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But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only…Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. -Matthew 24:3, 44
As is a long-time tradition, the first Sunday of Advent points us to the Second Coming of Christ.
It presupposes that we understand a basic truth. He came once to show us the Father, announce the Kingdom, make the way of salvation, and commission his servants to spread the good news of God’s ultimate triumph.
He would come again to usher in that Kingdom in power and glory once and for all.
That is why we sing a Second Coming hymn in anticipate of Christmas.
Joy to the world, The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare him room And Heaven and nature sing. He rules the world With truth and grace And makes the nations proves The glories of his righteousness And wonders of his love. -Isaac Watts
When know, roughly, when he came the first time.
We have no idea when he will come again.
What we know is that it is always just around the corner and Advent reminds us to always be standing on tiptoes, ready, joyfully expectant, diligently faithful, and always full of wonder like a child at Christmas.
That is because the very best Christmas is yet to come.
And for that, we can be thankful in advance.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, Rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy.
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Being awake is more than a condition, it is command for real living.
So, I am musing over it "acronymically."
A=ATTENTION
I've heard this as a command as you have. It usually sounds like a short "a" with a dramatic "TEN," followed by a profound "HUT!" It means, "Come to a state of attention mentally, spiritually, and physically." Only then do we begin to awaken.
W=WATCH
Sometimes awakening just means watching for what is next. We awaken with a sense of wonder and "not knowing" about the day. This morning, I woke up and spent some time in a morning "watch" as I considered the day, prayed, and meditated.
A=ADJUSTMENTS
We begin to adjust our thinking, schedules, and even muscles (translation - STRETCH) as we prepare to be awake for a day of opportunity and productivity.
K=KNOWLEDGE
We need it. We need more of it. We need to gather it, assimilate it, and use it. If we are truly awake, we will be growing in knowledge. If we grow in knowledge, it will help to keep us awake. It is a cycle.
E=ENERGIZED
Do it. Drink your green tea; read your bible; pray; listen to some news; pray some more (The news will do that for you); eat a healthy breakfast; exercise; keep praying; work on your to-do list; pray some more (Do you see a pattern here?). Get energized for the day and then, start spending it.
Wake Up!
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"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36
We knew she was coming sometime, just not when. We knew that every day brought the visit closer, but we were not certain exactly what day. We cleaned the house once, twice, and then again. Finally, we just got in the habit of keeping it clean. We’d stare out the window and watch, waiting for our great aunt to arrive with gifts and hugs. We were children. Our parents understood the calendar better than we could. We only knew seasons and it was the right season for a visit.
Don’t be dismayed that God keeps some things secret. He knows better than to entrust us with every detail of His plans. There are some things we simply could not understand if we were told in plain language. He tells us what is necessary and withholds what would breed complacency and contempt for His ways. Not knowing the details of His second coming means that we can live in constant expectancy of His appearing. We wait of tiptoe. We lift our hearts in wonder. Waiting for His redemption gives us a clue as to the spirit of messianic expectation that must of gripped the hearts of the faithful who waited patiently for His first coming.
Shepherds and wise men all eagerly sought word of salvation. While others despaired and resigned themselves to business as usual, there were always those who kept hope alive in their hearts. Our job in our generation is to eagerly seek Him in everything.
Jesus has come and Jesus is coming. Both statements stir the heart and ignite the imagination. Hope, born in the hearts of children, inspires hope in those who are tired of waiting. The call comes rolling down through the centuries. Live in constant expectation and you will never be disappointed
The first video below has some sound issues. I am still learning.
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"'Tut, tut child,'" said the Duchess. 'Everythings got a moral if only you can find it.'" Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Everything.
We are not all stuck in a Carollian Wonderland.
Or are we?
We are all observers of the stories of others as they intersect with and pass by our own.
There are thousands of stories within our reach and somehow, one big story comprised of layers and strands of weaving themes.
History.
And everything has a moral ...
... if you can find it.
Today, as I live, part of and outside of the hectic hubbub of harried, hurried masses, I am looking for the moral of the story.
I want to hear the music and sing along.
I am searching for the meaning, anchored to the greater meaning that anchors me, I want to hear the Message.
I do not believe that the Author and Composer orchestrates every event; He invites us to participate as co-authors in that process. However, I do believe He orchestrates the symphony of meaning that emerges from the dissonance of our bleating attempts to find the right notes and join the rhythmic pulse of the ensemble.
He makes it beautiful and weaves it into the eternal story that we might find the moral of the most mundane.
If I can find it!
I shall consult my composer/conductor who, like every conductor for whom I have ever sung, keeps reminding me not to keep my nose buried in the score with these words, often shouted ...
I was a little taken back as I sat in the training session for aspiring vacuum cleaner salesmen and heard the trainer say, "I hope you are all in serious debt or financial trouble. If you are, you will be successful."
I didn't like what he said at the time, but I came to understand that he was right.
The wise teacher of the proverbs tells us:
“A worker's appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on” -Proverbs 16:26 NASB
This can be known through careful observation and is as true today as it was in Solomon's time.
You have to be hungry. At the very least, you must possess an appetite for more. If you are satisfied, you will stay where you are. If you are complacent, you will not exert extraordinary effort in any direction. If you are resigned to your circumstance or to the world as it is, you will not do much to change either.
Even Jesus said that those were blessed who hungered and thirsted for things to be right (ie... righteousness).
What does the hunger that works for us and drives us on look like? Let us break it down.
H - HATE
Hunger involves hate, not in the sense of vitriolic preoccupation with a destructive emotion toward other people. but the broader definition of detesting something to the point of turning away from it. You must be willing to make a clean break with your addiction to an undesirable condition in order to embrace something better. Some people are addicted to their self identities as poor failures and hopeless "losers." It takes something as dramatic as hating those designations to break free of them. Like Scarlet O'Hara you declare that you will never be hungry again. - except for the next goal.
U - URGE
We have used this word before to point to something inside that goes beyond rejecting the old to the idea of being drawn toward something in a powerful and compelling way. When you are deeply hungry for food, that hunger urges you on. You move in the direction of your goal. It drags you out of bed and out of the house. The urge is powerful and is empowered by the faith and hope that what you long for is possible with God's help and with your commitment.
N - NOTICE
When you are hungry for your goal, you start noticing things around you that you have previously ignored, things that remind you where you are going, examples of what you desire.You notice other people on the same path. You notice books, articles, and information designed to equip you in the fulfillment of your dreams. You notice open doors and opportunities. You notice people in a new way.
G - GRASP
Having identified a goal for which you hunger, you are always grasping in that direction. You hold what is in your grasp and reach for what is beyond it. You also grasp concepts you never would have paid any attention to before because understanding them is a means to your desired end. You make grasping a tool in your belt for reaching that to which you aspire.
E- EXHAUSTION
You stop at nothing less than the exhaustion of every effort in the service of your goal. if you haven't tried everything, you are not done. If you have not tried some things several times and several ways, you are not finished. If you have any energy left, you use it. of course you pace yourself, get adequate rest, and care for your body and soul in the process, but you DO NOT QUIT until all options are exhausted and even when they seem to be, you look for more.
R - RESILIENCE
When you fall, get up. When you fail, try again. When you falter in your faith, renew it and never let entertain discouragement for any longer than it takes to be encouraged by positive people, scripture, prayer, and your own commitment to keep on keeping on. Successful people are resilient in their hunger. They are often the folks that stayed in the game just a little bit longer than everyone else, tried a few more tricks, and refused to quit. They are knocked down, insulted, wounded, and wearied, but they have elastic in the back ends of their trousers so that that they bounce when knocked on their posteriors. Be that kind of person and your hungry appetite will drive you to success.
To your success!
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Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
I made a number of friends on a platform called AnswerBag some years ago. People would post deep or shallow questions and other people could answer them. It was that simple. One day, I decided to blog a day’s worth of my Q&A.
Three of them made the cut:
What is the glue that sticks together a broken heart?
It is the glue of experience and compassion, of giving and receiving love. It is the glue of loving when love is not returned, of laughter, tears, and time. It is the glue of renewed purpose and passion for life itself. it is the glue of a dream and a mission. It is the grace of God and the friendship of good people. The glue that heals is a composite of all these things, but it is strong and flexible.
You have been offered the opportunity to “build” an ideal president of the United States as a composite of the best characteristics of all the candidates in the field. What will you take from each to construct your model president?
Keep in mind that this was 2007 and I actually wrote the question and answered it myself. These were some of the candidates and former presidents at the time.
The charisma, freshness and good looks of Obama
The crusty credibility of Fred Thompson
The good common sense of Joe Biden
Wesley Clark’s understanding of the military
Mitt Romney’s business talents and understanding
The feisty courage of McCain
Howard Dean’s outbursts — I liked that about him
The independence of Ron Paul
John Edwards’ accent, likability, and wife
Dodd’s intellect
Brownback’s views on a couple of issues, especially pro-life
Giuliani’s administrative skills
Gore’s environmentalism
Ralph Nader’s irrational perseverance and tenacity, with a touch of sarcasm and sassiness
Jerry Brown (who has neither chance nor interest) because he is not impressed by power
Clinton’s campaign strategy and political savvy
Huckabee’s integrity
Mike Bloomberg's ability to make and manage money
Gilmore’s home state — The Mother of Presidents has been a little barren.
Kucinich for peace and freedom
Reagan’s humor and compassion (something from the past)
Carter’s understanding of world affairs and appreciation of the complexity of foreign policy (also from the past)
George Bush’s aborted dream of utilizing faith based institutions to partner with communities for community development
George H.W. Bush’s gracious spirit
Bill Clinton’s speaking ability
LBJ’s bear hug and humor
Nixon’s diplomatic abilities
Truman’s honesty and no-nonsense approach
Kennedy’s ability to assemble the best people for his team
What is left?
Vulnerability — the ability to admit that you have changed your mind when presented with better facts and that is OK, that you have made some mistakes, that your record is not spotless, that you are human, that you may be wrong, that you have been wrong, that you can laugh at yourself, and that some special interest groups are really making fools of themselves even though you respect their humanity and right to petition their government.
Also missing quite often — respect for the opinions of others and a deep distrust of partisan politics.
Put all of that together with great leadership abilities and the ability to win an election and shazam! You’ve got a great president.
Remember, however, that most great presidents were rather unlikely candidates.
What lame excuse would you use to get out of jail?
Having sat through many court hearings as an observer, it has become my conviction that no excuse works. The best one seems to be, “I did it; I was wrong; How can i make this right?
If that doesn’t work, try these:
The house was on fire when I arrived. I set another fire as a backfire in the hopes of saving the house.
The tree was moving toward my car at a rapid rate of speed.
Your honor, I was drunk, I had no idea I was behind the wheel of the car. if I had known, I would have never driven down the street.
