What an odd Lent this has been. Covid 19 news and discussions. Tornadoes. Political changes.
Out in public listening to a young woman weep about Covid 19. People worry. Lent is a time people consider tougher aspects of life. Coincidentally - the news is a tougher part of life right now.
This was very sad.
It's not a flu. But certainly not a plague. 96% of even the younger people who get this will recover. It's a rough illness. Like Basketball says watch the hips, we are seeing numbers increase. And an incredible, high number of people Fully Recover. The number of states increase to 34. And the statistics are unusual. Small children don't register as dying very much, nor 20's. 70 to 80 year olds are at greater risk https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31994742. Unless you have diabetes or a heart condition or a terrible underlying health condition, or you smoke, or you are over 70 or 80 years old - then the mortality rate is goes up World Health Organization.
Watching the New York subway employees sanitizing the subway, made me think gloves were more important than masks in this illness. They cleaned everything and there was no report non-mask wearing employees got to be ill.
We are using our time to still go out. Even with Edward having an underlying serious health condition. But we are limiting where he goes. And instead of watching the news float to the No Big Deal to one report of the Sky Falling and the Nation falling into total disarray (any one who fear mongers like that needs to look at Orson Wells War of the Worlds radio broadcast again).
And instead of looking at how vast the news reports differ - we are Praying, taking vitamins, my family has decided hand sanitizer isn't so humorous and we are washing our hands as well, getting enough sleep and we bought house paint and we are painting our kitchen. Who knows, we might really go wild and paint inside the garage. Our next door neighbors just redid their wooden fence. Easter is coming. Summer is going to arrive.
Psalm 143
A Psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!
My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!
11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.
When Jesus started His Ministry, He began where He saw the Need for Living Water immediately. Jesus tacked the rough part, first thing. Based on the fact you don't usually see people cry in public loudly from news report fears. I think Jesus would start there.
Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in Your Righteousness!
The Pew Report said in the last few years, the USA prays as much as the natural disaster seen in the people of the Philippines and in Ethiopia. We pray. We saw in 2010, The BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico - had the unheard of phenomena the oil was reabsorbed. Alaska wishes this would have happened there too.
I believe we will be praying. All of us. In the Name of Jesus.
Let's Skip More Fear Mongering on the National News.
Fear.
For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
The New Covenant states we will only die in our sins. Jeremiah was telling "Good News." The New Covenant is the price Jesus has Paid in Full. We are not going to be punished for the sins of the genealogy line Moses and God discussed. The Wrath of God is not about to come out at you for what occurred in History Books. In fact, Passover which was the time where Jesus was killed to avoid dying on Passover was about being passed by for horrible circumstance. To be blessed to have faith in the middle of horrid worries for real circumstance. (Even in Haiti.)
Do we want to die in our sins?
No. Do we need to. No. This is The Good News.
If we believe in our hearts and call on Jesus we will be saved.
Isaiah 40:1-14
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand
Jesus has been God's Manifest Word since Genesis 1. And when Jesus arrived for Ministry, He started in Capernaum. No one had forgotten all the shepherds who had seen The Heavenly Host. The Gospels tell us Jesus grew up seen as Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. No one has the entire town show up of about 3,000 people. Unless Gabriel announces this in the Messiah in The Temple.
After Jesus healed Peter's mother in law, the town brought anyone they could find for Jesus to heal. Elijah didn't have this happen in a day. Elijah had to wait 3 years for this. Jesus arrived the first day.
Several times in the Gospels, we are told, "Jesus healed them all." Remember when Jesus had a man lowered through the ceiling to be healed of paralysis.
The point being this - we know Jesus healed a "Miraculous and Tremendous Number of People". God planned for Jesus to arrive when the world knew all types of illness. We could name: Fever, blindness, deafness, blindness healing in exactly the way brain injury would cause blindness. Leprosy, mute. Jesus even healed the dead on several occasions. God Chose to Arrive During a Time we know thousands lined the streets hoping to even touch Jesus. God does not shun illness. Brokenness in a temporary world causes illness. Also, Psalm 116 assures us Jesus is part of life
even to the end of this life and the visible beginning of His Kingdom to us.
We can be sure Jesus did not sneer at the culture for illnesses. Instead, Jesus did chide the people for wanting miracles sometimes - like bread. Yet Jesus said this life is Joy to Jesus. And Jesus also said when He looks at His people - Jesus wants to save the Whole World. And Jesus has Compassion on His People for being lost like Sheep.
Psalm 145:8-17
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
Abba, our Father God,
In Your Righteousness, we ask to be Nathaniel and the tree- seen by Jesus as we pray. John 1.
You have given Jesus authority over all things. We would ask for the Grace upon Grace of Jesus Christ.
Abba, we want to Keep Your Word with Your Help. We know the Truth You are from God. We Believe on Jesus, You have sent. Father, Keep us in the Name of Jesus. We pray to be encouraged and loved to complete Your Word in the Book of Life. Sanctify us in Truth and keep us from evil. Consecrate us in Jesus Christ, as Jesus asked You.
Jesus help us to have our lives show You have given us Jesus to be One in You. Love us, Father God. That Your Love is always in us.
Help us to Seek You and Your Kingdom first. Help us to live lives of Love, Peace and Joy. Bless those You have given us and we Love to have this in Jesus Christ.
Bless our communities, states and Nation to Trust in You this Lent. Heal us all. Help us to blessed with Your Mercy and Have the Blessing of Heaven. Help us to go Far in Jesus Christ and finish well.
We lift up Healing for the ones we Love. We pray for Elliott and his family to have all healing. We pray for Dee to continue to feel so much better and Wayne. And all of our prayer lists to have Your Tender Love.
The Blessing of Jesus surround and enfold us this day and always.
Amen.
Matthew 23
How often Jesus has longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings
♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †
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