Hosea 1:10-11
11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
The Jezreel Valley traveled between Nazareth and Bethlehem to the Birth of Jesus Christ. The Children of God would meet the exact nature of God in Jesus Christ.
Hosea was encountering Life offering promise and living life with troubles to overcome.
As Hosea was understanding the Word of God was the ending of the Davidic Line on the throne, the end of the Nation of Israel and even seeing the exile into Babylon, Hosea was realizing God was moving the Goal Posts in the favor of His delight in looking into the hearts of mankind.
Hosea was living difficulty and finding Peace, Joy, Forgiveness and a Way and a Truth forward. And in finding this within himself, Hosea, was living up the name Abba, God the Almighty had given him. Hosea means he saves, he helps, salvation.
Hosea was leading the people out of hopelessness and into Hope by the
Power of God.
Deuteronomy 7:9
He is a faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations.
Imagine the intricate Planning of the Book of Life.
Fully leading to Ephesians 3 - where families live on earth and in Heaven.
Psalm 147:3-5
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
He gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
His understanding is beyond measure.
Romans 8:28
For God causes all things to work together for good
for those
who Love the Lord
and work according to His Purpose.
Isaiah 45:2
I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and rescue you.
Philippians 1:6
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
Shine a Light on the Minor Prophets, Salvation from God.
Let's be Frank. I have 2 Uncles named Frank and one in-law Uncle named Frank. My uncles were the Good Sort. I like Frank. When you drive around my house, within miles, people are not putting up the Merry Christmas Lights, they are hidden in the attic.
Ok, then let's call it as it is: It's time to bring out The "Minor Prophets." And to the Goy, the Minor Prophets sound like the Bottom Barrel of Clearance. Oh yeah, goody, the Minor Prophets. Gloomy right? Dooms Day Hell Fire. Na. The Goy are you and me, anyone who isn't practicing Judaism, with a Jewish Mother is Goy.
All Goy huddle up. Minor Prophets lived during times in History where you grew up knowing and living for the Christmas Sears and Roebuck Catalogs. But that died with Jack Benny and the phone to Mail deliveries. And then you ended up with Amazon. But then Jeff Bezos talked too much, after the Space Shuttle, speaking louder than Cap't Kirk William Shatner, who sings quite well and should sing again. And then Pelosi says we need to dismantle Amazon... and Omicron is what???
Oh...yeah. We are in the Minor Prophets Now.
Let's start with AT&T. They came up with an idea to take all their first rate, blue chip historical stocks, always a winner, and bought CNN. And then they decided Americans will swallow anything and cheated 2/3rds of their customers with the pages of contracts with the end date and the obligation of double or more. 2 of 3 experienced this. When I had mine uninstalled, the AT&T employee said they did this to him. And their stock is way far down in the toilet.
Americans pray at the rate of 3rd World Nations. Pew Report. 80% of Americans know God is hearing them and Loving them. 2/3rds of God's Children know a bona fide, Miracle Work of God.
Last night we went to Walmart, like we always do. The years we spent with four people in a two-bedroom house. Yay, Walmart. Hey, I get compliments on my Walmart picks and the clothes are durable. And I saw people huddled down at home with the Christmas lights in the attic. My family has loved clothing since my great-grandfather Stephen Pinckney Richardson built brick by brick the Richardson, Louisiana Fisher United Methodist Church. His house and the huge dry goods store were wood. But his Church for Jesus was brick and is there, today. He used to open the crates from New Orleans in the late, late 1890s in October. October was a Party. Because we all knew New Orleans had Yellow Fever. All Richardsons, all, discuss clothing. And until me, we all smocked. And like me, made clothing. And the Walmart goods, Yesterday - in clothing, announced... Disaster. Never seen that before.
Except. We have spent half of the year in Dallas with our two mothers. The United States is a quilt. When you drive from State to State you see, mostly, immediate differences. Fences. Styles. Likes. Market drives. Well, Dallas and Houston are different. Houston has 5 foot, wide plank fences. Dallas has Magnolia hedges and 8 foot narrow fences. Dallas is a world of apartments. Houston is building housing. We have a Port. Dallas has the best mall in America, Raymond Nasher's North Park. Grannie's house. For the decades we met family at the mall. I love North Park at Christmas. The Flying Pecan Reindeer are still flying and are my Sears and Roebuck vision. Awwww childhood Christmas, look Grandmother!!! No. I don't want shoes for Christmas. Or Socks. No.
North Park looked like plain knitwear in April and May. Weird. Hello Comrade. But no one bought anything and now, North Park is looking better. Just like AT&T listened. (Dallas shut down like California until about June, but they vote Red. Countless different styles in the USA!!!)
Oh, you can't tell how you buy Christmas presents? Yes, yes you can. Because so many people have not put out Christmas Lights.
Go back to the part where Edward and I lived for 14 years in a two-bedroom house. Like the Japanese, one gift comes in, one item must depart. My huge fear was Dart Rail was surrounding our 7 block neighborhood without crime due to Railroads and 6 Lane Mockingbird near White Rock Lake. My sons would be run down on bicycles by the Dart Rail. I prayed without ceasing and we were able to turn our 14-year-old home into Real Estate Improvement and buy away from Dart Rail. Where we doubled our Real Estate Improvement and moved to The Houston Area. Thank You, Lord God.
Edward and I have an Olympic Medal in "I can do that by shopping and thrifting till I'm dropping". Repeat. I can do that by solutions and shopping and thrifting till I'm dropping.
