Psalm 85 ~ Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

Psalm 85

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.

Last night our Church had our first Wednesday service of the summer to pray and repent, for ourselves, for the upcoming Response - a non-denominational prayer event, August 6th. Seeking God's mercy and guidance for troubling events for our country and the world. (Put on by Governor Rick Perry.)

Yesterday I had a phone call from a friend asking why her neighbors are a mess (in the way they behave towards one another) and friends too. I thought of all the people I know and very few seem to be untouched these days. And a Christian blog I read was saying how painfully the Church doesn't strive to be an equal place of respect for the poor and the rich. With lack of courtesy and neglect that bites into a soulful sorrow. Then an email from a long-time ago, dear friend asking why I would want to attend a prayer meeting when the outlandish right wing evangelicals support it. And fear... this will become a powerful new fascism. And then hearing from someone else this is just a Governor Perry political bid, no way he'd attend.

And I thought about the left wing claiming to be all the "Houston Clergy" denouncing a prayer meeting. They aren't all that large. It seems to be mostly one very liberal church listing as many people they could claim as clergy.

The word that comes to mind is this. Wow. This prayer meeting causes a lot of upset. In a time of trouble.

So, our Minister, Clark, said that a lot of 2 Chronicles 11, 12 and 13 is going to be read at The Response. And Clark wanted to talk about it. The people and King Solomon were in the midst of celebrating God's Glory filling the brand new Temple. The people and King Solomon spent a lot of the passages praising God. Then God says trouble will come. Nations will collapse. Economies will crumble. But the Temple is where you come to know you have refuge in God. The world was created to have difficulties in this life. In the midst of strife, there is always a place for you to go. To God. To the one who cares where you will be for eternity. To the one who cares what happens to you in this life and how you feel about your life. To the one who says cast aside your own troubles and care for others as He cares for you.

Repent. Re-connect to God. Re-new. Have Hope.

Psalm 108:13
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.


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Deuteronomy 26:1-15 ~ He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey

Today, a view of the Sea of Galilee

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

We live in a time people are concerned with the events in the news. It is great to consider the time when God gave prosperity. Look again at what the people were willing to do for the LORD to come to this point. They were obedient to God. When the Children of Israel came to Jericho, the photos of Jericho are magnificent, yet God told them Not to remain in Jericho. God told the Children of Israel to move away from beautiful Jericho and stay in His plan.

The Children of Israel have this prosperity to rejoice in and share with God because they listened to God's direction.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God



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Galatians 4:3-7 ~ redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption

Galatians 4:3-7

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles [elemental spirits; also verse 9] of the world.

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.


How quickly did Jesus begin to work on the adoption of His beloved ones, on the way to His cross:


John 19:26
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

And the first person to His tomb:

John 20:15-17
Jesus said to her (Mary Magdalene), “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”


God's timing is perfect:

Hebrews 10:37
For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay


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Matthew 14:13-21 ~ He had compassion on them

Matthew 14:13-21

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

In the midst of His day, a day filled with requests, endless ideas of what they perceive God to be, ideas of what He should be, their joy, their pain, their trouble, Jesus acted lovingly.

So much need. So many requests. With God, He will find a way.

Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.


Who are these people peppering Jesus with their prayer requests? It is us. Jesus as the Son of God can speak a blessing over God's provision. How can we do less?

John 5:17
Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.



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Psalm 69 ~ deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

Psalm 69

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck [waters threaten my life].
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.

4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's sons.

9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled [lacks and humbled ]my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Hide not your face from your servant;
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!

19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

22 Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap
[a snare, and retribution and a trap].
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

I live in an area of the country referred to as a Bubble. Having grown up in Dallas (not the suburbs of Houston), I know for a fact many other areas of the country are also called The Bubble. Pretty houses, comfortable lawns, quiet neighborhoods, good schools. We had 24 Christian Churches come together for a time of prayer, one Sunday in January, after several weeks of fasting to come together and pray for our peaceful community.