What?!?! I have $100,000 in my account? Where did it come from? Is it mine? Can I spend it?
It wasn’t me. It was my evil clone. You’d better catch him before he does some real damages. He has all my fantasies and none of my self-control. I can help if you will release me.
Your honor, I am an agent of the FBCIAI, an organization so top-secret that I cannot tell or even know what the initials stand for. I am on a vital mission for our government and the President has requested that you release me. The survival of humanity is at stake.
I am not as think as you drunk I am.
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“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.– II Corinthians 3:18
Refraction is a process that takes place when light changes mediums, passing through a less dense medium to a denser medium and through that medium; often back into a less dense sphere with awe inspiring results. As the light is bent, brilliant colors often present themselves to the eye and turn our sight toward God.
While this may not be the best scientific explanation of what takes place in the natural realm, it illustrates some elements of the spiritual refraction of God’s light as it passes through mediums of His choosing to change us into authentic representations of His image.
That is what we were always intended to be from the time we were made in the image of God. We were created to be reflectors, refractors, and beholders of His glory.
As the rays of the sun pass through the stained glass of our church windows, they are bent and shaped and exploded into glorious colors, invading those houses with kaleidoscopes of beauty. They point our hearts and minds toward the God of the rainbow. They thrust us to our knees in worship. They draw forth our exclamations of praise and inspire us toward the transformation of the Spirit.
As glorious as the light of the sun may be, it is a dim reflection of the glory of God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. He is the true light come to illuminate the world.
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Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
You can’t say this enough – so Paul says it many times, “Rejoice!”
It is the natural response to joy and joy is the natural progression of grace in our lives. It is giddy, chuckle joy, the kind that giggles and sings and sets the heart to rhythm
It is gratitude and evangelism and worship wrapped up in one all encompassing emotion of inner gladness. It is command and promise in one admonition. It is Christmas and Easter and New Year’s Day mingled with the Fourth of July and St. Valentine’s Day exploding exponentially into a chorus of praise to God.
It is perpetual. Rejoice in the Lord, ALWAYS! That means whatever the passing emotion of the moment, no matter how deep the despair or bitter the defeat, no matter how lonely one may be, disheartened, disappointed, or discouraged, rejoice! Whatever the circumstances of one’s life, the great motivation for rejoicing is a joy so deep and enduring that it surpasses all sorrow.
It’s not about “fake it till you make it,” although there may be a way of understanding that advice that can be helpful. Nor is it about any sort of superficial gladness. It is about connecting to something real, permanent, and spiritually authentic that never changes,
It is Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
It is Christ’s peace, presence, and power.
It is faith. It is hope. It is abiding love and sovereign grace.
It is God’s joy. Therefore, we rejoice in the Lord and all other reasons for rejoicing are passing fancies.
Such a simple verse! Such a crucial reminder! Follow God’s Word at this point and it will change your attitudes, your moods, and your outlook on everything. Develop it as a skill (It doesn’t happen over night) and you will begin to see the difference it makes in your life.
Famous for Moderation
Philippians 4:5: Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Many of us have longed for fame and fortune. Few of us have considered that having already been made infinitely wealthy through our adoption in Jesus Christ, we might become famous for our moderation.
We are connected to the greatest power in the universe and yet, are called to be gentle.
We are heirs to all the riches of the cosmos; yet, we are called to moderate our appetites.
We are privileged beyond comprehension; yet we are encouraged to restrain ourselves in the exercise of our prerogatives.
The Lord wants for His people to be known as gentle folks, moderate in all things, able to speak softly and quietly trust Him for our provision. We are not reborn as bulls in china closets. We have as our example, Jesus, to whom the children came without intimidation or fear.
As he often does when admonishing us, our Brother Paul gives us a reason for moderation. It is simply this: the Lord is at hand. He is near.
To you that may mean His second coming and you would be correct. To another it may mean His imminent presence through His Holy Spirit and that would also be correct. He is near and that is a sobering thought as well as a cause for rejoicing.
The time is short for men and women to see Jesus through our lives. It always has been and always will be. Life is a flicker in time. Someday we will understand how true that is of all history.
As we redeem the time for the sake of our witness in the world, let the word of our gentle moderation be spread and let the peoples exclaim, “Behold what God can do. If He can work such grace into their lives, what can He do in mine?”
Peace that Keeps
Philippians 4:6-7: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
On July 4, 1776, a company of farmers, merchants, scholars, and business men gathered to ratify and sign a document to which they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
Most of these men paid a heavy cost for that signature. They were not crippled by undo caution or timid in the petition that they brought before the King of England.
In the realm of the Spirit, we have also been called to affix or signatures upon an invisible document of faith with visible repercussions. In it, we declare our absolute loyalty to Jesus Christ. We lay everything on the line without the constraints of care or caution, without reservation or regret, without whining or complaint.
We come in complete trust rejoicing, thanking, and bringing our petitions before God. And we find in God, not an insecure despot lashing out at us, but a loving Father whose greatest desire is that we come to Him.
As we come, He gives us His peace and that peace becomes the security of our lives standing guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
In 1776, there was great conflict in store for the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In our day of declaration, we may also find conflict ahead, but in the midst, we are surrounded by the peace of God that is completely beyond our comprehension.
Let us boldly declare our liberty and surrender our hearts to the One who sets us free indeed.
THINK
Philippians 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
There is way too much “stinking thinking” in the world. What we sow in our thinking, we reap in our behavior and lifestyles and ultimately in the fruit of our lives. If we want to change our lives, we have to follow a trail that leads back to our attitudes. We have to change the way we think and what we spend our time thinking about.
Read these verses slowly. Let them be a template against which you test your thoughts. Allow them to help you determine to conform your thoughts to the higher standards of a Christian mindset.
Ask yourself: Is this thought true? Is it honest or am I kidding myself? Is it just or am I plotting something in my mind that is wrong by God and by my neighbor? Is it pure or is it polluted? Is it lovely or is it ugly? Is it a thought I would want others to read on my face or is it of ill repute? Am I thinking the best of my neighbor or have I engaged in gossip in my own mind? Am I thinking virtue or am I dwelling on something less worthy and noble? Are my thoughts leading me to praise God or to wallow in self pity and disgust?
Try to remember this teaching with an acronym; THINK:
T- Test every thought against the standard of Philippians 4:8.
H- Hold yourself to that standard against all odds.
I – Integrate God-centered thinking into every area of your life.
N- Negate the negative whenever it emerges.
K – Keep praising God with your thoughts, words, and deeds.
If you will practice positive, God-centered thinking, focused on His goodness and beauty daily for an extended period of time, you will begin to see positive results in your life. Embrace the mind of Christ as your way of thinking and repent of all else.
Find a Mentor and Pay Attention
Philippians 4:9: Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
You need a mentor. You most likely need several. Certainly in your walk with Christ, you need some models to follow. Some are around us, living and breathing. Others have gone on and left only their reputations and writings behind. We can learn from both kinds of mentors.
Paul boldly encourages the believers to learn from Him by watching his life. What kind of integrity of word and deed does that require? Would you be willing to let folks follow you around and observe your life knowing that they would do what you do, respond as you respond, and believe what you profess with your actions? Would you be wiling to take that kind of responsibility for the fragile lives of young believers?
Paul was willing. He was willing knowing that he was not a finished product. But he was willing to let his life be an open book, frailties and all. He was willing to let people see how God dealt with him and how well he did at forgetting the things that were past and pressing on the mark.
He was willing to be observed. Are you?
The application is two-fold here. First, we are called to live transparent lives before God and men. It is the stewardship of our influence that can mold hearts and encourage the downtrodden.
Second, we are to be humble enough to learn from our elders. We are commanded gently to benefit from the generosity of their example and to learn the finer points of discipleship by observing their lives.
Christianity is a movement of duplication. We are to replicate ourselves in the lives of others and thus, perpetuate the movement down through the generations. At some point, our influence ceases to be ours. We lose control of it through death or infirmity. Yet it continues. It lives on and multiplies beyond even the memory of our names.
On this day in 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
He was a singer of dithyrambs.
The dithyramb (Ancient Greek: διθύραμβος, dithyrambos) was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.
Actors are still referred to as "thespians."
In High School, I was inducted into the Thespian Society, but never got my card. John Witt, my teacher back then and a real thespian made sure I received a beautiful certificate a few years ago.
Can you sing a dithyramb and post it?
1st picture - Thespis' wagon, relief of the Giotto's Belltower in Florence, Italy, Nino Pisano, 1334–1336
2nd picture - Attic relief (4th century BCE) depicting an aulos player and his family standing before Dionysos and a female consort, with theatrical masks displayed above.
On this day in 1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile. . Later, much later, someone named Rossini thought that a barber from Seville would make a great theme for an opera.
1876 – Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
On this day in 1644 – John Milton, who invented some of our extra-biblical concepts of hell in his better-known extended poem, "Paradise Lost (a subversive political parody)" publishes "Areopagitica," a pamphlet decrying censorship. We are all richer because censorship never fully silenced him.
"Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragon's teeth; and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men. And yet, on the other hand, unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. 'Tis true, no age can restore a life, whereof perhaps there is no great loss; and revolutions of ages do not oft recover the loss of a rejected truth, for the want of which whole nations fare the worse."
"It is not possible for man to sever the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the other fry; that must be the Angels' ministry at the end of mortal things. Yet if all cannot be of one mind — as who looks they should be? — this doubtless is more wholesome, more prudent, and more Christian, that many be tolerated, rather than all compelled."
On November 23, 1924 – Edwin Hubble's discovery, that the Andromeda "nebula" is actually another island galaxy far outside our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times.
There was plenty that went on in the 2oth Century and the 21st has been pretty busy!
Birthdays include:
1887 – Boris Karloff, English actor (d. 1969). His birth name was William Henry Pratt, but that was not frightening enough for Frankenstein's Monster. Beginning in 1940, Karloff dressed as Father Christmas every Christmas to hand out presents to physically disabled children in a Baltimore hospital.
To show that there are many sides to people's lives, Karloff had his own weekly children's radio show on WNEW, New York, in 1950. He played children's music and told stories and riddles. Although the program was meant for children, Karloff attracted many adult listeners as well.
I was just thinking about days and realized that this is one. We are living in one. And, if that is not enough, we have been in this position around the sun a number of times before and have called this day, "today."
On this day, 59 years ago, we lost 3 significant men.
Two were Englishmen; one was Irish-American.
All three were best-selling writers. In fact, though he was President, one had prepared to be a journalist and anticipated returning to that career some day.
Aldous Huxley, the writer and philosopher, C.S. Lewis, the Don and author, and John F. Kennedy, author of "Profiles in Courage" and American President.
