Matthew 6:16-18 ~ will reward you

In John 6:35, Jesus tells us that He is the bread of life. It is also interesting Jesus doesn’t suggest to us that we should fast, He says 'when' we fast.


Matthew 6:16-18

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you

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Genesis 49 ~ When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.

Genesis 49


Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.

14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant at forced labor.

16 “Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord.

19 “Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.

20 “Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,


24 yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening dividing the spoil.”
Jacob's Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.

The Scriptures are so real. Who would have remembered, except one who loves Jacob, to add the last sentence.


Job 1:21
and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

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Matthew 1:18-25 ~ Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

In the 1970s, Christmas Trees took on a new theme. Sort of a let's go on a hayride and drink out of mason jar look. Almost like a picnic. This was also the era Americans politely said to you, "Are you a Christian?" And it was perfectly acceptable to reply, "Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist." "Church of Christ, Jehovah's Witness, Pentecostal." And usually you'd get a smile and a nod back. Thank you, you've pegged you for me.

We were all Christian. And the denominations were reading the Bible. My Step-Grandfather Tate was an Episcopalian Priest and he was dire about the acceptance of divorce in the Episcopalian Denomination meetings - he said it would run down the country. I thought that was a Bit harsh. However the first thing people argued about in Christian circles was if Mary was really a virgin. Looking back on that, that was a little rude wasn't it. Bit presumptive.

We certainly forgot a few things. And don't we continue to forget the real picture of Jesus' birth.

This is God's Son. God conquered death.

We often ask our friend's parents - So wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Angels sang - so this was Holy...

No. This was gritty saddle travel. In a place where the people did not invite them to sleep in beds. A Pregnant Woman placed on a plodding animal. Each 80 mile had a man walking beside a very pregnant woman. First time birth, a virgin birth, in a non-sterile environment.

Talk surrounded them.

Who is this?

This could very well have been Mary, Mother of God.

Unless. Compassion came from the uninformed. The Victim. The old duffer, we like to think. (We really think God would place His Son with an infirm, aged man - not a Biblical idea really. The Bible really states Jesus had siblings and Mary was their mother.)

Instead of a Palace: Immanuel - God with us - even explained how ~


Isaiah 7 (The passage God tells Ahaz “Ask a sign of the Lord your God Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel)

21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Rare 1698 view of Bethlehem by Dutch artist Cornelius de Bruijin

The Works of God. Involve:

The Extraordinary.

Sometimes Camouflaged in the ordinary involving eyes of faith. Unless they Sing Choirs of Angels.

Involving ordinary people. Who are. Bewildered. Afraid. Pressured and unbelieved by the world.  And called.


The Bible is Far from saccharin sweet.
Why?
Why wouldn't God make life easy?

Luke 5:32
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Remember with me, even Mary was sometimes in disagreement with Jesus. Meaning even Mary, the Mother of God, requires a Savior.

The Bible tells us ~

Luke 18:19
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone."

The Real Christmas Story -

1 Corinthians 1
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26a  worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written,
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

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Psalm 107 ~ and He brought them to their desired haven

Psalm 107

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.

39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Edward and I were Thrilled to move to a small lake in the Houston area in the year 2000. Thrilled. Perfection of neighborliness. Pioneer Church. Ten years of Bible Studies on Friday nights. Three or four nights a week of Youth Ministry. Six kids sleeping on the floor for breakfast during summers and holidays.

Of course, life isn't perfect. We had financial problems when the economy struggled. Sadness when beloved Buddy died. And unexpected pregnancy in 2008, and 3 pound Isabelle died. A few unnamed family squabbles. And reactions to that squabble.

Have you ever lived through a Hurricane? The kind of Hurricane where your family calls you from 900 miles and urge you to run? Well, we had to stay, Isabelle was in distress. And John said, "Have you SEEN the radar??? It's the size of the Whole of the Gulf Of Mexico? Please leave."

Well. Last night. As the baker said, I remembered my sins. And the dreams began.
During the Hurricane, our bedroom vent started to pour water on the bed. Our sons were arranged strategically from our neighbor, who had done wind studies on an oil refinery for safety during the hurricane. God Bless our neighbor, Dick. And God Bless Dee and Cindy who came over for an hour to pray for safety for the house and family. And we all sat on my sofa and prayed Earnestly.

So. Edward was told, and coerced to go put pans in the attic. Turns out as he was up there, the tornado of the neighborhood arrived! Poor Edward! That Hit the first two backyards in the block and ours. Damage was done. A tree top was spun in a circle and flung lakeside. The next, the grand old lady I loved was the size of small sequoia and leaned with great care on the neighbor's house. Let me add, frankly, he did Not appreciate that Act of God. Or the one that followed in 2012. Like the trees groped his house - he acted with such effrontery.

Lately Edward had to go to the specialist doctors. For something we have wanted him to go for for quite some time. Let me say - It's Stressful. Prayers are appreciated.