One of the ministers stood up and said that he and his fellow ministers often say "All is not perfect behind the trees" of our community. It would seem like it is. We have low crime. Our employment rates are reasonable. Yet we have a pretty high suicide rate and a very high motor vehicle accident rate. Probably something to do with the trees. And substance abuse. People are lonely. I can tell as I walk through my community, the houses are well cared for, but not bustling with friends visiting as I grew up seeing.

How are you? I'm fine. I suppose it's polite and better than not speaking, but. .

Today is a beautiful summer day. And Psalm 69 comes as something different than my peaceful day. But I tell you what, I really appreciate the fact that this Psalm is Real. This is a man who had seen Trouble. Not a careful God-given access to the best life-events-schools-skills elevator.

David says that all the people skills in the world will not make life smooth all the time.

Can you imagine going to the Tabernacle with the rest of Israel to worship, after David is King and hearing this poetry/worship/reality as part of worship? I think people would be rather shocked. I remember when Jimmy Carter was elected, people were shocked he was not going to go by James Carter or Jim Carter.

David says it just doesn't matter, in depth, if you are up or down in life. He says life will revolve both ways for all of us. David says what is important is knowing God loves you. The promises of God are for you. David says regardless of what you own and what owns you, you are in wisdom, happiness, and good favor when you know God holds you in His promises. Paul agreed. Paul said when we look at trouble as temporary and look to see what God will do with these things to His glory, we find the happiness that can be elusive. God agrees, the Holy Spirit breathing out Scripture.

David says being at ease can be a trap. David found this out himself. Paul said to find contentment in all circumstances.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you


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Other Scripture for Today Blogspot readings on Psalm 69
February 4, 2011


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Psalm 70 ~ May all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in Thee

Psalm 70

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”

4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!


David had many times where his life seemed in turmoil. He looked for the Lord for help. Mighty David, admitted to the Lord, he was needy and poor. The Lord heard his cry and helped him. David was anointed of God, but not perfect. David had the advantage of being told by a mighty prophet of God that it would all turn out well, many times David wondered about that, just as Abram wondered if God would fulfill His word to Abram.

Wouldn't we all like a personal word given to us by our Father God? When we read the Scriptures, God is giving us His Word. Faith - God means what He says. Hope - He means me! Love - all there ever was, God directs towards you, His endless supply. Causing the disciple John - who had personally witnessed God's glory to Jesus Christ in the transfiguration - to write 18 times in his Gospel about the Glory of God. John went on to say: God is Love!

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2 Samuel 4:1-12 ~ David answered

2 Samuel 4:1-12

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. 2 Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; 3 the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).

4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. 6 And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped [The ancient Greek Septuagint adds And behold, the doorkeeper of the house had been cleaning wheat, but she grew drowsy and slept]. So Rechab and Baanah his brother slipped in ] . 7 When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, 8 and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron.

And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”

9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10 when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

When I think of David, working out God's plan and waiting for God to make it work, I really didn't remember, after Saul's death, Ish-bosheth had been crowned King of Israel at age 40 (2 Samuel 2:10). Making David the third King of Israel.

If you are old enough (radio/tv) you remember the Lone Ranger started out by saying: Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. Where was David's golden ride into kingship? These men act like Clemenza: It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.

The thrilling days when Israel was truly God's glory shining on earth. The Scriptures aren't Pollyanna sweet. David dealt with all kinds of characters, trying mostly to take the High Road himself. Abner, Saul's nephew and general, had made peace with David in the last chapter. David gave clemency, but his general killed Abner after Abner threw in his support for David.

The events swirling around David were far from ideal, but David mostly does his best doing what God would want. Real life, real challenges. More than Sunday School stories.

If this were a television program, about now the narrator would smoothly suggest David had complete control over the Biblical portions as he did the Tabernacle of the Lord. This was true of the non-davidic king, who did control the selection of priests, Herod. It did not end well for Herod. Any of the Herods. Yet if when you read I & II Samuel, all of Kings and all of Chronicles, you see the spin factor did not have control over the guilt or innocent of the kings. Even Ecclesiastes is very honest about the mistakes made by Solomon, who took David's shiny, new kingdom, used it as his playground, and personal display, and had it split before David's grandson could have time to shape his own kingdom.

