Psalm 41 ~ set me in Your presence forever

Monique in Gray Robe by Henri Matisse


Matisse Chapel by Faith Ringgold

Psalm 41

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1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor [or weak]!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.

4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me [my soul], for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me [they devise evil against me].

8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out [has fastened] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

In 1942, Monique Bourgeois answered an ad for a "a young and pretty nurse." Her patient was wheel-chair bound and trying to recover from bowel cancer. Monique was a caring woman. She noticed she was "like his granddaughter or his muse, and she appreciated he was always a perfect gentleman."

Generous Christian care, honest fellowship, a need for a place of prayer in a rest home - Light created from a ramshackle garage.

She propped up his pillows, read to him and took walks with him; her wit and plainspoken, straightforward conversation concreted their friendship. Their friendship would culminate in the creation Henri Matisse considered his life’s greatest achievement: the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France.

When her assignment ended, he asked her to pose for him, and she reluctantly consented. Henri Matisse - master of the expressive language of color and drawing, displayed a body of work spanning over a half-century, recognized as a leading figure in modern art. "As a painter he loved the splendid mass of her dark hair and the way her neck rose from her shoulders like a white tower," Hilary Spurling, his biographer, wrote. “She learned a lot from him, and he found her stimulating, funny, and touching,” says Matisse biographer Hilary Spurling. On discovering that his nurse was an amateur artist, Matisse taught her about perspective. When he asked her opinion of his paintings and drawings, she replied, “Monsieur, I like the colors a lot, but the drawings not so much.” Matisse approved of her candid answer and repeated it several times.

"I was rather surprised, for I had never been considered a beauty," she wrote in a 1993 book about their friendship. "Monique in Gray Robe." "It was just lines and blobs of color," she said. She sat for three other oil paintings: "The Idol," "Green Dress and Oranges" and "Tabac Royal."

As Monique recovered from tuberculosis at a Dominican-run rest home her patient, Matisse, reappeared in her life. Henri Matisse moved in across the street. Around the same time, and disregarding Matisse's counsel, she entered a distant Dominican convent in 1943 as a novice, named Sister Jacques-Marie. “He was horrified,” says Spurling, adding that Matisse was “a completely secular person who tried hard to dissuade her.” In an impassioned exchange of letters on the subject, Matisse wrote to his former nurse: “I do not need any lectures about religious calling. I’ve not needed the sacraments to glorify the name of God throughout my life. I went as far as Tahiti to admire the beauty of the light He created so I might share it with others through my work.”

In 1946, Ms. Spurling's book, "Matisse the Master," said the lonely Matisse "found warmth and comfort in the uncomplicated affection" of the nun. In a letter to his friend Andre Rouveyre, Matisse likened his near-flirtation with Sister Jacques-Marie to a “fleur-tation,” because “what takes place between us is like a shower of flowers—rose petals that we throw at each other.” Sister Jacques-Marie sketched an Assumption for Matisse and he urged her to turn it into a stained-glass window. It happened that the rest home, Foyer Lacordaire, was hoping to convert a ramshackle garage used for prayer into a full-fledged chapel, and Matisse wondered if displaying the window could help raise money.

With help from a monk at the rest home, Matisse roughed out a sketch for a chapel, and Sister Jacques-Marie made the working model. Soon Matisse immersed himself in every aspect of the chapel, from the brushstroke sketches of a Stations of the Cross mural to the vestments and the slender Crucifixion altarpiece. The stained-glass windows, with one pair, "Tree of Life," suggestive of a flowering cactus, are regarded as particular triumphs; they allow lemon-yellow, bottle-green and blue light to play capriciously against white-tiled walls and the marble floor.

Sister Jacques-Marie did preliminary design work and offered candid evaluations. As important, she ran interference with her local superior, who disapproved of a chapel designed by an artist known for his nudes. In the end, Matisse described the chapel as "their shared project." Sister Jacques-Marie told Matisse she believed he was inspired by God Almighty. The Chapel of the Rosary is flooded with dazzling sunlight.

The Vatican displays Matisse created Stations of the Cross, wall decorations, furniture, stained-glass windows, even the vestments and altar cloths, for the Dominican chapel in Vence. Three large-scale drawings, all more than five meters high and drawn to scale, form the basis for the Tree of Life stained glass behind the altar and the Virgin and Child depiction created on ceramic panels in the chapel’s presbytery. The works are currently in conservation, as glue used to attach backing panels pre-1980 has seeped through to the surface of the drawings. Five silk chasubles (the outer vestments worn by clergy during Mass) in a variety of colors, and a bell-tower bronze cross, all made by Matisse, will also go on view at the Vatican in 2011.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

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Matthew 25 ~ Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?

Matthew 25

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1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps [torches] and went to meet the bridegroom [and the bride]. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants [bondservants] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents [talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer], to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers [brothers and sisters], you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There once was a man who went to an ivy league college and graduated with honors. Then a good law school, graduated with honors. He served his country, in the military for six years and rose to one of the highest positions in administration. He then founded a law firm and was joined by an SEC Chairman. Then they were joined by Counsel from a Fortune 500 Company. A marriage with three children ended in divorce.

