Isn’t Christmas seeing the image of hope in the children? It was surely the hope of Jesus to see people believe in the desire of God, the King of Glory, to come directly to earth to be God with us, Immanuel.
So, here’s a reminder that you and your own face can help make Christmas bright, so get out there and SHINE… A SHINING face is the HEART of God beaming through the rest of life’s ups and downs… Don’t cloud Christmas, let it reign.
Keep Christmas special. Christmas is for children at heart, of all ages.
Amen
—
Psalm 24
Of David. A psalm.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.
Allow me some time to reminisce that it is ten years ago that the Lord was making me “aware of the need to share” – and Facebook was and is a great sharing tool, but it had to blossom into blogs that I could write to order my thoughts and move onto my day. Writing is Journaling. Blogging is exploding. Faith is For Faith’s sake, wherever the Lord’s pulling you.
I certainly did not know, 10 years ago, of our HolySpirit gearing up to EXPLODE in my mind, when the Lord would say “GO”! There’s lots of writing about His Wow, and of methodical teaching me scripture, and lots of processing in between. I knew 2000 writings ago that I was forced into faith sharing electronically to SAY 100% Jesus, I believe in You now… (I’ve even written about that Feb 1, 2015)…
WELL, 10 years ago, I was at my beloved Christmas family band dinner and concert. We had moved to the area 13 years prior (so 23 years now) moved away from family. It was tough and the church embraced us sweetly. The Christmas band concert was a jump start to my Christmas being the first Sunday of December. My first one, 2002, I sobbed crying in the back because my 1 yr old daughter was improving from a bout with RSV and my family was not going to drive home up north. Sobbed and sobbed but this Christmas dinner became my dinner of faith family.
Fast forward… a blessing in the pain…
And DINNER? YUM! Ham, pineapple stuffing, and those little round potatoes from a can in butter and parsley. My kids love them, still buy the cans. (And thanks to the rice pudding angel too, yum…)
At dinner that evening I heard “Come to the Cradle” – “come and find peace” – the Michael Card song for perhaps the first time – this song and singing became my awakening montage – recorded – surely listening 1000 times that season as our worship leader, my now friend, sang it so sweet and in a calling way to really “come and find peace“… In HolySpirit fashion, our sound manager handed me a cd copy of the concert afterwards so I could make recordings for shut ins. Who knew my own faith was shut in TRAPPED in my ego, pride, busyness and ignorance. That was about to change. OH YEAH…
Ten years ago, I can ALSO see and feel the moment of our discussion (probably one of the first, as our contemporary worship leader was fairly new and I didn’t go to those praise band services after traditional service, especially since I was busy in Sunday school), talking about something faith related in the doorway to the dinner and our pastor beckoning him to come eat, but him holding up a “one moment” gesture as he sensed a faith conversation that was immediately important. It was weeks later that it was crucial for me to seek his input to my head explosive in a faith awakening I never saw coming. Real. Really real… GOD. No one else but God.
There’s 10 years of stories and WRITING especially those that first 2 months Dec 2014 – Feb 2015 (with writings that I retroactively posted into blogs after I realized God wouldn’t let me NOT write). So 10 years later, my broken record to some, that I am STILL celebrating the Lord’s victory of awakeningly “putting my head on straight”. Gratefully, my heart was already ready to receive my King… “Every heart prepare Him room.” is what I wrote on that Facebook post on Christmas band concert/dinner day. Yes, the Lord was “in the room” that day and started rearranging the furniture to make MUCH MUCH MORE room in mine!
Thank You Lord!
(Thanks for reading my ramblings)
Here is my Facebook page post, 10 years ago today, and screenshots. The Nativity I placed on my lawn today is a welcome sight to my heart AND mind ready to behold – AMEN:
Dec 7, 2014
“When they say on airplanes: “put your oxygen mask on first before you help others with theirs” – well this also pertains to me and Christmas – i energize and prepare myself for Christmas so that i can spread the joy the rest of the month. An annual tradition at my church fills me with joy – the wonderful Christmas Band Dinner and Concert – this means dinner with a church family who have embraced me and our family in the last 13 years we have been here. It includes not only the moving brass and woodwind ensemble but my favorite sing-a-longs… it feels oh so good to sing the carols no matter how awful i sound!
i have given up that notion of waiting until the end of the month for christmas – and I am allowing myself the whole month of December for Christmas – four whole weeks to share the love of the Christmas season – from teaching sunday school to seeing the lights to being part of the living nativity – eating pineapple stuffing to laughing while doing dishes – i am so blessed to have my church family! Every heart prepare Him room.”
A beautiful prayer gathering I attended last night and our host brought true reminders to “Advent AGAIN” – yes – to pray for a new meaning or revelation or rekindling and certainly a new surrender of anything blocking our view of Jesus our Savior.
To ADVENT fresh and new is something the Holy Spirit always wants, and “Advent-ing” the NEWNESS is the Lord’s Way to approach each day, let alone each year. Advent-ing new as a gifted clue…
I saw this beautiful nested nestled wooden Nativity scene of Joseph surrounding Mary surrounding baby Jesus, precious and true. Advent-ing again, my insight saw Jesus being born within each of us. I have now known this born again as coming from within for almost 10 years now awakened. A marvel to me.
Yes, Jesus placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit God Himself. Jesus, the Word, created everything through God, as the Light that can never be overcome (as our host brought the book of John scriptures to surrender and surround our thoughts in).
I also felt in this wooden Nativity portrayal of Joseph and Mary and Jesus as an Advent-ing-again INSIGHT of the unique portrayal of Adam and Eve people (as if they came from the same origin being from one piece core of wood), having the blessings of beginning the Re-Beginning New Beginning of Jesus and the new Covanent of God with the people (us) beginning salvation inside from within.
Another insight was of Jesus being the vine and us the branches, as surely this wooden set was carved from a tree branch. We need only to just look within, during this Advent Christmas and always, to find new good reconnection to our Lord.
We may surround ourselves or we can be overtaken by the Christmas rush. We may notice a new ornament, too much glitter, but if we stop looking out to look inside, we can see something new that has been newly revealed.
Let us ADVENT a NEW BEGINNING today, and carry that LIGHT with us always.
Amen
–
John 1:1-5 KJV[NIV]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended [or overcome] it not.
—
From Psalm 1 NIV
Blessed is the one…
* whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
* who meditates on his law day and night.
*That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither…
—
John 15:1-11 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.“
I’m shocked that Christmas is coming so fast… yeah, they warned us with a late Thanksgiving, but geez it’s 3 weeks away to Christmas Day. I only got rid of the Halloween candy recently and that was in WARM weather in comparison to the chill now…
It’s not the calendar, but the chill in the air that does help me usher in the feeling of December and that of the Christmas Spectacular almost side show busy. But it’s the reason meaning of Christmas which is captivating. And so, slowly, I have begun another thin precious book (“Why the Nativity” by David Jeremiah who wrote “Answers about Heaven “), about answering questions about the Nativity, not the building but the ENTRY of HEAVENLY HEALING, that comes with JESUS as a BABY. Christmas completed.
I must remind us that Christmas doesn’t start at Christmas. The precariousness that we know of a baby being born in a manger is so unique that it demonstrates ALL THE MORE of God being in charge and giving charge of a baby to a family He picked to shepherd the great Shepherd.
This little book, “Why the Nativity”, inexpensive on ebay, is priceless in the reminder that God sees the fullness of time and our place in it, our moving time is but a small yet crucial placement for Him in us. The book reminds that the prophets were placed to guide us in both knowing what will happen and knowing WHO is happening. God is happened, happening, will happen – because God never changes and always exists. The end is not an end but a beginning we can’t fathom.
Do we have to fear the future? No, God is already there. Just keep moving like that donkey delivered Mary, and carry the LIGHT of the Christmas Spirit always, no matter the date…
Keep John 8:12 in mind:
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
My friend is reducing the volume of her estate to move out of state (please keep her in prayer). She is reducing her items plus that of her mother’s and others. She has shepherded their belongings and their memories so well. She has enjoyed these items, but knows the next chapter is so important with her grandkids, and those are the times and new chapters where they will develop special new memories together. Any book chapter page is flat, but a memory heart chapter is multidimensional with depth and love.
Recently she preciously gave me one beautiful ornament containing the Nativity scene. This ornament was her grandmother’s. I love vintage for sure, but it’s the subject matter that she and I share: a deep love of Jesus and the appreciation that we ourselves are shepherded. Jesus is our Lord and Savior, Jesus is King.
The shepherd on the ornament is clear, remarkably so. Kneeling, dressed, reverent. Shepherded by the angels to visit the baby, he will learn from his heart that this is no ordinary baby, this baby will and already did Shepherd our hearts, tending to the tender moments, shoring up the tough times, making a way where there was no way, and laying His body down for the sake of our salvation. We are shepherded by God and God is love.
We can be a part of shepherding in Christmas and Christ for others, as long as we ourselves be the sheep Shepherded by our Savior, listening for His Word, comfort, and correction. And for us to be Shepherded by the faith instilled in us, we can do hard things too.
This is tough, for her to move, and I cheeringly said: “the best vintage item your kids and grandkids want is you.” We all need to remember that the items are just items, even the ornaments, but Jesus is our All in All. Follow the Shepherd. Be a Flock on the move, then rest with Him at the gate.
Amen
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” An angel speaking to Mary. Luke 1:37
Jesus said: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:10-11, 14-18
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke 2:20
It was a beautiful Living Nativity during the Rockettes Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
The whole program was SPECTACULAR, and yet the Nativity scene I did not expect and that brought a tear to my eye, as I appreciated reverence and realness to the season. Yes, was beautiful to hear the scriptures and see these devout scenes, singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing in a public presentation, including an angel, Maji and camels and they spoke of gifts for a King, to be a Healer. The people clapped, I felt HOPE in that too, people hearing a message of HOPE.
Christmas in NYC is special, the crisp weather and colorful decorations (even if the main tree wasn’t yet lit until later this week, it WAS impressive to see). It’s ALL a sight to behold, but wow lots of people and at Bryant Park I was balking at the $5 apple cider donuts but realizing that location location location is what people are paying for, not just the donuts. And as we DO bite into the commercialism too much, and me seeing Santa’s on every bike-taxi plus 40 more on stage at Radio City, we puff Christmas into flossy candy strewn everywhere like tinsel…
An overload in stimulus has to be counteracted with good walking shoes and not trying to take it all in. Grateful I’ve been to NYC recently and this felt like I could just galk at everything and not be a super tourist indulging. So it’s OK if you simply take in that Christmas in New York City, or anywhere, as a display of a Christmas that is felt and enjoyed as a season of LOVE.
I sat in Radio City’s first floor section thinking about Annie in the 1980’s movie scene for the time they got to go to Radio City, and her amazement, which the place has amazed for almost 80 to 90 years. Vintage classic, I love the art deco, thinking of 40’s fancy ladies resting in the powder room’s comfy green chairs. This is the first time I’ve seen the Rockettes perform, although I’ve been on a couple on tours of the building previously. It was unmistakably amazing to see the Rockettes timing and sound of the tapping and especially that slow toy soldier domino effect of being knocked down and holding each other. Also, so cool was the color images in projection all throughout the theatre walls, THAT was unexpected and not anything you could appreciate fully unless you sat under it, even fake snow… There were drones in flight, and Santa shadows that moved in independence, and the fireworks and Santa’s sleigh that zoomed right off the stage into the sky. Spectacular.
We rode with friends into the city after lunch at a familiar place and then went back home via a train after a long day. I still remember the little things of the day, things to remember and things to forgive and forget. Isn’t that like Living IN a Nativity ourselves? Taking in the majesty of Jesus being born, then living out our days as Jesus would, noticing details, helping. Living IN the moment.
Living IN Nativity was seeing the smart little girl at lunch knowing her colors, especially PURPLE. Her parents didn’t mind her gibber-gabbering to me and I gave her my little plastic turtles that I fished out from my purse, she will have more fun with them than me. They reminded me of my friend who has a t-shirt with the phrase “I taught the turtles to sing” referring to God majesty in creating. And living in the moment was seeing an inquisitive little boy at the entrance of the theater trying to re-hook the ribbon separator, I realized that I could help him learn how it worked while we waited. When I see people whom I will never see again, I wonder if in Heaven we will run into each other.
And when we were hightail hiking down to the train, all needing the decompression we all did from an over-extravagent day, I appreciated reverence of the Living IN Nativity as I saw particular shops “randomly” next to each other display “free gift” and “Grace” Cafe… yes… It was a reminder to me to give forgiveness to scenes where I felt hassled and ask forgiveness for when I hassled the scene. For Jesus with living out of the Nativity scene gave us grace as a free gift.
Living IN Nativity is letting God fix things, but you watch the events unfold like the unbundled Christmas tree limbs falling down into place…
Living IN Nativity is being THANKFUL, reverent, real. Living IN Nativity is living in the moment, and being in timelessness of finding the LOVE of the season, in ALL seasons, gifted before tracking time ever began.
Living IN Nativity is LOVE!
Amen and Spectacular!
—
Luke 2: 8-14, KJV. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
It’s not just that I DON’T NEED anything shopping-wise for Black Friday, it’s also just so nice to be HOME, day off… No shopping for TVs, no electronics, no groceries, no fuss… Even the red subaru in the driveway contented to rest, was more decorative than driven with the rain bringing down bright matching red leaves on it. Gorgeous.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day yesterday. I am SO THANKFUL for home, my crew being here.
New stuff we ate, but of old-time homebody classics of turkey, stuffing, cranberry etc. A mixture of easy store-bought mixed with homecooked – that’s the homebody way. I pulled out a picnic table red gingham tablecloth so not traditional, but one from my grandmother’s farmhouse, to pair, not matching at all, with the dishes from my other grandmother. New food, old structure, memories made smiles in my heart.
Just like the food mixture store and made, yesterday, I have old-school technology around me today plus new technology – it’s a mix. Yes, conveniently new technology does exist in this house (I am writing on my phone), but homebody joy is making it all work to make life more slowed down easy, at least for one day.
So, no Black Friday shopping needed today, even if it just a click away. We went old school yesterday with finding the old VHS player and watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Great Pumpkin – easier than a streaming service! Nice… In that old school search, I also found the DVD player and TV antenna insignia box that we got years ago, and yes this morning I hooked it up.
So where is my devotion in all this? It’s that the Lord gives time to ponder… Sitting here, I am finding time in my pondering to be close to both joy in isolationism on a day of escapism from commercialism, and that the kids are asleep, and that there is more pie in my future.
So I will – hope you will take some peace today to yourself.
Tomorrow is another day, and a weekend at that, and so tomorrow we will ponder some more… in the meantime I ponder homebody-style.
Thank you Lord for the pondering and the peace…
And the pie...
Amen
—
From Psalm 34:8-14
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
I thought many thoughts sorting antiques – mine my family’s and friends – family heirlooms yes and maybe – many thoughts including “what would I think” if I were watching someone look and touch or not value or donate and even toss my stuff. Would I care then, in Heaven, like I would now, if they didn’t match the usefulness to the stuff?
It is that saying: “So and so would be rolling over in their grave”… Really, we understand that concept, that they wouldn’t or don’t like what you are doing and it twists them when already dead… like redoing a musical piece of Beethoven would upset him. But really, then again, maybe not. Maybe worldliness washes away with death.
NOT rolling over – For if our deaths are LIFE AGAIN, life at rest AND blessedly LIFE WITH JESUS, then how would we NOT forgive earthly faux-paux’s which are nothing more than clearly clearing up what you don’t need. (And probably didn’t need half of it alive either – we are all like this, me too)…
Jesus said “you can’t take it with you”, especially because we DON’T NEED IT. I mean wouldn’t you react with JOY that someone might enjoy your stuff rather than it carry dust?
And for us to get upset WHILE WE ARE DEAD seems a waste of time. We will then be the dust then anyway (and not immediately the dust on the stuff left behind, unless you have detailed that for the crematorium and paid extra for dust distribution. LOL
(I digress… )
Surely, if we were seeing the FACE OF JESUS right now, in death, in restful death, of Him holding us in His arms, would we care who is holding, *or not holding*, our earthly stuff? Would we cause drama for earthly things? Would we turn from JESUS’S FACE to look at a Mr Peanut coin bank from 1970’s plastic palooza? NO!
NO!
(And maybe the thrift shops with our donations can reap the cash to help others)
Who’s holding our legacy too? Are we not broken people already marveling at other’s brokenness right now – but yet now, TRADE THAT THOUGHT for the HEALING that HEAVEN brings – and the HEALER Whom made/makes Heaven Harmonious.
Jesus, yes, Jesus loves us both in forgetting and in remembering. Surely with our loved ones and with their stuff, we can LOVE and be fair and be respectful AND NOT JUDGE. Jesus is Whom holds us from NOT rolling over in our graves – as we are held instead in His Graces. We are held forgivingly in His Love. No need to turn away from that!
So don’t remember the stuff over the person. Remember the love too. Remember the Lord in all, He gave His LIFE for Loves sake.
Don’t turn to look anywhere but at the LOVE.
Amen
Proverbs 23:4-5
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
Psalm 48
Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me – those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them – the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough – so that they should live on forever and not see decay.
For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.
This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. Though while they live they count themselves blessed – and people praise you when you prosper – they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life.
People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.
—
Ecclesiastes5:10-12
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
—
1 Timothy 6:7-21 – a letter
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.
I looked up to the sky (well actually the ceiling as I was inside) as I was PRAISING GOD for some good data in the lab, PROGRESS. And it hit me, just Holy Spirit fashion just then, seeing the fire alarm label, it said POTTER. Hmmmm… our Heavenly Father Potter. Hmmmm…
Yes, for this lab work, it’s been quite the process for FINDING THE TIME, bigger chunks of time, to do the lengthy steps. It’s not that the work is hard, but it has to be precise, and it really needs time – uninterrupted time. OH, TIME… Oh that’s what a Potter needs, to work us with TIME. Lord, You do know that we need Your help and molding.
And then I thought it funny when the graphical output of some of my data had 2 humps in the unmistakable reminder of a TV cartoon monster from Bugs Bunny – so funny – I saw the orange hairy monster instantly in my head. Our brains and memories are so marvelous. I mentioned this to my coworker of the same vintage and she said “the one with the sneakers?” YEAH!
The monster wasn’t scary to Bugs Bunny and Bugs always had an ulterior motivation of distraction that fueled his actions, like pretending to give this monster a spa treatment day just for distraction… Why this all screamed in my head I don’t know…
What was I talking about? Oh yes, the fire alarm, THE POTTER, oh yes THE FATHER, OH YES THE PRAISING! But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
And what about ‘the pottery of us’??? Of me??? Was I being tested to see if I could find that level of asking for help? Was I just in a place to be place-held for Your purposes, Lord, unknown and known? What step is this in my life as clay? As formed? As drying and getting stronger, or fired in the kiln ready for decoration… ??? Hmmmm…. The fire alarm was quiet, but the scripture reference blasted into my head all weekend, even seeing other references. The Potter.
Hmmm… if my brain thinks randomly with cartoon characters, then surely I need the scriptures even more to refocus me… And then even more I must believe God’s non-random signal is simply to know that: I am HIS. WE ARE HIS. And keep keepin’ on…
Oh, MOLD ME, Lord, and please do let me see the finished product someday with Jesus leading the Way, His Way.
This clay and Potter scripture from Isaiah (excerpts 64:4-9 below) does speak VOLUMES of who God is, and the blessings of us being molded, BEING SAVED, being attended to because of God’s Righteousness. And it speaks of a people Israel who failed to follow God, and it speaks of ALL of us needing to return to God as Lord.
May we return and capture our thoughts into Your clay too, Lord, help mold our steps today.
Amen
—
For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned – In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved.
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But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. …
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But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
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Do not be furious, O Lord, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look – we all are Your people!
“You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
Some of the best assurances and warnings of the strength of the Almighty Lord is to understand His tough love policy for those who stray. It is still and always will be love because God is love. A squishy pushover love it is NOT, because God has enough power to destroy and correct what He made on the largest stage, and save, in the smallest behind the scenes moment. Therefore we must be tapped into the love of healing and knowledge of good and evil.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land – the Lord is his name.
Surely, the wayward chosen people of Israelites and Judah-ites were needing the reminder of compliance, as Amos the prophet gave. And so are we – to be reminded to stay devoted. The saved remnant of folks, from the tribes of Jacob, were described like a burning stick snatched from the fire, saved just in time.
We now in life still fraught with society going every which way, should be thankful for we are in the boat with Jesus and able to say: “Lord, douse me with your LIVING WATER”…
God’s love never fails and unlike unfaithfulness waywardness which relies on crumbling human-invented paths, “those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground”, God’s love and God’s ability is the STRENGTH of the whole SYSTEM. God’s righteousness and God’s justice will root out evil at the time of the harvest. Therefore let us be in the system of good, of devotion, of love, and share the fruitfulness from our watered souls, living as God’s love ‘through us’, not just ‘to us’.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Let us all keep living and loving. Pray to walk with the God Who is with us.
Amen
—
Amos 4:11 – Amos 5:17
“You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.”
He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the Lord God Almighty is his name.
A Lament and Call to Repentance
Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.”
This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek me and live;
do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba.For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
Seek the Lord and live,
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land – the Lord is his name.
With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says: “There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
When you wake up from a dream, weird wacky or scary dream,
Remember that at night you’re being taken care of by God’s Dream-Correcting Team.
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When the weirdness of dreams all blows away like dust,
Remember that IN GOD WE TRUST
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For the themes and things that dreams work on, minor stuff can now blow away like fluff.
And the major thought things are best handled by God – God reminds: “I AM ENOUGH!”
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GOD TAKES CARE OF IT ALL, There is no thought to tough,
God says “I know the hard stuff.”
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And if our thoughts are trouble for all, let’s redirect them to be captives of Christ, remembering scripture by Paul.
Take to Jesus because of God’s Power, Jesus is WILLFULLY forgiving us, forgiving all.
Just give Jesus a call.
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His Love and His Grace covers all.
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Amen
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Paul wrote to the Corinthians 2nd, 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
It’s gratitude, not attitude, the Lord God Almighty wants compliance over complaining. Listening over lame excuses. We should be thankful for we do know God’s thoughts in His scriptures. We do know what mercy is. And we should know that without God’s mercy and grace, we would not be running this race. Really, how many times do we know this already, but God wants us to know Him intimately, really know, Him. Intimate not ignorant.
He is truly reminding us to be ready to know Him one day at His judgment throne, but really to know Him as ALMIGHTY ALREADY.
Israel’s people in the wayward days and years, hundreds of years, as re-told by Amos, prophet during the divided kingdom years, called out the obvious – the people would actively sin but make the sin offering sacrifices as rote duty, then go back sinning and worshipping other gods. They were arrogant, not ignorant. They knew better. They did not act better. Their history included prophesy of a Savior in David’s line, a rescuer and ruler. So paying attention to the real and realness of God is required.
We should know this too. We should keep God in our undivided devotion. Does this mean we don’t live? No, contrary, it means we live ACTIVELY and live actually more ABUNDANTLY, knowing our job is to LIVE and LOVE, so we love VIGOROUSLY and with VITALITY and PURPOSE.
Best phrases in the Bible include this one, told to the troubled souls: “PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD!”… Well, surely our Savior in Jesus calls our names and saves.
Yes, Amos knew we and others needed this truth for reminding us of God’s power. “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS HIS NAME.”
Don’t confuse the knowing of God’s thoughts with freedom to forget them.
I’ve seen arrogance as a play and a ploy, but it IS being in God’s service I will enjoy.
Amen, and thank You Lord for forgiveness in Jesus. Thank You Lord for showing us the Way. Love over listlessness. Shepherding over sleep-walking. Home over hassle or hustle. . Waking us for Walking. Forgiveness For Forevermore. Again and Amen
Amos 4 Israel Has Not Returned to God Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” declares the Lord. “Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings – boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.”
He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS HIS NAME.
It is a blessing to know that there are those who help – who lay down their lives to help – and we salute Veterans’ Day thanking those who served – we cherish Armistice Day grateful for a stop to fighting in World War One – and (new to me) learn about St. Martin’s Day and his gift of half his cloak in a cold winter to a beggar with none.