This passage is also a reminder what Jesus, the Son of God, would have had to endure as an earthly king. Instead we see Jesus as the healer, the reconciler of God and man. Not dealing with people being disemboweled and beheaded. Jesus returning the ear of the man's slave who came to destroy Jesus. Jesus offering all generations forgiveness from the cross He bore for us.

Psalm 17:8
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.


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Psalm 84 ~ For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere

Psalm 84

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

3 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.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

You might remember I've told you about our friends, my father's high school friend; who moved to our town just as my father divorced my mother and became a many-years family friends to my mother. They helped my mom, and her two children, move into our duplex we had rented out for years. And they moved to live near us and my brother did not have to be a latch key child because of them. Going with us to eat Mexican food every Friday night with us when I am sure we were not cheerful, good fun. They joined our Church. And gave me my first job at the Dallas World Trade Center, being so patient with a first time worker.

Very recently their youngest of 4 children, in his 40's, who had fought for so many years for sobriety with a bi-polar diagnosis, took his own life. And my Church family, here where I live as an adult, sent them a hand knit prayer blanket. Knitted with three stitches representing our Father, Holy Spirit and Savior. All the ladies of the Tuesday Night Bible Study signed the card until the card could not hold more ladies wanting to comfort them. I sent along a long letter telling them what I knew of grief recovery group therapy having grieved and recovered from my dad's death and my stillborn daughter, Isabelle.

Last night the phone rang, it was our dear friend. Crying so hard, yet I knew who she was. I had wondered if you could recover from loosing a son to suicide being older. Then we began to talk of her reading list. Our dear, sweet friend began to tell me of the books she has been reading relating Heaven verses of the Bible. What she has learned. Her voice became positive and strong.

She related her utter devastation and she wondered why God was absent the first two weeks. I said I thought that when we are so stricken, it's hard to listen to anyone, much less our own soul. She told me she'd had the strangest experience with her vision the week of the funeral. She could see faces, but her peripheral vision was like a smoke filled room. She thought to herself this is the damnedest time to loose my vision. And she was glad that at least she could see people's faces.

As this precious woman began to read books on Heaven, she realized something important about that cloud lifted from her vision. She could not feel God, she was stricken. Yet He was with her.

1 Kings 8:10-11
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

Isaiah 6:3-4
And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

Revelation 15:8
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power

I realized having visited with this child of God for an hour, she would live to dwell in hope, she would recover from something tragic. We have available to us this hope in Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:13
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

~ O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Blessed are You most merciful Father. Blessed are those comforted in You.

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Other Scripture for Today Blogspot readings on Psalm 84:
July 23, 2010

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Matthew 8 ~ Jesus saw a crowd around Him

Painted by Jacopo Bassano (1510-1592)

Matthew 8

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1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper [term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13] came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant [bondservant], ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes [Gergesenes; some Gerasenes], two demon-possessed [Greek daimonizomai; also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

We live in a time where everything moves quickly. Even movies don't give you a chance to say,"What did they say?" ....And we have had a scene change.


When the New York Times Bestseller author, M. Scott Peck,M.D., wrote the 'The Road Less Traveled" he was still in the infancy of His Christ relationship. He'd begun as a Christian/Buddhist/Carl Yung enthusiast, but as he really broke bread with the Gospels (he said if he was going to refer to the Bible -he felt he should know something of it), he met Jesus. He remembers thinking, why didn't anyone tell me Jesus had personality? Every page of the Gospels brought him closer to Jesus. This was God, this was a man.

The real Jesus. Jesus walking through this life..... Jesus attitudes - I will - be clean. Not maverick Jesus, not I am God - watch me strut - but ... go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.

I will come to heal him.

When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her.....

“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”


Not the way we portray our fictitious superheroes. When Jesus was tired, pressed upon, He was ready to leave. Men leaned towards Him to give Him shallow, meaningless promises and talk.

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

In the midst of His day, a day filled with requests, endless ideas of what they perceive God to be, ideas of what He should be, their joy, their pain, their trouble, Jesus knew He needed a break.

He was asleep

The disciples ... they needed Him, didn't He know there was a storm! ............ they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”

Didn't they know Jesus lived in a storm of constant activity and thoughts ...... And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and .... there was a great calm.