All were under 70. Huxley was 69; Lewis was 64; Kennedy was 46.
All were serious thinkers.
All shaped our thinking whether or not we are aware of it.
All left behind, a body of work.
This day never passes by my memory without a solemn pause and reflection.
We all lost something that day.
"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." - Aeschylus
Waves sweeping, Ship sinking, Footholds giving way, Still the music plays. Resistance tempers strings, Prompts the resonating vibrations. Art without pain, Music without suffering, Oxymoronic monotonic Silence. Titanic dangers surround the emerging sound Of sweet assurance ... Nearer, my God, to Thee.
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest. - Psalm 55:8
But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” - Luke 8:23-25
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Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Psalm 46
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
After attempting to do a share, I refer the listener to the second.
Luke 23:33-43
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
Colossians 1:11-20
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
This copy was supplied to Colonel Alexander Bliss, stepson of historian George Bancroft, by President Lincoln at Bliss' request.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863
Nicolay Copy
John G. Nicolay was President Lincoln's personal secretary. This is considered the "first draft" of the speech. Lincoln gave it to Nicolay, who went to Gettysburg with Lincoln and witnessed the speech. The Library of Congress owns this manuscript.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate we can not consecrate we can not hallow, this ground The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Hay Copy
This is thought to be the second draft, given by President Lincoln to John Hay, a White House assistant who accompanied Lincoln to Gettysburg. The Hay copy, which includes Lincoln's handwritten changes, also is owned by the Library of Congress.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we can not dedicate we can not consecrate we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Everett Copy
Edward Everett was the chief speaker at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication. He is remembered, not for his over 2 hour speech, but for these words in a letter to the President: "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." This was given to Everett by Lincoln and can be found at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here, have, thus far, so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Bancroft Copy
George Bancroft asked President Lincoln for a copy to use as a fundraiser for soldiers. The Bancroft copy is now owned by Cornell University.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Source for all versions: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler and others.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
Doing the right thing because it is the right thing when the outcome is risky and the process is inefficient should not cause us to question whether or not the right thing is the right thing.
It is right because it is right.
If it goes wrong, so be it.
We learn to do the right thing better rather than switching to wrong thing because we have better odds of success.
Safety and success are not the measures of right.
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not fall -Psalm 16:8
Here Is a Sermon
How do we live with “The Day” Approaching?
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
Let us make a salad out of Three Heads of LET-US (10:19-25)
Let usAPPROACH (10:22)
This is our life of Prayer, Intercession, and Intimacy with God.
You can. The door is open (10:11-15).
You may because you are invited into covenant (10:16-18)
You must because you need it and the world needs you.
Let usHOLD FAST (10:23)
This is our stand! This is our witness and our open confession of faith.
Stand for hope.
Bear witness to the world.
Act in love and goodness (10:24).
Let usCONSIDER HOW TO PROVOKE (10:24-25)
This is fellowship and encouragement as we encourage love and good deeds in our brothers and sisters. Our response to Christ’s coming, whenever it might be is to encourage one another.
P – It is POSITIVE (Not a negative threat, but a positive affirmation).
R – It is REDEMPTIVE (We are forgiven people).
O – It is OPPORTINISTIC (“Consider how to … ). κατανοῶμεν
V – It is VISIONARY (“… as you see the Day approaching …)
O – It is about ONE ANOTHER – We cannot do this alone. παρακαλοῦντες
K – It is KENETIC – forces producing motion or change. παροξυσμὸν is stirring up
E – ENCOURAGE - παρακαλοῦντες - Encouraging one another.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
Doing the right thing because it is the right thing when the outcome is risky and the process is inefficient should not cause us to question whether or not the right thing is the right thing.
It is right because it is right.
If it goes wrong, so be it.
We learn to do the right thing better rather than switching to wrong thing because we have better odds of success.
Safety and success are not the measures of right.
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not fall -Psalm 16:8
Here Is a Sermon
How do we live with “The Day” Approaching?
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
Let us make a salad out of Three Heads of LET-US (10:19-25)
Let usAPPROACH (10:22)
This is our life of Prayer, Intercession, and Intimacy with God.
You can. The door is open (10:11-15).
You may because you are invited into covenant (10:16-18)
You must because you need it and the world needs you.
Let usHOLD FAST (10:23)
This is our stand! This is our witness and our open confession of faith.
Stand for hope.
Bear witness to the world.
Act in love and goodness (10:24).
Let usCONSIDER HOW TO PROVOKE (10:24-25)
This is fellowship and encouragement as we encourage love and good deeds in our brothers and sisters. Our response to Christ’s coming, whenever it might be is to encourage one another.
P – It is POSITIVE (Not a negative threat, but a positive affirmation).
R – It is REDEMPTIVE (We are forgiven people).
O – It is OPPORTINISTIC (“Consider how to … ). κατανοῶμεν
V – It is VISIONARY (“… as you see the Day approaching …)
O – It is about ONE ANOTHER – We cannot do this alone. παρακαλοῦντες
K – It is KENETIC – forces producing motion or change. παροξυσμὸν is stirring up
E – ENCOURAGE - παρακαλοῦντες - Encouraging one another.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
If you need to move a mountain, you will have to make a decision to do so. Then, you will need much prayer, a little faith, and action upon your faith and prayer. The mountain will not move until you move.
No one is going to come along with you until you start moving.
No one is going to see it, get it, or understand it until you live it and demonstrate it.
Do not wait for a vote of your peers or critics to start living a life of faith, compassion, or obedience to God.
If you are going to follow Jesus, it will be a counter cultural move.
Do not expect applause or ease.
Do expect to be called names -- it does not matter which ones.
You may be called a "liberal" by some or a "fundy" by others.
Forget it and move on. Some will call you fascist and others, a communist.
Neither will be true and it still does not matter.
They do not get it. They cannot get it. They have never seen it.
It is a different paradigm.
You are neither liberal nor conservative and you are, at the same time, both.
Let them scratch their heads in utter confusion over you.
You are like the wind that blows here and there, said Jesus, moved by the Spirit.
Let the Spirit move you and hear the word, "Move!"
No one is going to come along with you until you start moving ...
But ...
Once you start moving ...
Some will.
They are just people ...
They need to see it to get it.
Don't judge them... just do what you were called to do ...
Follow Jesus.
"And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”"
(Matthew 17:14-20 ESV)
Enough with the hand wringing.
Enough with the despair.
Enough waiting for someone else to have enough faith ...
Enough to change the world ...
Enough ...
Enough waiting on Republicans or Democrats or Independents.
Enough waiting on public opinion.
Enough complaining and waiting and procrastinating as governments do ...
Today, the little faith we have is what we bring to our active cry.
That little faith says the impossible and ...
Activates the impossible.
"Move, mountain of hate!"
"Move, mountain of fear!"
"Move, mountain of injustice!"
"Move, mountain of oppressive sin!"
"Move, mountain of terror, intimidation, bigotry, and torment."
"Move, mountain of convulsing hopelessness."
"Move!"
Our faith is small, but ..
What faith we have, we bring to this mountain and cry, "Move!"
Do something bold today.
Let Us Pray
Lord of this morning, Light of this day, Master of the darkness that daily dies, God of night and light and all that is, I come ...
Empty handed, I come. I bring to the morning and the day, nothing, Nothing, Nothing, but me ...myself .... my self, Undone, unfettered, unconditionally empty. I come.
Our Father .... My loved one's Father .... Ours ... Father of my dearest friends and most adamant enemies if I have any .... Ours ... Father of the nations scattered, Father of the stranger ... Ours ....
Hallowed be Thy Name. Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty. Thy name is Holy. Thy Name ... vast, uncontainable, unfathomable, yet ... Revealed to us as "I Am." You ARE ... Hallowed be THY NAME.
Thy Kingdom ... Thy rule .... Thy dominating, liberating, rejuvenating Kingdom of Love, of Life, of Wonder ...
COME!
I come. Thy Kingdom Come ... Come to this house, to this body, to my church, my city, my nation ... My world. WE come, OUR Father ... Send forth Thy Kingdom in us and through us. Thy Will, which we know in part, in tiny part, Thy will, perfect and all-knowing will of grace and power, of holiness and kindness, Thy will be DONE!!!
DONE!!!! DONE!!!
Start here and now with me, Oh God. Straighten up my calendar. Schedule my appointments.
Prepare my words.
Master my thoughts.
Guide me in Thy paths.
Thy will be done. On earth ... on the ground upon which we walk as in Heaven.
Heaven! "Eye hath not seen, nor ear hear, neither hath it entered into the heart of man ..." what You have prepared for us who love you. Heaven! Your will! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
Give us, this day, our daily bread .... As You have every day of our lives. Thank you!
And you will again! Thank You! I trust you. I don't know how you are going to do it ... And I am not sure when, but You always provide. Thank you.
And You are OUR Father, so,
So, Dear God ... Daily bread of healing for my friends who are sick ... I name them before You... For those in prison.... In distress.... On the streets .... Struggling with decisions ... Burdened with depression .... Tortured for their faith ... On battlefields ... On mission fields ..... Just far afield .... And those waiting for a word of encouragement ... maybe from me ... And those waiting to hear the good news of repentance possible in Your Kingdom of turn-rounds ... And those ... Lost in a wilderness of ambiguity. You are our provider. You provide for Your work and for Your people. Thank You.
And lead us not into temptation .... Not that you would ... It is a jungle out there and there are many snares. We need You to handle some of those for us and the rest ... In us and through us. People are tripping up all the time, discrediting Your name and work. I could, God forbid, be one of those. I am weak and susceptible to temptation. Deliver me for Thy Names' sake.
Give us strength and deliver us from evil.
I will not be preoccupied with such. You are my deliverance. I will not fear for You, Oh Lord are able to .... Deliver us from evil.
And again I ask ... lead me away from those snares that have snare us in the past ... Lead us away in the future You have prepared for us ... And handle any evil that may threaten me.
Thine is the kingdom! It is not mine ... Except that Your Son has invited me to participate. Thine is the Power ... And You have shared much of that with me! Thank You! I praise Your Name!
Thine is the Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory !!!! And this part amazes me Lord of Amazing things .... FOREVER .... and ever ... and ever .....
Amen!
And I pray in the Name of the One who taught me to pray this way ... And teaches me daily ... And today ... In Jesus' Name. Amen.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
If you need to move a mountain, you will have to make a decision to do so. Then, you will need much prayer, a little faith, and action upon your faith and prayer. The mountain will not move until you move.
No one is going to come along with you until you start moving.
No one is going to see it, get it, or understand it until you live it and demonstrate it.
Do not wait for a vote of your peers or critics to start living a life of faith, compassion, or obedience to God.
If you are going to follow Jesus, it will be a counter cultural move.