This is the season of thankfulness, of helping, of harvest and of fruits and vegetables that last – if kept in cool temperatures – like squash and apples – seeds and nuts… This is the season of cooler temps and today (first time in over a month) there is rain – beautiful rain – and perfect season setting…
The story of St Marin (from Wikipedia) says that ‘Martin of Tours (died 397) was a Roman soldier who was baptized as an adult and became a bishop in Gaul. He is best known for the tale whereby he cut his cloak in half with his sword, to give half to a beggar who was dressed in only rags in the depth of winter. That night Martin had a vision of Jesus Christ wearing the half-cloak.’
Jesus is our hero and our martyr and our helper and our priest above all priests – above all angels – above all saints. Jesus IS God – and this act of helping one person is the act of helping Jesus – as Jesus said Himself, like the song lyric: ‘whatever you do for the least of my brothers – that you do unto me’…
And with my aptly-found printout of the Lost Son Parable from Luke 15, we remember that God as the Father to His wayward children – He is always looking for us to come home.
And so today – we remember – we remember the helpers – like the soldiers and the peace keepers – we remember those who remember us and share with us – and we remember the ultimate remembering: THAT GOD LOVED US FIRST.
God loved us so much to help us.
Thank you Jesus.
Amen
—-
The Sheep and the Goats – Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
On the back door of the tractor trailer in front of me the other night, during stop and go traffic, was some dust writing, a clean clearing of a smear in the corner. Written was “MATTHEW 6:13″… I followed for a while, tried unsuccessfully to capture a good reflecting image. Later I looked up Matthew 6:13 as soon as I safely could… It was a sign for sure, really all scripture is a good sign to pay attention – yeah – all scripture is good for teaching and reminding.
This one especially Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Ahhhh… good scripture and a prayer, these phrases spoken by Jesus that are captured in Matthew are for teaching the prayer of all prayers – the Lord’s Prayer. And a plea for us to not be in temptation, including the temptation to go it alone without our anchor of the Lord, our wave calmer. And there is a praise of the Lord’s Almighty Glory.
YES – Matthew is the gospel of identity for new followers of Jesus at the time and for all of us now, and therefore so much great advice in how to live.
Let us know the stability and strength of the Lord. Let us kneel in admiration, asking forgiveness, accepting mercy and His Grace. Let us pray His prayer. Let us keep truckin’ along.
Amen
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Jesus said:
“therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
—
Matthew 6
New King James Version
Jesus speaking:
Do Good to Please God
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
The Model Prayer
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.Your kingdom come.Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting to Be Seen Only by God
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Lamp of the Body
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
You Cannot Serve God and Riches
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Do Not Worry
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
( I purposefully have not looked at election results this morning until I could send this devotion out – written in my head last night – God wins my vote above all – Thank You Jesus)
The closeness of the call – “Battlegrounds are too early to call” – that is the statement on the top of the news channels election night – just after the polls were closing – and even when some people were still in line. These battlegrounds are the grounds which have seen too much bickering and mudslinging – not enough ground to house all that mud. We don’t even have rain to make mud – it is all just dust – blinding dust – choking and bad. The closeness of the call is just that – a call in which you discern it is close enough to realness to make a prediction. everyone just wants it called correctly.
Close calls – some are so lifesaving – like “almost” in a car accident – a close call. “Almost” a deer running in front of your car. “Almost” missing a deadline but not.
Close calls – some are soul-soothing – like a distant relationship perhaps between a child or a parent – and just a phone call makes it “close” as in bringing someone mentally closer to you and when you hear their voice – that erases distance. Now add video calls and meetings and we are as close as we think we are. Wow – and so soul-soothing.
Close calls – one might be the “close” same spelling but different word – as in “closing call” – the “closing call” says – last chance. And here is another “closing call” – which would be a “closure call” – when my father-in-law was struggling and about to pass away and we were waiting for his youngest son who was in army duties and trying to rush home – and someone said to just find a phone and call home – and that call and just hearing his son’s voice was as close as close could be for that moment – and the closure of that call was immediate – and my father-in-law passed away just then…
Close calls – some are soul-saving – as in we know Who to call in need – we call Jesus.
WE CALL “JESUS” – we lift our hand as Peter did in the sinking feeling – and Jesus was right there – IMMEDIATELY. He was as close as a call – but even closer because Jesus was ALREADY at His side. In a predicament that would have you/me/we crying out – calling – making a call – well the closeness of THAT call – of that reaching out and up – is not even needing to pick up the phone but to open up one’s heart – Jesus is already here with us.
Jesus and His vastness and His forgiveness and His closeness is already instilled inside of us. Peter did not have to wait to have the rescue – the rescue was immediate. We don’t have to wait either – it is not going to be a close call of almost caught – it is going to be CAUGHT, rescued, SAVED.
IMMEDIATELY JESUS REACHES – even before you fall.
If in elections “Battlegrounds are too early to call” – then don’t make life a battleground – instead rely, submit, surrender, hope in Jesus and feel the truth that the battle is done – Jesus has won. This would not be a call in which you discern it is “close enough” to realness to make a prediction call, like an election, because Jesus has MADE a selection – Jesus selected to save YOU.
Jesus has won – that is truth and He IS our close call. Rely on Jesus.
Jesus is the call for ALL.
Amen
—-
Matthew 14:22-33 NIV
Jesus Walks on the Water Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
IMMEDIATELY Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
What a way to be an ENCOURAGER today!!!! Worked as a water table volunteer at the marathon…
At the start of the 5 hour shift, I raked empty cups towards the trash and out of the way of the runners getting water. Then served water with a hoop and holler as we were mile 24, just 2 miles away from the finish. After we finished at mile 24, I was humbled and energized at the 25 mile point with that water crew to do the macarena and electric slide in encouraging the runners who were after the sweep team, so no medal, but still going to finish. It was encouraging to see the young student volunteers. It was a blessing to yell my heart out.
ESPECIALLY cool that most the runners had their names on their shirts!!! Fabulous.. we can’t all run, but we can be cup fillers! Spirit cups! I had no idea most would have names on their shirts. Catching a glimpse of faces, smiles, etc was really good. 5000 volunteers, 50000 runners.
Cool…Fun…Blessed…
I was inspired by the helpers who came to the sides of the walkers… And as for the t-shirts, they spoke volumes in supporting causes, people, life. Again, the names were great, it was SO personal. We could yell their actual names and if there was no name just cheer “you got this”. Or teams like “Fred’s Team” or Team Italia… Many easy names and some not so easy, I didn’t want to mispronounce, that’s important and you had to appreciate one shirt which said “Mari not Mary” – we all like to be known as us, our unique selves don’t we, proper spelling and annunciation.
Thank God, God knows us, not just our names but everything… Yes, God knows both the earthly given name and a new name reserved for them in Heaven. Some people think they have to throw the “Hail Mary” to get to Heaven, but Jesus is already making them a spot at the dinner table. Jesus, call our names!!!
Jesus knows the name to call each person. Jesus said to John in Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”
We have a marathon of life, we need to listen to Jesus calling and calming, take His Water to our use. Surely we can hear our name in His Spirit. We can know He knows us. And perk up a bit or a lot when called.
It wasn’t just the bite of the cat when she thought I was ignoring her and running away this morning, I really wasn’t, I also actually DREAMED about her nip on my elbow, waking me up, and knew the reminder to get back to Joel the prophet, and my reading and writing. I am now in the last slim sections of the old testament, prophets abound with advanced advice. It is given with an wrap up punch. Lots of history. But compared to forever, a small slice of situational severity.
Yeah, there’s something to be said completing the reading of the Bible, I’m ALMOST there, filling my knowledge gap in these 10 years into my awakening. It wasn’t about a Bible rapidness, devotions devoured, but devotion newly discovered. My journey and likely yours too, has been page by page prodding by the Lord to absorb knowledge of Him and how He expresses His love to us. I bet the timing to finish these chapters is no accident. It’s a decade of devotion writing. I am reminded that the Lord has been devoted to us from before He began the universe. Jesus already set to save. The harvest now holding on for collection.
No wonder with this much devotion from the Lord, He had and has lessons to teach, waywards to warn and regroup. The old testament plights are for those to beg to not go back there in waywardness.
I heard that Joel the prophet’s writing could be applied for many stages of the plight of the wayward Israelites and Judah-ites who weren’t devoted as they could be, then devoured by exile to Babylon, escape to Egypt, and all generations in wandering plight in the punishment of their wayward ways. There were constant reminders to follow God in prescribed sacrifice and devotion, the promise of prosperity, but their worship of false idols prevailed and distracted them.
We all need to focus on the gifts over the gripes.
Halloween 31OCT is today, there is surely more fun than fright. They have parades not plight. But pockets of false idols and evil creep in, like excessive sugar pouncing unsuspecting souls. There are moments we fail to pay attention to each other, an evil of self-indulgence. There are idol-worship times of “keeping up with the neighbors” getting bigger and bigger yard displays, Halloween AND Christmas. It is SO GOOD to have Thanksgiving with simple thankfulness in the middle.
So we know there are ignorant times where we forget to count our blessings, not remembering that the Lord does want us to FOCUS on the future WITH HIM, step by step now, one day, one moment at a time, and not get bogged down by today’s pressures. We forget about our fortunes and surely our forgiveness in the Lord and start to fight each other where we should be forging ahead for the sake of others yet to hear.
We need to be teaching preaching reaching at a faster pace than the locust can devour a crop of people behind us. The scripture reminder is of the losses, the scripture prophecy is for and of the day of the Lord coming back too. Rend your hearts, see His sacrifice, know His Salvation.
Therefore let us stoke up the Holy Spirit fire of faith and keep going… Look for the Lord to lead the Way. Keep walking faster than those locusts.
Amen
“Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.“
Amen
—
Joel 1, Joel 2:1-13
The Locust Plague in Judah
The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
The Land Laid Waste
Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;
And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
Awake, you drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine,
For it has been cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up against My land,
Strong, and without number;
His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.
He has laid waste My vine,
And ruined My fig tree;
He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;
Its branches are made white.
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
For the husband of her youth.
The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord.
The field is wasted,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
The vine has dried up,
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also,
And the apple tree—
All the trees of the field are withered;
Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Mourning for the Land
Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
Into the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
O Lord, to You I cry out;
For fire has devoured the open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
The beasts of the field also cry out to You,
For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the open pastures.
The Day of the Lord
Chapter 2
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like swift steeds, so they run.
With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.
Before them the people writhe in pain;
All faces are drained of color.
They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ranks.
They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not cut down.
They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.
The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
It was a glimpse of my friend’s hair then stature then face that caught my eye at a recent town festival. We embraced immediately. Love that lady!!! and I feel love from her.
It did NOT matter that we had different color stickers on, acquired from opposite sides of the pavement pounder party pushers. We embraced and together perhaps not our stickers touched, but our souls did, as did our hearts. And we made quite the PURPLE PAIR.
Purple is red and blue – blue and red – PURPLE. Purple is the color of PEACE. Purple is the color of the royal prince of PEACE. Purple is the POWERFUL PEACE color for JESUS.
I’m glad that we can come together in purple. I’m blessed to know that we are together in Jesus.
Jesus said that someday we will all worship in spirit and in truth. We know from the Old Testament of many , many , many different lines of people and faiths and attitudes… we today are splintered light.
I pray we all see the light of Jesus.
Purple power to bring PEACE.
Amen
—
John 4:19-42
The [Samaritan] woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
The Whitened Harvest
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
The Savior of the World
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
“So you, by the help of your God, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.“
I’m stretching my left leg these days, it’s a small hamstring thing, it WILL get better I am assured. No worries. I tested my right leg in the same stretching exercises yesterday to see if it’s general old age or specific issue – but it’s specific, the right leg is fine. I’ve got the hamstring and also some hip pain, but it’s not something to stop walking, if anything I need to be walking more, good for every part of my body.
I joked that the Lord touched my hip, like Jacob, to get my attention. To both Jacob and me, we had to keep walking, be the “walking led” rather than “the walking dead”.
Jacob is so crucial in Bible history and fulfilling prophecy, he is the one whom God rename Israel, and his 12 sons, 12 tribes of Israel brought forth the tribe families. Sure, they were much trouble too, from the Joseph situation down the well, to the continued lack of following the Lord. Many times corrected and still in need of rescue.
Hosea spoke of Jacob in the prophet-way of their people needing directions and correction. Spoke of Jacob struggling (touching his brother’s heal, finding how to steal a birthright, and in getting the wife he wanted) and spoke concerning Jacob struggling until he found God. And then these words of Jacob getting his spouse: “Jacob fled to the country of Syria; Israel served for a spouse, And for a wife he tended sheep. By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet he was preserved.”
Wow, doesn’t that sound like Jesus too? Serving for tending sheep (us), searching for a wife (us the church as His Bride), a time in Egypt, and a preservation (Jacob and sons by Joseph’s generosity and forgiveness and US as Gentiles and Israelites saved by Jesus fulfillment of prophesy)… wow…
Yes, old testament Hosea wrote of the time and the struggles. We can read in the salvation and the Savior… we can know to reach for God rather than struggle.
Thank You Lord for us being YOUR “walking led”… Keep walking my friends.
Amen
—
Hosea 12
“Ephraim feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and desolation.
Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
“The Lord also brings a charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he struggled with God.
Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His memorable name.
So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.
“A cunning Canaanite!
Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
And Ephraim said,
‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’
“But I am the Lord your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.”
Though Gilead has idols—
Surely they are vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
Jacob fled to the country of Syria;
Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
It was really special to be home for a short day and have dinner with my family. It’s nothing like having your own family around your birthday time. It’s authentic and it feels so good.
The talk at the table was about the Fall foliage and how it is different this year and they have not lost their leaves yet, and the colors are muted. But when I drove through the mountains, those colors were vibrant.
People like to look for authentic seasons. I think this eighty degrees is very strange for october. It looks like fall, but it doesn’t feel like fall.
The books at the booksale could have keep me busy shopping for days. I had just a short time and found a few things. Mostly I just enjoyed looking. I did not pick up any of these assorted books about Jesus (in the photo)- but got some Bibles, Red Letter Bibles. That’s where Jesus’s words are highlighted. And I thought to myself it’s wonderful to write about Jesus, I certainly do, however I want to read DIRECTLY from Jesus… Somebody else’s interpretation may not be authentic to me. We need to read and know TRUTH.
Authentic… That’s the best…
Our PERSPECTIVE… it changes like the fall foliage, about how you envision where you are from, and where you see yourself in time. But Jesus? That’s an authentic relationship to give us HIS perspective.
It’s a GOOD day for a GOOD day… a new day. The poets agree, the prophets agree, the people agree… And GOD? God MADE it a NEW day.
I shut down my computer after work yesterday and walked into a short vacation, a mental and physical one, with part of this quote (displayed at work) fresh on my mind:
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oh yeah!
And the sunrise in the mountains today on vacation, it was worth the chill walking… It’s a new fresh good day.
What makes it good? All good things are from God. Well, we are reminded of God being with us all the time. That is Good, that is God. God wants only good for us!(sometimes we need tough love but it’s love all God to bring the good out of it.)
The new-to-me person at work saw my bracelet of the scripture: “I can do all things through Christ”, and surely he did not hesitate to tell me God was with me, with us. God is good. All the time, even when we forget.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Let us not forget about this being a fresh new day, a moment of peace, a sunrise sweet, a day begun. A day born but even better, we are born into TRUTH, of our blessings through Jesus. God wanted and WANTS to call us the GOOD of His morning.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Today there’s places to go, talking to do, rest to take, hope to hold, and nightfall again to come. Yet constant in our days is the newness and the Lord.
GOD IS GOOD… let us walk with Him, He already walks with us.
Amen
James 1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
I thought I am SO busy I don’t know if I have time to write this morning but the Lord showed me something on the floor in the clutter of the room, but for a moment I thought it was one of my dollar store stickers that said: “FAITH does not make it easy – FAITH makes it POSSIBLE”… Amen to that and then some. Amen to not easy. Amen to FAITH making things work, and work together for His purposes. We can believe in this message. We can believe God will ALREADY and ALWAYS be with us. (and especially since He Holy Spirit used but a swirl in my vision for something that was NOT that sticker – wow)
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37 KJV… This was the angel Gabriel talking about Jesus to fulfill a plan for forever. If God can work out the WHOLE plan in advance and see it succeed, He can work on our plans now, as we faithfully try to align with Him. We project tough things into this trust statement if we trust God’s Word, which we should. We should also remember FAITH is believing in things and direction unseen. We got to give it to God…
Mary and Elizabeth would bear sons of great importance… Jesus and John the Baptist… surely God can help us with the little and big things today and always…. let us apply FAITH. Jesus IS the Possible – Trust God for everything possible.
Amen
—
Luke 1:26-38 NIV
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Beach reading… Heaven… both being at the beach just for the afternoon and reading in this little book about Heaven, yeah. I love understanding more about Heaven – and how we will get there. make no assumptions about angels and know that Jesus IS the Way. “…and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”
Angels. It’s something we don’t think about, Angel armies. Yes, we believe in an angel here and there intervening “if we’re lucky” – but all of scripture shows God’s workers are working everyday everywhere. If we can appreciate the companionship of a cat or dog, can we wrap our heads about the constant buffer zone of angels? … hmmm… I know there is a purpose in protecting people, we are God’s children.
I enjoy the summer and stretching it. 75 degrees in October for us is unusual and still ice cream weather. But my palate has now changed from key lime and toasted coconut which were my summer flavors to now Nutella ice cream, oh… yum… Autumn holding onto summer – this is the transition time to show us all seasons are beautiful. Every season has a flavor and space.
And I saw the Camp Meeting Ocean Grove tent cabins stripped down without their canopies, flowers, decorative pieces. If you saw one alone you would think it’s the size for lawnmowers and yet collectively and then when open, they collect people together for community. These beautiful things are from the late 1800s early 1900s and colorful and a statement of sturdy yet temporary, like us on earth..
The chapel near the big tabernacle is even older than the tabernacle and the doors were open so I walked in. The windows stood as a testament to faith of long gone souls moved on… The simple arrangement of pews and altar was quiet and yet I felt a reverberation echo of faith from the ones who still bring the Spirit here to worship. It’s a time capsule of what the angel armies helped the faithful build.
After some ice cream I took a powerful nap on the beach, resting a pulled leg hip muscle. Sat on the beach (yes there were about a hundred people in my sights) reading and listening to waves and eating a delicious takeout pork roll egg cheese sandwich (it’s a jersey thing). And as I promised myself in compromise, I parked my chair next to the charging station at the boardwalk pavilion. Back to the sun, summer in the past, work in the front.
Yes, I brought my laptop as I’m trying to write the missing sections of my presentation about my sabbatical, which is very elaborate and in teaching style, and no one is even asking me to do it, but I feel an intense drive to present it, 3 different presentations. Yeah. It’s my vehicle for encouragement, science style, to find the passion in the project and the learning and in using your skills. A woman walked by and commented at what a wonderful outdoor office I had – and yes I said it was a work presentation I was trying to finish – she said “may the sun set on your presentation that you finish it”… Nice.
Ah, angel armies – if we have the drive to work, and finish work, imagine that the angels have a never ending drive and ability. It’s not that we tempt God and His angels for protection (Jesus told us not to), but angel armies are a buffer zone for us to keep living to our fullest! And confidence builders to open new chapters and close the old ones too. Like the closing of the season, it finishes. Don’t worry, there will be new seasonal joys ahead…
Enjoy this next quarter rotation around the sun… Enjoy the fall season and the never ending season of angel armies protection. Don’t be afraid to finish what you started so that you can start something new.
Smile, God loves us.
Amen
Matthew scripture about Jesus and angels: and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.I find that we might all be more fulfilled when we have the blessing in finding a place for God to use us. I believe in the “Holy Spirit push pull and drop you into place”. I believe we can make immense impacts in serving. I believe in God’s ability to show each person their purposes by His gifts to them. I believe no gift is too small.
Every person is different, so each God-given-gift is uniquely different and purposeful expressed through them. Imagine a world of people who know this, share this, live in this – that would be Heaven on earth.
Some examples that just strike me include: Search and rescue people, teachers, counselors, support services, musicians, comedy folk, muscles for moving stuff, people with big trucks willing to help, animal care folks, food delivery, community servants, teachers, group leaders, medical teams, most everyone who helps, people with supportive smiles everywhere.
If you have any skills, then use any means to share them. And don’t grow weary, because it’s not about the thank you but the God view…
And weariness might take a toll, but each day is a fresh start. Don’t forget God made this day, keep going.
Keep going…
Amen
—
Galatians 6:1-10 NKJV
Bear and Share Burdens
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.
Be Generous and Do Good
Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
When one pulls a muscle, it’s like every cell, every muscle strand has to get fixed. One wouldn’t replace to repair the whole thing without complete surgery, it’s not like putting in a modular component like a new light bulb. Big swaths of tissue are interconnected, so even for the small repairs, it’s a gradual process as the body yields, repairs, reworks all while still in motion. Muscles working together help immensely and immediately the swelling prevents more injuries. Just like fevers fight for you in an immune system, so does everything. It’s good to take time to stop, reduce the spasms, and allow time to start deep healing. But don’t freeze in inactivity if working the system helps.
Praise be to God for healing.
When we come to realize we need Jesus in our life, it’s just like every mini moment has to get readjusted on the maximum scale and vice versa as every max issue is in Him, resolving like a miracle. First the spasms need to be reduced (Be Still), and then the problem has to be more visible (I am fearfully and wonderfully made), and then the peace comes to us (Immanuel, God with us). Jesus knows the intricate fixes or the whole replacement. He also will restore to even better when we are revived heavenly. Soulfully, now, we are new creations in Jesus. Restoration of the soul. Later, restoration of the flesh.
God will remake us, the Potter He is, into a “good enough” and then some, … Repairs by bandages, by coveralls, by blood overlay, by heavenly healing. And it’s not just us for us, it’s together all for His Bride, as the combined fellowship of believers, collectively called to work together.
You know when we fall in a trip of the footing, sometimes we catch ourselves but pull muscles. They say to stay limber and roll into a fall, be like you chose to roll… We aren’t gentle to ourselves like that, our minds worry about the things we carry and don’t want to spill over saving ourselves. Sometimes we do fall and face bruises. Emotions are bruised in embarrassment more than the muscles. But we must look at our lives in the Lord so MUCH MORE from His perspective than ours. When we as a human race fell from the faltering of Adam and Eve, God knew. God knew before time. God Who walked with them felt the pull away and the sorrow, Jesus from before times took on the pain, and the Holy Spirit swung into repair mode. If the pain and sacrifice (the lamb was slain) was in motion before we stepped onto the earth, who are we to not melt into His Healing now.Heavenly Healing Repair is awaiting, and so is today’s rest. Not idleness but movement within boundaries of us, and blessed continued repair to the people through Him.
Be Well, Be Willing, Be Strong.
Be believing in Him.
Amen
Luke 4:16-20
So Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
I’m not as sure-footed as I used to be. I would have enjoyed the challenge of the bold boulder field 10 even 5 years ago. But these are not smooth – these are challenging pointed rocks. The moment I stepped onto it, I decided it was better to crawl. Plus I didn’t have a great pocket for my phone in my pouch. I did have sturdy shoes on, good, and nestled my feet in. I stepped out into the field. It was worth it.
I realized this relates to us navigating life and Jesus holding tight and providing our rock solid foundation. We want to be good and sure-footed, but can’t always be, We are human. will make mistakes, knowing and even not knowing, we will guess, fail, sin. And faking a sinless life is pride, and pride is not to strive for. And knowingly being stuck between a rock and a hard place is just that, being stuck and needing a Savior save. Can’t ignore our missteps and footfalls, can’t even talk our way out to be back to a perfect we never were.
In life the challenge IS tough… we walk in broken boulders, broken rocks, earthly living. Repentance is asking for the repeal of the death sentence.Yes Jesus, the sure path is surely holding on to us. One Rock of Heaven HOLDS, not moving like earthly crumbles and craters.
I turned around to go back to the open path. At first I was just as nervous. But then I realized I really had come a long way. I took this photo. It’s not the path out but the path back. The path out I HAD prevailed, even though I had held onto the boulders and was so slow, I really did accomplish getting out there. So now, I was ready to trust and take it slow again. Go back in.