And I went to sleep with a good deal of pain last night.

And I began to Dream. Dreams I will remember all my life. The Biblical Number Three.

In the first dream, we were home during Hurricane Ike. The dream would not relent. I'd say it was thirty minutes of reliving the Hurricane, the tornado and beautiful Isabelle. During a Hurricane, you don't know if your 3 Foot Diameter Tree is now a missile. You don't know if the big windows will explode. You don't know if the roof won't lift off (because it sure sounds like it will) and you will be left in the storm of some magnitude. With Tornadoes. Houses make the most amazing sounds in Category Four Hurricanes. I'd say leave if you can. Really.

Well my reaction to this Amazing Dream. Get up, go to the bathroom with the thought at the back of my mind - fussy, fussy with God. Climbing back into bed - I was Less Than Pleased. Poor God. Sometimes you have to have Compassion on the God - John, who walked with Jesus, called Love.

Back to sleep, slept for hours.



The next dream, I was returning to the salad days - two bedroom house we lived in and had that cottage cute as a bug. With my now very grown Alexander, youngest son and his very wonderful girlfriend, Ashley. In the dream, this was still home. And it was the day after Christmas. I was astonished to find, not the one new Christmas tree we bought when the boys told me to get a new one and I'm so pleased with it, but multiple, multiple, multiple Christmas trees, with the actual new one collapsed. "Oh well." Ashley politely said with faux, but cheer you up, cheer.

I couldn't get over the damage and was crushed and perplexed by the tons and tons of Christmas trees I'd obviously have to clean up. And the embarrassment at the over the top Christmas trees like a forest. The best was yet to come. The house was stacked every single   item you could think of: canned goods, old greeting cards, thread, yarn, stuffed animals. None of the like that belonged to me. Obviously, something in my absence had gone very wrong. And top that off with Xander knew it with me. And we were trying to be nonchalant to Xander's gf visiting.

The horror of being thought to be what you were not. The extreme embarrassment. I wanted to cry and how to clean up the damage. It was overwhelming.


And as I woke up. An entirely different reaction. Joy.
Joy for the new Christmas tree we had loved. For the provision of the Christmas Tree.
For the young girl who had come and made a beautiful day for the family.
For her joy in her gift we gave.
And her's to us!
And! The Joy of Knowing the House was So Clean when she unexpectedly (oh sons!) arrived
for the day.
For the Joy in this Season in Life!
For being understood!
For my Family of clonk heads!
And the Forgotten GRATITUDE we have to move with a Shovel.
IF you Don't DIG for GRATITUDE - JOY AND BLESSINGS WILL PASS YOU BY!!!

(Thank You Father GOD!!! In Jesus AMEN!!!)



The next dream was a return to an vintage, lake side hotel we visited a lot when I was a child. I met people I haven't really seen in a long time. And Edward was being very hept up about the recent five year events causing the specialist doctors. My college roommate was offering Edward style commentary from her resting place. And all I wished was he would hush and calm down. It was so aggravating seeing all the emotions churned up, the pent up anxiety. Just give me a little peace for God's Sake!

And I woke up to see, that of course, the emotional reaction was me. And if you had drama trauma - you'd want a heck of a lot less fuss.


So with that I have much more gratitude for what was, what should be appreciated, and what should be Cherished.

Thank you to the people going out of your way to help. Earnest prayer is always appreciated. Lemon Martinis don't hurt either! Birthday Parties at Starbucks. People who hamburgle you!  A particular friend coming to fix the pool. Crying for an hour in the horse pen with my new friend, who has been there. Life gives you twists and turns. But GOD BLESS THE ONES WHO RISE UP WITH YOU TO MEET THEM. ESPECIALLY When GOD gives you the dream to remember What You Have. And BE GRATEFUL. 

Psalm 134

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!

3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!


The LORD FATHER GOD, who has all the Power in His Word to Create the Entire Universe comfort us, guide us, strengthen us and empower and embolden us to Speak His Love. May we be the generation refusing to yield to any coercion mild or strong which would hold us back from proclaiming God's Love.

Even when we recognize Love in the Chocolate Chip Cookies and the others giggle. Let us be in affirmation of WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD!

Let us not shrink from understanding that GOD just might have a Plan and HIS Plan is more worthy than the armchair critics of nightmares or dreams realize. The critics of the Old Testament are not privileged to see all of His Wisdom. And God is not the God of the Reformed Old Testament but the completion of HIS Amazing Promises to us who believe in Jesus the Lord.

What great Love the Father has lavished on us, we Are called Children of God! And that is what we are! God HAS shown His love sending His one and only Son, Jesus. That we might Live through Jesus Christ the Lord! Give us the Day and Help US to forgive sins that we also commit. Strengthen us to speak, to act, to be merciful and to reclaim the path He would have us walk. In JESUS THE LORD. Amen.

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