Psalm 30 ~ my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Psalm 30

A Psalm of David.

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Luke 5: 27
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Matthew was going Far.

You can tell. Matthew was taking the honor Jesus gave him and not touting himself. And really, the room to praise Matthew was somewhat contextual. If Jesus had been looking for accounting work or tax collecting. Even someone to shake down dollars for Rome, a party giver - then - Matthew would have received many words of praise. Jesus did take up for Matthew.

Mark 2:17
17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

The glory of Matthew - was that in Matthew's Gospel in the 9th Chapter - you won't see Matthew tell of the Party that Luke told of!

Acts 1:13
And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

Historians and the early Church know Matthew went on to Preach Jesus, not much is know of Matthew later. Only the Gnostics say Matthew didn't give his life for Jesus. And heck, Gnostics don't know everything.

Father God, help us to center upon Jesus Christ. Be the Light of the Body of Christ, Your Church. Be the Light of Life, Jesus. Let your Light, Father, Shine before others, so that the world may see Your good works and give glory to You Father. We ask You, that in darkness, Your Love be the Light.

Lord, let us thirst for you. Let Your Living Water push us to eternal life. Let us be clean in Your name's sake! Let us rest each night, being gathered in Your arms as we sleep and renew.

Holy Spirit please be invited to know all our aspects and variations. With You as both Savior and Father - we are even more equipped to do our lives with the Joy the Gospels tell us of life! Jesus, please, center us and be the source of our Guidance. Baptize us with Your Holy Spirit. Knowing you to be the one we give our cares to, because You are Love. Help us bless each other as Truth guides us in You.

We have the amazing privilege calling on the Highest Name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Prayer Corner

Father God we come to You asking prayers for Your six year old daughter Addison. Addison has had cleft palate and severe sinus trouble. She had an operation for a growth like a tumor in her inner ear doctors say will reoccur from sinus infection. To reach the growth, doctors remove her ear and skull. The doctor said it was the worse case he had ever seen and there were a lot of issues. Her inner ear bone was completely broken down, the growth had collapsed the ear drum and even grown into the facial nerves. She will have to have reconstructive surgery for the inner ear as well as the repair of the skull and ear where removed for surgery.

Addison got very sick in recovery and is still throwing up tonight. I cannot believe it, but they released her this afternoon and she is home but still throwing up. They called in some more medicine but if she does not stop throwing up she will have to go to the ER. We are praying the sickness will subside and she will be able to eat, drink and begin her recovery.

Father God we pray for total healing, if that is Your Will in Jesus Christ. Thank You Father, for Your Answer. Amen.


I'd like to tell you this about Addison. She has had many surgeries for this and was looking forward to a cosmetic surgery this summer before her mother had to tell her about impending brain surgery with ear removal and replacement. Addison stopped her mom to tell about moving a large chair in their home. She said,"Mom I couldn't move the chair, I'm too little, but I asked God to help me move this and HE DID. I dropped the chair, and then He helped me again. I know He helps me lift things to heavy for me." Needless to say, her mom wept.


We are praying as well for Heather and Billy. They have a young baby who they were told to expect a Down Syndrome daughter. And their Hannah is about a year old - very loved. Heather and her family work for PACN, pregnancy assistance. Billy has been so ill for a year, he has nights were sleep is impossible and is sometimes too weak the next day to work. Numerous doctors have ruled out Lupus.

We pray for Billy's return to good health in the name of Jesus. Your Heavenly Will be done, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


Your prayers are coveted for all these families. They are feeling all the prayer coverage and love being sent their way.

All of Psalm 116 and Thank God, this begins -
I love the Lord, because He has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy. Amen and Amen.

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Psalm 126 ~ He who goes out weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing

Matthew 11:20-24 

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you


Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.


Luke 12

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Street Preachers. Does it work? My second cousin Ward is a street preacher. He was autistic until he was 13 and couldn't speak. His mom took him to a Minister and they prayed for God to be glorified if Ward would be healed. He was. His street ministry is near his small Church. He says it ebbs and flows. Ward says about the time he decides he is called to retirement, someone joins the Church and they start growing again.

We all are called to different ways to preach. We call that sharing the Gospel.