Yes, we do move and get places – may we put our trust where it should be. God gets the credit. And as for our sins and sideswiped lives? We HAVE to rely upon Jesus. It’s not ninety percent us and ten percent Him. It’s not ninety percent Him, ten percent us. Our repentance is our reliance upon Him, 100%.
Jesus is the One we need, He who is Worthy. His Rock. We can step carefully, hold tight, and often it’s actually best if we ask if He will carry us.
Amen
—-
Matthew 7:1-14 NIV
Judging Others
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
—
Luke 13:1-9 NIV
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
There’s so much going on. But we should head the words of God’s messengers:
BE STRONG NOW, BE STRONG.
Imagine thousands of years of strife, unknown and known. It’s interesting to think that Daniel, in his visions and dreams, was chosen to be a prophet and was then strengthened by a God who knows it’s tough to imagine the future, but God was showing that He Almighty had a process. So can we be strengthened too? God needs us up and running for his work and ours.
BE STRONG, BE STRONG
Jesus in the garden was strengthened by angels just before his arrest, God knows it’s tough – knowing that the process to peace included pain.
BE STRONG, BE STRONG
We have small challenges, large insurmountable issues, frightening thoughts for tomorrow let alone today (and we should always let today be today and let tomorrow worry about itself). God wants to bring us back to today and strengthen us – emotionally and physically too. Think of the task of the prophets who saw the turmoil day to day, lived in the wars of the time, and saw visions of wars to really end all war, and know they had to be strengthened. Us too. So take the Lord’s fortification and keep keepin’ on…
“Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
AMEN
—
Daniel 10:14-19 about a holy being from heaven explaining the vision, strengthening him.
Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
Yum, harvest time – grapes and corn, squash and greens, tomatoes too. Fruits of the season. Good Fruits. (And yum key lime pie too – perfect balance of sweet and tart)
We are to remember John the Baptist preparing the Way for Jesus, speaking about good fruit – spiritual good fruit. We can appreciate connections back to the scriptures and travails of their ancestors, teaching about the 12 tribes, Jacob’s descendants, Moses rescues, Abraham’s children, Noah’s sons, Adam’s lineage. A long line of God’s chosen people. John himself was son of a priest Zachariah, who was approached by God within the holy sanctuary. All the stepping stones were put into place.
Stepping stones were put into place,
especially as many weeds were in the mix of the wandering people. Jesus Himself was the seed of the woman, Eve, to crush the devil. Stepping stones keep the weeds down, and so did John the Baptist – helping remind the people of needed repentance, representative by baptism with water. John knew of the promise of God sending a Messiah, equal to God, ready to reset righteousness. Baptism by the Holy Spirit. Ready to Right the Repentant ones.
John prophesied of Jesus and said: “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Winnowing is what Jesus did and will do, get the good seed and leave the rest behind. Good seed comes from good fruit. Winnowing the seeds in the harvest is preparing the grain for the next planting, in addition to getting the nutritious seed fraction stored up for feeding the people. Jesus Himself did both. It’s the balance of sweet and tart, saving cuts the sting of sin away…
John said: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance... The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Jesus spoke of His father the vine dresser, Himself as the vine for our branches. If God throws unproductive branches into the fire, Jesus IS the productive source for our souls to produce good fruit. Repentance brings us back to the open flow into our branches for proper growth.
Tis the harvest season now for our summer crops, it will be harvest of souls soon enough. We need to be Repentant and Restore and keep being fruitful.
Enjoy the season…
Amen
—-
Matthew 3 NIV
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
A poem of thank you after my growing/grown son wasn’t feeling well (he is really OK – no need for worry), and he turned to me for help. At the very end of my helping, he breathed out a heartfelt ‘thank you’ – one that makes a mom’s heart WHOLE.
But even if you don’t hear a thank you from a child, God knows and strengthens you… so keep mom-ing, keep parenting, keep loving.
The poem – about thanking God… “It IS in the THANK YOU”
“It IS in the Thank You”
I think that God’s heart must want what I just got.
A “thank you” from a child, from the finish and from the start.
A child grown and yet not,
who just acknowledged that I love them a whole lot.
Oh joy when they expressed that gratitude,
without past clogging attitude.
Even take on a little humility,
in their grown yet needful fragility.
A “thank you” heard little child true,
and surely uttered as a grown up too.
That’s the joy in the thank you from children to mom,
And to God from mom, a thank YOU, from His child too.
.
Mom moments want both to be needed and to be not.
Mom moments like to be wanted and yet to step back a lot,
Free to step in undaunted.
Yet to step aside and be OK, moms needs not be flaunted.
And then as moms of grown kids slowly slow down from the chase.
Moms mom-ing simply want to know their children are well and safe.
.
God moments are different and exquisite.
God never ages out, He’s NEVER far away nor indifferent.
God wants and needs to be needed, AND wanted.
God faces evil undaunted. UNDAUNTED
God never did not have His children in His Embrace.
God IS and God WILL help, a gift to us to continue our race.
God gives MERCY
God gives GRACE.
Daniel was taking up the prayer of a nation, in the humility of a servant. Daniel could see the people rebelled against God, and begged for mercy and appreciated grace. A lifetime was passing of the struggles and yet they had to sit tight… perhaps Daniel can be an example of knowing that God is in control in the ruins, and praises Him anyway.
May we praise God in the trouble and in the rubble and look for His Face to guide us into Grace.
Amen Amen
—
Daniel’s Prayer chapter 9 NIV, v1-19
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom – in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
We are human, God is sovereign and SAVING. Our Lord is approachable and eager to take our burdens. We must be willing to ask for help and give up our worries that we aren’t worthy, because God says we are worthy because He is worthy. We don’t ride coat tails, we get His Grace and Mercy with the power of believing in Him – asking His correction and direction.
Daniel (an old testament prophet and exiled Israelite in Babylon, serving the exiled kings), prayed many times each day to align with God’s Will, even under threat of persecution.
We have both direction and a rescue in our Savior Jesus, Whom walked the earth to teach and fulfill prophecy. Jesus took the burdens and we walk mercifully in God’s Grace.
Apostle John wrote to encourage and warn to keep abiding in the Lord. The author of Hebrews reminds that Jesus PERFECTS us. “your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” John wrote for us to love our brothers and sisters as well. In this day and age we must not turn against against each other but rise to His level of forgiveness.
We need to abide in the Lord, worship and want. Not for finding a sacrifice, but realizing He IS our Savior, Saving Grace, and Shepherd.
Amen
—
Daniel 6:10-12
Now when Daniel learned that the decree [against worshipping any but the king Darius] had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
1 John 2:1-29
New International Version
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Reasons for Writing
I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
On Not Loving the World
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Warnings Against Denying the Son
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
God’s Children and Sin
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Hebrews 10:5-7, 26-38
New King James Version
Christ’s Death Fulfills God’s Will
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ”
…
The Just Live by Faith
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
“He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders, in Heaven and on earth…”
The most praise we can give the Lord is to praise Him in the unknown, when in the pits (or perceiving ourselves in the pits but maybe we aren’t but feel like it), and when we know the world is stacked against us. Like God in the fire with us, protecting us, God is ready to lift us from the pits, even the worldliness that holds onto us. Just hold on, take time to praise, knees to bow then raise and keep walking, keep believing, keep keepin’ on.
Daniel’s story with the PIT with the LIONS is tremendous, and so is the moments just before, when he knew the trouble and praised God anyway.
Daniel lived in exile in a prescribed time away from Jerusalem, where the Israelites were to be captives. Yet Daniel was able to get into the palace, serving multiple kings, having the spirit of God on him, able to interpret dreams and God-written reality. Now the new king had it in for him, and a scheme devised to trap him in his own faith. They could not find any fault so they made a law that no one could worship any god except worship the king. [This being repeated in history over and over, causing Christians to go underground, as many are today. They say there are more Christians secretly worshipping then there are Christians who are openly worshipping in churches…] Well, Daniel went to his room as usual and praised in prayer to God Almighty. Daniel GAVE THANKS!
We must not let attacks keep us from doubting God, we must draw closer to Him, as He is always with us.
The king who made the decree didn’t realize and he was feeling HORRIBLE and wanted to deliver Daniel from this punishment but the advisers insisted… the king Darius even said directly to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Then the king himself stayed up all night, ran to the pit the next morning… “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”
AMAZING.
The king then made a decree “that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.”
AMAZING to see Daniel’s faith.
Super AMAZING to see God’s Protection and deliverance.
Daniel didn’t need a decree to AGREE, God is a Living God.
We can depend upon Him.
Amen!
—
Daniel 6
New King James Version
The Plot Against Daniel
It pleased Darius [king after Belshazzar after Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon] to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps [local governors], to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”
The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”
So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
Daniel Saved from the Lions
Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”
Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.
Darius Honors God
And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.
Then King Darius wrote:
‘To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.For He is the living God, And steadfast forever;His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,And His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wondersIn heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.‘
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
The cat wanted me AWAKE, “GET UP” her paw touched my arm, and wanted me in the daily routine, but she doesn’t have a calendar, it is the WEEKEND and I wanted to sleep… I won this round but not before that cat reached for my ankles to bite. She knows when I’m not going her way. Of course we have a very smart cat. I spend half the time wondering why the cat can’t cut me a break and the other half aching from the bite. I did get up half an hour later and treat her with wet cat food… spoiled but she’s worth it. I often think angels are guiding her to get me up to write, but why the disgruntled bite? Hmmm…
We can’t understand cat, let alone understand half the stuff going on in the world. We can’t understand what brokenness brings to crime, poverty, drug addiction, sadness. We can’t understand illness or early death. We can’t figure out all science even if studying it for years. We just are clueless and maybe gratefully so, for we can’t fix everything either.
One true Bible story is the originator of the phrase: “read the writing on the wall” and oh so many were trying to interpret it. In this story, Daniel was remembered as a dream interpretor and man filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Daniel was called upon by king Belshazzar, son of king Nebuchadnezzar who had that fall of his sanity and dignity last chapter because he didn’t respect God, Nebuchadnezzar repented but son Belshazzar totally disregarded God as well as God’s temple in Jerusalem, even using the holy cups for their party. Well, quite the unusual sighting, even one might say the most bizarre Bible stories, the FINGERS of a HAND appeared! They wrote words on a wall.
The king and the people got so obsessed with “what do the words say?”, needless to say that it’s strange for a hand to appear… how many times do we see the writing on the wall, but doubt it is for us let alone understand it… Well, for king Belshazzar it was NOT good news. Daniel was able to call out Belshazzar’s disobedience to God, even knowing and seeing his father’s experience, and Daniel told Belshazzar that his kingdom was in trouble and so was he. Belshazzar died that evening, was slain, had no respect, hit the end of his line.
It’s a story full of real advice: listen to God, know God is in charge (before we have to see the writing on the wall), be truthfully wanting to understand God’s Will, worship and revere the Lord, do what is respectful…
Yeah… (and get up to read and write when the cat (via angels) tell you to!)
And FYI – this passage again shows Daniel wasn’t in the service of the Lord for gain, only because he (we) all should serve God and God’s plans… Let us not wait for the writing on the wall, when the Word, now, is written down, we have it all… Thanks for the reminders Lord!!!
Amen
—
Daniel 5
New King James Version
Belshazzar’s Feast
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Now all the king’s wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.
The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”
The Writing on the Wall Explained
Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.
“But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.
“And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of each word.
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Belshazzar’s Fall
That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
3 years ago I took the metro with my daughter to see the 911 memorial in the World Trade center complex. The new life there was undeniable, activities, people, life. And RESTORATION!
In addition to the Oculus – the new Freedom Tower – the Water Pools – my eyes gained joy in seeing the metal globe reinstalled and especially the “Survivor Tree” – a pear tree still alive, transported for recovery then replaced here at ground zero for living out its days fully – showing resilience and beauty.
Survive Thrive Be Alive
That’s a lesson from God’s grace and mercy and life call. When life knocks us down, we can rise from the crumble, put behind us the stumble, and squash the evil rumble. In God’s Power, Grace and Mercy we shall kneel humble, then in God’s Work we will rise to SHINE and LIVE, in the days He DOES give.
I pray all who passed away that 9-11 day to be given that grace and mercy, allowing God to replenish and replace their wholeness in His embrace.
And as for us still here, let us CONTINUE LIVING in thees seasons, be prepared in and out of season for we are to be PRESENT wherever we are, sharing in the days and moments gifted, and CONTINUE until we FINISH THIS RACE, in Mercy and Grace.
AMEN
“my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace”. Paul in Acts 20:24
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” Paul to Timothy, 2ndTim4:2
Suitable for back to school talk – back to focus – back to God…
God is known for so many good things, miracles and such – and just good living – Daniel’s story tells of, in chapter 1, that devotion to God is a really good thing to have – and this devotion is obedience and understanding that God’s rules and plans are good for us. Even God’s vegetables… really God is good.
Daniel and his friends are “recruited” really forced because this is the time of besiege of Jerusalem by Babylon – and Daniel and three others are being “trained” to serve in the King’s court – trained for 3 years – (that is unbelievable too – three years of what kind of training?) – but Daniel refuses to eat’s the kings table food (which was probably the best they could offer those days) – but God offered something better – and not just vegetables – He offered the wisdom to live. Daniel and his three other companions tapped into God’s wisdom.
First – after refusing to eat – the guard made a plea with Daniel – look I am only doing my job – help me out here – well Daniel made an agreement for a trial basis to test things out – and only 10 days ate under God’s purposes – and guess what – not just eating but exercising too and learning and what not… And they turned out to be the best of the best… and they didn’t have to be enchanters or magicians, just God’s people.
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Yes, it took three years and yes it took work and yes it took wisdom to learn – most importantly it took the dedication to God to live the life that He wanted them to live – and the rest was gravy – no I am not talking about vegetable gravy…
The good stuff God is known for is His dedication to those dedicated to Him. The wisdom to know – and the means to work – even under the oppressive circumstances.
I’m glad God is in control. Let’s listen to Him always.
Amen
—
Daniel 1
Daniel’s Training in Babylon
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
One in God, under God, with God, having peace with God. We all long for that peace and in Ezekiel, we are told the WHO brings it to us: a lineage that forms under King David and leads directly to Jesus. God both lays the groundwork and adds the prophecy, hundreds of years in advance. We know now that Jesus is our One King – but did these people? If we have so many now who don’t know – then throughout the ages, God has pointed to a One King to come to earth – but not an earthly king – a Heavenly One.
The logistics of Jesus’s lineage in the nation of Israel (and back to Abraham, Noah, Adam…), meant in advance, the Lord set aside re-mending of the people of Israel. And getting the people to be re-membering that the kingdom traced back to King David, and the lineage back to Jacob and his 12 sons – and further back.In a mini-version, God brought Jacob’s son Joseph back to his people, his brothers, his father – after the brothers abandoned him and left him to his own devices… God promised and promises peoples will return to Jerusalem (over and over again). And even when people abandon God, God does not abandon them: “for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them.“
Here is one of the best lines of the Old Testament: “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” And this is reinforced with the follow up line: “and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Perhaps in years of exile, the israelites whisked away to Babylon – or run away to Egypt – would have the time to think and ponder the lineage, the promises of God – and the writings of David in Psalms – and then the writing of Ezekiel in prophecy: David being a shepherd in mini proportions to our Great Shepherd – and a mini king to our One King – an earthly lord to The Lord.
Ezekiel writes of the Words from God of The Messiah – The Ultimate ‘Son of Man’…
We get to listen in to his insights – and now remember Jesus DID come – and will come again…
Amen
—
Ezekiel 37:15-28
One Nation Under One King
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
“When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
“‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
It’s great to remember to “walk by faith and not by sight” – a scripture sign that I saw in Ocean Grove NJ last night, along with beautiful light too… The light of living well (and abundantly too)… JOY…
At the shore escape, I sat on the beach in the shade reading… reading about Heaven (great little book by David Jeremiah) and reading about Fanny Crosby, songwriter and child of God. Truly Fanny Crosby, blinded as an infant, gained spiritual sight in INSIGHT of the HEART to be a poet and hymnist of the mid to late 1800s, living in the LIGHT of Jesus’s Way. These people in this era experienced faith in revival in the cities and here at the shore. Fanny, like me, like us, can visit and live in the experiences of the waves of God’s Love more numerous and powerful than the ocean waves. Waves of the ocean and of love, like we experience in Grace and Mercy. We must let it wash over us to understand.
Fanny Crosby wrote in an early hymn lyric:
“More like Jesus would I be.
Let my savior dwell in me.
Fill my soul with Peace & Love.
Make me gentle as a Dove.
More like Jesus as I go.
Pilgrim, in this world below,
Poor in spirit I would be –
Let my Savior dwell in me.”
And isn’t that the central core of LIVING BY FAITH? Less of us and more of Him. To be poor in our spirit ourselves and let Jesus lead the way. AND WORSHIP THE LORD because He calls us too – and because our Sprit aches for acknowledging Jesus.
Less angst, more acceptance.
Less worldliness, more forever thinking.
LESS US, MORE HIM.
Less demanding, more giving.
Less profiting, more prophetic.
Less put-off, more praise, even in pain.
“Be Joyful in Hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
Jesus praised His Father as we should… The praise of the Spirit dwelling in us is greater than anything we could produce. Let us take the moment to embrace the grace, and sing out God’s Glory in song and spirit. Let us let the Lord lead our day and way.
How do celebrities make money by just being celebrities? Showing up, smiling, talking maybe, collecting the checks. Nice life huh? The only expense is for security people.
Snoop Dogg and other famous celebrities are making 50 million at the Olympics. Snoop Dogg is earning $500,000 per day plus expenses. Wow, and I’m sure there are others thinking of the TV scenes – getting paid separately for their ideas FOR TV-play of Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. Anyone paying someone to look out of place might seem cruel – but not at $500,000 per day. Wow. That is laughing all the way to the bank. Even Steven Spielberg getting $20 million a movie has to produce a film himself and hire people to make his money, but Snoop Dogg? He is the celebrity of the moment (only NBC) now to Smile and Smile and Smile all the way to the bank…
I woke up with a novel idea mishmoshed into my head (novel to me) and it came as soon as it could organically synthesize in the most creative brain time that God gives. So – it is not from me but me in the right place – collecting the credit for ideas but God provided. It’s for work, and a Saturday 4 AM wake up is fine for an idea that is this helpful to me. It’s a gift from God to be helped, and we know all good things are from God. And maybe this idea won’t pan out, but the inspiration that He provided and can provide – giving something without asking, in a healing way for me, is like just showing up and collecting the paycheck. So imagine the blessing when we DO ask for help and then when we DO ask “what can I do for You today, Lord?”
Now, this also mean that we can ask when we DO need help, an idea, a way forward, out of a jam or just a fresh start. We can simply ask God for help and He can bring something normal or something novel, from the left field or the right field or His field, in inspiration to bring hope. Yes, and this builds a reliance upon Him. His ways are above our ways. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
My catch phrase these days is “creativity over cynicism”… and I believe that God provides that as a healing distraction until I can move forward.
As inspired writer Isaiah says, knowing that the Lord provides: “Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters” – He means come to Abundant Life… Smile and Collect God DIRECT!
Jesus Joy will always employ …
Amen
—
Isaiah 55
New King James Version
An Invitation to Abundant Life
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;
And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
“Whenever I’m afraid, I put my trust in You.” Psalm 56:3
It was probably the most human and Godly thing Jesus did, SLEEP. I’m sure He ate, we know He pained at the walk to the cross, got angry, wept tears… And the daily activity that both shows His humanness, getting tired, AND His Godliness, trusting God our Father had everything under control, was an ability and necessity to SLEEP.
In our VBS story of Jesus calming the waters, we play-acted with tarps as a boat and water, using some of the crew to run around and be the loud storm, and the other half the scared disciples trying to wake Jesus. Was it just thinking that the disciples were to trust things, Jesus slept through the storm – or was it Jesus was just SO TIRED and/or this was the only opportunity to rest? I wonder if it was a natural storm or one cooked up by the creator in chaos of the world to shake the situation.
We DO live in a broken world. For all it’s beautiful ways, there’s still brokenness – (and I’m not just talking about the fun breaking of water balloons, which we used again (now that’s a miracle invention!) as items in our parachute storm play) – but brokenness in our lives, attitudes, and lack of peace.. . Brokenness showed interestingly intensely to me yesterday admiring the pollen and sunflowers outside my house. The small bees were attacking each other, maybe stealing the pollen, it was aggressive and sad. There seemed to be enough pollen for them all, but the three bees just tugged at each other like the little kids fighting over a toy. Brokenness.
Well, I found some peace in sitting outside the camping tent (both prop and games storage tent) in between sessions. And that kind of peace is but a fraction of the peace that Jesus promises us- to trust in Him now – and to live in Him forever.
It’s a piece that storms will come up, but Jesus will wake up, command them to stop, even scold us for not trusting. If Jesus could trust BOTH the Plan (and the Play-out of it all happening) AND trust forever and a day of God’s Sovereignty and control, and still be human in a broken world, then we too can just rest a moment in peace.
Peace… get it, hold it, give it, love it.
Amen
PS – the blue jello snack they had was the best ever… I’d eat up that sweet water and sweet calm of Jesus anyday!
PPS – someone saw me inside after our outside games and said: you look like you have been thru the ringer out there in hot weather – but honestly it was shady enough, calm enough, and peace enough for me… Summer is for loving it!
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41 NIV
I Can Do All Things Through Christ – I appreciated this bracelet they gave out at my friend’s memorial, Philippians 4:13.
This was so true for how she lived her life – and a good reminder that we need to live through – we really CAN do all things we need to do through our Lord – and we can also MEET HIM. We certainly saw and met and loved knowing Jesus thru my friend, She was the most loving and caring to others – and yes the place was PACKED – in bright colors as her daughter requested.
Was nice to see so many people present and former members of this church too. I knew it would be like old home days and it was. Our former choir director played piano and a member sang “In the Garden”. We sang beautiful hymns from the hymnal and the new Pastor was so wonderful, eloquent and touching, comforted with great Bible lessons and passages. The flowers and ashes arrangement was beautiful.
Place was packed at lunch too – which was great, Big sandwich and fruit trays donated by her son’s work, plus desserts donated. And her daughter made her mom’s famous taco salad and rice pudding, YUM.
Everyone’s eyes spoke volumes of memories and love.
I can do all things through Christ: Especially share LOVE.
We know we will meet Christ in our heavenly life. I dreamt last night of end times because I had some conversations yesterday with people about heaven and not really knowing what heaven has in store – like “will we meet the people we didn’t like?” “will I be bored in heaven?” These seem so unlikely – we are to know heaven has healing… heaven has hope… I guess we will find out when we find out – so glad THESE friends will be there and we will start our new learning of everyone IN Christ – oh how we all will change!!! Oh what great reunions – looking forward to it even if I am in NO RUSH! Who will we meet first in Heaven? Has to be Jesus!
I can do all things through Christ: Especially KNOW His LOVE.
I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. Especially LIVE.
I can do all things through Christ: Especially share HIS LOVE.
I love the Olympics! Yet there’s one race longer and more consuming: our race of faith…
And a torch never to go out: “our God is a consuming fire.”…
A mountain we don’t climb but has come down to get us: “Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”…
A crowd unbelievable in number and roar of support: “an innumerable company of angels”…
God the Judge of all, calls us His children “to the spirits of just men made perfect“…
And our torch bearer of Holy Spirit…
and our driver, deliverer, pit crew, water-giver and pick up wagon if/when we crash in our race: Jesus “the Mediator of the new covenant”…
And along the journey of our race?
“Pursue peace with all people”…
In the games, we must show up in the right Olympic uniforms. In life? Pursue “holiness, without which no one will see the Lord…”
Don’t let yourself get in the way of the Way!
Amen
Hebrews 12:1-3 NKJV
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:12-29 NKJV
Renew Your Spiritual Vitality
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
The Glorious Company
For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hear the Heavenly Voice
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
Is today a normal Friday? It sure feels like a Friday. It’s summer, I know that. It’s not Saturday yet, I sense that… but is there anything normal now?
