Isaiah 35 ~ Be strong, fear not. Your God will come. He will come & save you.

Matthew 4:16

The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned

Isaiah 35 ~ (American Standard Version)

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose!

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God!

  Sea of Galilee

Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Padre Island, Texas

And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for the redeemed: the wayfaring men, if they are fools, shall not stray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Elk County, Pennsylvania

Imagine the joy of being Isaiah. Isaiah Lived 700 years before Jesus Christ, yet he sees the Way of Holiness.

Hosanna, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the light. He is our redemption. Hallelujah!



And if - on a clear day, Handel could see this - what would Handel say? This one is for Edward, who was - and is - the tall monk! HopePointe Anglican, The Woodlands, Texas.

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

And He shall reign
And He shall reign
And He shall reign
He shall reign
And He shall reign forever and ever

King of Kings forever and ever
and Lord of Lords hallelujah hallelujah
And He shall reign forever and ever

King of Kings and Lord of Lords
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He shall reign forever and ever

Forever and ever and ever and ever
King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Halleeeeeeluuujahhhhhhhhh!


Thank You, God. Thank You. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow and for encouragement. The reason God is Love. Amen.

Thank You Father God for what You provide within our own backdoor, hearth and home. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord

And this is the meaning of Christmas. I'm grateful to have grown up in an era where we would have heard this message at our public school play. The motto of "In God We Trust" only goes back to the 1950s. We are a praying nation, so continue to pray for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to go forth.

Merry Christmas!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Habakkuk 2:1-3 ~ look out to see what He will say

Jesus Christ is Born, painted by Allegri da Correggio

Habakkuk 2 


I will take my stand at my watch post
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

2 And the Lord answered me:

“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

John the Baptist called people out of their every day lives, to a wilderness. An untamed area. These people heard Father God call them and went to rethink lives, wanting renewal, refreshment, and a new Hope of God's blessing. Beginning with forgiveness. The blessing of encompassing hopes, dreams, failures, compromise and selfish ways - sin. To rededicate hope of God, the Living Father God. A new beginning.

Matthew 13:16-17
16"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear."

Think about all the people of the Old Testament, the covenant with Abraham - longing to know what we have known all our lives of Jesus Christ. Three millenniums of longing for the Messiah. Moses saw Jesus and wanted to know if God would allow him to be the Messiah.

The photo looks like Allegri da Correggio's painting from the 15th Century for private chapels who wanted paintings of realistic, loving Mother of Jesus - in real circumstances. All generations looking for the Lord, want to think about the reality of His life. Two Millenniums of generations share this idea.

Making this about my favorite verse in the Scriptures for this generation:

John 20:29
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."





This is for us. Today.

Isaiah 35:5
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Colossians 1:12
Giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.


O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation, Sing all that hear in heaven God's holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Amen.

Father God, we thank you for wedding guards found in cars left unattended. We give you Great Thanks for Being a Light Bringer. Jesus the LORD. AMEN You are the Light of the World. Alleluia!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Romans 13:11-14 ~ Besides this you know the time

This Blog Post Might Not Be for the Very Christmas-y
and Might Not Be Your Cup Of Tea at this Time.
This is about Encouragement in Swift or Sluggish Water of Holiday Holly Golly Next Year.

Romans 13:11-14

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in wild parties and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality, lust and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

I have to say this seems like a very un-Christmas sort of Passage. And then again, this is a Christmas sort of passage. Last year we had a death in the family. This year a friend had a death in the family. I'm not sure this is always sad. I think some death at this time of year is the remembrance of what we cherish and the time to go on Home to God. My great-uncle was recalling his mother's birthday and how happy that day was for him when he was 6 years old and, later that day, he was in Heaven in his 94th year. He said it was a great day and how happy that day was for her as well. I think my great-uncle picked up that conversational thread with my great-grandmother Julia that very day.