Do not expect applause or ease.
Do expect to be called names -- it does not matter which ones.
You may be called a "liberal" by some or a "fundy" by others.
Forget it and move on. Some will call you fascist and others, a communist.
Neither will be true and it still does not matter.
They do not get it. They cannot get it. They have never seen it.
It is a different paradigm.
You are neither liberal nor conservative and you are, at the same time, both.
Let them scratch their heads in utter confusion over you.
You are like the wind that blows here and there, said Jesus, moved by the Spirit.
Let the Spirit move you and hear the word, "Move!"
No one is going to come along with you until you start moving ...
But ...
Once you start moving ...
Some will.
They are just people ...
They need to see it to get it.
Don't judge them... just do what you were called to do ...
Follow Jesus.
"And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”"
(Matthew 17:14-20 ESV)
Enough with the hand wringing.
Enough with the despair.
Enough waiting for someone else to have enough faith ...
Enough to change the world ...
Enough ...
Enough waiting on Republicans or Democrats or Independents.
Enough waiting on public opinion.
Enough complaining and waiting and procrastinating as governments do ...
Today, the little faith we have is what we bring to our active cry.
That little faith says the impossible and ...
Activates the impossible.
"Move, mountain of hate!"
"Move, mountain of fear!"
"Move, mountain of injustice!"
"Move, mountain of oppressive sin!"
"Move, mountain of terror, intimidation, bigotry, and torment."
"Move, mountain of convulsing hopelessness."
"Move!"
Our faith is small, but ..
What faith we have, we bring to this mountain and cry, "Move!"
Do something bold today.
Let Us Pray
Lord of this morning, Light of this day, Master of the darkness that daily dies, God of night and light and all that is, I come ...
Empty handed, I come. I bring to the morning and the day, nothing, Nothing, Nothing, but me ...myself .... my self, Undone, unfettered, unconditionally empty. I come.
Our Father .... My loved one's Father .... Ours ... Father of my dearest friends and most adamant enemies if I have any .... Ours ... Father of the nations scattered, Father of the stranger ... Ours ....
Hallowed be Thy Name. Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty. Thy name is Holy. Thy Name ... vast, uncontainable, unfathomable, yet ... Revealed to us as "I Am." You ARE ... Hallowed be THY NAME.
Thy Kingdom ... Thy rule .... Thy dominating, liberating, rejuvenating Kingdom of Love, of Life, of Wonder ...
COME!
I come. Thy Kingdom Come ... Come to this house, to this body, to my church, my city, my nation ... My world. WE come, OUR Father ... Send forth Thy Kingdom in us and through us. Thy Will, which we know in part, in tiny part, Thy will, perfect and all-knowing will of grace and power, of holiness and kindness, Thy will be DONE!!!
DONE!!!! DONE!!!
Start here and now with me, Oh God. Straighten up my calendar. Schedule my appointments.
Prepare my words.
Master my thoughts.
Guide me in Thy paths.
Thy will be done. On earth ... on the ground upon which we walk as in Heaven.
Heaven! "Eye hath not seen, nor ear hear, neither hath it entered into the heart of man ..." what You have prepared for us who love you. Heaven! Your will! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
Give us, this day, our daily bread .... As You have every day of our lives. Thank you!
And you will again! Thank You! I trust you. I don't know how you are going to do it ... And I am not sure when, but You always provide. Thank you.
And You are OUR Father, so,
So, Dear God ... Daily bread of healing for my friends who are sick ... I name them before You... For those in prison.... In distress.... On the streets .... Struggling with decisions ... Burdened with depression .... Tortured for their faith ... On battlefields ... On mission fields ..... Just far afield .... And those waiting for a word of encouragement ... maybe from me ... And those waiting to hear the good news of repentance possible in Your Kingdom of turn-rounds ... And those ... Lost in a wilderness of ambiguity. You are our provider. You provide for Your work and for Your people. Thank You.
And lead us not into temptation .... Not that you would ... It is a jungle out there and there are many snares. We need You to handle some of those for us and the rest ... In us and through us. People are tripping up all the time, discrediting Your name and work. I could, God forbid, be one of those. I am weak and susceptible to temptation. Deliver me for Thy Names' sake.
Give us strength and deliver us from evil.
I will not be preoccupied with such. You are my deliverance. I will not fear for You, Oh Lord are able to .... Deliver us from evil.
And again I ask ... lead me away from those snares that have snare us in the past ... Lead us away in the future You have prepared for us ... And handle any evil that may threaten me.
Thine is the kingdom! It is not mine ... Except that Your Son has invited me to participate. Thine is the Power ... And You have shared much of that with me! Thank You! I praise Your Name!
Thine is the Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory !!!! And this part amazes me Lord of Amazing things .... FOREVER .... and ever ... and ever .....
Amen!
And I pray in the Name of the One who taught me to pray this way ... And teaches me daily ... And today ... In Jesus' Name. Amen.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
Here's a thought from an old man and it really needs to be developed. But I think it's going somewhere. We have two tendencies. One is the dangerous tendency to overcomplicate the prophetic message of God, the God who speaks to us, the God who has something to say about our daily lives. The God revealed in Jesus, in my faith, the tradition and commitment, the God who calls us, the God who loves us, the God who redeems us, the God who speaks to us, the God who comforts us, the God who forgives us and grants us grace and mercy, the God who has created us.
There is so much about that and so much about the message of Jesus that is very, very simple. And to overcomplicate that message in our daily lives or to ignore the earthiness of it. And the reality of it is to do a grave injustice and injustice to the message, to the everyday message of Jesus.
And in the prophetic and Torah tradition. The other extreme is to dumb down God. To think that by understanding the simplicity of God's message to us, that we've really grasped, grasped who God is and what God is and all of God, the things of God, the depths of God, the depths of God's creative power to rob God of the, metaphor that points to a greater reality and a greater truth to refuse to stand in reverence and awe, which is what we mean by the fear of God.
We are overwhelmed with the unknowingness and “unknowableness” of God that we cannot fully comprehend God. We can't fully explain God. I hope you understand what I am struggling to say. We walk a line between the need for simplicity as it applies to the word to us daily and the awe-inspiring reverence of an largely unknowable God who we can know because of God's own initiative and grace and trying to put things in terms that we can understand and in images that we can grasp.
That is the line we walk. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord lift up his, countenance upon you and be gracious under you and give you peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-----------------------------
Stay in Touch:My LinkTree Coaching/Mentoring : Schedule time with me For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.
People say "God is watching" as if it were a reality from which to recoil in utter dread, as if it were a threat.
I do not recoil. I take it as a promise.
I am ever aware that God is watching my every success, failure, strength, and flaw. It causes pauses of reverential fear, but it is of the sort that brings weight and glory to every moment, even the moments of frivolity and folly that come so often.
Grace. Mercy. Peace.
These are the comforts and joys of His knowing gaze, watchful eye, and guiding hand. He sees and breathes purpose into my scattered days.
I am known. I am loved.
Like the experience of Peter before and after his major failure and denial, Jesus knows all things about me and He knows, even better than I do, that I love Him.
We are bundles of contradictions, but thank God He is watching.
And when I feel utterly unworthy to feed sheep, I remember that.
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Luke 17:1-10 Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
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Luke 17:1-10 Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
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Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! - James 3:5
There is a negative fire that the tongue can ignite. It is the destructive fire of gossip, malice, slander, and discord.
Keep plenty of water on hand when there is much talk. There is likely to be an inferno arising. Satan will fan the flames and itchy ears will provide the fuel. Before long, lives will be left to ruin and churches will be turned to ashes in the name of speech that might even masquerade itself as prayer requests, concerns, and opinions.
Watch your speech. You may not be able to tame your tongue, but you can give it to God. You can ask Him to catch you before you go too far and to season your words with grace, mercy, and love. You can practice the art of complimenting, edifying, and uplifting in your words. If you are always speaking words of truth in love, you’ll have no time for gossip and negative whispering.
Be more critical of yourself than you are of others. Seek accountability. Ask someone to help you “catch yourself.” Put a rubber band on your arm and snap it every time you are tempted to say something that would not be pleasing to God or nurturing to His people.
Ask yourself, “Does this really need to be said and, if it does, would it be better spoken to God?”
If someone wants to gossip, criticize others, or speak ill of God’s servants in your presence, graciously change the subject. If they persist, say something like, “Call me after you have prayed and spoken to John (or Sally) directly about this. If you still feel this way, we can go to him (or her) together. Until then, I think it is best that we not discuss this.
Stop the fire before it starts.
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The prophetic word he is charged to deliver is not pleasant.
He is the deliverer of a message of doom and destruction. Devastation awaits the people and he is among them.
Still, he finds reason for hope and a place to stand in faith.
"Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation." - excerpted from Habakkuk 3:1-18
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“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” – James 1:17
Little Billy Clutz was so excited. His birthday brought more gifts than he could have ever requested. One caught his imagination more than any other. He had seen in advertised everywhere. It was a brand new, shiny red “thingamawidget.” It could do just about everything and with it, he would be an A-1 invincible kid. He tore open the package and inserted the batteries and – nothing happened. Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Myrtle the engineer, and several cousins read and re-read the instructions, fiddled, cogitated, and scratched their heads all afternoon., Frustration simmered. The congregated Clutzes were unanimous in their disdain for this toy.
“Whoever designed such a ridiculous piece of junk?!?”
“I did.” It was Cousin Henry who had just walked in. “My company made these based on my design. Here … did you turn this switch as it says in Step One of the instructions.”
BAM! The “thingamawidget” was now widgetting around the red-faced members of the Clutz family.
We are beset with two extremes. One is to take God’s gifts for granted and never think of the grace with which they are bestowed and gratefully cherish them. Another is equally insidious. That is not to read and follow God’s instructions on how His gifts are to be received and used.
For those who have grown dependent upon computers, glitches are never welcome. We store our notes, our records, and our very memories on magnetic disks counting on systems and machines to perform predictably whenever we need to retrieve our priceless information or do some task that we no longer know how to do any other way. There is no human power or technology that is infallible. God is unchanging and we can count on Him.
Trust God.
God is our most cherished treasure.
God is the giver who designs the perfect gifts for us and can instruct us best on their use.
"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
~Leonard Cohen
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If they meant something then, maybe they will prompt a thought now. Some are words and some are images.
"I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards." -Albert Einstein
What we do with our thoughts, ideas, and insights is entirely up to us.
We can think them, express them, ponder them, and act on them. We can also let them die. We could always put them aside an d come back to them.
It is a matter of choice and discretion.
Remember: Things can happen very quickly.
I have been there!
Now, while you will still be you years later, you will also be much more.
