Psalm 79:8-13 ~ let thy compassion come speedily to meet us

Psalm 79:8-13
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers; let thy compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. 9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake! 10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of thy servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before thee; according to thy great power preserve those doomed to die! 12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted thee, O Lord! 13 Then we thy people, the flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever; from generation to generation we will recount thy praise.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It was the worst day. Work had mess ups at the factory from the quotes, the art wasn't right. My son went to Michigan to see his girlfriend today for a week, he has a sprained ankle. My husband has a really hurt pulled shoulder to neck from digging a ditch at the church and then doing disc golf. My older son went to Ultimate Frisbee and severely sprained both shins, had to go out and buy more Ace bandages. My teeth started to kill me all over, like no other, and I read it is a sinus infection. The dog, Merit, has another bladder infection &; I'm worried about my 10 year old dog. So he urinated all over Cal's room in front of us and couldn't stop. Cal's dog, Jackson, threw up on the living room rug. And I broke my brand spanking new steam cleaner. But Cal fixed it.

Life has so many issues and complications, we will rest our worries for today in Jesus' arms and look for Him to bear us up.

Some days, I'd have to say, it's good to be a blogger. To look back on 2009 and say, this too shall pass. I actually picked the Jesus photo heart warmingly reminds me of my son, Cal.

the flock of thy pasture

New opportunities and new seasons. New people to pray for with love. Generation to generation, we hand our concerns to a Vast Father GOD. He might well be the size of the Universe itself. His Right Hand wasn't even required for the Red Sea. Infinitely compassionate. Even His Name is Glory.

Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and and not we ourselves,
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Thank You Father God! For troubles past. Thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart. Making us stronger. You answered, my strength of soul, You increased. We open our lives to you transparently. We are Yours. We ask You for the Glory of Your name, giving us lives making each day a path in You. Thank You for the opportunity we have, each day, to pray for those we are given by You. For each loved member of the family, the blessings of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Blessings upon us for the Words of Your Mouth - blessed be the ways of our Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is High, He regards His flock. We look in expectation to Him, His Will be done for His glory and our good.

The opportunities in our Church. And the blessing of Clark's new adventure as Bishop and as the formation of Home Church Family Groups. We strive to bring Your will for Heaven to this earth and ask for Your Light to shine in us. Bringing great celebration, calling friends and neighbors together and rejoicing, we have found lost sheep. In the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven!

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

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Judges 16 ~ in the tomb of Manoah his father.

Creation painted by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, ceiling of the Sistene Chapel

Judges 16

1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web [and fasten it tight . . . into the web ]. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

A lot of us have grown up thinking Samson was a yut. How would you explain to kids in Sunday School, Samson was actually a dichotomy between gift of God and menace. A dichotomy between blessed and narcissist. Samson is an addict, a man taking such pleasure in the blessing of strength, he is a sexual addict. We could have been taught as children - Samson is a mirror image of David gone awry.

Here is a cornerstone - Samson never had to struggle with indifference of others, false accusation, abandonment, his parents didn't have 8 sons - where he is considered least, he doesn't appear to have a pivotal situation of moral consequences trust into his life without his choice. Samson seems to have it all handed to him. And acts more like Goliath than David. One of the thoughts in this passage is trouble defines us in our choices. An unsought blessing.

Samson is a deeper dichotomy of government following man-made rules of hate, allowing a veneer of righteousness. He is the epitome of hate talk, hate actions given a place of authority. Giving the unsaved, an excuse of "The Crusades" to avoid knowing the Love of God. Giving the saved a chance to look at following blindly a hateful righteousness. Look for God to have a Spirit of Truthfulness with Mercy. Look at this passage again to see if God is plainly speaking or if it is a passage of man interpreting God to be just like them. God asks for holiness. This is the tangle of doing what feels right versus the holiness of God. It is what Judges became.

Samson's beginning - the announcement of God's plan for Samson from the angel of the Lord declares Samson to be a Nazirite.

Numbers 6:1-8
The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the LORD as a Nazirite, 3 they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

5 “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the LORD is over; they must let their hair grow long.

6 “‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the LORD, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body. 7 Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. 8 Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the LORD.


Because we have all fallen short of the glory of God, as sinners, it is the Lord's plan to interweave all things for good in His time and plan. Blending into Samson's victorious plan as a Judge of Israel, he sets out to marry a Philistine woman. In Judges 14, it is announced Samson is using this marriage to destroy Philistines. Samson takes too much pleasure in taunting the Philistine men. Samson discovers it hurts to be rejected even after self-centeredness edging towards sadism. Pride rears up when his father-in-law casually offers the younger sister in holy matrimony. Is one person just as easily exchanged for another? Hasn't Samson done the exact same thing in using his marriage as a ploy to destroy his enemies? Haven't other Biblical patriarchs had to work through the theft of a blessing? Like Jacob, God named Israel.