The man then joined the President of the United States' Administration.

Charles "Chuck" Wendell Colson was appointed as Special Counsel to President Nixon. Known as the genius' of an evil administration, Colson has written he was "valuable to the President ... because I was willing ... to be ruthless in getting things done." A quip that "Colson would walk over his own grandmother if necessary" mutated into claims in news stories that Colson had boasted he would run over his own grandmother to re-elect Nixon. Plotz reports Colson sought to hire Teamsters thugs to beat up anti-war demonstrators. Colson proposed firebombing the Brookings Institution and stealing politically damaging documents while firefighters put the fire out.

Colson also became involved in the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP or CREEP). At a CRP meeting on March 21, 1971, it was agreed to spend $250,000 on "intelligence gathering" on the Democratic Party.

Colson was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglary. On June 21, 1974, Colson was given a one- to three-year sentence and fined $5,000. He was subsequently disbarred in the District of Columbia, with the expectation of his also being prohibited from using his licenses from Virginia and Massachusetts.

Colson served seven months in Maxwell Correctional Facility in Alabama. During his time in prison, Colson had become increasingly aware of what he saw as injustices done to prisoners and shortcomings in their rehabilitation. He called prison the "lock 'em and leave them system."

This is also the story about how God can change the life of a man caught up in the corrupting influence of political power and bring great good out of evil. Since he was not directly involved in the Watergate doings, Colson probably could have easily avoided being convicted and sent to prison. But his encounter with Jesus Christ and conversion to Christianity strengthened his conscience and led him to plead guilty to an unrelated crime that he did commit. He went to prison and saw a different side of the "law and order" society that the Nixon Administration sought to promote. Even through the fear and despair of those times, the power of God became even more evident to Chuck Colson while in prison.

Tom Phillips, a colleague, had been converted at a Billy Graham crusade. Phillips read Colson the Gospel and read him a portion from CS Lewis’ "Mere Christianity." "A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

"...while I sat alone staring at the sea I love, words I had not been certain I could understand or say fell from my lips: "Lord Jesus, I believe in You. I accept You. Please come into my life. I commit it to You." With these few words...came a sureness of mind that matched the depth of feeling in my heart. There came something more: strength and serenity, a wonderful new assurance about life, a fresh perception of myself in the world around me. In the process, I felt old fears, tensions and animosities training away. I was coming alive to things I'd never seen before; as if God was filling the barren void I'd known for so many months, filling it to its brim with a whole new kind of awareness.... I could not possibly in my wildest dreams have imagined what it would involve. How fortunate it is that God does not allow us to see into the future."

– Charles Colson

After Charles Colson's conversion, others had an initial disbelief in Colson's heart for Jesus Christ. He also had the opportunity, during a three-day furlough to attend his father's funeral, to pore over his father's papers and discover the two shared an interest in prison reform. Colson began to believe God called him to aid in prison reform.

After his release from prison, Colson founded Prison Fellowship. All of Colson's book royalties are donated to Prison Fellowship.

The faith-based initiative, InnerChange, at the Carol Vance Unit (originally named the Jester II Unit) prison facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Fort Bend County, Texas. Colson led a small group that includes Dr. Byron Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania, who was the principal researcher of the InnerChange study, a few staff members of Prison Fellowship and three InnerChange graduates to the meeting. In the presentation, Dr. Johnson explained that 171 participants in the InnerChange program were compared to a matched group of 1,754 inmates from the prison's general population. The study found that only 8 percent of InnerChange graduates, as opposed to 20.3 percent of inmates in the matched comparison group, became offenders again in a two-year period. In other words, the recidivism rate was cut by almost two-thirds for those who complete the faith-based program. Those who are dismissed for disciplinary reasons or who drop out voluntarily, or those who are paroled before completion, have a comparable rate of rearrest and incarceration.

50,000 volunteers later, 88 countries, a changed heart for Jesus Christ has led a new, bright light.

Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

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Psalm 90 ~ For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past

Remains of Tabernacle Dwelling
First Temple built by Solomon

Wall closest, Archaeological ruin of First Temple Wall.
Models of Second Temple






Night at Golgotha, Vasily Vereshchagin

Arch of Titus, Conquering Jerusalem, relief on the wall. The Ark of the Covenant is missing. The gold from the Temple was used to build the Colosseum. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, the time of the natural death of Jesus, if He'd lived to be old.













Way of the Cross, Good Friday Service at the Colosseum

4th Century Church of St. Peter's built by Constantine. Built to look like the Royal Stoa of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem.
4th Century Church of St. Peter's built by Constantine
St. Peter's Interior Today.
Stained Glass Cathedral Rheims
Lyon Cathedral
Wells Cathedral


Country Church painted by Dzvinka Stifel
Beautiful altars




Psalm 90


A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.


English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible


1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place [our refuge]
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man [of Adam] !”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span [or pride] is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor [beauty] of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!


Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Two days ago, Jesus Christ offered Himself as our sacrifice. Death was abolished and a new Heaven was written of by the apostle John, breathed out by the Holy Spirit ~ in the eyes of our Father God.

When we stand in our sanctuary, Church, praising God, we are - in His eyes - a mere breath away from the events we see posted today.

We are just dust, but Precious in the eyes of God. God is God of the Living. Many generations Living with Him; He is our refuge!

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Exodus 33:19 ~ The Lord

Though it is commonly known as Saint Catherine's, the full, official name of the monastery is, The Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai.

The oldest record of monastic life, at Sinai, is the travel journal written by a woman named Egeria c. 381-384. She visited many places around the Holy Land and Mount Sinai, where, according to the Hebrew Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush or referred to as "St. Helen's Chapel." The site is sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. Its strength lies in Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Georgian, Syriac and old Udi texts. The Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest complete Bible, now in the British Library, left the monastery in the 19th century for Russia, in circumstances that are now disputed.

Exodus 33:19

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19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.


When we ask the LORD for His blessings, we ask a good thing.

Psalm 25

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1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship [The secret counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.

Father, Abba, we love Your amazing works in the Old Testament, usually worked through one man. Abba, we love even more Your Son, brought the powerful Holy Spirit to All Who Believe and call upon Your name. Father God, we look to You in hope. To see Your path and Your plan move to Your Glory. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Psalm: 37:19-42 ~ those cursed by Him shall be cut off

Psalm 37:19-40

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19 they (the blameless) are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.

27 Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

I was thinking, this week, of the Prodigal Son Parable. I wondered if the Father remained glad to have taken back the son, who humiliated Him publicly. Of course, it is the story of God's mercy for us. I decided under the law, the Father wasn't glad. The son probably continued to be an effort and a problem. And ... in the path, the Way, of the "fulfilling of the Law" = Love, the merciful Father was more than pleased. The Way, the Truth and the Life.

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

When we think of Eli ~ wonderful Eli who was so intuitive of the Lord in Hannah's prayer & kind to Samuel. Samuel didn't want to bring Eli the news that the Lord had found fault with Eli's sons' sins and Eli who failed to restrain them. Later, Samuel sons were not killed, but directly snubbed by Israel for leadership.

Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace

When you look at the descendants of American Puritan leaders, you see a different story. The children of Christian leaders largely have children who went on to live godly, prosperous lives living the Light of Christ. The difference is the mercy of atonement for sin in Jesus Christ. Real Christian mercy makes generous and kind allowances for mistakes and looks with hope to the future.

because they take refuge in Him


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Matthew 9:14-17 ~ New wine is put in fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved

Matthew 9:14-17

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14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [often], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

New opportunities, a breathe of God's favor. Versus hopelessness. Jesus told us He is the Vine.

Do you remember President Reagan accepting the nomination to run for President of the United States? He started by saying, America has not finished. Our glory days have not passed us by, there is " a bright dawn ahead." Jesus tells us the same thing when we put our hope in Him.

New opportunities for a solution. Even in the Book of Genesis we see drunkenness, permanent problems from drinking. It's interesting to remember international slave ships and trade were stopped at the same time substance abuse began to go down.

Why do we have substance abuse? People say and indicate all the time, they want to be in control of their lives, they want to decide what they believe, how they act. Then they are overwhelmed, feel insecure, want to distance themselves from their lives. According to Alcoholics Anonymous, people lose their insecurities, feel they are living life, acquire a new set of friends and new habits.

This isn't a new problem for the world. China executed everyone in the Opium Den. The U.K. had Divine Help from God to overcome the Gin problems occurring in early 18th and 19th century; by revivals led with people involved in the Salvation Army, the new Methodist Church and politicians like Wilbur Wilberforce. Did you see the movie, "Amazing Grace"?

If we speak of Spiritual issues or of substance abuse, we are speaking of the same thing. Hope, faith, Love. Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Substance abuse and hopelessness require the same remedy. We have to believe we matter to each other and to God to have hope.

What is the meaning of all of this new wine versus old wine analogy? It is for.... every single one of us:

New wine - being changed by Jesus, seeing our lives as a gift from God and for God, not just another salmon swimming upstream without hope and going through the daily work. Old wine - what is valued, mellowed, cherished. What is Jesus telling us? We cannot change, cannot save ourselves. We cannot do it ourselves. With God all things are possible. Every day, we take our old wine - the things we value, the things the world expects, old hurts, the things that concern us. And we put them before God - the new wine of the Holy Spirit. We become the new wineskins, because of our faith. Then we see the blessings and we thank Him. We put the people we care about forward in prayer. We trust God with our lives.

Blessed be God, who creates light out of darkness.

Isaiah 45:

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob's descendants,
'Seek me in vain.'
I, the LORD, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.

²⁰ "Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.

²¹ Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the LORD ?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.

²² "Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.

²³ By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.

²⁴ They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone
are righteousness and strength.' "
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.

²⁵ But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel
will be found righteous and will exult!!!

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Jesus. Amen.

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