I read a Christian blog recently and the Title felt free to cuss. It was "The b.s. That God Never Gives Us Too Much To Handle". No one is going to escape the times that are difficult. I know of one person people considered to be problem free - she really had trouble when her adult children began to experience real life trouble in their twenties. Problems we all live through and, suddenly, her friends did say she was almost undone, consumed with sorrow and worry, as her children faced life - and it seemed to be worse for her to live these situations out through the ones she loves. Maybe that requires a very earnest "Thank God" for having problems we have to work through and not our children. There just might be some very real truth to the Scripture saying the Comfort we receive enables us to help our loved ones to be comforted. And sometimes that Holy Spirit Comfort is Earned.

And Jesus again caresses a healed place in us when we are truly able to comfort, in the comfort we have received, and pass on again. Giving meaning today to the phrase "He healed them all."

We have to not love our own problems. We have to love the days when we are lighter. And treat the days we are not so light with honesty to recover. Communicate and apologize.

God loves Solutions and Going Forth! A new wind. A new reason to be grateful. A new approach.

Psalm 96
Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

This Quote is 2 Corinthians:9, 10

When people tell me their prayer requests about grief, they will listen intently to the problems of famous and talented Claude Monet.

I have a coffee table book I've had for years. During the times that I grieved so for my infant daughter being stillborn, some days it was tough just to go outside for the tears and swollen face of grief. The embarrassment. When, actually, grief is part of life. We form very important ideas of our existence sometimes through fire.

Back to Monet book, so I was in the doctors office and like my cousin Bob said, "Grief is like standing in the ocean with your back to the ocean and surveying the houses along the coast, suddenly, without warning - grief is like a wave of the ocean that knocks you down to your knees." And I was about to cry, again. I picked up the book that I have owned for two decades to hide. The doctor's waiting room had the same copy. And found something about grief that people with grief hold on to like a rope. I'd certainly never noticed when looking at the paintings before, a time table of his life events:

Claude Monet was so callous - as his first wife lay dying, he painted the colors her body changed as her spirit left her body. I've never liked the painting, or the story. That does not relate to me. And I paint. But the next part of the events, excuse Claude Monet. He lived to paint like famous baseball players life to have a baseball continually in their hand. For two years after he experienced death, he could not paint. He found routine life almost too hard to bare.

Eventually he remarried his wife's dear friend, because they wept together. She had lost a parent and her best friend. And Claude Monet found joy again. Unfortunately, his second wife had many children. To feed and educate. And the lovely part was - she was a dear woman, who loved all those around her. Claude Monet did as well. And then her child died. And for two years they grieved and he could not paint. And then as life improved, a nephew who was part of their daily fabric died. Then a parent, then the daughter-in-law who carried them from the grief. I cannot recall the exact details, but Monet had to face that death was part of life.

Claude Monet wrote,"Grief is a terrible burden, but eventually you must decide where you are going." He did not elaborate. He was part of the art world focusing on beauty. But the phrase rang in the sincerity of deeper and abiding meaning. A man who spent twelve years adjusting to love not being nearby has something meaningful to say.



Grief is not always for death. Grief is for aging and for seeing illness. Grief can be for permanent life changing events. We see people moving when their college age children go to school, to be near them, I applaud going with the Winds of the Spirit.

Grief can be mild. Not experiencing all the Holidays "You are Supposed To". Grief can be "Not Living Up To Your Parents' Expectations." Grief can be seeing life is very different than our early childhood years and the way people spend their time.

Comfort exists among the Saints ~
 the Communion of Saints.

People who will pray for us for weeks just knowing a wooden floor has extreme issues and expecting God to show up. People who are sad because their small business needs a new boiler and Christmas for the kids. We pray - Jesus, You are Indeed Lord. You will fix the solution and or create the worry to be able to give the comfort to others. You Will because You are God and You are Love. Amen.

Friends who tell you about their grandson needs prayer and you find out - you had the same illness and it baffled the doctors and really what was needed was a topical antibiotic prescribed all over the body. And later they tell you about hypobaric chambers they read about for your spouse. The Communion of Saints.