What is consistent and constant about change in life is that life constantly changes – you feel change consistently.
Normal now is that there is no normal.
The new normal changes – like covid-era made some activities “the new normal” even if there really wasn’t an old normal, but we thought there was.
Normal for us is normally different than someone else’s normal.
I can normally say I now crave a normal even if do I want a change in what’s normally going on. And yet I want to define my own normal. And then, on top of that, I could use a vacation to get out of my normal routine.
I could use a vacation even if I wouldn’t want to lose my normal work schedule for something worse.
Perhaps it’s best we just thank the Lord for whatever we have wherever we are whenever we remember we have Him.
God is in control, focus on Him.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory and Grace.” Yes, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” one of my favorite praise/hymn songs. It is posted on my wall alongside two dollar store stickers of most important scriptures: Corinthians 13 of LOVE, “Love is patient – love never fails”, and James 5 of “Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” (Amen to that in these not so normal normal times where change is constant)…
Wow, talk about a new normal when Jesus returns! Wow! Scholars may disagree the when, but remember Jesus Himself is ALSO waiting for God the Almighty’s Sign to MOVE. God does not change but we will see one on earth. That’s going to be a change which will bring about a new time then era called FOREVER. Can you imagine eternal? I can’t. I can’t wait even if I am in no rush. I’ll let God plan.
If we think we have tough times now (even when many of us have adapted to cushy existence) will we adapt to change? The change to life seemingly out of control is NOT happening BECAUSE GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN CONTROL.
The new times is of the same God who DOES NOT CHANGE. God is love and love is God, so our whole existence to experience LOVE IN GOD encompassing us, encourages us to STAY STEADY IN HIM. Exactly!!!
And our current existence needs to continually turn into a Jesus-focused force of not nature but NURTURE. “For the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory and Grace.”
That’s a normal thing to fail to wrap our heads around, FOREVER, but if we could just focus the EYES OF OUR HEARTS upon JESUS, we will get there.
Maybe this is my Friday normal, should be my everyday, knowing Jesus is already here. “Look full in His wonderful face!”
We are not decorating like December, just adding a splash of red and green to the eye.
It is a moment to let our Christmas Spirit multiply.
Born a baby, grown a Savior, a lamb slain, yet Jesus forever IS young and spry.
And what’s the gift today I pray to encourage and spy?
Wider faith in all, Holy Spirit to touch us all, by and by.
Try moments to remember ‘God IS with us’ – ALREADY. Try hope, just try.
So let us be the JOY today, an inner and outward SMILE we will apply and re-apply.
Let us ring out Hope JOY Peace and LOVE, this MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!
AMEN
—
Titus 3:1-8 NKJV
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Sermon:
KNEE-D PRAYERS
My friend said her 2nd knee replacement surgery recovery seemed to have gone much better than the first. She told me she really believed it was the increased and incredible high number of prayers that she knew she had gotten. In addition to her family and regular friends, she felt more prayers (and heard of them) from her church community and our faith based community, especially with the increased communication and connections through our Facebook groups, etc.
Well wishes work.
Prayers petition God’s power.
And I’ve heard something like one prayer is a violin solo, but collective prayer, all together, is a symphony.
Don’t you love that saying: those who sing, pray twice. That double of praise!
Prayers are golden to God’s ears. It is both that we believe in God and that we believe God CAN intervene, bless a situation, and that He can fix some bad ones and move mountains, or smooth transitions that aren’t so easily understood, to bring peace and acceptance to a situation. God hears the prayers for Him to be present.
I heard the flip side of our role in prayer – sometimes when we aren’t hearing God – to remember that the teacher is silent during the test… Somehow I don’t always believe that one… because I do believe that God does remind us – He is here – and He does want us to excel in our own progress. He WILL give us the cheat lines – cheating sin and death.
One of the funniest memes/facebook images that I ever saw was: “God can move mountains but sometimes He hands you the shovel”… yeah get moving… I hear that one all the time. But we should know that when we go through something – and we are motivated to move – God is there. Jesus will always be with us.
HEALING FAITH
We just heard about Jesus in the flesh on His way to see someone very sick – so sick… (WELL that was Jesus’s whole SPIRITUAL mission for the sickness of being lost – us all to be found) and the person coming to Jesus, the leader of the synagogue had the faith and knew that Jesus was the One to make a difference – to heal his daughter.
TOUCH the Fabric – the make up of Jesus
THEN…………….. Jesus got “interrupted” by the sensation that someone in the crowd had just gotten healed in response to their faith – that we learned that a woman who was very sick found the hem of Jesus’s robe.
She had faith that if she just touched that fabric – not even him – that she would be healed… She had faith.
This woman was “unclean” from her illness –yet she KNEW what she had to do. She had pre-knowledge of His Power – faith in His Power – even before she met Him. What did Jesus do? He found her – not just so that He could meet her (Jesus knows everyone already) – Jesus found her so that she could know Him completely – not just the hem of his robe. Instead of just Jesus’s robe being what she touched – He wanted her to know the feeling of Jesus touching her heart.
Do we feel like our problems are that worth giving it to Jesus? Really am I worth it? Well Jesus says we are… Are things worth “interrupting Jesus” – ? Well – is it really an interruption? NO – Jesus came to serve – to have that face to face experience – that trust –that love and forgiveness and hope.. “I went to Jesus to just see what was possible and Jesus turned around and said I AM Possible.”
An EARTHLY INTERUPTION
Now – what about that first person who was bringing Jesus to the sick person – was he interrupted too! Yes – an interruption in earthly terms… The synagogue leader had to wait until Jesus was talking to the woman on the ground – Yes – that father had to wait however long to get Jesus back to HIS mission – to the original hope he had… that took COURAGE
Then when they were on the way, a messenger said oh no, your daughter has died. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore” – ugh – The man was upset but Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Don’t be afraid; just believe.” – isn’t that the best trust we can give to Jesus – that we believe.
RIGHT TIME – RIGHT PLACE
If we aren’t in the time to grab Jesus out of the crowd for a miracle – we DO have Him to grab onto in our hearts – the hem the whole the live and the love – what about those right place right time prayers? You can apply prayer first and foremost and then others might be praying for you to do something. Remembering that acronym from our friend – actually his neighbor – P.U.S.H. Pray until something happens… Sometimes you are the what happens… This happened to me Friday – I was leaving vacation bible school where we learned about Zacchaeus and Jesus as his friend – and that Jesus always loves us – Jesus is our friend. I had just taught about the Holy Spirit pushing Zacchaeus to do something in response to Jesus coming to him – and Zacchaeus decided to pay back those he cheated in taxes.
Zacchaeus was like the grinch whose heart grew three times that day. He realized he could and should do something.
So I was walking into the grocery store and this woman was conked out on the chair in front – like I was envious of a good power nap just then – but she was still there – same position – when I got out – and others had taken notice and the store people too. It was other people who mutually chatted with me included about doing something – and often we do walk away – and I first looked and wondered if she was dead – no – her color was great and she was breathing… but the people told me and others – store people too – that she would not awake. It was not anything but living in the moment and I capped her Gatorade bottle as that was held on her lap. The other woman next to me said: “I wouldn’t leave my mother like this” – and the ambulance came just in a little bit. THANK GOD for paramedics and fire and police people – they are the answers to prayers that we have.
It was weird but in the moment that The woman on the chair snapped awake – it was the result of a seizure she said – but she was out over 20 minutes – and the woman next to me who said: “my God would not let me not do something” said she got Holy Spirit goosebumps… I didn’t get the goosebumps but I was aware and believing that that woman did – urging us to join in the concern – it was a combination of prayer and action.
This is when life interrupts your “regularly scheduled program” – and the Lord calls you to action.
Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing – a combination of prayer and action. Opportunities abound – like at the store or home – at work and at moments where we hear bad news… These “opportunities” seep into our life callings and making less barriers and more common spaces between situations… I remember being with a few scared kids on a girl scout camping trip – down at a revolutionary war fort by the airport – where we were staying overnight- and they did not want to go on the ghost tour – I ended up telling them that I did not believe in ghosts but I certainly believed in angels watching over them and us. AMEN TO THAT!!!!
CRUSHING
The 12 disciples that day when Jesus was in the crowd, were like ‘we got lots of people crushing and touching you Master – how can you even try to single out one – but He did and the woman herself came forward. Jesus wanted to have that woman meet Him!
That crush of people also probably one of the reasons He retreated to teach a close core of disciples who would then teach everyone. The disciples would have done that: “don’t cause the crowd to crush you because we have a mission – like Taylor Swift travels in a rolling case thru the backstages of her show, they say… Well Jesus did get out in a boat or top of a mountain – but rarely did He hide. Jesus had so many interactions with people, so many miracles that John tells us not enough pages in books could hold that info…
Jesus knew that the miracles were almost distracting from teaching – an important reason He came – to teach about how to get closer to God – how to recognize that the time was in the present to be with God on earth. Some saw the miracles and thought of an earthly king that God had ordained like David. And as some saw or heard of the miracles and thought of Jesus as evil – a magic man against God.
And yet, these miracles were always pointing back to the glory of God – of “knowing God’s Plan and Will for us:” – knowing we NEED Jesus – like that woman touching the hem of Him – Healing – And Jarius – knowing to bring Jesus to his daughter. Jesus wanted people to KNOW Him deep in the core and they became the witnesses to others. They both knew Him and knew they had been changed – and knew it was something the Lord needed them to tell others.
But what about that “don’t tell others” – is that more of a “don’t bring commotion because it distracts people from listening” – “don’t cause yourselves to create waves for yourself – just let yourself stand as a testament to faith. Imagine those laughing mourners who must have later saw the girl alive” – wow… Isn’t that us too – “Let your actions show you are a changed person”… “Live a risen life – and acknowledge that you had nothing to do with it – but your faith in Jesus did, does and will do …
There is a VBS video – of two twin young girls full of faith who learned their uncle did not believe in Jesus… They prayed and prayed and a year later – he came to Jesus – was baptized and how could he have known their impact – but God did…
Perhaps God is ‘Waiting on a prayer’ – as we are living on a prayer – it includes the Lord waiting to hear someone say: ‘I trust you Lord” –
AMEN and let us pray….
Lord – we know one soul already saved helps save another. You remind us that Iron sharpens iron – so prayers help praying. Saving Grace is to be embraced. “He who does the will of God abides forever.” – may we always abide and know Your LOVE.
Tis the month of summer and VBS is my favorite way to share the love of Jesus, to share what I know about God’s Word, and especially HIS LOVE! This is at my friend’s VBS – with great organizers and volunteers – oh the love of the Lord exudes from these folks! I love VBS and love to see my VBS friends.
If you have never volunteered for a VBS – I urge you to do so – the real real Holy Spirit in mega proportions shows up in the kids and volunteers – Jesus is there!
It’s also so much fun to do projects! This 2 day VBS is my chance to do science projects in Imagination Station – one day Zacchaes and Jesus and one day Peter and Jesus. Here is my write up (editted now) that I was able to share – along with “experiments” of planting seeds – and one last Holy Spirit experiment of yeast and hydrogen peroxide and dishsoap to show the change of heart that Zacchaes had was like a chemical reaction when he encountered Jesus – and Zacchaes’s heart overflowed.
From the handout with the seeds:We are all able to plant the seeds of friendship and faith at VBS and everywhere. We can share our knowledge of God and ask God to water the seeds of faith in each other. We can plant that seed of knowledge of: “Jesus loves me”, especially to our friends and family by letting them know that “Our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” Romans 5:11.
Seeds grow (both the physical seed and those of faith). Just like seeds growing and changing, we are also growing in friendship with Jesus, He helps us improve and be better friends with all others around us.
Talking intro (roughly) just before we planted seed (physically and of faith):
So we’re starting to learn about one of the great friends that Jesus made from a man named Zacchaeus. Jesus knew Zacchaeus would be up in the tree. Jesus certainly already knew everything about Zacchaeus and the crowd that day was surely busy, packed, and it’s not like today where young people and today young at heart climb trees for fun, that wasn’t really Zacchaeus’s expected behavior- not for a professional businessman. He must have been really excited.
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He had to reach up to get a bigger view- let me get our crew leaders here to help me make a tree from these tubes and long cardboard supports. Use your imagination to see Zacchaeus up in this tree but know that Jesus KNEW that tree would be there, KNEW the seed was planted many years before to make the tree available for Zacchaeus to decide to act when he got interested in Jesus.
This weekend at VBS, we are learning about Jesus being our friend, and how Jesus gets close to us, how Jesus recognizes us and meets us where we are. I have some beautiful plants here that are like miniature trees, Do you recognize them? (Start with seedlings then pots of sunflowers) This is Imagination Station so you might need to imagine how tall this was going to grow.It should get taller than me. Here are some more seeds of all sizes – they are all unique aren’t they – like us..
Well, we are HayDay farmers this weekend, aren’t we? And we are friends of Jesus too. And when we become friends with other people, it is like we are planting seeds of friendliness, of sharing, of love, of joy. And here’s a phrase we use all the time in talking about Jesus- that we plant seeds of faith. Then God sends the water to help those seeds sprout and grow. And we hope that people have good soil and the seeds take root, and are willing to hear how Jesus wants to be their friend.
So we are going to do an activity – and plant seeds of three sizes – sunflowers, radishes, and peas. I hope that you think about each seed and think of what it could represent – perhaps a radish seed is a smile you could give someone, perhaps a big seed is forgiveness you give someone – each seed a friendship action.
So I asked God if I could tackle my editing of my writings after VBS was done (or nearly done – I’m still cleaning, LOL)
James 1:17-18 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.”
It does not surprise me God did not give me time to edit what I have accumulated, He had me tasked with so many new things this year – I would be the first to tell you that I didn’t have time or an urge to write, but I felt so forced to do so and HE is the one Who woke me up early and created more time in my day, and I wrote.
Discussions with the Lord are the best done in my mind THRU my fingers… I’ll also will be the first to tell you I didn’t have time to exercise or eat healthy but God found that time too! All good things are from God, so He surely was the one who woke me up early, and gave me extreme intense focus for my health, and still does. He still focuses me… And I will also be the first to tell you I couldn’t sing, but felt addicted to the praise music and God said OH YEAH? Sing anyway, sing MY praises and I will help you thru… Sing MY praises and I will give you a support group that you could hardly ever imagine.
James 1:17-18 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.”
I can’t acclaim I had anything to do with all these things… but I am actively asking God to give me a chance to edit my blogs…
So, I have a whole 14 months to edit – over 150 “newer” writings much more mature then my initial ones – I’m going to do it slowly – I want to get them in my WordPress blog so that they are organized… I am NOT advertising but they are “on tap” for whenever I need to reread them, just like today, or if I want to share a particular one – but mostly for whenever God wants to use one anonymously in the Ethernet… It’s up to HIM…
I started writing in Dec 2014 but did not post until later on – and retro-posted my early writings. I came across this early one from June 2015 (which stuck with me a while) into us making a net with our arms at the VBS morning meeting on day 2 – when we talked about Jesus and Peter on the water…
I love being in my church families – something I will always cherish – I know that we are “not of this world but in this world” and the fact is that while we are here, we are tasked to create a family net that can grow the kingdom… it’s an awesome task… It’s so many layers of faith family I have – VBS, women’s retreat, band, UMW, visitations, committees, youth group activities, and that’s just scratching the surface of nets inside and outside the church too… so many layers… so much love… all LOVE is from the Lord – we get to share it by being vined with HIM.
Today I heard of a few tragic circumstances in other people’s lives and I am inspired by the LIGHT and LOVE of Jesus that was still shown thru each of those folks… I am grateful for each day and for being in the world in a wonderful time with such wonderful people.
Our faith families have been joined to us by God. They really have.
Here is a post of early thoughts – #192 from June 2015.
192 Right now it is dawn in the mountains, camping with a great friend from church, helped her open her cabin for the season… It’s her and her kids tackling the big tasks and building new family memories…
Truly a prime example of church folks becoming my extended family (family away from family) and in turn I became extended family to them… Giving back as much love and time as I can, being part of a reciprocal family network… She needed the help, I love to work hard, I needed the retreat (no phone or data service), I needed to sit on a rock and unwind… after a great night’s sleep – this devotion came at dawn – about building Jesus’ net:
Church Family Cousins, 20Jun
Remembering how blessed I am for my blood family AND my blood family. My blood family extends deep and wide biologically, established in my parents generous LOVE, making every effort travel and to share with me a great multiplicity of extended love… cousins… “let’s go meet your cousins”… and I did… I have absorbed their love… I have given back love…
Most of the travel adventures I had as a child were on the way to see aunts, uncles, and cousins… Twice a year up and down the east coast – hitting all the big and little tourist and history hot spots and taking time to interact with the locals along the way.
Blood cousins, we are far apart now in a too busy lifestyle, society demands busyness, vacation for us now is less frequently cousin-hopping, and certainly less interacting with locals along the way…
Same in church… Blood relatives are there too, united in Christ’s blood. I came to church with a small baby, I came to establish roots, I moved away from my family, I came to church to grow more, I knew I needed them – but I needed them more than I knew… I found family anew. They then became my cousins in Christ.
My Roots, His Net…
In a new church I worked hard establishing deep roots, that fed me first in society love, but that grew into family love, that I was able to extend back to them… Love so deep that I don’t want to dig it up and transplant… And love so strong that I had to extend out extra roots into new space, into extra non-congregational lands to support my ever growing faith…
Faith family became blood family when, I accepted Jesus, took in His Flesh and Blood AND acknowledged a path that I must travel. “The path is narrow, but it is sure”… I don’t have a map for this path – A compass yes! and a firm sense of my skill set, and enough supplies to last a lifetime… Yes and direction – Jesus gives us direction – “He will show you the path to take Proverbs 3:6… Yes it’s travelling time.
Cousin-hopping feeds you love best when you reciprocate… When you are as much the giver of love as the recipient… When you provide the soil for your blood cousins to put down their roots.
When you look to your congregational family for support, it’s good to ask yourself if you have done the same for them… Feed them so much – and don’t worry if you get it directly back, hopefully we all realize that we are being fed cross-network and not back and forth…. Set up this network for others as you have enjoyed for yourself… Trust me, you will be fed… Just change the type of diet you long for…. Feed on JESUS’ LOVE and not individual human love and you will never go hungry. Look for the love of Jesus under stones, in the dark spaces, and plain as day in the open… But make sure you cousin-hop. Don’t over eat.
At first I went to church for the people. I needed and always will need people, that’s who I am, that will never change. Once in my church family, I followed God’s love in a unique path that I didn’t realize I was taking. God drew me near and I found Jesus along the way. In a long term plan, God was reeling me in… Slow but sure… Slow enough that my wriggling didn’t unhook me, God used a wide hook made even wider by my own extension of love into my church family, a network woven tight, built strong… A network that is GOD’S fishing net, the tighter the weave, the smaller the fish you can catch, the wider the net, the wider the range of fish you can catch, the stronger the safety net behind the first net, the more fish you won’t lose when things break…
See Jesus is a Fisher of men… Humans are the fish caught in the nets, but they must then become the nets themselves… They can be the builders of new nets, repairers of old nets, designers of new net styles, and then embed themselves into that net.
Anytime you network in Christ means you produce more nets for His work, for Him to draw upon…
See, after I accepted Jesus, I accepted being part of HIS net. I know my tool set, sometimes I build, sometimes I repair, sometimes I design, but all the time I network from within, by being part of that net… I am and we are called to work, as well as exist… we must be networked to work within and not outside God’s workshop.
I used to go to church – for the people…. Jesus caught me in His net… So, I now hunger NOT for people love but JESUS LOVE… And so I now go to be the church – for the people… same reason – new love – expanded reason: JESUS LOVE…
I am here for Jesus. I am blessed to be a member and a builder of His Net.
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”Proverbs 14:30
This proverb should be examined deeply. Envy rots the bones.
Envy is big no-no commandment-wise. Envy can poison us – an evil egging us on in humanness. Envy from anything we want but don’t get. Envy happens for stuff we get yet not appreciate enough as sufficient, always wanting more. Envy keeping us from realizing complete life is not here on earth anyway. A want over a need, a get over a gift, a desire over a satisfaction.
Sometimes we then realize our eyes were bigger than our stomachs in life, and now that we can’t use the excess, it rots. Better a little and appreciate it, than too much and resent it. This goes for demanding attention, forcing an issue, and even purchasing too much easily spoiled food at the market. Rots…
A heart at peace, however, brings LIFE. Love is perfect, love does not envy because all needs are met in God, most importantly to be with Him. Life is forever, no envy, no boast except in Him. Live with Him within.
Love brings realization that we can live without, because we live with Him within.
Peace comes from love, and us living in peace, in the Lord’s peace, brings the life we would dream of, not the envy, because when you realize you have the love of God, the forgiveness through Jesus, you are in peace, nothing left will even come close.
Nothing but Love.
Peace of the soul.
Amen
“There was Jesus” sung by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton
LYRICS:
Every time I tried to make it on my own
Every time I tried to stand and start to fall
And all those lonely roads that I have travelled on
There was Jesus
.
When the life I built came crashing to the ground
When the friends I had were nowhere to be found
I couldn’t see it then but I can see it now
There was Jesus
.
In the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment
Where I’ve been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know it or couldn’t see it
There was Jesus
.
For this man who needs amazing kind of grace (Mmm)
For forgiveness at a price I couldn’t pay (Mmm)
I’m not perfect so I thank God every day
There was Jesus (There was Jesus)
.
In the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment
Where I’ve been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know it or couldn’t see it
There was Jesus
.
On the mountain, in the valleys (There was Jesus)
In the shadows of the alleys (There was Jesus)
In the fire, in the flood (There was Jesus)
Always is and always was
No I never walk alone (Never walk alone)
You are always there
.
In the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute (Every minute), every moment (Every moment)
Where I’ve been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know it or couldn’t see it
There was Jesus
.
There was Jesus
There was Jesus
There was Jesus
1 Corinthians 13:4-12
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
This fuzzy decent-sized bee guy was stuck in my tent, so I got him out. He lost one of his pollen packs from his legs, but I hope he’ll be okay. I put him on a flower away from the tent. He looked tired (how would I know?!), but he seemed to know it was a flower I put him on and he transferred easily there. I felt bad he was stuck – the net is confusing – he could not see the hole to freedom just a few inches away. at least he still had his pollen – he could have paused to eat. The potential was there to keep moving – he had to be patient. He is now on his way.
My tent doors are open all the time because I don’t want birds to get stuck in there as in past years – now I keep them open. I just close them sometimes if I am sitting there in the evening – but the mosquitos are low (I think) due to this dry weather. And any breeze is good – plus I started draping white landscaping fabric over my shoulders and legs – it may look silly but no one (except the cat) ever sees me in my tent – it is like NO ONE uses their backyards anymore – let alone their front yards… Me? I feel like I grew up outside in comparison to my kids and all kids these days. We were outside all the time – tents, shade trees, climbing trees, camping, picnicking, living life. Summer is my favorite for these outdoor-attitudes to inside activities. I may say that I love Fall the most, but honestly my body loves the summer and the freedom to NOT be cold. I hate that it is TOO COLD in the office and I sit outside at work too. I love the outside air. I walk in that cool dew-ed grass too.
The morning is the best… the coolness… the possibilities… the quiet… and watering and tending to things outside in PJs – on a Saturday where there are activities but there is also rest. How can you say that summer isn’t the best… I’m not digging ditches or doing heavy construction so I am not complaining of the heat although I know we need the rain almost desperately. Pray for my friend putting in pools all season long – he says the soil is rock hard (and yes I can attest to that in my vegetable garden – after 2 tomato plants, nothing else went in).
Saturday, this day is not 100 but warm and yet cool at 70 degrees – high will be 84. I am leasuring until I head out for lunch with friends – blessed as the calendar coordinated with the Lord. And in thinking of how we are blessed in the Lord, Psalm 5 comes to mind and I will always be humming it, as it was a praise song I sang in a band many years ago now.
A song from David: “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
David prays for the Lord’s Way as his highway – and to see it clearly. David states that he will pray and the Lord will hear his voice. David did continue in this Psalm 5 about wicked people – but he also called out how wonderful the Lord was and is and will be to direct his path – our paths: “But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.”