Here is the rest that was truncated:
I wonder what I would tell this kid if I met him in some time-warped, celestial vestibule during a meet and greet.
Could I tell him anything?
Or should I just play dumb and let him figure it out as best he could ... which ...
I suppose he did.
Would you actually try to tell your younger self anything if you had the chance?
I just thrw that one in.
Were you an early adopter?
Are you generally an early adopter?
What difference has that made for you?
Pause to remember.
Here is the untruncated version:
Born this day in 1779 – Anne-Marie Javouhey, French nun, founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny.
As a teen, she helped to hide and care for a number of priests persecuted by the French Revolution.
She founded the Institute of Saint Joseph of Cluny.
She opened missionary work in Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leon, the Reunion Islands, and Guiana.
She founded a leper colony, participated in the emancipation of slaves, developed agricultural communities, survived a plot to kill her, and created schools for children.
Big ideas make a difference, but lived lived, day by day, are what really count. Like this one:
I have tried many idea and many have failed.
Yet, some have succeeded!
What if I had never tried anything?
I actually preached on this scripture Sunday.
Learn from every experience.
Take pictures and take action!
What are your take-aways today?
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And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost… - Luke 15:6
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost… - Luke 15:9
… Let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. - Luke 15:23b-24
“We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus Saves! Spread the tidings all around. Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”
So that grand hymn of faith calls us to “give the winds a mighty voice.”
How sweet the sound? Oh yes. The lost has been found. It is the sound of laughter and merriment. It is the sound of praise. It is the sound that rings through the streets of Heaven and even the angels sing. It is the sound that warms the heart of God. It is the sound that ought to flow from our voices daily and throughout the day, the song of gratitude, of joy, and of love.
Whereas I was lost, I am now found. I am no longer lost, no longer hopeless, no longer guilty, alienated, or dispossessed. I am no longer unworthy, no longer useless, no longer an orphan. God no longer sees me as a sinner, but as a son. I have a hope. I have a future. As He did with Jeremiah of old, He knows the plans He has for me.
I am found.
Do you know the joy of being found? Or have you forgotten. The truth can be seen in your attitudes toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, whether you are patient and forgiving or irritable and judgmental? The truth is revealed in your attitudes toward the lost. Are you charitable and seeking or critical and aloof? The truth is seen in your attitudes toward new believers. Do you rejoice or rebuff? Do you step aside and move over or do you guard your established territory? Do you join the celebration, feasting with the friends of the father or do you stand afar off as the son who feels he never left home?
You will never be at home as long as you cling to the notion that you never left. You will never experience the full joy of redemption if you forget that you were lost in slavery to sin when grace found you. You will be unmoved at the singing of Amazing Grace if you forget that the wretch saved was you and the lost one who returned was also you. You have been found!
Rejoice!
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Opportunities are going to come our way that we have not yet imagined.
Hope will be reinforced.
Life will be enhanced.
Blessings will be spoken. Admonitions will be given and received with grace and mercy culminating in reconciled relationships with God and man. Grace will flow from our lives and be received with humility and gratitude.
Love will saturate all our words and deeds, molding our motives, fashioning our responses, filtering our perceptions.
Everything about today is released from the power of yesterday and any destructive influence of the past.
We are free. We have been set free. Our pain will be turned to gain as we embrace that pain as a teacher.
The God of all comfort shall comfort our souls. The wonder of new life will inspire us.
We shall meet our challenges with courage and our criticisms with a desire to learn, but assurance of who we are in Christ and a knowledge that whatever our failings and flaws, we are beloved.
We shall walk in the light of purpose and the confidence of a guiding hand upon our shoulders.
We shall quickly confess our sins and gratefully accept the forgiveness that is freely given.
We shall seek justice for the oppressed and extend the hand of mercy and healing to the broken, the hurting, and the lonely .
We shall live as people of God this new day and celebrate the joy of the Lord.
Rejoice!
And may it be so, amen and amen, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Spirit and through the outreached hand of our Abba, our Father. Amen.
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Here is an angel, a messenger of God, speaking truth to power - power that you are either attracted to or that you resist --- or both.
What is your Babylon? What is that seat of power that attracts those who also want power and hope to get it through association, conspiracy, and sinister collaboration that oppresses the weak and the righteous? We are attracted to that bright, beautiful, lively, ostentatious "city of influence," its sensual pleasures and its facade of wealth, luxury, and illegitimate power.
It intoxicates and it draws in those who are inclined to be drawn.
And lest we lift our own heads in pride, something in it is inclined to draw something in us and it can intoxicate us as well --- for a season or for a lifetime --- our choice if we remain conscious enough to make choices.
For Babylon is fallen. It is an eternal reality in Heaven where all is accomplished already.
Every false god and every pretender to every throne has eventually been vanquished and neutralized. It has been; it shall be. Ultimate rectification is reality, but in the meantime, the dance is repeated throughout history.
The only history that immediately matters for us is the one we are living, the choices we are making, the alignments we are activating, and the loyalties we are forming.
It is an angel, a messenger by definition, that has the authority to put power in check and glory gathers around the sound of his mighty voice.
That says that it is truth that brings powers to their knees. It is the voice of truth, the message of God that humbles the proud and pronounces judgment upon oppressors.
Let that be an encouragement to all of you who daily, and without apparent reward, consistently and faithfully, speak truth to power.
"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”"
(Revelation 18:1-3 ESV)
More on this ... because at the end of the list is the real "cargo" of unscrupulous commerce in a marriage of convenience with illegitimate and oppressive power. It is the slavery of human souls.
"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls." - Revelation 18:11-13
This subversive circular is calling out power for its tracking of humanity. The test of authenticity, legitimacy, and righteousness in any system of commerce and government with all their entanglements may well be --- Does it profit from the enslavement of human souls?
If it does, and that includes the enticements of systems of addiction, then red flags go up everywhere. This one is "Babylon" and it is going down.
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Speaking a word of liberation and healing is not desecrating, but celebrating Sabbath in its truest meaning. A woman who had labored under a crippling curse for years, was set free by the embodied gospel of grace in Luke 13.
- The good news puts people ahead of rituals.
- The good news infuriates those who use religion to build up their own power at the expense of people.
- The good news does not contradict the meaning behind the forms, but breaths new life into them.
- The good news causes the broken to stand up straight.
- The good news exposes hypocrisy.
- The good news shames the opponents of Jesus but causes rejoicing among the people.
Luke 13:10-17 NIV
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
"Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Come tomorrow ...
Come tomorrow, what if Christians in our nation would make some resolutions like those I humbly and tentatively suggest below?
I can only speak to and for Christians on this matter. People of other faiths and ideologies often have similar ethics, but I am a follower of Jesus and these resolutions flow from my understanding of His directives to His followers.
We shall love, respect, and pray for our leaders whoever they are. We shall obey our laws.
If there is a law that we, in good conscience cannot obey (not just that we don't like it), we shall peacefully and respectfully resist and accept the consequences quietly and humbly.
We shall continue to love our neighbors and let our voices be heard for peace, justice, and a righteous, compassionate society beginning at the local level.
We shall work across the lines of ideology to support common causes and be willing to be distinct and different without disrespecting those with whom we differ.
We shall assume sincere motives in hearts of our opponents as a basis for reasoning with them and cooperating with them whenever possible.
We shall practice our freedom of speech, religion, and every other freedom with the assumption that those freedoms are protected, without fear, and without intimidation. We shall not expect the endorsement of civil authorities or special protections or considerations beyond that which is common to all -- even those who have other beliefs and practices.
If our freedoms of speech and religion are indeed threatened, we shall continue to exercise them no matter what the consequences.
We shall care for and advocate for those who have no voice, for the oppressed, the poor, the broken, and the outcasts.
We shall work for peace on earth and understanding among nations. We know that there shall continue to be wars and rumors of wars in the continuation of human history, but we shall do what we have been commanded to do and work for peace in our time.
We shall be friendly and winsome.
We shall guard our own personal morality and be honest in business, politics, and human relations. We shall seek to set an example of sexual purity, integrity, and fidelity. We shall conduct ourselves in our families and churches in such a way as not to discredit the Kingdom of God.
We will guard our words, temper our speech, practice the Sermon on the Mount, love God, love our neighbor, and pray for people in power as a witness to the words we speak.
We shall continue to confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the guide of our lives.
We shall believe in God and in the words of Jesus that He would be with us always as we follow Him and call others to follow and ...
We shall follow, making disciples as we go, teaching them to do what He taught us to to remembering that the essence of what He taught us to do was to love.
We shall continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," believing that if the King has invited us to pray that way, He has a plan to answer our prayer.
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God is the Master of the eternal now and the infinite moment.
God's time is measured in unmeasurable kairos time in the midst of chronos time.
Life matters. Now matters.
Moments matter.
The God who dwells among us in temples not made with hands is ever-present and always relevant.
Excuses, distractions, and apprehensions aside, God is now.
Haggai 1:15-2:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.
In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: “Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say: Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt.
My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts:
Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.”
Job 19:23-27, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
“O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!
For I know that my vindicator lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Psalm 145:1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall extol your works to another
and shall declare your mighty acts.
They will recount the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works I will meditate.
Psalm 145:17-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Lord is just in all his ways
and kind in all his doings.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Luke 20:27-38
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”
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1429, "advancement," from O.Fr. promotion (14c.), from L. promotionem, noun of action from promovere (see promote). Meaning "advertising, publicity" first recorded 1925. Promotional "relating to advertising" first recorded 1922. (Etymology Online)
Motives (also from motieonem and movere) are always mixed. From that reality, they derive their power and complexity. From that equilibrium, we derive the genius of win-win scenarios and shared vision. When all who come to the table have the opportunity to win, everyone is PRO-MOTED, moved forward, advanced, and encouraged to the next level of accomplishment.
I encourage you to always be promoting something and/or someone. Always be looking for ways to win by helping others win. always be advancing an idea, a cause, or an event that will advance people.
c.1430, "to take notice of," from M.Fr. advertiss-, prp. stem of a(d)vertir "warn," from L. advertere "turn toward," from ad- "toward" + vertere "to turn" see versus). Original sense remains in advert "to give attention to." Sense of advertise shifted to "give notice to others, warn" (1490) by influence of advertisement, which meant "public notice (of anything, but often of a sale)" by c.1460. The modern, commercial meaning was fully developed by 18c.
We are calling attention to people with the idea of turning them toward an idea, opportunity, or issue they may not have fully considered in the past.
You might balk saying that all this promotion and advertising is too commercial. Consider the roots of commerce:
1537, from M.Fr. commerce, from L. commercium "trade, trafficking," from com- "together" + merx (gen. mercis) "merchandise" (see market). Commercial is 1687 as an adj.; as a noun meaning "advertising broadcast on radio or TV" it is first recorded 1935.