One Person's Troubles become the Strength Given to the Next Person.
One Person's Expectation of Jesus Christ becomes a Miracle.
One Person's Solution found from diligent prayer becomes the Next Beloved Person's Joy.

Worries become the beauty of tomorrow. Solutions for the next generation. For the comfort we are given, is comfort again when shared. This art is Wolf Kahn. Seeing the color in the trees, helps us to remember to see the forest when we see the one tree.

Father God we weep with those who weep, because life has taught us to do that. Let us remember that in faith we can laugh at the time to come. Our future is Your hands. We hope to have Your face, Father God, to shine upon us.

Not being the ones making only our own purposes and puny plans Evil recognizes God and fears what He will ask of us. In Jesus Christ, let us put real hope in the revealing of His purpose for us. Rejoicing in all life is given through Jesus Christ. Trusting again. Asking His mercy, grace and forgiveness to get back up on the Deep Breathe Forward to Jesus Path.And taking new steps with firm knees and new hope again. In You we Trust Father God. Amen.

Know your Season. Celebrate. Jesus is the Reason.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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John 5:30-47 ~ The will of Him who sent me

John 5:30-47

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.

33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”


Jesus has just told us the Scriptures, all of the Scriptures are Centered Upon Jesus Christ the Lord.

( And speaking of Center of the Universe -Maybe the actual December 25th Birthday is in the realm of God to promote. And the appearance is we lucked into the Birthday? Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”)


Because if we do this -

Matthew 6:33
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What is our center?

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Does our Center in Jesus Christ move?

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

In a leap of faith then, we must believe this -

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

And doesn't this Scripture run in tandem withour Father God - who created Jesus, the Scriptures, the world and the universe - with His Word?

Hebrews 13:20-21
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Father God in Your Abiding and abundant Grace, help us in faith and Love found in Jesus. Bless us to have a life called trustworthy for fully accepting Jesus came into the world to save me, a sinner. 

I have found mercy. In Your perfect patience enable my life to help my beloved ones believe in Jesus Christ. Leading us unto eternal life You gave us.Abundant Grace - You are Jesus Christ - in You we find the center to Love You and others in an abundant Life. You, Father God, are Love. Let Your Light Shine. Forever. Amen. God is Good.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Mark 7 ~ yet He could not be hidden

Mark 7

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 

 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 

Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 

 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”

 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 

30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Psalm 91
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

 

A Facebook friend, Malone, has said today:
As I listen to Christians in America, it seems to me that the vast majority of us are de facto Semi-Pelagianists. 

God’s grace makes us uneasy. Grace doesn’t feel right or fair. It’s like we’re getting something we don’t deserve or didn’t have to work for at all; that we didn’t get it the old fashioned way by earning it. It’s as if Someone gave us something exceptionally amazing at Christmas, something it turns out that we really loved and needed, and it’s not that we just forgot to get Him anything in return, we actually chose not to get Him anything at all. EXACTLY. And, for me, that’s what puts the “Merry” in Christmas.

An idea we have been thinking on for two millenniums - what we owe God and His ability, in effect, to come out of the larger Tupperware box we place Him in.

We debate Christmas. 

The commercialism. What goes around comes around. Oliver Cromwell made England without Christmas for 18 years. If you had a ham on Christmas Day - you might be placed in the stockades. "Christ's Mass" had a ring of Roman Catholicism about it, the season was changed to "Christ tide" and any celebration confined to one day - of fasting. Shops were forced to stay open - business as usual.


Grace wasn't given to this Holy Day. And Grace from Love is the reason for the Gift.

Today. This is the Day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. God lists Joy as the second fruit of His Holy Spirit.

Christmas - Jesus Christ the Lord - is a Gift.


Ephesians 2

7 so that in the ages to come He might show
 the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 


8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.


Joy is remembered. In this life - Joy is something rare and to be treasured.

 

The Christmas Truce (German: Weihnachtsfrieden; French: Trêve de Noël) - unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of World War I around Christmas 1914. In the week leading up to the holy day, German and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In areas, men from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs.