David knew, even when he went off-plan, to come back to the Lord’s Path. Really – David like many of God’s favorite sons in the scriptures have stories of going off the path but then returning. The Lord WANTS us to come back – He wants us to pack the pollen of life onto our paths and keep moving – there is such potential in each day serving Him. He will pick us up – get us unstuck. God will make His way in front of our faces – we just need to keep praising – and looking up.
Thank you David for singing the sections that are on our minds: “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”
Let us take our days into your ways, Lord…
and Shout for JOY!
Amen
Psalm 5 KJV
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
“…praise every morning, God’s recreation of the new day!…”
Some major storms last night, but I was not and am not usually afraid. Not going to endanger myself, but I’ll certainly look interestingly outside the windows at the lightning when I’m not charting the thunderstorms on the radar.
We do need the rain, and it IS summer.
If summer is July and August, for the main event, like it is us having a weekend Saturday and Sunday, in terms of weather. Then surely June to summer would be like the Friday night warm up. Praise for the new season of summer. It will get too cold too fast. Praise for summer and wet gardens to walk though. Love the lyrics of Morning Has Broken – God walking in the gardens.
We can take the weather and weather it. Really rarely does lightning actually strike us people – but I’ve seen a tree get hit only feet away from me, and wow the heat was intense !!! So I respect lightning. That day, we didn’t know the storm would open up so quickly. We didn’t have alarms or radar. We were in a pavilion at a BBQ. Now we have lots of warnings, especially glued to our phones. Then we watched the skies. Run to the car or not? I opted for the car. Probably not the right choice but I survived. No, I’m not extra fearful now, it was just something that one deals with and moves on.
Respect over fear. Smart over stupid. Living over cowering. Just accept summer is summer. Live it!
Maybe like thunderstorm radars, we ALREADY know each day will bring us CHALLENGES. But do we move out into the day anyway? Yes. and we should. This is why we have roofing and good tires and common sense.
If common sense is useful, then our sense of place is just as important – and our witness of knowledge of God as calming AND our witness of God as POWERFUL – these thoughts keep us moving in our day.
If we remember that God can overcome all that is dark by being LIGHT, and He can overcome hate by being LOVE, surely we can look past the night to see the dawn, and we can calm our fears to accept His peace.
It can be dark, but morning comes. The life we live can be broken, yet the heat can be broken and the morning will be broken in our favor, because our God will never be broken unable to help. Yes – broken in body as Jesus was – but God whole never broken in purpose or plan. And God has walked all these gardens before.
Empathy is an experiential expression. Sympathy they say is from the brain, feeling sorry for a situation but EMPATHY is knowing it from the heart.
Dealing with death is one situation we all know, and how we feel it for others is either sympathy or empathy. It’s personal and we can let our hearts feel empathy at the same time we use our heads to demonstrate sympathy, without over-stating that we know exactly what the others are going through. Each person relates uniquely to their journeys. Our comfort to them is to say we know it is unique to you. Our ultimate comfort is to demonstrate that we know that the Lord is in control and we expect eternal life with Him – thus making this transition to death just an eyes closed, eyes opened event.
The Lord set up an extremely unique situation for his servant and prophet Ezekiel. The Lord sent an extreme example of demonstration of trust in the Lord, He asked Ezekiel to only groan quietly and muffle the customary rites of mourners. This was when the Lord stated Ezekiel would lose his wife, the sweetest thing in his life, “delight of your eyes”. This was understandably a tough loss, and the Lord understood the mourning, but outward-facing He wanted Ezekiel to demonstrate solidarity with the Lord’s teaching. And the equivalent response when he told his fellow Israelites that the area of Jerusalem would lose their sanctuary, it would be desecrated, a place where they had convened with Holy God, and had been a stronghold of pride. Ezekiel told the community to trust and know God’s actions were God’s – showing His power with purpose. Life would continue but not without judgement.
So first, Ezekiel demonstrated the demands of the Lord, to groan quietly for himself when his wife died, a witness to knowing God’s power and ability to act. God said: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead.”
Then God said: “Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done.”
Ezekiel could only speak when directed, and that was a sign from the Lord too: “on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”
It was an UNIQUE path of the judgment of God to cause the exile of 70 years and demand back the ongoing trust in the Lord – as these people of Jerusalem had drifted too far, and were to be carried away in exile. The Lord’s plan is unique to Him. He promises to provide a restoration and prophets prophesied of this for the future, but for this moment, this was judgement.
Final judgment will come to us all one day. The Lord will have gathered the found and the lost will be lost. We should have empathy for the Lord’s pain as well as partake in it for the loss is forever when people, His children, are going to lose in a second death, and not know eternal life. We also need empathy for the lost of this generation, for we too once were lost but now are found. We were blind but now we see.
So let us set aside sympathy and even apathy for our generation of lost, and have empathy for them and the Lord.Let us strengthen each other.
All children are God’s children, image-bearers, and held captive until they realize the freedom in Jesus. Pray chains to fall. Pray God’s knowledge comes to them all.
Amen
—
Ezekiel 24:15-24
Ezekiel’s Wife Dies
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?”
So I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of[a] your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’
“And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire, and their sons and daughters as well— on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”
I find it very hard to complain about a temperature of 74,
even if I was actually CHILLY down at the shore.
Wore a jacket, but I had a break from 100 degrees! Say no more!
Yet even 100 degrees, I had AC, could get out of it, I can’t complain if I COULD and DID get to the shore.
.
My car is always packed ready, who knows what life has in store!
In my beach chair, I started reading about Fanny Crosby, her life as a blind child, famous for her poems, then hymn lyrics, and her trips and more.
I read about the scurge of 1800’s cholera in NYC all around. You know, we DON’T have cholera no more – should count blessings, right? Need I say more?
Famous Fanny Crosby even wrote a poem for the Camp Meeting of Ocean Grove – the blessed site of revival a stone’s throw from big city’s door.
Fanny Crosby loved life, she visited so much, appreciated, enjoyed the shore.
I was told this and MORE, by a gentleman greeting at the Gospel Pavilion, where they had free electricity too, cellphone plug outlets galore!
I respited there, watched lightning while a thunderstorm rolled off-shore.
Yes, a clear a display of God’s power and balance of life at the shore.
.
At the auditorium, the bells rang beautifully and a woman walked hunched over, surely a chore.
She struggled with a broken back but she kept walking, we enjoyed chatting, she invited me another day to visit with her some more.
And WOW, the hydrangea flowers, the scenery, and the quaint Camp tents, I loved their appreciative decor!
Back on the pier, a bee landed on me, rested 15 minutes, picked pollen off his head like a cat, done from his day at the shore, so many flowers he did explore.
It was me a busy bee too, appreciatively resting my core.
.
Yes, even in life stress, let us take a moment to remember the bless, blessed anywhere, just chilling, knowing about Jesus’s Forevermore!
Life on earth has many a temporary short summers, please find ways like a non-fancy little day trip, to LIVE IT UP some more.
I appreciated all the temperatures this day, we surely can endure: 100, then 80, then 74!
Water will go anywhere. (Living Water has already been there too.)
There is no rain (yet), but there is HEAT, and the ACs are cranking. But at four AM, a wake up UNEXPECTED with a subtle water splash on my face. Subtle sounds of drip… drip… What? A splash of half drops but I feared a big leak. Lights on… No big leak, hmmmm. This was so subtle I am surprised it registered, surely God awoke me. I’m so glad He did – in all ways… water and living water.
I got the towels out, preserved my stuff on the windowsill and dresser with a blanket overlay, including moving 2 FROGS, a gift from a friend well before I knew FROG could stand for Faithfully Relying On God. Ribb-itt Live it!
The splashing was a bounce of the water drop which became the smallest of wake ups.
Water goes everywhere and the extra crazy level of heat is making the AC above me (in the wall) of my son’s room working overtime. He runs it in the winter too, keeping his hot gaming computer cooled. I’m not going to shut it off right now, the only thing worse than me being woke up, and worse than a few drips, is waking up a still teenager (for 2 more months) from their deepest sleep at 430AM just to explain you need to shut off their AC in a heat wave. IT CAN WAIT! Add an extra towel – go back to sleep.
What about our LIVING WATER? Want to be in God’s sight AND Jesus’s water splash? Catch His Wave instead of our WIPEOUT? He knows and provides a needed WAKE UP. Drip drip, and sometimes a flood, God knows. Let His spirit flow put us in the know. He will calm our storms and pull us back into the boat. Even Jesus could sleep thru a storm – we can rest in a mini moment…
This 4am wake up (5am now) was OK, I was able to recognize God’s intervention (saving my stuff) and God’s path (finding a repair) and God’s Grace (not waking up a teenager, yet). Plus God’s preparation (when I find a handyman to work on this). God’s got this – I just need to follow thru!
When I recognized what the situation, I was SO THANKFUL to be in the SPLASH. Catching the wave before it becomes a Wipeout. Like of all places that my face was facing – I am grateful for the moment to know.
The cat was not bothered and called for the front door open to peer through the screen door to listen to the world waking up, the birds (God takes care on them!), and the un-still stillness. I too will rest in aware awareness. God is in control!
The Holy Spirit will flow, Jesus is our know. Get the splash and go.
AN A.M. AMEN!
Amen for the Jesus Splashzone!
John 7:37-39 NKJV – The Promise of the Holy Spirit
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
It’s a small devotion book, very powerful, “Windows Towards God” 1950 Charles Schmitz. He explains it is from RADIO broadcasts captured on paper, hoping to continue to inspire. I found this book buried in a box, buried in a closet at my old church, in the early weeks of my awakening. I knew the Holy Spirit gave it to me to understand that even “vintage” Word is Perfect Word for new ears. Mine were NEW. Like the windows cleaned fresh! I pray for each of us to renew NEW.
This vintage Spirit of old is openly new, every day, as our Lord is a Living God. The author urges us to open the windows and let God in FRESH! I have no problem opening car windows, house windows, even found a great day off to clear my head here in the shade OUTSIDE. Yet we all could pray for some more openings for cleaning our faith, our temples, our lives. And not let it get OLD, NOR COLD.
The author reminds that Daniel in the midst of old testament oppression by being an exile from Judah, lived a tough existence on the outside but inside let his spirit be refreshed – he learned that it was illegal to pray to God, but “when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Chapter 6:10. HE WAS PROTECTED AND RENEWED
There are tough times, but nothing worse than stale-ness of faith. WE NEED FRESH AIR!
God is FOR us. Let us open up to Him to do His work… that never gets old!!!
Amen
PS – someday I would like to publish a tiny book (big too) but a tiny book easily tucked away, easily kept, easily shared. Place it forward. For now, the window of opportunity is open, wherever the Spirit takes me! It’s open for all of us – to make the most of Spirit refreshing ways! Amen
a prayer for service: after “Reckless Love” and before “Surrender” – in conjunction with our sermonist’s sermon on Zacchaeus in a Tree with Jesus walking through…
Good morning, and a glorious father’s day to all our dads, uncles, grandfathers, and especially to our heavenly Father Who gives us the wisdom to draw close to Him.
——————- Won’t you please pray with me: Lord there is no mountain You won’t climb up, and that have not already climbed.
There’s no dark shadow You won’t light up, and have not already overcome.
There’s no wall You won’t kick down, Even the one’s we put up ourselves towards You.
And the biggest lies that you want torn down, is the lie that we tell ourselves that we are self sufficient – and the terrible lie that says we are not worthy. Well, Lord, we are worthy because You are worthy.
You know that we need You.
Therefore Lord, we DO need You to come find us – find us curious, up in our own trees – find us hungry for Your Voice to ring true – find us reaching for You when we are distant, because You are already there. Open our hearts to see You.
May we always try to find You Lord! May we climb down from exalting in our pride and Likewise, may we rise up from stumbling in our humanness to see You smiling at us. Encouraging us. May we surrender in glorious fear and humility, knowing both the Joy of Your presence and the AWE of You as Lord.
Now, as we listen deeply, the musicians AND THE LORD invite us to meditate upon the ultimate ASK that the Lord has for us, in the lyrics of the next song, the SURRENDER of our lives, in exchange for the Promise of NEW LIFE in You. Amen
—
PART 2
Help us Lord to surrender to You, to Your will, to accept You as a gift and then to listen to our calling – start and share our journey.
Remind us Lord that You have already won, so we just need to follow through.
May we stop hiding or watching from the sidelines, Sometimes our surrender means we need to shake up our priorities, to get on board, and sometimes it is that we need to change, stop clinging to old ways. May we embrace life now and forevermore. We wish and pray to turn fully toward You, Jesus, to listen to accept You as our Lord and Savior and then walk with You and Your Holy Spirit closer and closer to our Father – one day at a time – one moment at a time – one surrender and one success at a time.
42 is the answer, to the intersection of life, the universe, and everything – WOW- the god-like computer spit that out after millions of billions of computing power years – but what was the question? I appreciate old nerdy references. And this one is for the movie: “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. And even though I can visualize the scene of placing a fish in one’s ear to hear languages translated, I acknowledge this was not my nerdy obsession, it was my brother’s. Still it’s a cult classic funny intellectual film. I am glad I am old enough to know the references and pick it out in a set of stickers…
Nerds…
And the scene with the answer “42” really does come up with the god-like computer (a colorful spouting hole in a cave wall) saying: “well… you didn’t actually tell me the full question.” yeah…
RIGHT! We all have to be asking the RIGHT QUESTIONS and not just taking any answer without our own computing. SO how do we know what is the right question, let alone the right answer?
Here, at least for our faith, the Scriptures, the Lord, and the Lord’s people writing for the Lord, can give us truly a PATH to any question in our faith: “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.”
WE MUST MAKE SURE – Make sure we are FIRM IN FAITH. Read our bibles, double check people’s truth with God’s Truth, don’t ask cheap 70’s lighted cracks in rocks – but depend upon and stand upon The Rock.
How? Peter gives this advice too, from years of wisdom hyperspeed-taught to him by the Holy Spirit after years of walking, he is now knowing: “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
WHY? “keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
WHY? “For if you do these things, you will never stumble”
BY BENEFIT OF? “having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
THEN WHAT? “you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Oh… The “answer” of life is continuing it in God’s Heavenly Kingdom… The “answer” to every question is Jesus (that is always the safe Sunday School answer)… The “question” to how to live life is following Jesus. He knows the Way – being the Way the Truth and the Life.
The expanded question is… Why wouldn’t we want all the God wants for us? I want this, and pray you do as well. Confirm one’s election sure. By God’s Divine Power, Peter surely did have this education, and so do we.
Amen to the Answer!
Thank You, Lord Jesus, Your Holy Spirit, and God Our Father Almighty! God, Three in One. (This would make a great sticker wouldn’t it?)
Amen
———–
2 Peter 1:3-11
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Stand in the Gap – that’s a position no one would do in the time of rebellious Israelites about to be put away to Babylon for punishment, with Ezekiel speaking out the judgment from God against them. Then God said no one would stand in the GAP, but someone, a BIG Someone could and would. JESUS came to stand in the gap for all of us, for each of us.
And we know Jesus as forever present, forever God, not an afterthought of repair but a pre-positioned acceptance of purpose and plan. Jesus, a lamb slain before the foundation of the world, came to save it and knew how.
Jesus stood in the GAP to save. He stood on earth calling up to Zacchaeus who was in a tree – and Zacchaeus stood up to repent and give back what he stole in tax collecting. Jesus in Heaven was set to go to earth – and awaits the time now to come back from Heaven, awaiting His second coming. The Wall of strength we must stand on is Jesus. The Gap we must fill in ourselves is Jesus. The HOPE is that the SON OF MAN fulfilled the Gap in man – and we are saved in repent.
Repent – Intent – Heaven Sent
Amen
—
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. Ezekiel 22:30-31
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Luke 19:1-10 New King James Version
Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’ House
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
What changes in the Catholic church? The words in the responses – makes a 70’s Catholic journey tough – to stay up with the new things – like I tried at my friend’s mother’s services. I knew the routine – like the kneelers feel hard – still – and my knees got worse and worse – but the routineness of rout memorization is not routine for me any more – I can’t fake it…
And no way I was going to go up for that tasty wafer of communion – since they stated “no non-Catholics” – even if I was coveting the taste. I did not covet the routine anymore – but what did I LONG FOR? THE WORTHINESS.
The prayer is “Lord I am not worthy to receive you – but only say the Word and I shall be healed.” – They changed those words too – but really there is only One Worthy – Jesus. There are no other ways than the Way. The Word DOES heal – and the Word does Live. The Word of Jesus makes us worthy – and DOES NOT CHANGE.
So – don’t worry about the earthly worthiness of temporary – appreciate the worthiness of the Word – the Lord – and the Healing.
Who IS WORTHY? The One Who gives us His Worth!
Amen
Isaiah 57:1-2
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
New song lyrics for ‘You are My Sunshine’ – based on the crazy volume of activities I have had this weekend – yesterday and Lord-Willing today. Disassembling and moving furniture, group activities, helping at a friend’s with recent knee surgery, outside and inside work, church and church meetings, shopping, baseball game, assembling furniture, laundry and more church stuff – and seeing how they all fell and will fall into place… it’s all good stuff, but hectic and yet the activities don’t fall, like a tetris pieces in a game, the weekend activities are a blessing of blessings, God fits them into place because He can see ahead. I even place my trust in Him to un-pick things not so fruitful. ‘Find out what pleases the Lord!’
For us it’s a crazy volume of intricate activities. Well ALL GOOD things are from God, right? (That includes sleep too!) So timing of life, people in our path, etc. So if things work out – it is all God, and listening to His suggestions before it becomes a mandate of crashing dates. Isn’t it better to watch Him fit things – and work at it – work at the listening!!!… ‘Find out what pleases the Lord!’
BE THANKFUL!!! (and be thankful for Monday too – some of us get to sit and work, whew!)
Here is my new lyrics Of “You are My Planner, My Holy Planner”… could write a lot of these verses!
You are the Planner, the Ultimate Scheduler.
You make things work out, un-busying fray.
You’ll ALWAYS know Lord, when I will need You.
Please don’t take my sanity away.
…
You are the Knower, the priority Sorter.
You weigh Your scales, Lord, upon my day.
You’ll make things GOOD Lord, Your knowing Way.
Please don’t take Your Light away.
Amen
—–
Ephesians 5:8-20
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—
James 1, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
Trials and Temptations Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Love hearing my mom’s voice singing this song when I was a child… I had a great childhood in hindsight, but it’s always us remembering an awkward time with icky teenage stuff, perceived mental rough, life hassle enough, and sometimes age old bluff. I’m SO glad to have it past me. I’m SO glad to be a grown up, but wish for those summers off, the sunshine, the hope of fun.It got summer real fast here in the northeast. I’m not complaining but WOW took me by surprise and my strawberries are done, peonies spent. Spring sprung then skedaddled. Wow. My garden peas planted in hope were a critter crunch for their comfort, I got none, except one, an accidental pea in the flower pot. It grew and developed and I was surprised as it gifted 2 pods full. Yum. 2 more await. Next year I will try to remember to plant this way. I never learn to adapt, but maybe next year.
It’s the sunshine which makes us warm in spring, hot in summer, or hopeful all winter long. We long for sunshine, then we jump inside air-conditioned houses. Hmmm… Whatever happened to shade? Shade in summer is the opportunity to enjoy both. We need to remember to adapt and explore the sunshine but be protected too. What burns us also welcomes us, grows fruitfulness, and lights our way. It’s great except when it’s not.
Can we brace ourselves against the bad attack of sun? Plants do. I guess that’s like life. We need to embrace and brace. We need to adult and child. We need to live and live. Oh, not live and hide but live and live.
Live and Live.
There’s living in all aspects of life.
I complained about hectic life this past week, but I saw a strange sight Friday night, a bus at the train station, with transit authorities, people including kids standing to the side. I thought, I don’t think this is vacation, I really think this is an immigration caravan into targeted cities, maybe not. Or if it’s a search, thats sad. If it’s a broken down bus, that doesn’t usually happen at the train station. I guess I really don’t know, will never know, but I thought of their embrace of a hopeful life even on the move. Then I thought of how blessed I was, how routine life really is, how I do have stuff, a ride, and options. I have a next spring, summer, sun and shade possibilities, I have a lots with many less unknowns than these people. I can see my sunshine and I can step into the shade too. I will always be OK. I’ll know that life lives on…
I can live life in a full capacity – and yet rest to recharge my battery.
God knows, God will lead, God will protect and help us embrace the grace as well as the race. We must keep going and keep knowing.
Life is for living. We should live it. Remember to step into the shade, the intimate God coverage of life. Live, and live it up. Try to even enjoy in the moment. Sunshine today, God always.
New lyrics:
Lord, You are my Life-shine, my only Life-Line. You make me happy when lives are in array. You really know Lord, how much I love you. Please embrace me and lead me today.
Amen
—
Psalm 25 – New King James Version – A Psalm of David.
To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.
The Lord goes in FRONT of us, not just behind… He covers us where we are going BEFORE we get there or even start to go there, and I’m not JUST talking about Salvation, which is the MOST important coverage we have, and which gives one HOPE. On our most harried days, may we continue to remember He has thankfully already GONE AHEAD and has covered us with His Blood.
In addition, He went ahead FOR us and FOR all BEFORE the world was even begun. He went ahead to get us to see the proper path. And He went ahead so we could see the LIGHT that He IS.
So my EARTHLY EXAMPLE of a witness to “GOD KNOWS BEST”, is of God going in FRONT of my finances (we all need this): I SAVED instead of spending my tax refund – not knowing what for, but knowing maybe I needed it set aside. Maybe that’s not unusual for you folks, but it IS unusual for me!!! Especially as I WAS going to get some things fixed around the house and had the quote even. But/and then I just had this INTERESTING weird but PEACEFUL feeling that I should wait… WAIT… not for something bad but for something SHIFTED IN PRIORITIES… Not the want but the need… Oh to always remember we must follow by faith not sight. (Sometimes I do wonder if we prepare more for something bad then we prep for something GOOD… Yet, GOD HAS MORE GOOD PLANNED FOR US THAN BAD).
Anyway, I remember and say that the Lord does NOT drop the other shoe on us, and EVERY DAY with Him by our sides and all around and ESPECIALLY in FRONT, we are told NOT to worry… so I tucked the tax return away and waited.
Well, my tax return spending plan got a changed focus for sure… especially as my daughter’s graduation dinner approached, then to my car’s new tires $ and what-not$… and that normal $tuff, not bad, but $$$ little and big. Like sneaker$ for my son and then grocery $hopping for the returned graduate. And THEN, OH LORD, $omething not terrible, but $till an issue: the “UH-OH” of my paycheck being shorted… WOW… oops… oop$… Shorted monie$… this is the 1ST TIME IN OVER 25 YEARS for me! $hoot! It must have been a glitch – not specifically the sabbatical hours as they got entered, but something glitchy and forgotten coming back from the sabbatical. Ugh…
Yes, I got not paid for the regular hours, over half of them not paid… BIG OOPS… How unusual for me to see this on a Saturday too, but NOT unusual for us to feel this gut feeling that God put a wait on my actions months ago, holding onto the tax return. How could I know, but God was in the know and flow, God is the good and the go… oh…
God FRONTED me the money I needed and before I knew I needed it. The tax return (where I have always put in extra each paycheck as my house-fix savings for the last 20 years) is an earthly way where I have seen my prayers of COVERAGE yield fruit. The tax return became a cover of my back and front… happy earns!
I know they will fix this. I am not worried, I am thankful. Even HR and my boss were emailing on the weekend. I made no stink but just an “uh-oh” email, in which I actually wrote (a work email) of this witness of the Lord. If there’s anything we can do while waiting it is is PRAISE.
I know that not every foible, mine or others, will get fixed in this lifetime. I’m just grateful that the Lord could be giving us a heads up before we’re even looking… If there’s a fronting of blessings, why not be listening to the God who made it all happen.
Well… I will walk in faith today I pray, and watch things go His Way. It’s all going to be OK.
I thank God for bills which means life is happening. I thank God for work which means I can do stuff. I thank God for family I can take care of. And I thank God for Him, for His FRONT COVERAGE of LOVE.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”
Amen
—
2nd CHRONICLES 20:14-22
Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”
Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
“Give thanks to the Lord,for his love endures forever.”