Hosea and Jesus and
Habakkuk Minor Prophet 3
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, 18 yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
The Thing about being pressed, cough cough, financially is... fake it till you wait for the good pitches. Solutions. It's all about jiggling this that till the answer falls out. We had our garage door fall apart in our 2 bedroom home. Ok - well - if we gave up any idea of driving to the beach this summer, for 3 years, we could get a new garage door. I made 12 quote calls. And we had it down to 1.5 years of no vacation. Until we called my mom's handyman who cut a new board, that looked like molding we painted the garage to match for about $200. The garage never looked better.
We moved, we had no furniture. We bought resale and then I watched on YouTube how to reupholster. It sucked. But it was ok and made great conversation.
My children had no idea whatsoever that North Park was where you buy clothes. Sure! You go for ice cream and a stroller walk and meet people, but all that was for sale?!? Green, you want to live green footprints? Nothing is greener than resale. My kids know you get in the car from North Park and you drive to Resale. And we dressed to the nines and hilt for being Richardsons. We know clothes.
Christmas. We had the most HUGE Christmas of anyone you know. Because we lived Christmas in our Hearts for 12 months. We had a good collection of Christmas lights because, like Tiny Tim, we bought a new set every year to add on to the one bush we started with. And every time we went somewhere, we tucked away a gift hidden under clothes hanging in the Closet.
My grandfather owned a Ford Dealership. We know how to buy a car, shop till you drop and hold it till the cows come home. And we are not driving foo foo didn't want that ever. We have collected who repairs what we can't repair, we have painted the house until we could be employed to paint the lines from Dallas to Houston.
As a background, we have shrewd Scots and go as far back as non Goy Jewish. We are going to take a coin and make it work. Honey child. Edward has a few money making hobbies, and he is cut from the same cloth. And do our sons do this? Well, yeah.
Fight the Good Fight.
Christmas Lights up.
Did you know Dallas to Houston is 239 miles and 30 years of no cows and fenced ranges? Until the Pandemic, now we have cows everywhere and donkeys. The county trade posts for bovine is packed to the gills. Meat prices rejoice.
What are you going to do? Italians raise vegetables and Brit Box has 52 Seasons of Gardener's World gardening TV show. Turns out you can raise 50 potatoes from one potato in a moving box in the backyard. What you do with 50 Potatoes looks a lot like Gift Giving
Americans have a voice. Americans have a huge Prayer Life. Americans told Huge, old AT&T to shove off from being duplicitous business. It's not time to give up from fears and malaise. This is the time! Buckle up to the Minor Prophets and with a grin, fight despair with two feet, two fists and Lawful grit up in Jesus to win.
Pandemics have a historic trend: Fear, Compliance, ANGER, crazy blaming blaming, change, blame, radical actions, suffering, healing healing. Solutions, Mankind innovates upward in God's Glory in Hope and Future.
Do not despair. Gift Photo Memories and Scripture for Christmas Hope, Faith and Love.
Oi. Put out your Christmas Lights.
World War II had Victory Gardens. Wouldn't a worldwide pandemic call for something other than hiding Christmas Lights???
My in-laws in Dallas were in 5th grade in the DISD.
DISD cancelled Spring Break during World War II. All the DISD children were taken by bus to the cotton fields and the children picked Win the War Cotton for a week.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law were always so very proud of the week they picked cotton. And one day, at a Restaurant, over a beer, I raised the beer and I tipped at my beloved, beloved father-in-law, and I said, "Buddy, hey, I bet you and Judy could call up your pals from 5th grade, hire an attorney and sue the DISD for all they got for putting you and the children through mental anguish during worldwide war." I totally and completely did this for the effect. Really. And I waited....
"WOT. WOT. We would NEVER do something Like That! We SAVED the NATION. Hitler was a madman and was fascist. Killing the innocent!"
Hey, we just had worldwide Pandemic. Do not accept the unacceptable. Do not despair. Fight the Good Fight. And put up your Christmas Lights. America Prays. God is Immanuel.
Jesus is The. Reason. Faith.
Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1
To show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember
His holy covenant,
73 The oath that He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him
without fear
75 In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you
Will
Go
before the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
Whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
To give light
to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the way of peace.”
Roads of Heaven
Psalm 91:14
Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name.
Lamentations 3:21-23
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh each morning.
Isaiah 66:9
I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born.
Abba, Father God,
Jesus has told us in Your Word, You are His Father and Our Father.
Thank You.
When two or more are gathered, You are there.
When we call on Jesus, He is there.
And in John's Gospel Chapters 16 and 17, Jesus prays for us.
When we seek You, Father God and Call upon Jesus
- we always pray together.
Luke wrote of the prophets being long ago, You are as Vast as the Heavens and a Day to you is Thousands of Years.
You are yesterday, today and tomorrow.
We turn again, to rejoice our heart,
times of refreshing may come from Your presence.
Christmas memories of what we miss,
will begin again and renew.
Eternity. God's Forever Kingdom.
Lifting up prayers for continued healing.
The Trouble we see within our Nation
and know, exists in the world, too.
Bless all of Your Good Creation.
We will add in our specific people, those who suffer
and this is more difficult this time of the year.
We lift up the people we love, the people You have given to us
with Love
and the Nations and world who call upon You.
Knowing in the Power of Your Word, we are upheld.
Help us to seek You first, You dwell in us.
In Jesus the Lord. Amen.
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