These were the days Jesus walked the earth. We share Psalm 116 with Him, it applies to all of us, with Him:

Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

~ Psalm 116: 7-9

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Joshua 3 ~ the waters rose in heap very far away

Joshua 3


English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible


1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits [a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters] in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.



In 1964, Dr. James Pritchard put his efforts into Jordanian site of Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, identified as the biblical city of Zarethan. Pritchard, of the University of Pennsylvania, found in 2 months, he hit so many finds so fast that he hardly caught up with himself. He suspects that in Biblical times the Jordan Valley was the richest and most civilized part of Palestine.

Dr. Pritchard thinks Zarethan was a city of Canaanites, ruled by the Hebrews in Jerusalem, but he is also convinced that its site was inhabited long before the Hebrew invasion. For one thing, it had plenty of water, a rarity in the Jordan Valley. After spotting springs that still flow from the foot of the mound.

While probing in a slightly lower part of the mound, Dr. Pritchard stumbled by accident upon his most spectacular find: a mud-walled tomb with the skeleton of a woman of high station, perhaps a local queen. She lay with rich grave goods still around her—500 beads of carnelian and 75 of gold, silver pins, a silver chain, four ivory boxes, an ivory spoon with a human head carved on it, and many objects of bronze and pottery. "She must have died about 1200 B.C., not long after Joshua stormed the Promised Land."




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Psalm 71 ~ You will restore my life again

Psalm 71

Max McLean Audio Bible, English Standard Version


1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.

2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.

3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.

6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother's womb.
I will ever praise you.

7 I have become like a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

10 For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.

11 They say, "God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him."

12 Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.

13 May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.

16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?

20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.

21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.

22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I, whom you have redeemed.

24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.

Snow Drops. Even a child will be able to plant these flower bulbs & produce amazing results with little effort. With the first rays of sunshine, the green shoots of snowdrops start to emerge. These little flowers are used to pushing their way up through the snow. Snowdrop bulbs are tiny; it's great to spot them poking through the snow, and knowing that spring is only a few weeks away.

God is good on so many different levels. We know He gave us, freely, gave us, His Son, Jesus Christ, God brings us into eternity with Him. We know we have eternal redemption and peace with Him. We trust Him to bring us home and, also, to care for our loved ones.

God is also concerned with our lives, He doesn't just forsake us. He promises He will never leave us or forsake us. We may see many trouble in this life, but His Scripture fully assures us, He is with us helping and caring. Lent is 40 days. God gives us opportunity all the time to renew, regenerate & grow. We can rely upon God, His love doesn't change. But in Jesus Christ, we are new creatures and we can look at our sins, habits or patterns and seize His hope and opportunities to change.

40 days of Flood, 40 days of waiting for land - Genesis 7
40 days of Egyptian embalming for Israel - Genesis 50:3
40 days, Moses was on the mountain with God, twice - Exodus 24:18, Exodus 34:28-29
40 days, the spies of Moses (God did not ask for) looked at the promised land - Numbers 13:25
40 years, the children of Israel wandered after not seizing the promised land - Numbers 14:33
40 days Goliath mocked Israel - 1 Samuel 17:16
40 days, Elijah strengthened by one angelic meal went to Mount Horeb where the Lord passed by and he heard the voice of God - 1 Kings 19:8
40 days to repent, Jonah warned the City of Nineveh until God would overthrow the city.
40 days the people repented in those 40 days and God spared the city - Jonah 3:4
40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness - Matthew 4:1-2
40 days Jesus was seen on earth after His crucifixion - Acts 1:



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Other Scripture for Today Blogspot readings on Psalm 71:
February 8, 2011
April 7, 2009
September 18, 2008


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Psalm 116 ~ You have delivered my soul, my eyes, my feet

Psalm 116

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
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, deliver my soul!”

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves 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 will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

10 I believed, even when I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”

12 What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits 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 saints.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
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!

Psalm 116 is thanksgiving the Psalmist (and when we read God’s living word, it is you) responds to divine rescue from mortal danger and from near despair with vows promised to God. Rejoice you will walk with God in the land of the living. A strong reason to rejoice! God is living and active. He hears our prayers with mercy for this life. And we have eternal life in Jesus Christ with Him.