It means sharing merchandise together. Would that future generations would look back on the early days of the Internet and remark that it helped restore a sense of community and togetherness to business, that it leveled the playing field, and opened doors of opportunity to ordinary people.
With all this togetherness, I am reminded of the remark of a business associate once who said that what he liked best about network marketing was making new friends. "However," he said, "if I never made another new friend, I'd stay with it ... for the money."
Money is not everything, but it is useful!
Keep advancing great ideas, great people, and great opportunities! PRO-MOTE!
Simply put, it is: MOVE FORWARD!
We can do much together.
For a complimentary coaching session to explore this idea and others, go to my scheduling page.
It is one of the tasks of a great leader to vanish.
There are many leadership skills involving our hands: the hand up, the extended hand, the hands on demonstration, the hand on the shoulder and the hand off.
That's right, the hand off with its accompanying attitude of "hands off." It is also called, "the hand over."
In business and ministry, we will find ourselves endlessly serving one task, one location, and one small group of people if we are unable, unwilling, or uninspired to duplicate ourselves and vanish into the woodwork.
Vanishing leadership is real leadership. It mentors, prepares, and duplicates itself in others with the specific goal of giving away a role or task and all the credit and accolades that go with it.
Great leaders are always grooming successors.
By the way, into the woodwork does not mean unavailable for counsel, accountability, and encouragement. It just means that the leader is generous and intelligent enough to know that his or her effectiveness is either severely limited or profoundly enhanced by the willingness and ability to duplicate and vanish.
To develop this idea, let us examine the concepts of "Hands On" and "Hands Off" to ascertain when each is most appropriate in leadership.
HANDS ON
We need to keep out hands on a task while we are training new leadership. The extent to which we keep our hands on will be informed by the following factors:
H - Help is needed in learning skills, concepts, internalizing the mission, and getting the job done at a minimal level.
A - Assimilationof the philosophy and values of the organization are still in formation.
N - Negative attitudes, behaviors, and conversational patterns are being "unlearned."
D - Dependence on the mentor/coach is constant.
O - Optimum performance comes with close supervision.
N - Necessity dictates that the tasks be closely monitored for quality assurance.
HANDS OFF
H - Help is still needed, but it can be offered more often from a distance and at broader intervals.
A - Assimilation of philosophy and values is beginning to take hold. The work has moved from head to heart.
N - Negative factors are less pronounced, easily recognized, and managed.
D - Delegation of entire projects is taking place.
O - Optimum performance is enhanced by trust and disengagement.
F - Formation of a sense of ownership by the new leaders in the organization, its reputation, its future, and its excellence is becoming evident.
F - Formal recognition of the new leader's leadership abilities and skills has instilled a sense of confidence and accountability.
Each of these requires further explanation and development, but you can get the point. The transference of leadership may be gradual, but it must also be a constant commitment if an organization, ministry, or business is to grow in number and influence.
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Bridget Holmes was a necessary woman for a series of five monarchs, from Charles I to Mary II and so was one of the longest-serving royal servants.
Did you ever notice this frustrating reality?
You clean up, fix up, or straighten up and it goes well for a while and then ... you relapse into a worse state than before.
There is a futility in constantly cleaning up and not dealing with the roots of what pollutes us, corrupts us, and manipulates our thinking into even deeper futility. An interruption in a cycle that is empowered by its own forces will only be temporary. Christian faith and spiritual transformation are not about momentary behavior modification or immobilization of peripheral demons.
To repent is to recognize the difference between where we are going and where we can go and to change direction.
We have been invaded by the Kingdom of God and the King Himself has come to invite us into transformation, liberation, and deep significance. This is no passing matter or minor deliverance. The enemy that seeks to entrap and destroy the soul is sinister, persistent, and patient. We can choose a different master and step away from the "generation" bent on destruction. We need more than subtle reformation. We need re-FORM-ation in all of its implications.
Jesus speaks to the frustration of the human condition and its resistance to transforming grace when He says,
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” -Matthew 12:43-45 ESV
Caricature of Newman by "Spy", published in Vanity Fair in 1877
"Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our
lives may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through us, and be so in us that every soul we
come in contact with may feel your presence in our souls...
Let us preach You without preaching, not by words
but by our example, by the catching force, the
sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident
fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.
Amen."
-John Henry Newman's Prayer which was prayed daily by Mother Teresa and her workers
I was just griping about the proliferation of texts and emails requesting me to participate financially, verbally, & virtually in campaigns & initiatives leading to election day.
I repent.
Isn't this what I want? More participation by small donors, silent voices, viral messages, & ordinary folks.
If I love democracy, how can I complain when asked to participate?
Goodness and Affliction
__________________________
Do you relate to the Psalmist's sentiments here?
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."-Psalm 119:71
I have always found them extraordinarily insightful, mature, and far-sighted.
At the same time, they are strange and alarming apart from the perspective of sharing his experience.
It takes time, distance, and reflection to come to this place. It is the place where we appreciate our hard schooling. We become grateful for our adversities only by stepping out of them, maybe even stepping out of ourselves and then stepping back to look on.
That outside look is from the point of view that I have achieved through time and realization that the blessings of the day were purchased, in part, with the currency of yesterday's afflictions.
Who would I be without my suffering, my pain, nd my hardships?
Where would I be?
What would my capacity be to face the challenges of today.
I do know this: I would change nothing. I would not time travel to alter the past. I would not erase or replace a single memory.
Some are still painful and some need more processing. I do have regrets, but not enough that I would reverse anything.
I will move forward in healing and in grace.
There is one thing I would add however and it is a vision. It is a vision of reality that I may not observed at the time. I would gain a new awareness that God was with me all along, suffering with me, guiding me, teaching me, comforting me, strengthening me, and upholding me with the everlasting arms.
"Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word."
- Psalm 119:67
I have learned his statues and am still learning his statutes.
"The law of your mouth is dearer to me than thousands in gold and silver." - Psalm 119:72
Some things are just of greater value than anything else.
Sojourning
"Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning." (Psalm 119:54 ESV)
Part of the secret is learning about how life is a sojourn. In what ways have you uncovered that for yourself? Here's a little "think-about-it" music from Keb Mo .
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For those who are humble - God's mercy is for you and God will justify you.
For those who are prideful- Do not trust your own righteousness and look on others with contempt.
YouTube Version of the same message:
The Jesus Prayer Chanted
All The Scriptures for Today Read with Comment on II Timothy 4
The Prophetic Word Spoken Through Joel
Joel 2:23-32 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
O children of Zion, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army that I sent against you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.
I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Psalm 65 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song. Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed, O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come. When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions. Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills gird themselves with joy; the meadows clothe themselves with flocks; the valleys deck themselves with grain; they shout and sing together for joy.
Psalm 84:1-7 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah
Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
Jeremiah 14:7-10 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; our rebellions indeed are many, and we have sinned against you. O hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler turning aside for the night? Why should you be like someone confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot give help? Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us!
Thus says the Lord concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
Jeremiah 14:19-22 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace but find no good, for a time of healing, but there is terror instead. We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, the iniquity of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us. Can any idols of the nations bring rain, or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:16-18 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Sermon
Luke 18:9-14 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Prayer of the Humble Soul
Two men went to the house of prayer to do their religious duty.
For one, it was an exercise in religious pride.
He had no sense of shame. He had no regrets. He had no humility before God and no humility before humanity. He considered himself the poster child for religious piety. He fancied himself a role model for righteousness and a prime example of what it meant to be a favorite of God.
He was a prideful bigot.
The other man was a sinner. Everyone knew he was a sinner, and he knew he was a sinner.
He could not even look up. His shame was so great. His regrets were profound. His sin weighed heavily on his heart. He entertained no pretense of righteousness. His piety was in the deficit column. He was disgraced and disheartened. He prayed with no illusion of worthiness.
He sought only mercy.
God, be merciful to me.
I am a sinner.
That is all he could pray. That is all he prayed.
God heard both prayers and God heard both men. God heard both hearts. God justified only one.
Which one? Who comes away justified when people pray in these two ways, one prideful and one humble?
Jesus calls out the honest prayer. It is the humble prayer. It is the cry for mercy.
If you exalt yourself, you will end up embarrassed before God. If you humble yourself, you will come under the Sovereign’s merciful grace.
Once God lifts you, you are truly exalted.
“Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling.” -Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages
Previous Messages
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We have a huge event in my town called, "Big Hat Days."
I am not sure what my big hat is some days.
I had a "what have I learned" assignment a few years back thanks to a wonderful and relatively new friend's invitation to speak to a group of peers.
It behooved me to remove my "expert hat" and be a fellow traveler.
That hat never fit too well anyway.
In fact, I have never really liked wearing hats much. I find them functionally necessary at times as tools, identifiers, shades from the sun, or ... well ... that is all I can really think of.
Hats - I have so many, role-related identifiers.
Whenever I introduce myself I have to do a reality check. What hat am I wearing today? What is the "so what" of the crowd that is my ticket in the door? Why was I invited? What are the needs of the people that I have been sent to serve?
I am not switching between one authentic self to another; I am just turning the side of me that is relevant to the side of the crowd that cares.
And yet, everything relates, integrates, and colors everything else.
I have been a pastor, preacher, teacher, writer, blogger, community manager, non-profit (public benefit organization) board member, executive director, coach, toastmaster, encourager, singer, chaplain, "barrista", entrepreneur, husband, son, brother, father, GRANDPA (!), disciple of Jesus, human being, friend .....
See, I did not, could not list them in order. The order changes with the setting.
If you ask me what I have learned I have to ask what about! And I have to ask who is asking and what they need/want to know. What have I learned in what context? Under what hat? As a what? How will it help?
"What is the big banner? What is the big hat?"
It is not about having a changing persona; it is about function. All functions serve a greater purpose. I only become all things to all people for the benefit of others. I do that for the sake of a message of good news which is greater than anything that I am. As a result, I get to share in the benefitss ... like Joseph who, for all of his gifts, designations, and complexities, a servant who lived out his life for the benefit of a people not his own in a land not his own ... and came to share in the benefits of life giving service he had offered.
Fellow traveler is a pretty good hat.
What have I learned?
I have learned that I have a lot to learn.
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Here is a lesson from someone who learned that life's greatest calling is to serve.
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The Good Samaritan, 1890 by Vincent Van Gogh. More of the story at Vincent van Gogh
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. - Luke 10:36-37
We all know the story. It was prompted by a question and occasioned by a teaching in response to a greater question. What we have here is the application: Go and do likewise. One question led to another, then to a story, and then to the lesson Jesus desired to imprint upon every heart: that everyone is our neighbor and that loving our neighbor is about making a practical and active decision to do so and following through regardless of our feelings.