As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
This is like a short analogy, shortest to the point chapter. Jerusalem is worthless without God, we all are. At first I read this chapter of Ezekiel’s chastisement of wandering Idolaters of Jacob’s flock as ‘oh there’s a connection to Jesus as the Vine’ in the new testament. Then I read the chapter 15 (below) and realized it’s deep and pertains to today too, it’s that without God, the people are lost!!! Lost, and it’s that the vine, especially broken up, or used as a fire starter or anything else is going to burn them all – and life away from God is not working out for them – so God’s going to turn His face away and they will suffer even more…
So, I add thoughts of the ‘Vine and branches’ scripture from Jesus (John 15, also below) as contrast in growth and usefulness. Jesus as FORGIVENESS power revives and re-vines the fruitfulness of the people who follow Him. There were wandering people but made clean by the Word, Jesus, instilled in them. People and disciples then and now, made clean by Jesus. Jesus restores the usefulness of the vine.
Jesus even calls Himself the Son of Man like God called Ezekiel, and it’s a true moniker for being among the people. Jesus protects (think of Daniel’s description of Jesus in the fire with the three standing against King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to worship him falsely), AND Jesus restores (a King, a true King, on David’s throne), AND Jesus is the inner fruitfulness to be expressed in each of us (I am the Vine, You are the branches, remain in Me)…
Jesus restores unfaithfulness, unfruitfulness, unrealized life.
Vine us back Lord.
Keep us growing for Your Work.
In Your Name, in Your Word, in Your Power, we pray.
Amen
—
Ezekiel Chapter 15 – Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
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John 15 – The Vine and the Branches
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
Ah – Memorial Day weekend – oh how I feel like resting not working, but I know that my yard calls to me – will do that first and then later – maybe – will tackle the garden – but not yet – that bug has not quite bit me – but the flower beds do… Flowers are traditionally planted on Memorial Day weekend – for the living and for the fallen.
Oh how unbelievable war is – and this Memorial Day we honor those who have fallen in war – we remember all of our loved ones no longer with us – it is time for flowers and parades. Parties and picnics too… And even my old friends camping in Gettysburg this weekend are doing civil war reenactments… We have a nostalgia for the past. However we have failing memories of the present, we really do. If our news cycle is spinning somewhere else, we forget about the current challenges – I certainly do…
A friend asked me, at work, to help with making a thank you for some children in the Ukraine to boost their spirits – to thank them for gifts that they made our site which were their way to say thank you for some donations – including cleaned up equipment donated to a school. These children are the future and we forget the hardships there and practically everywhere – not everyone forgets but if I forget then others must forget too… So for me to be the “photographer”, this was the smallest slice of my energy to send prayers and well wishes to those kids in war. Lest we forget that EVERYONE needs our encouragement.
And it IS easy to forget far away places when it is so beautiful and peaceful in our pockets of peace here. Just like last week, when in the center of the city, when I helped with a community garden, the peace was punctuated with birds chirping – having the airspace and trees to roam. Our children too need these places, places like schools and clubs, neighborhoods and church activities… We raise our kids and then we forget about the other kids… I don’t know the answer to this but to keep praying… We can’t fix the world but we can fix-up the small places we live in. We can pray-forth the people we can’t touch.
Another prayer would be for those times that we must put distance and not closeness into our lives – for people whom we purposefully don’t have contact with – and know it is for the best – everyone has long stories of these times. And this “healthy” separation of life brokeness can only be placed into God’s Hands. Thanking God for the buffer and asking His forgiveness for the fracture – and knowing there is good space in buffer of space and time and moving on… Another reason that we need God Himself to be our healing force – we can’t do it ourselves and there are times we don’t want to do it – but one day – if not today – and often it is not today – God’s forgiveness will reign. We can try to tap into that if we can’t muster it ourselves.
And a last prayer (for this blessed quiet morning) is for the acknowledgement of the challenges that the Lord has gotten us over in the past and therefore we must remember He will get us through the ones in our future – near future and distant future. He will heal wounds, He will preserve peace with a restoration and not a quick fix, He will rule and reign and return. All knees will bow.
Let us bow our hearts in praise, hurt, humility, and hope. Where we can only fathom peace, God IS Peace.
“Don’t go with the crowd” – it’s good to go the Way of the Lord in your unique way with Him. If you know that it’s a bad way, don’t go along, stop and pray it out, listen to your gut, and ask forgiveness for where and when life gets confusing. GOD WILL GET YOU OUT OF A JAM, and be whole FRUITFUL once again.
Ezekiel was the educator example teacher prophet for Jerusalem sons and daughters of Jacob who lost their way, being ignorant of God’s commands. Ezekiel reminded: Don’t be a false prophet or an idolator listening to them… The one who goes astray is just as guilty as the one who pulls them astray. Ezekiel was tasked: Tell the people to LISTEN to God – God says “I will save My people”…
Ezekiel also reminded the people that they could not be saved by associations – even the holy people of Noah, Job and Daniel were to be saved but their sons and daughters could not be saved by just being offspring and associated to the holy men. Each person needs their OWN relationship with our saving God.
Repentance is Real. Wash CLEAN white instead of whitewashing false.
WE HAPPILY AND JOYFULLY HAVE A FRIEND IN JESUS. Instead of whitewash to cover unsightly things (like Ezekiel spoke of), we have His ability to wash us, as sinful people, WHITE AS SNOW.
God said He would spread the word through Ezekiel “to recapture the hearts of the people” – we now have the Word, Jesus, to regather us.
Let us rejoice and be glad – our Repent opportunity is Heaven sent!
False prophets condemned The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, ‘The Lord declares’, and expect him to fulfil their words. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, ‘The Lord declares’, though I have not spoken?
‘“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
‘“Because they lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace’, when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you covered it with?’
‘“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: in my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
‘Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
‘“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, therefore you will no longer see false visions or practise divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.”’
Chapter 14 – Idolaters Condemned Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
“Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
“‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
“‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Do you ever feel like you’re living as an example to others? To aware of others watching us in normal life and to know we are Christians by our love. It’s our living out an exile here on earth, apart from complete reconciliation with the Lord which will complete us one day. Showing not signs of the times but LOVE. God is love, so to show love, mercy, kindness is to show God. We can show the future of reconciliation even if the world is not there yet.
In Ezekiel’s time, He also had to show the future – but a harsh one for disobedient Jerusalem-living Israelites bound for Babylon. He had to work his calling as an example. Ezekiel play acted out the prophecies, not just speak them.
‘They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
Interestingly, as God calls Ezekiel ‘Son of man’, Jesus calls Himself that when He came. Jesus demonstrated the love as well as the authority as well as chosen exile into a broken world, until the time God appointed the fulfillment of the Scriptures and Jesus being raised from the dead. It is forgiveness fulfillment’s finest hour.
The fulfillment of a Savior came, and Jesus will come again and fulfill the rest of the prophecies – all in God’s Timing. The remnants are in place, the gathered are gatherable. Let us live out our time as knowing we are LOVED… and keep moving too.
The exile symbolised The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
‘Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people. During the daytime, while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening, while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile. While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it. Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the Israelites.’
So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.
In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, “What are you doing?”
‘Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: this prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.” Say to them, “I am a sign to you.”
‘As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.
‘The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. I will scatter to the winds all those around him – his staff and all his troops – and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
‘They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. Say to the people of the land: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: they will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”’
There will be no delay The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing”? Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.” Say to them, “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfil whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’
The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, the Israelites are saying, “The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.” ‘Therefore say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: none of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’
Here is the sermon I was blessed to preach yesterday – thank you for reading and absorbing.
Scriptures:
John 21:15-19 Jesus Reinstates Peter
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Acts 1:1-11 Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven (early chapter written by Luke)
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
I thought starting this sermon – WOW – just like my sermon last time – WOW asks: What’s my Witness???!!! And WOW “What a busy week!”, I thought: “how am I going to find time to focus on a sermon?” – well thankfully God found my nooks and crannies of time – to work on witnessing His Word… and WOW – I surely have a witness of His goodness in letting me march thru this week and keep marching…
Well of course there are many who are in tough spots – so we count our blessings – and there are plenty of down times that I am not going to dwell on now – the truth is that we MUST keep marching thru life – the good and the bad – that is Truth – and the sermon is going to be about continuing our Journey with Jesus – this time speaking about OUR WALK WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT = and talk about a KICKSTART – WOW – it is the Holy Spirit which fuels our WOW.
Yes, I can say that if it seems that I am running on Holy Spirit fumes – it’s because I am… And so to fuel myself and us, I want to start with this scripture from James – knowing that James too was able to experience the grace and mercy and Holy Spirit of his brother Jesus – realizing it after being sent the Holy Spirit, Jesus’s Advocate forever.
James wrote that: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:17-18
Yes – every gift – especially for us to remember today when we celebrate the beginning of Pentecost – the birth of the church – the impetus to go out and share the Word – that the HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF is our GIFT – a gift to the disciples and gift to us. Now everyday is a journey with Jesus because we have the Holy Spirit in our midst.
And SO a sermon about Jesus after resurrection and about the Holy Spirit is not “hard” – even if I am running on ‘Holy Spirit fumes’ – because it is the Holy Spirit Himself feeding lines and the time to write them… it’s a flow, it’s a flow WE NEED TO TAP INTO: we are blessed “to be in the know”. This sermon is called “NOW WHAT?” – because we do have to figure out what to do as we follow Jesus. And I should have named the sermon “Guess What?” because we don’t know what God has around the corner for us to work on – but we DO know that He goes with us and He equips us with our tools and gifts to work in the world. Even Jesus said: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses – … to the ends of the earth.”
So the song that triggered my refocus over the course of the last week was from Godspell – “All good things around us – are sent from heaven above”… YES!!! And how can we not also praise the rain getting us all this green and the soon to be fruits of the summer – and our lives – and praise getting over those bad allergies this year – which of course showed how our bodies are working but ugh! So we will praise getting over the allergies and moving onto BEAUTIFUL spring weather, flowers and leaves abound… All good things … The song goes:
We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.. But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.. He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain… The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain…
All good gifts around us – Are sent from Heaven above – So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love…
We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good, The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food, No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!
All good gifts around us – Are sent from Heaven above – So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love…
It’s paramount that we thank the Holy Spirit – thank Jesus – thank God – and as we are thinking of Jesus post Easter, we are to still think always of HOW He demonstrated the greatest gift of laying down His life – yes His actions expressed and completed God’s Grace Plan. When we are appreciating this great gift of GRACE, it is of FORGIVENESS – this is the WHY that Jesus came – because we can become closest to God in all His Almighty Love in the forgiveness of His GRACE brought by His Love. It is a costly grace, freedom is not without cost to God Himself, making this choice to sacrifice BEFORE the world began – and JESUS was in on the plan – not some pawn in the plan but JESUS AND the HOLY SPIRIT and GOD the Father – all three in our Holy Trinity – put this plan into play – knowing how it wins our relationships back to God – that is why we needed and need the Holy Spirit today – to get us individually to that reconciliation point and then keep marching forward. Jesus post resurrection walked the earth to teach and reconcile – He still does it today in our witness of the Holy Spirit God moving – in us and in others around us.
Reconciliation is real and active and participatory and necessary.
Reconciliation is Holy Spirit Conviction without the condemnation.
Reconciliation is a GIFT of Mercy and Grace.
Think about Peter’s reconciliation, Peter denying Jesus, three times that we know of… Peter impetuous and rash – he sank not only in his walking on the water, but sank deep into denial, fear, self-justification, and pride on that night of betrayal. “Oh not me! I didn’t mingle with him, I didn’t follow him!” – yeah… how fear overcomes us too, even when we DO know that we KNOW the Lord. Peter’s denial is 3 times but now hear the Reconciliation of Jesus also 3 times: Do you love me Peter? Oh yes Lord… Feed my sheep. Peter was not just reconciled to feel better, to get back into fellowship, “aww, it’s OK” but PETER specifically was reconciled for a mission: Feed my sheep. Jesus does tells many of us to “FEED MY SHEEP” – a spiritual feeding of knowledge of Jesus – to WITNESS.
I ALSO appreciate in this beach breakfast scene – a segment which moves the conversation from why to how and especially WHO – When Peter saw John, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
In this. Jesus has a conversation with Peter about John which indicates that Jesus is clearly saying to Peter: “[STAY IN YOUR LANE]” – “[What is it to you how he lives or dies early or late – what is it to you about his mission – YOU HAVE YOUR OWN]” – and Peter was even told by Jesus the method by which He would die – In other words the message to us all is “[Do what God has picked for you to do and don’t worry about the others]” !!! A job (jobs) given by the Holy Spirit to each of us is/are unique and God directed, our lives can be spent in giving Him Praise – and of course what we are blessedly tasked with is not just a job but a mission…
And our mission is to follow Jesus. Not necessarily to make it all 100% better in the world, although we are blessed to share and help best we can, the mission that we are being tasked with is to follow Jesus…
But without Jesus in flesh, how??? – He ascended – so are we now going to go it alone? NO…. WOW…. NO !!!
WOW – not alone – How about that Holy Spirit? Yeah – WOW – Holy Spirit is the Jesus Advocate for us in the world of people – and we do know the image of fire and tongues when the Holy Spirit came to the disciples – but we must remember that the Holy Spirit comes again and again for us to have a fresh filling – to fall onto others too – to help us when we ask that questions “Now What?!”
I had a moment about 9 years ago now – crucial to my understanding of the Holy Trinity, 3 in One, in a continual awakening to ask: WHY? WHY Jesus Why Holy Spirit, Why? What is that we need to know from Jesus’s time on the earth” – on our ground. Well, there was something that I found “on the ground” – I found a piece of paper, likely from a Bible class, on the ground in a front pew (and weird as no one ever sits in a front pew at my old church) –that day I was being an usher and cleaning up. Well it was reference to a scripture in John 16 which has totally changed me and I how I thought about Jesus and His mission and the Holy Spirit – this paper (from the ground) taught me, led me… Found me where I was – on the ground – and I am certain that I was led to find it. THIS IS HOLY SPIRIT at work – this is the leading that we are following – the Word that God is leaving out for us to find, ingest, remember, live by – and not return to God void. We are living out our lives WITH the Holy Spirit to fill that void that is the life on earth today.
SO Jesus spoke to His disciples three parts in John 16:
First:
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
OOOOHHHHHH… THAT IS WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR… SO it wasn’t just “sad that the people killed Jesus before His time – wasn’t just “bad luck” of bad people in the world – it was PART of the PLAN – to use even evil for good… AND WOW “unless I go away – the advocate – meaning the Holy Spirit – won’t come”… it was a path and a plan…
Second. Verses 8-10: When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
SATAN IS CONDEMNED!!!
Third – found in verse 12-15: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The Holy Spirit points to Jesus, advocates, brings us back to Him, it’s good… all good things around us, are sent from heaven above…
Jesus says:
1) I have to go.
2) The world has people who need to understand Who I am and Why I came. And now Satan is condemned
3) The Holy Spirit will help you, tell you what to say when time is come, SO YOU even in your brokenness can hear from God, FROM Jesus, from Holy Spirit directly TO you – to move you – to witness and encourage – to help and hope.
It’s NOT about fixing the world – It’s about FEEDING the world – feeding the world with Living Water, the Bread of Life, it is not necessarily about fixing the world but about leading the world to Jesus. Jesus will not fix the world without first bringing human beings to God first and asking us to be pouring our fruits of the spirit to the world to share – all in order to point back to Him.
And here is just one more interesting thing about the Holy Spirit – demonstrating power – John was an old old man when he wrote down his gospels – he lived until his 90s – John also must have told stories in many age groups and throughout his long life – John ALSO took Mary under his household and therefore her stories were also recorded by the likes of Luke the physician. And John was exiled on Patmos – and he had visions come to him all about heaven and the vividness of his writing is amazing is in the Book of Revelation – of how Jesus returns and how the world ends and how we are taken to a new Jerusalem – new life – amazing life reconnected with God – without us showing blemish thanks to Jesus forgiveness. JOHN was on that unique path of what Jesus was talking out – the Holy Spirit led following of Jesus even after He is gone from earth – the “[what is it to you, Peter, in how he lives and dies?]” –“[Stay in your lane, Peter]” moment on that beach eating fish.
Yes – in Acts 1 first verses, Luke, the physician, writing from eyewitness accounts of everyone from Peter to Paul and unnamed people, wrote to his mentor Theophilus about so many moments about Jesus interacting with regular people as well as His disciples. That knowledge of Jesus ALSO came thru the Holy Spirit… How else would we know what Jesus did and taught – Holy Spirit remined what happened the day Jesus was taken up to heaven – because imagine that you would need some Holy Spirit help too in writing any of the gospels details after you are completely in awe of a resurrection and then ascension!
Also in Acts 1, Luke wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. [YES JESUS ALSO GOT HOLY SPIRIT HELP] After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
And here is another way of how the apostles, including Peter, were so human – just like us – and can we blame the apostles for asking human questions? The disciples asked in Acts – JUST before Jesus was taken up to heaven – that age old question – a fall back into to the old vision of a savior king – a Christ – a Messiah? Fix fix fix… “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
SO here is THEIR ASK: time “to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [THAT IS US TOO!] After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
WOW – there was some understanding for Jesus’s mission and even yet – after all this time – it was not just a restoration of a kingdom – it was a restoration of a RELATIONSHIP between Jesus and PEOPLE – between Jesus and the Jews yes but also Jesus and the Gentiles – and to the Gentiles and to the rest of the world… Jesus and everyone – how is that knowledge going to get out? US – we are His Hands and Feet.
We also need to be the eyes of the Holy Spirit – and look for Jesus to come back – as we have hope in His return – we also have work to do here on earth – on the ground… If one continued to read the book of Acts – you would hear about the Acts of the Apostles and the people they meet and the places they went. We are the recipients of these travels – that is how the Word of Jesus got to us – because the HOLY SPIRIT is moving the Word with continued sharings… Holy Spirit action is in the re-pointing back to Jesus.
Now think of these opportunities!!! Think how God is placing opportunities right in front of you to both help and specially to witness!!! We CAN think about these things in JOY – even sometimes hardship times. I think about those times that we see people who have lost everything in a tornado or flood or fire and are just thankful to be alive – they see the losses but better than that they see the gains! And we are to think back to the many tough situations that our brothers and sisters in Christ are in – some under persecution even now against living their true faith, brought to them by the Holy Spirit – think how they could be martyred killed and how yet they still witness to Jesus.
In closing – which is a new beginning, I offer thought and action – I think of these little cards that you can get with scripture verses as Holy Spirit miniatures like those chocolate miniatures – bite sized– and even thankful for big handouts like we got at our prayer gathering – BIG handouts from the Lord… Ready to be placed in the right hands by the Holy Spirit… we will continue to be the boots on the ground as Jesus was risen up. A little card itself helped me find the end of this long-winded but hopefully Holy Spirited sermon: From David, Psalm 143:10 –
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Amen – and please pray with me: May we know Lord, You ARE with us always – advocating for us – leading us – working the WOWs of Your Work – may we see the paths ahead of us – one step at a time – without our worry – just our willingness to be led and fed – to now feed and lead. AMEN
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. PSALM 139:14
I KNOW THAT FULL WELL!!!!
My knees still creak but my tennis elbow? Hmmmm. 6 months later I can saw WOW, it’s tremendously improved, noting this after I grabbed laundry without fear of pain. I powered through life, but the underlying healing powers were powered by God in God’s Timing.
Yes, I wore my brace faithfully after the doctor said “you really have to do that, for A MONTH!” Yeah, not just now and then – so I wore it for nearly 2 months… and last few weeks I have misplaced it now, I realized the HEALING… it was a process. I had to plug into the process and not remain idle just watching. I was an active participant in God’s Plan. And I’m JUST talking about my elbow!
So life? Well, wow! This spring day, as my allergies have abated and pollen has petered out, I praise. Next week, I won’t even remember the bother, like not remembering the elbow. BOTH were the worst ever and are now almost afterthoughts… That’s the wonderful in wonderfully made. The sheer intricacies of life and activities are miracles of God. Wonderfully made, orchestrated and tweaked.
Fearfully made too, what does that mean? Fear as in AWE, like how my daughter and I are spitting images to some but I see all the contrasting traits, from the hair to the other aspects… Fear as in Ouch, like how things can go down so fast in health or be taken in a moment. Fear as in placing ourselves and our loved ones out into a dangerous world as well as into a dangerous peer pressure internally. Fearfully as God controls it all, as in the readings from Elijah 6, God has power!!!
I know FULL WELL, to appreciate not the leniency of God, but the MERCY. The ability to approach Jesus for forgiveness is to know GRACE. To remember that the AWESOME power of God can change life because He created it, is a stance we all drift from. We forget but God doesn’t change. HE IS STILL ALL POWERFUL and ALMIGHTY… just as Ezekiel for an unrepentant and unruly Israel of the day… just believe God’s correction in His Reasoning… remember even Jesus came out of a flawed human line of people saved for this purpose, there were saved few. Jesus brought Heaven to Earth, as Earth, also wonderfully made, could not rise back to God’s level… God’s Goodness is Heaven sent, we partake THANKFULLY.
Amen (and thank you Lord for the Blessings and MERCY of today).
Ezekiel 6 New King James Version
Judgment on Idolatrous Israel
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, ‘Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here is my more serious devotion about God’s love – even in a broken world… Keep sharing the love my friends!!!
I passed a church sign this week and even heard somebody else say this recently: ‘there is no greater gift than that of our mother’ hmmm…. And although I appreciate the sentiment, I cringed at the church’s rephrase of a scripture so crucial – the scripture actually is: “there’s no better gift than to lay down One’s Life for One’s friends”, Jesus speaking about His role as Jesus, a mission in God’s Plan… this really was Jesus speaking, recorded in the gospel of John 15:12 and 13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Mother’s love is immense – and yet God is even Bigger… Imagine that – wow…
So Jesus commands us to LOVE and accept LOVE and be LOVE and give LOVE. Love is sacrificial and a whole, given as love willing to be sliced into pieces to spread out… Love is a whole delivered in pieces.
Well love, being God, never changes, so it becomes shared or not. God shared it to the max. We decide how much to give. Jesus wants us to give love until it hurts. Mothers do understand this. And we can never give as much love back as our mothers gave us, so instead we all should pay it forward, love it forward…
I feel this love and hurt too as a mom, blessed by my kids for sure and by my mom too – and in this life, don’t we also always feel the brokenness of human love, the human-stretched cracked broken chunks of love separated and scattered in this world? Knowing brokenness too well, we long for the gamut of wondering for our own children’s expressions of love back towards us, but perhaps we could instead just know our love was never wasted. Perhaps we are people who wanted to mother but never had the opportunity, or we are mothers who have had hard times showing the love because something broke in relationships somewhere. There are children growing in love but unable to bridge the original gap of a parenting relationships, either on purpose for good-enough reasons or things not under their control. Best to let it rest…. With brokenness, the hurt is there. The hurt we collectively could ache for those going through the hurt. Imagine new losses, Imagine old.
But Imagine healing in our forever hopeful futures.
The love of God is always there, God loves for restoration with restorative love. Jesus loves and His Holy Spirit allows us new mercies each morning to love more, better, well, whole. And to accept His love too.
Perhaps today if we cultivate love in whomever we meet, whether with our kids or mother or not, and cultivate love and share love to share God’s Love, we can create the healing over any hate. If anything a mother could give, it would be to give into love.
God is in the love of mothers whose love is great, let us remembering GREATER WHOLENESS in the love of God, for us, for everyone, for bearing fruit, for healing of the people and nations, for ever.
Love forever is seeing in a Mother’s love for her children and in God’s love for ALL HIS CHILDREN – a love willing to share…
Amen
Happy Mother’s Day, today.
Happy God Love Day, everyday !!!
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.” Jesus speaking to apostles and to us, in John 15:11-18
God got me through and God got me all the rest… it’s Him I profess.
4 week work professional development sabbatical, days 1-8 were learning and watching, 2 days off for a 4day weekend of a blessed retreat, then days 9 to 18 were 10 days of amazing lab time. I set up a chair in the corner of lab A, later moved to labs C and D, and thought through math math math… and worked and recorded and loved every minute of it!