I kept faith, even when I said: even in the days of despair, the Psalmist does not lose all hope! Faith pleases God.

Verse 15 Too costly in the eyes of the LORD: the meaning is death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death. God wept when Lazarus died and He returned Lazarus to the living. God did not rejoice Jesus, His Son, had to die, yet He loved us enough to have atonement for our reconciliation to God. God calls us to holiness; and He has explained His ways are not our ways.

When we look for proof of wind, all we are able to see is the leaves move in the wind. The proof is the effect:

The Holy Spirit carried men along, moving and guiding them as they wrote in their own words what God wanted them to say. Although the Bible was written on perishable material and copied by hand for many centuries, its accuracy is not in doubt, proven by Dead Sea Scrolls and papyrus from 2,000 years. The Bible has survived persecution & criticism to be read with great interest in each generation. The Bible gives witness to the greatness of the Creator. A loving Father concerned for all of his creation. The Church of Jesus Christ has prevailed for 2,000 years against all the doubts, skeptics, haters and will continue until the return of Jesus Christ. This occurs with the love, protection and truth of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!


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Ezekiel 36:16-23 ~ For the Sake of My Holy Name

Ezekiel, painted by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni for the Sistine Chapel. Vatican views of the Sistine Chapel, movable 360'. Fascinating.

Ezekiel 36:16-23

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

For the Sake of My Holy Name

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Yesterday we looked at Romans 14 which speaks of Christians having mercy in their judgements upon each other - God has a plan for the people living in faith seeking to please Him. And we talked about mental health saying black and white viewpoints are not a good thing when taken to extremes. And recently I wrote of The Red Tent seeing Jacob as a biblical Neanderthal. Critics of the Bible say God speaks in vengeance as a voice only of the biblical Neanderthal.

After all it's all about balance. Well, it is for people. We trust our own judgement on every decision we make. The Scriptures God gives us establish goodness and righteousness. This is extremely needed and useful in building up civilization. Civilization, without the Scriptures, is about power and fear. Civilization seeking to distance themselves from God, afraid of offending anyone, is about winding ourselves apart.

In mercy in love, we trust each other to be kind about our weaknesses. In truth in love, we ask people to respect each other for our gifts and virtues. Without this goodness, we are at the mercy of one another. We resort to slavery, physical gratification in sex and food, taking what we need instead of believing we can earn it, narcissism/prostitution instead of true love, substance abuse and violence instead of diligence, and power instead of communication. We can all name various perversions off of the top of our head, but if you look in Leviticus and the Books of Law in the Scripture, there are things never even remotely mentioned in our newspapers named as immoral in the Books of the Law. Thank You, Jesus. For giving us righteousness.


God never goes suddenly forth swinging a meat cleaver. Ezekiel is speaking as a priest of God and a prophet. Ezekiel is explaining why destruction has befallen Judah, Israel, the Temple of God and the God's children. He is using an analogy of hidden sin. Malice people use against each other and it begins to rob life. I recently read an article of a woman who had 3 sisters and they all married verbally abusive men, the common denominator was a mother who was a central person in her Church and that mother was completely two faced to and about other women in her Church. A charming individual to the face and expert critic, verbal desiccator behind backs. Her daughters married abusive men believing finally they had found someone to speak the truth.

Perhaps the key ingredient of our winding down is the failure to love one another as ourselves. We all fall short of this, but mercy goes a long way.

The Temple had been used by the Children of God as a means of outward righteousness, but only a show. Will God our Father leave us in our mistakes, our hurt, our deliberate sin? No, in His mercy He will give all of us a way forward.

Christians and only casual observers overlook an important point in God. He isn't vengeful. The judgments of God are not casual and formed from the surface. While human beings never have the full story about each other; God knows goodness, holiness and righteousness.

Proverbs 14:10
The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

Alleluia, Father. You know and need no one to bear witness about man, You know what is in mankind, but You determined we are worth of dying for and worthy of You and worthy of Your love. We are the Easter people and halleluiah is our song. In Jesus Christ. Amen.




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