God had promised Samson a holy path, Samson's planning is the problem. Samson is trusting the untrustworthy perhaps in an attempt to say - he is trustworthy. Not all that bad deep down.

Samson tells Delilah if she hurts him, he will be just like any other man. A lot of times we set our selves apart - not for holiness - telling ourselves our situation is different than others. It is a cry Charlie Sheen uses. We are like every other person in this world, in a very aggrandized fashion - sometimes hurt, sometimes hurt-er.

A lot in this Scripture passage is difficult to fit precisely into our own lives. Yet there are some pretty profound truths. Hurting others, hurts us and sends us down a twisted path. Justice in life isn't swift, it isn't accurate and we usually find a way to almost justify to ourselves our own deeds. When we focus on what should be fair in life, using only our own judgment, our own wants - the path is not made straight. This path is Far from straight... God does not abandon Samson even in the midst of his self-destruction.

God's ways are Holy. We judge God to be like us. In this passage, God does not speak, but prayers are spoken to Him. Judges represents a time when people tried to govern themselves, but they were all doing what felt "right" to them. How does Samson truly perceive God Almighty to be different from Dagon - the Philistine god? Perhaps the Philistines and Samson had all met their match.

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

Exodus 23:25
You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

Luke 10:27
Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Psalm 27:11
Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. (ESV)
or
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. (NIV)


Father God, in blessings and in adversity, You have made them both. Help us not to seek revenge or dwell in grudges. Help us, Lord, to begin these attitudes and actions of love with our parents and continue it into our larger lives. Teach us each day to love others. Let Your light shine in us and drive out our darkness. In Your Grace we rest and not in our own goodness. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.


How much easier in Jesus Christ to find a straight path, not trusting in ourselves to start a holy war. Allowing the judgement to come from God. Believing He will set His path before us to walk. Trusting in His grace.

2 Corinthians 5


1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 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.

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Isaiah 42:1-7 ~ I, the LORD, have called you

Isaiah 42:1-7 ~ I, the LORD, have called you

John 1: 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.


Isaiah 42:1-7 (New King James Version)

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.

4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

5 Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:

6 “ I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,

7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.



Greetings from the most southern tip of the United States, Padre Island, Texas. We are winding up a family vacation and it was a time of hassle, confusion and endearment. About the way family reunions generally are. With plans and hopes to return and do this again.

We always see beautiful photos of Lighthouses. Padre Island was famous from the 15th Century until about 1914 for being a sandbar loaded with rigging's, treasure, loot and decaying wrecked ships littering the island. Not to mention famous for pristine white sand beaches and beautiful water as clear as the Caribbean. I won't spend time telling you about Jack, age 83, catching a Bonnet Head Shark, or seeing Ashley catch her first fish and that incredible joy. Or my mom's 80th birthday and the house brimming with people.

I will say ponder the photos of Lighthouses. We always see them standing majestically lighting the sky. We are called to be Light. Circumstances of difficulty, old days seen with humor, events now funny,

Romans 5:3-5
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Life rarely presents itself in perfection. There is a lot of catch can and make do. This is the see how it will go with me Paul said life is. When I think of you, I pray in joy. I do believe when we rely upon HIM, we are indeed living better than the dream, participating in hope, faith and in the Love He fills our hearts with.

2 Corinthians 4:9
we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body

Youth ministry has a phrase that says teachable moments, earning the right to be heard. I'd say these family reunions have this good flavor. Borrowing from my friend Sandra, we went around the table with a birthday blessing including a God given attribute for each person; this sealed the good humored mood and our beach walk with the puppy was an adventure with so many kind people interested in the new Springer. A word fitly spoken, is a blessing indeed.

Now about those Lighthouses. I, the LORD, have called you...

Luke 2:32
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.

John 12:36
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

Father God, let our bodies be the Temple where you move, dwell and have Your being. And help our words and works be the honest struggles of people living in the world, seeking to be not of the world, believing in the Light of Jesus Christ the Lord. And being that city upon a hill, where our hope is in You. Amen.

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Isaiah 49:1-13 ~ And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Behold, these shall come from afar

Judges 6:11-23

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

In the morning I sometimes check on the Feedjit tool at the bottom of the page and push the Real-time view seeing what people are reading, praying, thinking and where they come from (like the wonder I feel looking at the dots appear on the spinning globe tool). Twice it has been someone from Vatican City and flying the Vatican flag.









Today, before my day began, I saw Feedjit and was thinking the rest of the day. The question was this......