A legal expert who sought to trap Jesus in His own words asked Him what was necessary to inherit eternal life. He turned the question back to him and to his knowledge and interpretation of the law.
“Love God and love your neighbor” was both the answer he gave and the one that Jesus Himself gave on another occasion when asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus commended him and told him to go and do likewise.
That wasn’t enough for the lawyer. He needed an escape clause, something that limited his liability and reduced his responsibility.
“Define neighbor,” was his retort. So, Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan and put him in a real bind. He made the hero of the story an outcast from the social and religious life of the Jews. He told the story in such a way as to make the answer to the question obvious.
“Who was the neighbor? Was he one of those who left the poor man stranded by the road or the Samaritan who gave of himself and his means to help him?”
The lawyer answered generically, and Jesus responded specifically, “Go and do likewise.”
Go; live like an outcast among outcasts if you must, but practice love as you go. Love is not revealed in the words we speak or the sentiments we feel, but in the actions, we take in being neighbors to our neighbors.
Go forth and live it.
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I think I will include this scene from Dr. Who.
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And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. -Luke 9:51
When did the passion of the Christ begin in earnest? One might suggest that it started in eternity or at His birth or even later, intensifying in His baptismal identification with sinful man as the sinless Savior. However, if we are talking about that segment of His life where all of time begins to crescendo into an explosive event of redemption, it might be at this moment of turning. He set His face toward Jerusalem and all those who would be His disciples began to follow Him there. It was a point of no return.
There was no turning back for Jesus. The time had come. He knew what He had to do and He knew where He had to do it. Even though it meant suffering the likes of which no man had ever known, He would face it. He would follow the Father’s plan. They had planned it together and agreed from eternity that this would be the way.
It was the way of the cross.
“Jesus walked this lonesome valley; He had to walk it by Himself. Oh, nobody else could walk it for Him. He had to walk it by himself.”
In the most profound sense, He was alone, even though others followed Him there. Though He taught us all to follow in that costly way of the cross, He led the way alone. There comes a point of no return in our lives where we must choose to stand along with Jesus whatever the cost.
“You must go and stand your trial;
You have to stand it by yourself.
Oh, nobody else can stand it for you.
You have to stand it by yourself.”
We know we are never alone in the most profound spiritual sense. God is always with us. As we follow Him steadfastly and with resolve, we are His yokefellows. Yet, we come as individuals and we make the choice in the same lonely place of our individual hearts as He did. We will go it whether or not our friends come along. We will do so with or without the support of our families or the favorable treatment of history.
Let us set our faces toward Jerusalem.
Homeless
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. -Luke 9:58
A certain man wanted to follow Jesus as have many through the centuries and into our time. Perhaps he thought it would be an adventure – and following Jesus is.
Perhaps he thought discipleship would bring a new dimension of meaning to his life – and it does.
Perhaps he longed for the camaraderie and acceptance that was so evident among the disciples of Jesus as it often is today in authentic Christian communities.
He may have been attracted by the laughter and awe of the other followers as Jesus taught them with such vivid realism.
But he was failing to consider one very important point: to follow Jesus would mean leaving all that he had ever counted on for security.
Follow Me ... But
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. -Luke 9:59
“I want to follow you, but...”
Was it an excuse, a delaying tactic, or a simple statement of ignorance? Have you never interjected, “but first” into your commitments with God? How often we have come to the Master with non-negotiable conditions.
Let the Dead Bury the Dead
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. -Luke 9:60
Jesus’ answer to the man who cried, “but first” demonstrates the profound contrast between life and death. Discipleship is about dying to the old that we might live to the new.
Excuses
“And another said, ‘Lord, I will follow Thee, but …” – Luke 9:61a
Erstwhile followers of the Master make a series of irrelevant statements in this great movement of scripture. They are irrelevant because they are merely excuses, postponements of discipleship, weasel-ways of saying “no” without having to actually commit to the word.
In the world of promoting where ones lifeblood is getting people to show up somewhere for something, there is an adage: A “no” is a “no;” a “maybe” s a “no;” and a “yes” is a “no” half the time. Nothing is as reliable as a rock-solid commitment and even that may falter. Humanity is infected with a disease for which David Schwartz coined the phrase, “excusitis.”
Moses had them: “ I am unworthy; I am unlearned; I am unable; I am unbelievable.”
But then he got to his bottom line, “Send someone else.” In other words, “I am unwilling.”
Here is the question: Are you willing to follow Jesus anywhere and in any way – NOW? If not now, when? Will it be as the old despot told the Apostle Paul, at a more convenient season? Are we “almost persuaded?”
Jesus has no time for nonsense. He calls to us through the waves of time, “Follow me.” And He means for us to drop everything – every excuse, every fear, every reservation, every other aspiration of our lives and follow. Half-hearted commitment is no commitment at all. Every reason Moses gave for not doing what God was calling him to do was basically true, but God’s power made them irrelevant.
No Looking Back
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. -Luke 9:62
All the man wanted to do was say, “goodbye.” At least that is what he said, but Jesus knew what was in his heart and that he was not truly ready to say, “goodbye.” Otherwise, he would have and would not have just talked about it. He was looking back with the longing gaze of one who was not truly leaving.
There would be no turning back. There is no turning back, There is no longing look back.
The following is forward, wherever it leads.
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Through many dangers, toils, and snares," Newton wrote ...
"I Have Already Come"
"Grace has brought me safe thus far...
Grace will lead me home."
“And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”. – Revelation 7:14
There are two powerful words joined together in the scriptures – two prepositions that together bring us hope in our trials and tribulations: out of.
We catch a glimpse of Heaven and behold the saints, on display as examples of potential victory and ultimate triumph. These are they who have come out of tribulation. You might as well say, “through.”
Years back, my wife underwent surgery for breast cancer. The next day she was visited by a survivor. While she had already made up her mind to be more than that – even an “overcomer,” the visit was an encouragement. Someone had come out of the struggle, through the difficulties, and over the hurdles. And out of those tribulations, there emerged good.
“I have already come.”
When we hear those words and when we speak those words, we get courage. Whether it is our experience or someone else’s, there is precedent for victory. We affirm again with Paul that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
We draw upon past victories to nurture belief for present and future challenges. We recognize the power of God’s grace in our lives up until this point. We see where we were, what we had to face, and how we emerged and we know that if we have to, we can do it again.
We don’t want to do it again, but we can.
Then we think of the saints around the throne and know that we have really faced such little hardship compared to them. And from there we look to the cross and know that we have not even approached Christ’s suffering. Then we go back to our Bibles and underscore the words, “out of,” and back to our hymnals and highlight the word, “through.”
I have already come.
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Today, the theme revolves around persistence in faith. The story of a widow and an unjust judge is followed by a question from Jesus, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find people persisting in faith?" Will people still be believing, trusting, hoping, and persevering? Or will they be wilting and withering, wandering and wallowing in self-absorption and pity? Will their faith be weakened or strong?
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
“The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of the one who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.
Excuses are as old as humanity.
Why are we in this predicament? Why are we facing these times? Why are our inner and outer oppressors getting the upper hand? Why are things are such turmoil? Why are we suffering? Why is there no justice or resolution?
We can blame our parents. We can blame our circumstances or our leaders or our times. There is a collective reality to that, but their is an individual reality as well.
Flip Wilson's character, Geraldine Jones was known for saying, "The devil made me do it."
The fact of the matter is that Geraldine had a choice.
We have choices and our state of affairs is the result of collective bad choices over time.
Jeremiah speaks of a day when everyone will have to own up to their own choices. All people will have to stop blaming their parents or anyone else for their sins. In that day, our choices will be deemed our choices.
But there is good news that goes with that prophecy of judgment. Everyone will have the opportunity to have a relationship with God that renews the conscience. They will have God's law on their hearts and know God if they choose to receive the gift of such knowledge.
Lineage will not matter.
Heritage will not matter.
All may know and forgiveness will be available to all people.
Those who dwell under God's government will enjoy days of peace, justice, goodness, and joy!
Yet, our present story is often one of wrestling with God or running from God.
Surprisingly, it is not always depicted in a negative light. Take the story of Jacob.
Struggling for a Blessing
Genesis 32:22-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”
So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?”
And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.”
The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Thou Hast Prevailed
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. -Genesis 32:28
One night Jacob had a struggle. There was no sleep that night. There was a lot of wrestling.
Have you ever had a night like that when restless thoughts turned over and over in your mind and your heart was deeply disturbed? Have you ever been tossed about on your bed until you could almost float in a sea of perspiration?
What was the outcome?
When morning cam, Jacob insisted on a blessing and received one, but he also received a reminder and a new name. His reminder was a limp and his new name was Israel. It was only in the morning that he discovered he had wrestled with God and had prevailed.
Of course, in letting Jacob prevail, God and His will had prevailed.
God is calling men and women who are willing to struggle. Jacob was no stellar character from the start. He was not a ready-made saint. He did not come into his princely role through the path of least resistance. It was a path of much resistance.
He had struggled with God and struggled with man and that became the fountain of his personal power: the struggle.
Oh how we desire, in our feeble flesh, a life of ease and comfort. It shall not be so for those whom God uses in mighty ways. It shall not be so for leaders and prayer warriors. It shall not be so for the fathers of nations and princes among men.
God forms us in the crucible of struggle and through nights of wrestling with His will as we toss upon our beds. When He prevails, we prevail and then we rest.
Oh friend, do not flee from the struggle. Let it form you. Let God touch you in the thigh with such force that every step reminds you of the encounter. Let Him give you a new name and wear it with honor for it is a mark of His hand upon your life and His purpose for you.
Jeremiah foresaw a law written on our hearts and a face to face encounter with God. Jacob wrestled with God, not even knowing that it was with God that he contended. Yet, he prevailed as if in a season of prayer and fasting.
Jacob's life changed in a night as he met the God he resisted.
Israel's outlook changed after 70 years of captivity, but centuries before, the nation's ancestors encountered God in the wilderness. Coming out of captivity where they were ruled by lawless masters who could do as they pleased, they were promised a structure. They were insured rights, privileges, boundaries, and a means for forgiveness through a law that they called, Torah.
It was their declaration of independence from slavery and oppression. It was the subject of joyful singing in later temple worship services.
Oh, How I Love Your Law!
Psalm 119:97-104
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn away from your ordinances, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
How Sweet the Sound
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! - Psalm 119:103
Do you remember the moment? Can you go back to the time? Can you recall the emotion when you first heard the word of grace in your soul.
Into what fertile ground was the word of grace planted in your life? How deep was your misery or despair? What secret wretchedness was hidden in your heart? How hopeless were your aspirations of a better way? How unacceptable did your life seem to yourself and to God? Was there a place in you that felt unloved, unwanted, and unworthy?