If I had to pick being Cromwell Go Along with Current Ideas or Silent Night Christmas Truce, I'd far rather be the verve in that Silent Night. I'd rather be included in the wonder of love and the miraculous acts of God found in the Christmas Truce. I'd put forth my brain to ask in the Sovereignty of God, if really December 25th is the Real Date of the Birth of Christ. I'd rather be leaning upon God's authority than rest safely in the what of what of every day.

When we gathered recently to remember what our best Christmas memories were - it wasn't the cap gun or the video game or the doll - we remembered the loved ones who gathered to celebrate the Birth of Jesus. The Gift of Christmas is the Love we give. And the time we have given to us by loved ones. 


The Joy of God is remembered far longer than all other -

Father God, help me to remember gratitude and the joy seen in today. Thank You that Grace is indeed unearned.  We thank You that You are still working and the faith is mysterious because Your ways are not ours. The joy in Looking Upward and away from ourselves. Give us your good gifts, and help us to be loving and grateful. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Psalm 28 ~ To you, O Lord, I call

Psalm 28

1 To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.

3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.

6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Blue, blue Christmas?

The radio station Air One in Houston is having a Christmas Season of picking Joy. We cannot always chose the emotion of Joy, however, in reality, we largely are able to do this. Sometimes just by praying the Lord's Prayer.

I've volunteered for two and half years in the community and I'd like to recall this particular person who decided to choose joy. The Gospel of John begins with a promise given - John is speaking of the Glory and Light of God he has promised not to disclose of Jesus' transfiguration. Luke 1 begins with the life story of a barren Priest of God. And in leaning into God - faith, hope and Love are discovered to change lives.

A young boy of sixteen told me his story. At age 12, his family, who had a lot of experience with the slum situation of prison institutionalization had his parents tell him - they were permanently done with him. He was cast aside. He spent the next two years in and out of juvenile detention centers. And he recalled with me that his grandfather advised him to become one of the people who like to be in prison where meals and shelter are provided. As the grandfather had done.

And the system began to give him strength in counseling to see - no one deserves to be abandoned by their parents. Nothing he could ever do would earn that as a punishment. And he said this with strength of truth on his side. I marveled at him. And did see that he had held this truth to his soul. I saw the beginnings of a man who would understand love and commitment building the framework, the hard work, of where happiness could dwell.

He was beginning to understand where God held him in his life.

Why? The institution. No. Just like the Gospel of Luke there was a barren Priest. A man who had had the calling of God Almighty to begin a Church and had failed, twice. This minister of God arrived at Juvenile Detention because his calling had failed. And he began to visit and know a 14 year old boy. And to preach the Gospel without words.

The homeless boy was given a sofa because that was available. And introduced and taken to GED training where he earned his GED at age 14. And a job was found. Not many jobs are available to young men with a record and a GED at age 14. A job was found cleaning construction sites at night, 5 nights a week. The construction company began to like the boy. The boy found an apartment.

And when this young man found violence in his new home life - he learned to walk away. Go for a long walk to find the others he lived with agreed with this stance and approved. The Minister who had failed was learning - that his failure was saving a dear life.

A new life was being created. And the new life worth living called for commitment and self-denial, stamina, thinking, and trust in God for Hope. And a man of sixteen was looking very pleased that he knew a few profound things to set his life in order. The minister and the boy found that when he turned eighteen, he was going to have a job with the full-time job of the minister in a career he could earn a living in the rest of his life. How? The Minister knew a few things that pertain to being blessed by God.

Giving back to the community? Sometimes - the community gives a whole lot back themselves just in the Hope their soul brings forth.

Thank You God for the Reason for the Season. Even in fish, You were known to put Your hands in there and feed us!

We thank You in Jesus Christ for our blessings of Strength and fire in the Holy Spirit. A fire millenniums ago Mose found to be a sustaining fire of infinite beauty. Blessed are You Lord God. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

One of the most ancient of Christian inscriptions, God fishes among the Living