"i wonder what God thinks of me"

Empathy filled me at the lower case i and the desire to know, capital G God, in the question.

There are multitudes of Scripture written personally to "i" just for this reason. As many as the stars we can see in the sky. Four hit me that I'd like to share. The Word being living and active - these Scriptures create thoughts & emotion in us - sometimes this is why people are angry or uncomfortable reading the Scriptures. For those emotions, prayer and talking to God is needed.

As Father God sees us, He is like Isaiah, He is not fixed on today, in a cage of time. He is not seeing us as teenagers, moms/dads, married or elderly and (based on the colors described of the people in Jesus' ancestry) He doesn't really see us as a color. We are not locked in to a specific time for God, He sees us as the whole journey of our lives.

Gideon wasn't seen as a young man, or weak, or questioning - Gideon was seen as a wonderful, wonderful soul, a creation of God.




God has no trouble being in the moment, in your conversation to Him.

John 1:44-51
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Why God would be interested in a question like that. A humble question.

Matthew 19:17
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus says:

John 14:1
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me

In believing God, we can read about Jesus and ourselves told to us through Isaiah:

Isaiah 49:1-13

1 Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”

5 And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8 Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.”

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.


John 13:1
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.


1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


The answer is always, Beloved. And Child of God, the Light that lights all mankind Loves. 

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Genesis 26 ~ because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws

Isaac blessing Jacob. Painted by Bartome Esteban Murillo.

Genesis 26

1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
 

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with [Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship ] Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, [Esek means contention] because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah [Sitnah means enmity]. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, [Rehoboth means broad places, or room ] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah [Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath]; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

 This is a perfect passage for renewal. The blessing of Abraham will continue to Isaac. God gives willingly.

What did Abraham and Isaac do ? They trusted God in all their circumstances, using eyes of faith - God means what He says. In God's time, His plan comes to completion.

Habakkuk 2:3
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.


Isaiah 49:8
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages


Psalm 31:15
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

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Exodus 33:19 ~ The Lord

Exodus 33:19

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.

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.



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

Psalm 25

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.





The Holy Spirit used to show up in one man, basically Moses. We are blessed to be able to call upon the Lord in expectation of His help. In all circumstances. Surviving arid events, with some bounce. Asking Him to help us speedily, not having to go to the High Places, rather the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Father, Abba, we love Your amazing works in the Old Testament, and in Your Son, we believe Your mighty works continue. Jesus Christ the Lord, using 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  in Your plan move within and dwell in Your Glory. In the Highest Name. Amen.

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Mark 12 ~ Jesus asked

Mark 12

1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven't you read this passage of Scripture:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;

11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes' ?"

12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn't we?"

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.

17 Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
And they were amazed at him.

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet." '
37 David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?"

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely."

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

You really have to look through the passage to find what Jesus asked. Like a puzzle. Here He asks two questions. Both are in regards to hypocrisy.

Jesus was telling the Old Testament crowd something rather important. The leaders of the Temple of the Lord, in Jerusalem, no less, did not have things all figured out.

The Temple was having priests appointed by Herod, who in turn, was controlled by Rome. The Essenes left saying the Holy Spirit had departed, predicting the end of the world. Which, indeed, it was for them in 70 A.D. So, the Essenes had that right. Partially. For them.

The people were told to Look for a Davidic heir. If you look at Talmud records, available in Scotland today, the Sadducean Council were most concerned about the placement of Joseph during the census. And publicly told the people, Jesus was from Nazareth. Focusing on Mary's parentage and who could have parented Jesus. Odd for people to question a grown man's parentage. In the Sadducean Council, Jesus' fatherhood was slandered and libeled.

Perhaps Jesus was saying we are not capable of figuring out all of HIS great plans. He certainly was explaining HIS life in the first paragraph and yet the crowd heard Jesus with delight. He is far larger than we are.

What happens if we accept the status quo and say we have been given a set of circumstances and leave the rest to Him.

Matthew 25:14
For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

For some of us we are trusting HIM and He will bring forth opportunity. For some of us we no longer have the good fight of faith. This is a matter of the heart, open almost solely to Him, He explains in Proverbs.

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


The parable has caused me unrest for several years. The fruitfulness of my life is in His Hands. What I can do with my work, my words, my actions, I shall endeavor for Him. The results are my faith He is who He says He is. My Hope. I understand His promises are for me. And the Love He gives me in my weakness, in forgiveness and He never fails. I Love because HE continues to love me.

Father God, let me be as fruitful for You as You would allow me to be. Keep my faith fighting the good fight. And the heart to be open to You, avoiding the roots of bitterness. In Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

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