Hear the Word of the Lord, dear sinner friend. It is the sound of grace. It is the sound of mercy. It is the sound of forgiveness and hope. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
It is sweet. It is available. it is real. It is present.
Yet, we flip through the news feeds and it does not seem that way.
Righteousness eludes us. Justice is delayed. Evil prevails. Violence is amplified. Truth is obscured. Corruption festers.
We seem to be wrestling in a perpetual contest with our worst natures. Then we declare that the devil made us make those poor choices.
We feel like we still in Egypt as slaves or Babylon as captives.
We long for the time that Jeremiah predicted.
Paul writes to Timothy as a father, mentor, and example. He instructs Timothy to hold out the message of hope consistently even as it is resisted and ignored. He warns Timothy that there will be days of injustice and unrighteousness. There will be more times of wandering.
But in all of this, the hope of ultimate triumph of good over evil will not be diminished. The message of truth will always be relevant. God will prevail and all of our hardships will be worth the patience we spent enduring them.
Be Persistent in Favoral Times and Unfavorable Times.
Persist!
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
In t the meantime, we must work at maintaining an outlook of hope and persistence, We must cling to that hope and proclaim it faithfully.
The Work of the Ministry Is Work
“… make full proof of thy ministry.” – from II Timothy 4:5
Ministry is a full and rewarding life. Every day can be different and exciting and working with people can be a heart-warming and gratifying experience. I love the ministry and wouldn’t trade it for any other work on earth.
Are you ready to sign up, quit your job, and go to Bible College?
Great, but maybe I should be completely honest with you first.
Ministry can be tiring. It can be boring doing the same things that have to be done week after week. It can be emotionally, spiritually, and physically draining. It can mean long hours and unending demands. People can voice unreasonable expectations (no one in this church). Bill collectors want to know when to expect a check, and questions are asked for which one has no answers. Mostly, one can be one’s own worst enemy and sharpest critic.
Ready to have second thoughts? Go ahead, but whatever you do, follow God’s call – because it is not about self-fulfillment, self-gratification, self-image, or anything else about self. It is all about God, His purposes, and His calling.
And besides, it is the most wonderful, joyful, blessed life I can imagine. I love this work because God called me to it and constantly equips me for it – and because He reveals Himself in and through me. You are a minister if you have met God in Jesus Christ - even if that meeting followed a wrestling match, slavery, or exile.
Discover your gifts, calling, passion, and purpose under God and live that purpose out. There are many people still being held in captivity who need to know some good news for now and the future.
When will all be made right?
Do not grow discouraged. Keeping working, praying, believing, trusting, hoping, and living. The time is coming.
Do Not Lose Heart!
Luke 18:1-8, J.B. Phillips New Testament
Then he gave them an illustration to show that they must always pray and never lose heart.
“Once upon a time,” he said, “there was a magistrate in a town who had neither fear of God nor respect for his fellow-men. There was a widow in the town who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Please protect me from the man who is trying to ruin me.’ And for a long time he refused. But later he said to himself, ‘Although I don’t fear God and have no respect for men, yet this woman is such a nuisance that I shall give judgment in her favour, or else her continual visits will be the death of me!’”
Then the Lord said, “Notice how this dishonest magistrate behaved. Do you suppose God, patient as he is, will not see justice done for his chosen, who appeal to him day and night? I assure you he will not delay in seeing justice done. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find men on earth who believe in him?”
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. “...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" -Luke 18:1,8b
A woman was the victim of injustice. She could get know relief. She knew Torah. She knew the history of her people. She knew the hope that the prophets proclaimed, Yet, she got no relief. She had no resolution. She must have wondered when it would come.
She did not give up.
That is the setting of a parable where Jesus describes someone seeking justice from a self-serving, lazy, corrupt, and wicked judge who has no fear of God.
Luke tells us the specific purpose of the parable up front. He also tells us the character of the people in the story. The woman was persistent, and the judge had no interest in justice. He clearly does not represent God. He is the opposite of God. Yet, even he can be moved to bring justice and resolution,
In sharp contrast to the judge in the story, Jesus tells about a God who loves justice and loves people and their prayers.
The purpose of the story is to encourage disciples to keep praying and not get discouraged.
That is the purpose of this extended lesson today.
The woman had no fear of the judge but annoyed him night and day. She persisted until he acted just to shut her up. Finally, he acted. In the end, all was resolved.
Jesus knows that his vision of and teachings about God are different.
God is Abba.
God loves to hear the prayers of people.
God loves people.
God is patient.
God is good.
Unlike the judge, God cares about the oppressed. God cares about the slave and the captive. God loves the sinner trapped in sin. God values the wanderer who is lost. God is love.
Don’t stop praying is the message of Jesus.
If persistence works with those not inclined to hear and act, imagine how God is with you? If the unjust will finally act justly, how much will a just and caring God do so?
God is not avoiding your prayer nor is God ignoring them. God is not feeling bothered. God is simply working behind the scenes for the right time to act in history. All of history is moving toward resolution, guided by the hand of God,.
Truth and justice will prevail, but when that moment comes, will the Son of Man, the Messiah, find faith on earth?
It is a question for now. Do you have enough faith in the God to whom you pray to keep praying even when it seems that God is silent and withdrawn?
Keep praying.
Keep praying and do not lose heart.
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Imagine the last word of your biography being an adverb, a modifier that describes an verb. It is the quality of the action and description of the activity itself.
Paul's story in the book of Acts, ends with an adverb, unhinderedly.
It is so open-ended that it predicts the history of the church from the first century until today.
The ending has been the subject of dissertations and monographs.
Some have considered it a truncated ending because it seems awkward.
Others have noted that it is a perfect prelude to chapter twenty-nine, the unwritten ending that we are living out every day.
Unhinderedly, is an awkward way of expressing the reality, but it is also, exceedingly hopeful. It is, likewise, challenging,
Most of us would consider Paul's hardships to be major hindrances. In the same way, we consider our hardships, inconveniences, and discomfort to be hindrances. Luke would not; nor would Paul.
We cannot approach opportunity from the viewpoint of our limiting beliefs. They create false boundaries and definitions for our lives.
For Paul, many of the things we would names as hindrances were open doors. Because he viewed them that way, he responded to them with boldness.
What circumstances are you considering to be hindrances in your life right now.
Is their another view you can take of them?
What difference will that make?
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Acts 28:17-31 Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, "Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. When they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor-- even though I had no charge to bring against my nation."
"For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."
They replied, "We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you. But we would like to hear from you what you think, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against."
After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe. So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving,
Paul made one further statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah, 'Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn-- and I would heal them.' Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."
He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
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McGhiever - Own work - Big Fish Supper Club & Resort, 456 U.S. Route 2, North Cass, Minnesota, USA. Viewed from the southeast.
Fight, Flight, or Flow? - Jonah 1
There are four keys words and three key principles looking at Jonah 1. I will explore: Flee, Storm, Sleep, and Fish.
The three principles are that you can choose, lose, or cruise.
First, God called Jonah and Jonah fled from God. At least he attempted to flee. God never leaves us without choices. we can choose fight, flight, or flow with His purposes. Fight becomes less and less of an option the more we know God. Flow requires surrender of our will to His. too often, we choose to FLEE.
The principle here is
YOU CAN CHOOSE.
John was given a mandate from God. It was a call. It was not really an option, but, like any human, it presented an opportunity for choice. jonah's firs choice was to FLEE.
F - FROM God.
The flight is always away from Gid. You can't resist God's will and enjoy the same fellowship as ever.
L - LUNACY
It is an absurd idea that we can run from Him. The psalmist said that even in Sheol, God was there.
E - EFFECT on others.
As Jonah endangered others, so do we when we disobey. We create chaos all around us.
E - EVIDENT - You can't really hide it. It all hangs out.
There is another acronym possible that helps us understand some of what causes us to have a flight impulse and run from God.:
F - FEAR - We fear what we don't know and what we do know. L - LISTENING to the wrong voice within/ E - EGO that has gotten out-of-control. E - EFFORT- We just don't want to give it.
Fight, flight, or flow, YOU CAN CHOOSE.
Second, when Jonah fled, God sent a STORM. God wasn't being vindictive. He was being insistent and persistent. The principle of YOU CAN CHOOSE must be understood in conjunction with a second principle: YOU COULD LOSE! But you still have choices. God uses storms sometimes to influence our choices. They may come in various ways:
S - SINKING SAILOR SYNDROME - You could go down.
T - TEMPESTS - Sometimes rocking on the waves gets attention.
O - OUTCRY - Sometimes others notice first and cry out to you.
R - REBUKE - Sometimes those same people come to you and speak truth.
M - MAYBE - God will help attitudes around you.
Jonah ignored the storm and went below to sleep. He was oblivious. Unlike Jesus' sleep of perfect peace through the storm, Jonah's was the sleep of denial. look at it. How do we resist the voice of God in storms? The text tells us:
S - SLUMBER -It was real, literal retreat into unconsciousness.
L - LYING to self and others.
E - ESCAPE from reality, but it is not possible.
E - EJECTION becomes the only option.
P - PEACE comes only through surrender.
Note that Jonah, with the option to CHOOSE, would rather LOSE than go to Nineveh.
Third, we see a FISH. the fish is a reminder that while we can always CHOOSE and we may LOSE, we can also CRUISE with the flow of God's purpose and will. You can choose to cruise.
Jonah had resisted profoundly and he was in for a grace cruise. Having been ejected from the ship by his own choice and the reluctant consent of the crew who, by the way, became his first unwitting converts, he is flailing in the water. Then God prepares a FISH and Jonah was on its menu!
F - FIRST time we have ever seen it happen - and the last. Besides that, Jonah has just had his first converts - the crewmen. I - IN the water and going down. Jonah was hopeless. S - SOVEREIGN God decides to give him another chance. H - HEAVENLY intervention rescues John for a time of refocus.
What is your FISH? You can cruise in it for a while by grace, but even it will bring you back to the point of choice. will you choose fight, flight, or flow?
What is your fish story and how has it transformed your life?
"President Jimmy Carter grew up in awe of nature's wonder. But it wasn't until he first paddled the Chattooga River that he understood the power and majesty of a wild, free-flowing stream. The Wild President tells the story of Carter's pioneering tandem-canoe descent of Bull Sluice Rapid and how the experience transformed his life and politics. "
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This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
New International Version
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
2 Kings 5:1-3
New International Version
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
2 Kings 5:7-15
New International Version
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
Psalm 66:1-12
New International Version
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”
Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in him. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations— let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
Psalm 111
New International Version
Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever— holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
2 Timothy 2:8-15
New International Version
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Luke 17:11-19
New International Version
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distanceand called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
