Psalm 116
1 I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The LORD protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the LORD
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!
Who listens to you?
And are they good when you have an imperfect circumstance?
Imperfect circumstances... who has those?
Not the Holy Saints, by their own fault, we read about in History. History is written, according to Winston Churchill, by the victors.
Imperfect circumstance? God likes those. According to Facebook and a lot of the people we know are explained by the goodness or badness as we scroll through those pages.
According to Facebook, God does not give you perfect people and no problems, He gives you trouble and people trouble to allow you to do the prime objective - Grow up to go - HOME.
People talk and talk. But where do their hips move. And what do you hear behind what they perfectly convey?
And who cares to improve the lives of others???
Philemon 1:20
Yes, brother, may I have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
Real Christians seek to make Him known in what they put their hand out towards. We cannot be works driven. Yet, even the demons believe and shudder at the Word of God. Faith without works is dead.
Relationships that do not bounce are dead. We all want life long friendships with loyalty. That comes from having the Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. in different seasons to Bounce. To Forgive. To be able to trust the other person.
Servanthood.
The pesky problem with servants... they eventually need something from you. Allon-bacuth means oak of weeping. Jacob, on the lam - with the worst marital problems on the planet - the horrid novel The Red Tent - says it was so bad Jacob started really, really, really being interested in the sheep. We are the wisdom people...let's all vote for polygamy.
Back to the topic. The problem with servants is they require something. Jacob on the lam - oh my, oh my humor - Jacob has to Stop. And take care of
Genesis 35
8 And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.
And you know life has a lot of problem solving and connecting the dots...lOOk at the way Scripture is placed together; how paragraphs join. There is a REASON the Scripture did not arrive with Subtitles.
Genesis 35
7 and there he (Jacob) built an altar and called the place El-bethel,[God at/of/for Bethal] because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.
Jacob is having to flee - over Words - not sticks and stones (what a joke) until really important words were spoken. God reveals Himself - to Jacob who was fleeing death and buried a servant loved for her dearness to them. Compassion to the compassionate.
Recall with me - Jesus did not have dinner with Pharisee members without open hearts and did not become best pals with Caiaphas. Caiaphas was Forgiven. Jesus THE LORD - does not make hearts change. HE reveals HIMSELF to ... Joseph who showed Mercy to Mary. Joseph showed COMPASSION and was Mary's neighbor - in times of extreme distress.
Jesus is the LORD GOD wanting to save ... the world.
But the Gospel begins here, in the manger, where Creator comes to creation, where Creator is held by creation, where Mary picks up her God and holds him close and kisses His face and suddenly, wondrously, everything in this aching cosmos, everything in this wounded creation, is made glorious by such a simple act-that God came here and dwelt.
This, oh this, is the fearsome thing of grace. Alleluia, alleluia, world without end. ~ C.Lowenfield
Why for Heaven's sake to we think we have to be perfect. Perfection is God. Salvation is God being perfect. Salvation requires an unusual depth of love.
Gosh. It's just possible... maybe... that saints have children, a spouse, problems, temptations, ugly words and might be - not Eve - deciding if they are God - but human.
Gosh - it's just possible that plaster saints are - plaster covered.
Let's look at Paul writing to the Philippians...
Philippians 1
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers {sup class Bishops} and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
"For Heaven's sake" - you think they are needing Grace - hmmmm.
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Halos are good. Especially at Christmas time. Halo is Light entering Mankind. A phenomenon recorded as factual. But this halo is requiring some Myth Busting. Paul is saying what he says in another passage - When Paul remembers someone Paul prays - not that Paul is in constant thought in prayer for a specific individual. We seem to think St. Anthony in Heaven - wants to hear about your car keys and isn't in Paradise with Jesus. Now the truth is, Virginia, that St. Anthony is a Saint of God in Paradise. But 36% of the World is Christian. And a lot of the people alive today are Catholic. Catholic Church? Is St. Anthony a Santa Claus? OR. Is it entirely possible that... Jesus is sovereign and with compassion for sheep of HIS - HE has compassion on the understanding need - THAT
WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT....
We are too UNHOLY for the LOVE OF CHRIST TO REACH TO US...
Matthew 9:36
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were faint and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Encouagement!!!
7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
Having the rough patches in all circumstances and still being HELD IN THE HEART!!!
8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Christ Jesus has this affection to yearn - for plaster saints - no for YOU! How HIGH is this love, the Word of God tells us this love is Amazing.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
St. Francis knew he had to use both words and deeds to proclaim the Gospel. And paraphrasing him -
"Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words." Words came (creating sticks and stones!) and actions were made catching the attentions of the talkers.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice!
For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance
God says prayer is with - reward. We can expect people who love us to bounce (because we jostle them) - we can expect
deliverance like the way the centurion expected a Word of God would do the trick.
20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Not works - but like the Syrian woman - we hope even for the crumbs of God's Table and we repay our Savior by not deliberately treating HIM as our waiter or hand Him the broom to fix our messes.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
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