It was the best of times it was the worst of times… The best was unstructured time, no pressure but planning to be as busy as possible in the lab for the last two weeks of this sabbatical – I wanted to work and I know how to work and I love to dig down and work – and learn learn learn learn. The worst of times was the terrible allergies, but with the grace of God I powered through sneezes with tissues tissues medicine coughing hacking and now – after the many days of rain – today, I can breathe FINE. Whew… rested so well too.
It’s keeping going in the mix, and finding God’s strength FIX.
There’s so much I could obsess about the mess and STRESS… But today 2 weeks later, I MUST CONFESS THE BLESS!!!
I got there because God is helping me number my days and pushing me when I dilly dally.
I worked long hours, because God gave me the strength.
I structured my unstructured time, because God gave me the platform.
I asked because God gave me this brain.
I waited because God gave me this heart.
I worked because God gave me this body.
I prayed because God gave me this soul.
I smiled because God gave me reason, joy, and a vision to enjoy.
This is not simply a diamond in the rough story, not so simple because diamonds have to be cut and polished anyway AND because not everyone is filled with flawless beauty, well NO ONE is, so don’t condemn yourself for not being so…
So, I have been thinking about this geode filled with quartz that was a gift from a new friend, a seasoned geologist, who gave it to me today. Yes, this geode rock is filled with shimmery quartz, and she hammered this piece open to reveal the treasure in the light of day. I had really never talked to her before this – it was just sort of the polite smiles in church when we saw each other. So, I found it interesting timing and a God-for-sure-intervention that last week, when after I gave my sermon (about witness and if we didn’t praise that the rocks would cry out – and told the story of my friend who prayed while wandering to find home as her guide dog was not in harness, and she ran into some familiar rocks which signaled to her the way to go) that this polite smiling person HAD to speak to me – that she EXCITEDLY told me that she was a geologist and she had been bringing rocks to our friend’s son each week at church – SO COOL… And then this week, again so cool, that she was all talkative and showed me lots of rocks she had tumbled to shiny-ness, and then gave me the geode. Sweet. This broke-open rock was and is beautiful – but what was MORE beautiful was the SHINE I felt and heard in her smile and friendliness and openness. BEAUTIFUL!
Isn’t that the blessing of finding new friends – of finding out new things about people, about finding common interests, and about just seeing the SHINE in their souls to be shared. I find this to be the case over and over again – and with so many. I avow that as my mom says: “There are nice people everywhere!” – TRUE!
One other nice person that brings me joy when I see him, is our local homeless institution of a fellow: Mike. I often was seeing him before the weather got cold and last fall promised him I would bring him a lawn chair – but never saw him all winter. So, as a friend told me she saw him, I kept an eye out and sure enough he was at a local place along our main road this afternoon. So, after I ate my lunch, I packed a little extra for him and headed out with the chair – and best yet, I sat in the chair to chat with him for about 15 minutes. Mike knows me by sight – calls me the ‘singing church lady’ – and always has a smile… Mike is unique and never seems to ask for anything – unless you ask and then he does share the certain things that would help him – like the chair. Not that there is any room in the shelters (there really isn’t as they are filled with kids and moms), but we know Mike is a loner. Social, but a loner, not into living under a house with house rules – he just wants to stay out of the rain if possible. So, of course because of his friendliness, people shower Mike with gifts. It is both our wanting to help and make it all good, but it is also fitting Mike into cultural norms that don’t always work for everyone… Well, I do appreciate Mike as a role model of joy in perserverence. As I was sitting there, among his couple grocery carts worth of stuff, a man named Al came by and brought Mike a big bag of deli food and drinks. Mike does share with others he sees in the homeless camps. He believes in the “pass it on” mentality. Me too.
And Mike’s smiles and openness are the TREASURE in interacting with him – good encouragement, good affirmation of ideas, plans, and excitement in life. He is also a man of faith and we have intriguing interesting conversations there too… I know that the lawn chair (which I picked up from a neighbor’s trash in decent working order) – and the other items Mike has – will likely not last and may be removed by a yet-again move of his living corner in this region. These possessions are functional and temporary – just like everything we have too.
So – treasure – Jesus said don’t store up worldly treasures – but put your hope on treasure in Heaven. Treasure is found in the Spirit of the person brought to the light of day – God-polished rather than world-bruised. Treasure is the Shine that you may not have seen before. Treasure is in the ample hope given to us that we should share. Treasure is the moment that is placed in front of you to live in. Treasure is the JOY in your heart – and that of the Lord breaking through you to shine His Glory to the world.
Treasure is the Light of Day – the Light of His Way. Let us share the Joy of life and love. And no matter what, keep smiling!
Amen
Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
What a wonderful piece of advice – a meme I copied – “You have never been in this exact moment so you don’t have to pretend like you know exactly what to do.”
TRUE
And often when I feel awkward or look silly or whatever – I wonder “Why Lord?” – “What Lord?” – and “How do I get out of this, Lord?”
That is what I felt like when I knocked something down at the dinner table – the FANCY dinner table – with new-to-me colleagues – and just that crazy inkling that I was supposed to be more FANCY than myself… Well….. NO…. and at least I didn’t knock over a drink or anything – maybe it was just my phone or something like silverware – see I don’t even remember – but no harm no foul except for 2 seconds of embarrassment.
You know what? God did NOT make us wonderful in His Image to stay embarrassed and worry about 2 seconds of embarrassment compared to a LIFETIME of just being ourselves… BE AUTHENTIC in everything you do…
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
YES – If we can’t be ourselves (of course trying to be our best selves) then who should we be? Let us just be ourselves! It is our flaws that leads us to follows of Him, which God uses – AND it is our leaning on Him that God appreciates.
One thing that always interested me was that I was born to not be this person or that person – but born to be me!!! God is in charge of personalities – but we are in charge of SHINE best we can (and closing our mouth when we best)…
Well, I am not always that person of shying away from talking – hardly never – but I have learned to lean in – to listen out – to pray purposefully. I thank the Lord for any new experience – and especially for ones that He leads me to…
Amen
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God. How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:14-18
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10
So Very blessed to share my sermon today which was well received – and a miracle happened – both Liane and I showed up to church EARLY – probably because I was preaching about Liane and she had to make sure I did OK!
BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John 20:19-31 NIV
Jesus Appears to His Disciples – On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas – Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel – Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Sermon 14APR – “WOW – What’s Our Witness?”
I had all the parts of this sermon swirling in my head and also sorta on paper for there were stories I knew would go great with the scriptures – and then also when writing last night I was thinking “well, news is posting about drones coming from Iran to Israel – and how much little impact that was having on me at the moment where I was – and yet has great impact in many lives – in lives we will never meet – and yet how usual for these days but unusual in times past would one have “pre-knowledge” of not just what kind of weapons folks had – but of when they were launched – and would have thought there would be the ability to intercept the missiles and shoot them down (hopefully) – and they DID shoot then down last night – they have like a GPS tracking and GPS zoning in – and so, after that one attack was done, I flipped back to my “regularly scheduled programs” which was the other browser tab on the laptop and I restarted watching the TV shows I was watching… I thought how funny that I got to sit there and both know it and ignore it at the same time and “check back later”… even go to bed… even do frivolous things plus important things too, like pull together this sermon… Really isn’t it funny the known that we “get” to ignore wars because they are not close by… Well, forgive me for not delving into world issues that I can’t solve – at least not solve in an hour – and allow me to step aside from the tragedies of the day to look at and expound upon these most important scriptures from John about “Journeying with Jesus” for the next few minutes because in this, I pray that we realize that we are really really really blessed in His guidance and His blessings seen – and especially blessings unseen… We are created to praise God – even in unknown times.
I have called this sermon “What’s Our Witness” “WOW” – because we should be filled with the WOWs of our experiences and understandings on this “Journey with Jesus” and then even more wow-ed by faith in things that we will never be able to understand in this lifetime and here – hoping to understand more when we are face to face with God. And yet – I know that we are experiencing God ALL THE TIME without seeing Him… aren’t we?… We are experiencing Him thru the Holy Spirit Who helps us understand. We do and should witness AMAZING things – big and small –
Unseen – sometimes the unknown scares us – we should rely on God to help understand Him better – understand He lives for the LOVE that He is and wants to give… Certainly the ancients, people of Moses’s time would have thought seeing the face of God would make them die… Well, some ancients DID see God in various forms – the burning bush for Moses – he believed didn’t he? The cloud filling the temple Solomon built – they knew that was God. And Jacob wrestled with God – ouch my hip hurts too – I wrestle with God too much.
I was returning to the book of Lamentations in the old testament – about the exile that people were forced into by the hands of the Babylonians – and here people were forced to look to God to plea: “I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life….”
So – we also can call in this manner and we DO know this redemption – for eternal life – because we have learned and experienced this great day of Easter – of Jesus rising to save us -and from the scriptures we have just heard, we are to remember our redemption and believe – even without seeing…
Collectively we can remember God’s faithfulness – especially because Jesus came – and like the poet in Lamentations, we too can reflect that we too are saved:
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. Lam 3:19-26
How AMAZING now for Jesus Himself to come to earth to be seen and for those that Easter day like on the Walk to Emmaus disciples to see the scriptures come to fruition? They did not know it was Jesus – all the while the walked and talked – all the while the scriptures were opened up to them – they did not know even though they saw HIM – and walked with Him for 3 years – they ONLY knew Jesus when He broke the bread – to remember HIM…
Amazing for the ancients before and for us now to believe – there were lots of people who believed in God without seeing Him… There is a GREAT set of scriptures that my friend Patti brought to my attention when I was dilly dallying and looking at facebook and not writing my sermon – yeah – then I called her about her garage door and discussed the lawnmower and my procrastination too for mowing my grass – well I digress – and so I explained my sermon bits and pieces floating in my head and she gave me these great scriptures –
—- Hebrews 11:1-2, 7Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for… 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. – So Noah really had to trust God, didn’t he? before he saw any raindrops… The Lord rescued Him—- Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Meaning that God made everything not from a drawing or a model in existence – it was made from nothing seen – something which is not nothing and yet nothing to our mind – we can’t wrap our heads around this something or nothing… We are so human and therefore we must have this faith – faith for faiths sake – for our sake and for God’s… Just like our money says: In God we Trust – we trust and know how God is amazing… So even God Himself knew what He could make and why He was going to make it… We must praise a God who can handle it all and love it all and want to share it all with us – and even saw and knew and loved us before we were even “knit in our mother’s wombs”. God was Love before the beginning of time… Faith-living, for faith with faith is to know that God is looking out for us and wanting us to Praise Him in return….
I want to share an amazing story of faith – of struggling to keep all the faith and the benefits praying and calming down and trusting in God… We do have to keep the praise going – having it remind us that we need to count our blessings and calm down – and put God first – and we need to understand that God is in control… this is a great story of seeing what is unseen – that God is for us… My friend Liane wrote me – this was almost 10 years ago now – Liane has been relying EVEN more on God since an accident took her sight in her early teens. She is so amazing – my sister in Christ – so capable – filled with PRAISE. This is her email, she is addicted to her phone and a computer whiz and facebook fanatic like me:
“Hi Debbie, When Pastor John (we called him PJ) asked in church today if anyone had a praise offering, it was silent. Then a few people spoke up. I was thinking about saying I was thankful for being at church since I haven’t been there in a while and also wanted to thank God for rocks and trees and of course, I thought to myself, people are probably going to think I’m crazy.
“So PJ’s message was about how we do not praise God enough and for the simple things. He went on to say how God created nature and the things in it to sing his praises – like the rocks and trees – we who were created in his image don’t realize how important it is to give thanks and praise.
“So this is why I wanted to say praise for rocks and trees, you’ll understand how it all connected for me. Friday morning after putting my son on the bus, I stupidly decided to go across the street to a very familiar corner to walk my dog without his harness on. I wasn’t feeling that great but I go there often and besides that, I had my trusty I-phone. So Basil (that’s her previous guide dog) and I walk across the street and then I realize we are not where I wanted to go. I felt around with my foot and was trying to get oriented by listening to the traffic but the more frustrated I got, the more disoriented I became., Lightbulb moment, use your I-phone to call someone or use GPS. Well, my phone was not working because before the boys went to school they told me to update my phone but they neglected to tell me I need to go through setting up my phone after that. I was getting upset with myself since I haven’t grasped this technology and [yet] have become so dependent on it. So, I stopped and prayed asking God to send me someone or something to get me back home. I was already lost for about a half an hour and was panicking because I left my house open and Mom was going to be coming over but she always calls first to see where I’m at and of course, she wouldn’t be able to get hold of me. So I waited a little longer for a sign but no one or nothing clued me in so I calmed myself down, prayed again and decided to walk towards the sound of traffic in hopes I would figure out which intersection I was at.
“I told Basil to go home and he started pulling the leash a little but then stopped and he seemed confused as well then I felt the sun. I started thinking about where I am when I can feel the sun when I go for my regular walks. I decided to turn around and walk the opposite direction and I started getting closer to traffic. Then, a tree branch brushes across the top of my head – [ah] – this branch feels like the one I always bump my head on while passing my neighbor’s house who lives across the street from me. So I keep walking and find a driveway and decide to cross the street and if I’m correct, it will take me to my driveway. Well, it didn’t. So, I step up on the curb and decide to still head toward the traffic but use my foot to trail the grass line hoping for a clue. I didn’t have to walk too far before my foot bumps into a pile of rocks which I immediately recognize as the river rocks my husband placed around the sump pump pipe sticking out of our yard. I say out loud, “Thank You God!!!!” and I immediately get this message from God, God is my rock. He is there no matter what I’m going through and as long as I believe and have faith and hope, he will take care of me. I found my way back to my house and went inside and cried tears of joy. God is awesome!
“So when PJ said about the rocks singing praises and then he mentioned the trees, it just confirmed my belief. I know you will understand what I mean.”
AMEN and for sure, Liane, I understand – yes, I understood what she meant – and what a beautiful testimony of trusting God… gave me tears of joy because I in those days had also just started to understand this amazing world of God we were in. … The rocks will cry out if you don’t praise God, and sometimes the trees will knock you in the head until YOU praise!
This was a WOW – and in my response to Liane – I thought these rocks were an emergency GPS – “God Positioning Stones”. I have those GPS letters from our VBS days – and I want us now to have WOW cards – to think about and write some items of WOW – of our witness – presence – believing – and GPS – where God positionings/blessing or God-winks some would call them, occurred – for us to remember when we have been blessed.
SO – these WOW cards are actually stickers, and perhaps you can take a moment to write down a real witness you have – we are not collecting them – they are for you – and perhaps we can share some or our experiences later – so with this in mind – let us return to our scriptures of WOW today – that keep us thinking…
And so – WOW – A Risen Jesus walks into the disciples’ room and says: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” WOW and now we learn the HOW – How did Jesus give his disciples (and us) this ability to praise and witness? With what did fill these disciples (and us) with ? “He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” WOW!
Here is more of that verse: If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”WOW !!!! the peace and ability and greatest gift of love and mercy is forgiveness! WOW !!!!
I love how my friend Liane felt for the sun to orient herself that day she was lost – and she still does that – but in that situation – she found the best reliance was on God, and Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit to help.
Did you enjoy the eclipse? I know that Liane enjoyed the eclipse and I did too – even if I didn’t see the sun (or feel it) – I was in western NY near where I went to college up on a golf course (and bar and grill) – with lots of university people – 180 plus – and it was cloudy but that was OK because I was still on vacation and still blessed -and so out of the blue – there was someone who eclipsed my eclipse – I got to see my p-chem professor and his wife from like 30 years ago… WOW! – I could care less that it was cloudy now that I was positioned to talk to them for well over an hour – and it was cool – an astronomy professor answered questions and then a little boy – asked simply: ‘what IS an eclipse?’ – and the professor says: you have a sibling? Well his sister was of course there – and the professor said – you ever watch one of your favorite tv shows and then your sister stands right in front of the TV? – well THAT’S an eclipse – so funny – yes …
And I will share how my friend Liane enjoyed the eclipse – she sent me a text: she listened to a zoom call of blind people from Texas and sequentially all up the path of the eclipse where the people were listening and then describing these light measuring devices – making decreased noise when the moon moved in partially and then totally and then moved back out increasing the noises measuring the light.. so cool – and Liane said it was like experiencing the travel around the world of New Years celebrations one after another – and it was such an excitement for these folks to collectively enjoy that phenomenon – as a community – over zoom but collective in appreciation… so cool… I have told dozens of people this week that Liane and her description – that she appreciated and enjoyed the eclipse more than most sighted people I know – she experienced the excitement and the community without seeing the light but by KNOWING the LIGHT – that is the love of God – we walk by faith not sight…
Jesus Appears to Thomas – Now Thomas, ‘doubting Thomas’ said to the others: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later Thomas was with them and Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Are we not the blessed ones to believe without seeing – and yet have our WOW moments – our witness of His Love? This is my segue transition to avow what is something like an eclipse but much more severe than the moon getting in front of the sun (or the sister in front of the tv) – Sin is between us and God and ends up with us living in the darkness and the cold – like the eclipse day I had – and it is more frighteningly easy to get lost. All that stuff that gets in the way between us and God – yes this is an eclipse from being close to Him – an eclipse of us experiencing and feeling God less – God is still there [like the sun is still there but behind clouds etc] and yet the LOVE does not dim but we feel it less because we are clouded and eclipsed by sin. and how is that removed? By forgiveness… and Jesus comes to forgive – forgiveness is more easily given (and commanded to be given) by Jesus and felt by the presence of the Holy Spirit Who gives you that ‘Jesus Peace’ so that we can and may forgive others… If you have not yet accepted the forgiveness that Jesus has been giving out then please consider coming out of the cold – please consider coming into the warm loving light – you yourself have not been sharing in a gift given by Jesus to be in the full capacity of total love that we could be in. Likewise, if we hold grudges and we don’t forgive then we are in risk of being stuck in an eclipse between that gift and us… I have heard it said that Peace is already given and if we don’t feel peaceful, it is because we have given away that ability to feel the peace – we need to hold onto it – feel it – and give it –
WOW – what is our witness? Like did we forget all the times that God saved us and we forgot to praise Him and also bad that we get ourselves so worried at another time and forget we can call upon His Name to help us?
Lastly we listened to the end scriptures of “The Purpose of John’s Gospel” :
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Jesus was and is not a side show – an attraction of God’s power to impress… sure they as disciples had seen impressive miracles in person – but John wrote this down for us to believe… Likely those gathered at his feet, would have been among the first earliest Christians who would have not seen Jesus alive directly – at least one and two generations after Jesus … Jesus provided continuity in people who witnessed and shared – with John, the only disciple to live until old age – He provided an overlap in generations – and knowledge to the real stories of I was there… God knows what time after time after time, really did witness those who were listening to the stories and to us. But it is not JUST the listening to a trusted soul – like a nice salesman at the car dealer – there is more to it – Yes there is – we the people listening must open their faith by letting God open our hearts… Yes, God’s intention in sharing THESE miracles is so that we believe who have not seen them first hand – INN GOD WE TRUST – and God would know not too little or too much info – and God knows that the witness in the person would develop to see God in their own miracles and WOWs -and be able to explain how each section touched their hearts…
If you wrote on your WOW cards, What’s Our Witness – or just have a short thought from this past week that would be good to share – please let us share – these WOW statements or experiences – and if you did just write it or just thought it out – maybe now you can use this as a book mark or put it in your car or on your fridge – then remember that we DO have our own WOWs – our moments that we praise – and we DO remind ourselves of how faithful He is, so that in the future when we doubt we can look back at these.
You are free to share with us or keep it a secret – there are such good secrets to keep between us and God – but before a tree hits you in the head or rocks cry out – well – you best call it out in PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE!
And we can be God’s WOW – a Walk of Wonder – and Witness of Whew … Maybe you have understanding and witness – Like seeing spring rebirth – or an old friend or mentor – or held a baby like I did recently, experiencing the trust of the mom to let me hold her – maybe you have a WOW of Jesus forgiveness when you were distant – maybe you have a WOW of simply being alive today.
I will pause and wait a moment…
WOW – let us end with a WOW – What’s Our Witness – knowing types of witness are physical and spiritual – how we see things working in our lives, like Jesus showing up in the flesh; physical like Thomas needing to actually touch and see. Maybe we are not wanting to believe either – but I must urge you to try. Look for your WOWs:
Spiritual like the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of forgiveness to share. Spiritual in us understanding salvation.
Wisdom-filled – experience-derived – understanding the stories like John is giving
And Trust: All the miracles and happenings of Jesus would be more than too many books could contain – given what we need to know was on a “needs to know” basis ONLY.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:5 KJV
The artwork on the projection screen portrayed to be a tomb, opened for Easter, ALSO looked like an eye shining! No fooling! I saw both!
So fitting for now IS our time to SHINE OUT the LOVE of Jesus, SPEAK out the HOPE of Salvation, and BEAM for all to see…
The stone rolled away by God opens the possibilities for us to see and to know that the Miracle of Jesus Rising is a New Day in this New Covenant. Our eyes opened to see – a morning of HOPE after darkness made us linger in our fears. Now the blessed hope of Jesus is beaming the beaming light to come out from us – to come from the place within. Jesus motivates us to LIGHT up the world. He sends us!
Let us go out and SHINE His Light to overcome all darkness. Let us love boldly and humbly. The darkness won’t comprehend this light, but it won’t be able to deny it either.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 NIV
Hallelujah! Jesus Christ is Risen! Peace IS with us. Go SHINE. Go Be His Beam. Go with God.
Amen
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:19-21
I’m making soup for Holy Thursday church meal – a simple meal – not a huge feast. I’m making 2 kinds of soup: 16 bean and tomato. I’ve never made these kinds of soup, but I’m OK, grateful, because I am following roughly to recipe, and it’s not gonna be SO bad, right? Just add more garlic…
Like I said, I’m not really perfect on recipe, making some substitutions. It’s even an unknown if I bring it hot or cold and heat it up there… I’ll figure it out along the way, it’s a journey right? It’s just soup. It’s going to be alright, croutons or no croutons.
Jesus didn’t live life so flippantly and spur of the moment… He was preparing for the Passover meal, Holy Thursday, the Last Supper… He had it planned down to the hair of the head of everybody who was there. He had it planned down to the ear of everybody who would hear about it forever. He had the room, the table seats, the cushions, the captive audience and even the betrayal planned. He knew what was in the soup and how it would go down.
Another thing Jesus did not leave the chance, Jesus knew the crew. Jesus knew who they were that day and so importantly that he knew whom they would become, how they would touch lives, how they would spread the church and knowledge of His Good News. But of course He also cautioned them to not go it alone because He knew how they would need and accept the Holy Spirit and be moved by it. He knew whom they would become FOR HIM – us too.
These disciples were not perfect but they were PERFECT FOR JESUS. These bumbling seemingly clueless disciples would become spirit-filled and so noticeably changed that people would take notice. These disciples would become the beginners of the church and so effective beyond their understanding, but all within the knowledge and the plan of Jesus. Wow.
What about us? What do we bring to the soup? Do we fear to tread because we don’t realize we are being led? Do we hesitate to open our mouths for fear of retaliation? We are Thursday night disciples and we need to cook a bit more in maturation – feel the heat and even the burn of Friday- simmer on Saturday – rest then realize that the Sunday Soup is Ready! Hallelujah! Easter Sunday awaits our praise!!!… Now, don’t put the soup into the back of the fridge now that it is made and raised, but keep ladling it out, with a Holy Spirit pour… keep it going… pass it on...
We probably never think that we are ready. But Jesus didn’t pick us only to simmer, instead He picked us to Shine. Like soup that seemed so hard to make before gathering ingredients, it’s easier when we read His Recipe, settle down and look at our abilities and our tools (I mean I do own 2 crockpots and like 17 ladles, I might as well use them), and then get busy to feed the hungry, share the love.
I am truly talking not about soup but sharing the LOVE of JESUS with all whom we meet – and then when they are surprised and complementary to us – tell them that it was God Who cooked up this moment – not us – if you are to boast then boast in the Lord.
I’m sure this evening I will be surprised when people say (if they say) this is good soup. I am certainly surprised when people see spiritual hope in me. But I am to remember that the One who cooks up this whole life is the Lord Himself. Who am I to not know Him as good and know His protection to keep stirring up life in Him for Him. Who am I to know now growth and maturity and go with it for He Himself is the One who cooks up this life for us to keep sharing Him – one ladle or a whole pot at a time.
Let’s keep stirring the pot.
Let’s listen to the Lord.
Let us taste and know that He is good.
Amen
—
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
I enjoyed the day yesterday, even if I didn’t understand it all. I stepped through it one BINGO number at a time, one moment at a time, one step at a time. I had many moments to think, all day. I had work, worked from home, but first wrote my devotions. Then hit the news of a bridge collapse, BIG one, and videos plus speculation, news conferences etc. Then I shut the news off. I worked on what I could work on. I thought about it occasionally as I stepped through my day, which was blessed ordinary and extraordinary but far from an ordinary day. I worked, laughed, ate, pondered, prodded, purposed, planned, put aside my schedule (which honestly I saw how God cleared curiously for me to be in new places), and pondered again. I had much time to meet up with God moment by moment, which is unusual, and yet always wonder where I misstep. I did feel blessed by my company and moments, even if I didn’t understand them all. Jesus wants us to walk through the day in His Way – listening to Him. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
At lunch I was talking about a bridge between Jesus and us – independent from the earthly bridge that fell down but will be rebuilt – but isn’t that what Jesus experienced? a knock down for the lift up… A fitting Holy Week thought… Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Wrapped up work and took some time off to get the cat to the vet (an ordinary thing on an unordinary day). In the evening it was interesting playing BINGO with my friend at the fire company, just plain fun as a fundraiser, but wow it is WORK! Fast paced and mega boards given. I’ve been here only once before. I mixed myself up a few times. Accidentally, I called BINGO once (it was a coverall nor regular, oops), and I enjoyed the time with my friend. I was an observer of people and their routines, who they knew as regulars and what little things made this a regular scene for many. I enjoyed thinking about my Dad and Mom in our BINGO days growing up catholic and the required work at the fundraiser if you had kids in the school. REQUIRED. My Dad called the numbers maybe once a month and mom sold cards, and I hung out to work the concessions – with those candy bars and glass soda bottles. Fun but yes a true reflection of how money influences the world. It is a tool – may we always use it wisely. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
It was my Dad’s birthday yesterday too, was I tickled when his birthday showed up? Yes. But was it proving some connections in the universe? Nah, because I already know connectiveness for the universe. I already know life pops up like BINGO numbers, but you don’t always have them on your card and you just try again. I know that with God there are no coincidences. There are some games you sit out, to take a ‘bio-break’ or stretch or take a concession visit. There are some hecklers in fun. There are rules and rituals that are invented and confusing, but most people here understood them. There was lots of money spent and lots of money won. I bought a dollar snack and thought – this is enough. My cards were enough (too much actually). My time was enough. My moment was enough. I felt not stuck in time but sitting inside it and outside it at the same time. I didn’t win BINGO but I didn’t care – I already won life with a good family and with the Good Lord. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
In life – we have ordinary non-ordinary days. Like BINGO, you have to play the cards that life gives you – you have to make the most of it – you have to know Who (God) makes life livable in good and bad – and God is also good at the same time reminding you that life on earth is temporary and worldly. Oh how we bridge to the real life in Heaven? Oh, Jesus. Yes… One day at a time, one number at a time, one step at a time. One Savior always. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Play the cards the Lord gives – and call out to Him for numbering your days… Enjoy Life…
AMEN
Paul to the Colossians 3:1-17
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – That is a great reminder of scripture, Psalm 90, which urges us to learn and watch the Lord put us into focusing upon the importance of life, of listening to the Lord’s Will for us. Number our days and be productive, yes. Number our days and pay attention, 100%. AND numbering our days gives us something to do while we are waiting – YES. Number our days and keep moving through them making the most of every opportunity.
I have often said that Jesus gives us pause where the devil gives up panic. We have an agenda and if disrupted, many might curse the Lord – but it is our worldliness which is a curse – and we must apply trust – we also must remember when we DO see something that the Lord has led us too – like people and events – to give Him the Glory.
Yesterday I was tired of hearing the wind howling, as it had been for 2 whole days – silly thing to be upset about – but the noise was bothering me – I just wanted the quiet and the change. Whom am I to be annoyed by the wind – that is not my call – there are much worse things in the world. the wind is done now. I also was debating yesterday – was I OK to drive – now that my back is subsiding in pain (still with ice and ibuprofen) – I was – and I both MUST appreciate when I was told and made to BE STILL and now when I am able to move, MOVE. My craving for chicken made me move – and when I got to the store I met an old friend who was now working there. Cool Lord! I was looking at the pile of dishes and of laundry and then when I was able to do them – I thanked the Lord. Just the other day – my bad back made me alter plans and I was able to accept some big balloons for a neighbor who had not yet gotten home from shopping for a party. Interesting timing. And of course my biggest squeal to be sitting quietly and all of a sudden I got the call to go see that wienermobile – wow! Do number my moments Lord and let me know that I am paying attention to the right things. One more crucial moment on friday (before my back went out), I was telling my friends about something I had done, helping people, and my friend said (with others listening) – “wow, you are definitely going to heaven” – and I was able to correct gently and excitedly that I was giving a sermon about that exact thing – that it is not our good works that bring us to Heaven – because with man it is impossible – but with Jesus – with God – it is POSSIBLE! and this was a teaching to three listeners, cool. AH – see trusting the Lord to put us in the right place and right time. He does.
Lord, teach me to number my days and find those ways to glorify and teach about YOU!
Amen
Psalm 90:1-12
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death – they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Our Jesus Calling devotional book for today is so fitting – as God is – Written by Sarah Young for March 12th – written as if Jesus is speaking this: “Waiting, trusting, and hoping are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand, because it is the response from My children that I desire the most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strengthen the chain that connects you to Me. Waiting for Me to work, with your eyes on Me, to evidence that you really do trust Me. If you mouth the words, “I trust You” while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow. Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on you in the present. Because you are Mine, you don’t just pass time in your waiting. You can wait expectantly, in hopeful trust. Keep your “antennae” out to pick up even the faintest glimmer of My Presence.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.John 14:1 ESV
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for theLord! Psalm 27:14 ESV
What a crazy blessing – after my Sunday Sermon which was sharing that we need to be ready to meet whomever God wants us to meet this day – to Follow Jesus – I was home icing my sore back when my friends called me up “out of the blue” and say they couldn’t believe it – but the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was actually in our neck of the woods! WOW – And so they picked me up – and we all swooped up into the fun for the surreal flow of the day. It was so good, it was like the Lord was leading the Way – HE IS!
Our fun was also our amazement – and the 2 Hotdoggers crew were as nice as nice could be – and bonded immediately with my friend whose dream it was to do that job – travel around – and spread JOY! YES! Meat-ing the two Hotdoggers was the best and experiencing the rest was wrapping the “BUN of FUN” around the real amazeMEAT of the moment. May the special sauce of Love surround these young HotDoggers in their travels – for them to remain safe!
YES, ALWAYS an amazing story for my friend of my same age, a partner in silly fun, who has been blind since being a teenager but always wanted to drive this Wienermobile! Well at least she got to ride in it! The connection she made with the two Hotdoggers crew was fabulous, and she went back to bring me to meet them because there’s a funny history of me confusing the Peanutmobile and Wienermobile, oops. ANYWAY, this was FUN! And certainly only a very few people get to ride!!! Aren’t we blessed! One of the last people was Drew Barrymore – and she was in tears to see it.
I knew this was a divine incident of JOY – I KNEW God orchestrated this – because when Jesus says: FOLLOW ME – He walks us into the good times just as much (actually much more) than the tough days. THIS WAS A GREAT DAY – JOY IS IMMEASURABLE AND APPRECIATED!
They named us ‘Little Links’ and ‘Tailgate’ and our dear mom-mom ‘Sizzlin’ and even ‘Ketchup’ for her guide dog, plus me ‘Hot Diggity Debbie’, we were blessedly connected with our new adopted daughter drivers, hotdoggers ‘Chlo-Wienie’ and ‘ChilliCheeseMC’!!! Sweetest of college graduates, in marketing, picked from thousands of applicants, now in their one year stint as JOY ambassadors! WOW, 9 months so far. Blessed beyond Wienerwords! RELISHED THE FUN!!!
They spread JOY. People love this. I felt amazed to be a small part of riding along – like earlier that day I gave a sermon to Follow Jesus, with a benediction to go out and meet the people He would want us to meet, but I COULD NEVER HAVE ENVISIONED THIS! The connection was so easily fostered by my fun and loving friend, and after we heard that we would ride at the end of the shift – we went into the grocery store and got them gift bags of snacks and coffee gift cards, it brought them nearly to tears. They enjoy this opportunity but rarely get home. I am glad we were able to share this love – but it is really all my friend’s enthusiastic love – which of course is from the Lord – because God IS Love and Life.
Loved the people’s faces with lots of car horns honking and that great jingle as their horn! “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener!” Started in 1936, oh how the people loved looking at this sweet ride. Well – I can only say that every day may we hop on the sweet ride of excitement – one step at a time. Keep on rolling!
Blessed on this Jesus Journey to share in the JOY!!!
My Sunday Sermon for Lenten season = based on Mark 10:7-31
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” – “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” – Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” – At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” – The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[e] to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” – Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” – “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
You may have heard or seen those cool hip new “let’s give this up for lent” lists – Instead of chocolate, give up x y z. – like gossiping and judging, give up negativity, give up fear, etc etc… it is a reminder to NOT focus on what we physically give up but mentally and culturally and emotionally where we can be better – work on traits we desire to have – And I was thinking that in our scripture today, Jesus asked this Rich man to give up the money yes – give to the poor – but to GIVE UP CONTROL – give up our time – and to follow Him most closely – yes – He also uses these scriptures to remind us that with Jesus, we are able to TRY to give up complaining, and our worldly-focus – and to be more able to live the abundant life that He gifts us… And isn’t the strength that we gain from following Jesus that allows us to do x y z. Like – being less self-focused and be more Jesus focused. We give up – but we take in – we take in Jesus.
What about time, if we trust the Lord and live our time more wisely, does it make a difference? Yes. Of course = you folks may have experienced what I have experienced these last couple days – the generosity of friends. They have blessed me. And this reminds me that the moments when the Lord says “follow me and use ourselves in our good health to be active and mobile and do things – DO THEM! (a secular example is when I saw the huge line at the drive thru at chik fila during the pandemic and even now – and just said I should use my good legs and walk in – and walk out – order on the app and keep moving!) AND THEN – in our days of NOT MOVING – also to find opportunity in any times of bad health, to BE STILL – which of course I always need that reminder. TO BE STILL and know that He is God… and to keep praying. My friend who has a near 100 year old mother on hospice, she reminds that the people in the worst of health still have STRONG PRAYER as their MOST important job…
So – in this Following Jesus scripture about the rich man and the disciples – the continuation of this Lenten journey of learning about Jesus and the interactions with individual people – which Barb and Jen have preached about – the point that struck me also strikes us: This rich man followed rules that he was told, but Jesus also asked: follow me. Jesus says FOLLOW ME.
In the section of the book which was given to me, “Lent for Everyone”, the author uses this funny story to convey the deeper and deeper images of Jesus that we see in this passage – the story involves selling three different types of binoculars – that one basic type can see only just so far and the next level up purchase sees further and further. The seller says to the customer: “with these binoculars you can see the church clock half a mile away” – and with these binoculars you can read the lips of what the vicar is saying to the people – but with THIS set – and he takes out the biggest monstrous pair – ‘well these bring you SO close that you can hear the choir singing.’ – yeah – THAT CLOSE. The author was trying to convey a deeper and deeper understanding of what Jesus was saying when He talked to the rich man and the disciples – and to us as we are journeying with Jesus – it is so crucial for us looking at all three parts of this scripture to bring us closer to what He wants to teach us to draw us closer to God and to Himself. We not only want to hear the choir but sing in His Choir. So, let’s look at the journey of understanding the three conversations. The first revealed conversation is with the rich man himself – to more than simply “follow all the rules” – even if they are not so simple to follow. The second conversation is just a bit deeper – with the disciples, and the author of the book passage stating that the disciples jaws must have dropped when Jesus spoke to the rich man in that way – wondering why He didn’t “close the deal” and invite the man to come “as he was”… It WAS an interesting statement by Jesus – ‘it is tougher for an CAMEL to go thru the EYE of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven’(FYI – The “Eye of the Needle” was a narrow gateway into Jerusalem. Since camels were heavily loaded with goods and riders, they would need to be un-loaded in order to pass through. Therefore, the analogy is that a rich man would have to similarly unload his material possessions in order to enter heaven.)… Geeze, wow… but Jesus also blesses the disciples later by telling them that they will gain more and more family and more and more abundant life of the promises of Heaven… and the third conversation – who can be saved – those lenses of the binoculars which are so strong that we can hear the choir singing – which you know is impossible – is the statement that Jesus tells Peter – that with man it IS impossible – but with Jesus – with God – all things are possible…
I actually heard an amazing opportunity to share this message just this week – but it was from hearing a misleading statement from a person of faith – she found out of the good deeds of another and said “wow – they are DEFINITELY going to Heaven!” – wow but not wow – I have heard that statement so many times and people believe it – yet it isn’t our good deeds – our goodie two shoes – our rule following – but our JESUS following – with man it is IMPOSSIBLE – but with Jesus – it is ALL POSSIBLE!
Have you ever seen those cartoons where the person is so close to the object that they can’t see it? I saw a cartoon and these people were against an elephant and extremely curious but giving their own evaluation – and said things about the elephant “it’s a rope” (it was the tail) – “it’s a spear” (it was the tusk) – “it’s a wall – “it’s a fan – it’s a tree” etc – people look at only the small things in front of them and they can’t always grasp the big picture – this sometimes prevents them from going further – from making a life changing response when they only see a limited view – So in our story, could this rich man NOT see far enough ahead – was that the problem? – or simply could he NOT see that the teacher right in front of him was more than just the rabbi – that He, Jesus, was and is God? The disciples sort of saw it – God actually had not opened the eyes of everyone’s hearts yet. And even when God opens the hearts of many – including us – we STILL won’t be able to see the whole journey – we are told the end destination but these ups and down along the way? We need trust – Jesus says take one day at a time – let tomorrow worry about itself.
This rich man stood there, face to face with His God. Most likely he was thinking Jesus was a teacher, a healer, an advice giver – and yet when he and we say “master”, we then still have to decide to be a follower. Maybe the man thought that Jesus would give Him an easy answer. Well, for Jesus this answer WAS EASY – it was and is FOLLOWME – I not only know the way – I am the way the truth and the life. Was this man ready to believe that – could he do that? We know that he went away sad. But (forgive me Lord for dreaming) we don’t actually know if He came back. We don’t know if years later he re-blessed others with His wealth. Jesus didn’t say the man couldn’t be involved in knowing how he was blessing. Maybe after seeing Jesus raised from the dead the rich man was able to re-decide to follow Jesus. It’s a process to get enough courage to trust Jesus. So, I’m hopeful for Him. I know that we are only looking at a snapshot – so wouldn’t you love to run into this man in Heaven and hear him say: YES – Jesus IS the Way.
We do know he was very sad was shocked and he was so close to the real answer of salvation, so close he didn’t know it. Part but not whole. One of my favorite scriptures these days is “when completeness comes, what is in part disappears” – “Now I know only in part – then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
What did the rich man tell Jesus that he successfully did? From childhood? Followed the commandments – yes. There’s a stained-glass window in the back of our church which has the beautiful image of 2 tablets. In Exodus and Deuteronomy we know from Moses’s time the scriptures of the 10 commandments and from Jesus the greatest commandments to love – we can hear this imploring ASK: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
When I remember the great Charlton Heston scenes in Ten Commandments movie about Moses saying ‘Let my people go’ – and the parting of the Red Sea, and of the tablets but recently now – every time I see this image of the commandments for the last month, I am reminded of this little Itty bitty scroll craft that I got from a girl scout event called “Thinking Day”. It was from a table of Girl Scouts representing the country of Israel. It is two Smarties rolls of candy which are covered in a paper to look like a Torah – and the two tablets image is printed on the front. Isn’t that cool? And I love how they MAYBE took (before gobbling up the sweetest candy) that they took a short moment to realize that these represent – the 10 commandments, the basis of the law given by God – shared by Moses – to the future descendants and to all of us as Gentiles, are God’s instructions to follow Him. The commandments are of God’s advice to help those folks stay holy. And perhaps this rich man DID keep to the commandments best he could – and I am sure he, like in Moses’s time, make the sacrificial offerings that were pleasing to God – but what about us? Where is our sacrifice – well – is it JUST in giving up many things – and we know that we should – but God knew and knows our humanness, it is SO hard to give up as well as satisfy all the commandments, especially the one about jealousy. Apostle Paul the prolific writer said that commandment was the near impossible one for him to follow.
The rich man WAS dismayed when Jesus told him to give up everything and “Follow Me”. Jesus told the disciples that they, who did give up their day to day lives, would recover their losses many-fold. God would cover it and cover them in the present and the future.
All throughout the old testament, the prophets do tell us that the Lord’s Promise Covenant will RESTORE His faithful. Restore if not in the present then in the forever future. We know of Jesus Himself being the Promise, come to earth for that FULFILLMENT in the New Covenant when the old was broken by the people – and Jesus came Himself be that Sacrifice – to satisfy the law and the prophets, Jesus Himself was able to explain how He came to teach and preach but especially to reach. Jesus also taught that we have FULFILLMENT yet to come.
So – from this craft – and from our own knowledge – where is the sweetness here? – of following the rules – or of giving of ourselves – where is the inner POSSIBLE to the impossible in following all the commandments and more – well Jesus IS the possible – the sweetness to the core – the hope and the promise. The MESSAGE AND THE MESSENGER. We HAVE to unwrap this sweetness – HIS SWEETNESS – open the door for Jesus – listen – and FOLLOW. Like this GIANT roll of candy [ show the giant tube of Smarties candy ] He is our BIG SWEET !
The zoom lenses: Let’s rehear what Jesus says to Peter (knowing that the others also would hear), it is verse 27 of that gospel of Mark: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” – “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “[no one who has left home or family for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.]”
The phrase ‘along with persecutions’ tells us that Jesus did not sugarcoat it. But Jesus told them of the gain. The sweetness that comes along with any sorrow.
It’s not a new concept for us. Came into this world with nothing. We are going to leave and we can’t take anything with us. Dust to dust ashes to ashes we remember in this Lenten season. So as “your treasures are in heaven”, these material things are just going to get eaten by moths. We are reminded that items and money is a tool.
Let’s think back to that loaves and fishes scene – The disciples said ‘[send them away. Lord, we don’t have enough. We don’t have the money to buy stuff for everybody on this hill]’… Isn’t that what we say when we look at the problems of the world? We don’t have enough for all, let alone me and my family and it makes us less likely to give…. But we can imagine that Jesus wants to take care of His family – of us – of all – and when we give of ourselves to Jesus – he multiplies what we give. Another example, how about the woman who anointed Jesus with the expensive oil. Which Jesus said was in preparation for his burial. She didn’t mind how precious and expensive it was. But here was her Lord. How about the widow who gave her last 2 mites. Jesus said she gave out of her faith.
So doesn’t he make money into a tool just like everything else that can be used for good works. We certainly know that we get blessed when we share for God’s Glory.
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We get hung up on the money part of the story – because we live in a society that is fearful of not having enough money – or losing money that you worked hard to get. But think most closely to this conversation between the man and Jesus –when we take any road where Jesus says “Follow Me” – know that He is THAT CLOSE – we are so close that we realize He is the possible to get us thru anything. – He is the known.
Jesus is asking this man and us not merely for willingness to give up, but to go – to listen and go. Jesus is calling and yet sometimes we put him on hold. Some even hang up the phone. We instead need Jesus on speed dial. When the going goes tough, the tough get going to Jesus.
Best yet, we need to remember that He is walking with us. We should follow Him because He’s following us. And because He called us first. This is why we are walking in this Lenten season with Him to give up those things that prevents us from seeing Him clearly, seeing His mission for us here on earth. He gave up Heaven to come to earth – surely we can give up a little earth…
Yes, sure, we might as well give up our treasures on earth (we aren’t taking them with us are we), remember what Jesus asked – give to the poor – well that doesn’t mean we give until we are poor – but give untilwe are RICH – rich in JOY – rich in seeing – and rich in Jesus shared. The poor don’t have to be poor moneywise but what about poor in spirit – like friends who are lonely – we could “spend” some of our precious time with them. Give away your time. What about poor in faith – poor in understanding they are loved – poor in hope. Give away Hope and God will make more for you and all. Jesus wants us to follow His lead and love one another. Jesus says Follow me – do what I do – and be blessed for it in Heaven.
It is the strength and commitment that we get from following Jesus that give us fruits of His Spirit to share. It is also the love and joy we get from following Jesus that it gives us the ability to see HIM as the Gain over any of the lost.
I often talk about Christmas the hermit crab, He gives up, naturally and routinely lots of parts of his body – parts that he could fend off attacker with – what a crazy thing – but he will make more – he has to find a safe space to do so. And so he NEVER gives up his shell. He never gives up the protection which really is SO STRONG. He gives up the time to molt (he has lots of time, do we?). He gives up strength to molt, do we? Can we allow ourselves and forgive ourselves to be weak, and let the Lord be strong? Maybe we are easily weak, but can we even give up the pride of faking it thru life? Can we simply say, “I need You Jesus?!” and will we recognize that He is more than just a shell of protection – He is our sweetest we never have to give up. Jesus – we never have to give up His protection – His shell – and His new life in us and us in Him.
The last and MOST important part of this rich man’s interaction with Jesus = Jesus looked at him and loved him – Jesus is GOD and GOD IS LOVE. Jesus could only love him. Jesus was filled with love – Jesus knows the love that saves. With man – impossible – but with God everything is possible. What a marvel to know that He loved and loves us so much that He gave up His life for us, His friends.
Well, my agenda is just that: ‘my agenda’ and we need to check our agendas more, sometimes at the door but sometimes at the floor, when kneeling at the feet of Jesus.
My experience will tell you, His plan is what we should explore.
We need to check the plan against His plan of the day, against His say, along The Way.
I am sad to say – my back kinda went out today.
No i didn’t’ throw it out and away – it walked then just RAN away.
I have been here before, I know I will be OK.
But for now, I just have to say “Hey!
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I understand Lord, when you say You wish for me to have plans to go YOUR WAY.
So at Your feet I now pray.
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OK I appreciated yesterday –
I read the Jesus Calling later in the day –
when I was checking with the Lord – “am I being too ambitious today?”
Well, I kept moving as I waited for Him to enter His opinions and His Say.
And I am glad I was ‘allowed’ to finish my work and call it a day.
I was still allowed to move my moves throughout the day.
I even got in a quick walk – because I am way out of shape – WAY!
When my back goes out – or any day,
The Jesus Walking Way is Best Medicine, OK and Hurray!
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So, yesterday, as I finished a project late in the day,
I slid into the car knowing there would be much pain today.
And now? Well – close to home is where I will stay.
I did sleep last night but a few times yelled “HEY!”
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So what did Jesus Calling blog say yesterday?
To get out of your own way.
Seek My Face in your day.
I will turn your attention to My Way.
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Amen – and thanks Lord – everyday.
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Jesus Calling – March 8th
Save your best striving for seeking My Face. I am constantly communicating with you. To find Me and hear My voice, you must seek Me above all else. Anything that you desire more than Me becomes an idol. When you are determined to get your own way, you blot Me out of your consciousness. Instead of single-mindedly pursuing some goal, talk with Me about it. Let the Light of My Presence shine on this pursuit, so that you can see it from My perspective. If the goal fits into My plans for you, I will help you reach it. If it is contrary to My will for you, I will gradually change the desire of your heart. Seek Me first and foremost; then the rest of your life will fall into place, piece by piece.
1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!
Matthew 6:33 ESV
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
haha).
Debbie Upper 