I'm not called to Street Preach and I pray for those who do.

We have the same Vast God.

At some point we should ponder what He requires of us.

This is the beginning of Psalms. A good strategic place for this comprehension of the Power of God and His Scriptures. Jesus frequently astonished, worried and panicked His Disciples.

Today, we are too "with it" to fear God. To truly comprehend God, we must understand His Authority. 

John walked with Jesus, calling Jesus, God is Love. And then we understand, Perfect Love Casts Out Fear. God would never have us walk in fear, for He has given us a Spirit of Power, the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave us by cancelling our sin in His Sacrifice of Atonement. Joshua spoke of this in the balance God told him as he took upon himself the mantle of the failed Exodus. In Joy!

To do this path, we must speak with God and pray knowing He has set us on a course, like the way we want our kids to go to college. God is distant. And completely within us and completely in our thoughts. We are not far from God - ever. Nothing takes God's love from us.

God again covers us - He loves us first. We return that love like scraps from under the table for the dog.
And He doesn't leave or forsake us. A God who wants to save His world, Loves!

Peter and Paul were street ministers. Positioning themselves where the faithful would listen. Man, they made the Synagogues angry. When they set out in pagan areas they asked intelligent questions - "This Unknown God - could He be like ... this."

When you read the writing of Peter and Paul - they LOVED. Harsh words were written to the mature about growing up, like a parent writes to a child. But Peter and Paul met with Governors, Synagogue leaders, Caesar, eunuchs working at a Palace, beggars, ill people, slave owners, slaves and people grappling with a New Covenant from God.

Peter and Paul expected God. They expected that His message of Love would be respected and carried beyond their lives. They held up God and knew that His Work would go forth. They were not desperate. I'm sure they looked worried when towns descended upon their work. Empowered and equipped to try again tomorrow.

When you really study how Love works - there is awe.

Imagine you are the Disciple John. Imagine we are sending you to another planet. John's 1st Chapter is very bland. Glorious. Simply glorious when you realize John is speaking of something as unfathomable as the Exodus. The workings of Jesus Christ. You can't just jump in there.  John explains the impossible. Probably after 40 sheets of papyrus.  Except, because we know the Holy Spirit is helping John, perhaps it was a first take.

When you look at John ending His Gospel. Probably Mary was sitting with John, the Gospel ends by saying Jesus was so complex and so many things surrounded Jesus that the Gospels can't contain them all.

Jesus begins as personal relationships. People are mostly privately healed, privately directed to participate in the healing. A Deaf man is pulled to privacy and shown, so his healing is his. Lives change. People leave their lives and travel to the wilderness to find the Lamb of God.

And Jesus didn't say wilderness, He said HE was going on a journey and He called people into vistas of the milk and honey of Israel. The verdant hills of Capernaum overlooking the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus taught as summers became dry and the fields were wheat colored. The message that life just isn't perfect, but we are to rejoice where we are.

Jesus said He would go to lonely places to pray. I doubt where Jesus prayed with God remained lonely. The Holy Spirit filling the prayers as conversations. The fullness of Christ Jesus.

And these personal miracles grew. And more people showed up. People began to see the dead were raised. Jesus was creating an atmosphere of belief. He wasn't requiring them to believe what they couldn't understand. This is why the Mediterranean Ocean from one side to the next was rocked to the core in 16 years.Why a persecuting Empire went another 200 years after almost collapse from 300 years of persecution, to hope. Christianity propped up and propelled the Roman Empire.

Life changes. People in their temperaments are affected when societies don't foster families. When governments don't expect the best of people. We are now in knowledge of the Gospel. Mostly. Except when we have children who have no idea who Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are. We cannot hope to give them the Light of God in speeches about Hell. It's not Scriptural. Jesus sure didn't. Jesus did believe Hell exists, He just chose instead to say Bring Heaven to Earth Now and Expect God. So Many miracles have Jesus giving a task. We should all expect a task from our gratitude.

The Body of Christ needs to encourage and build up.

Why be like every news program you hear grousing the same old problems? That's deflection. Deal with your own salvation. Build up the Body of Christ to Love. It's not necessarily emotion. It's duty and it's looking and being told what is good. Knowing what is Good. Encouraging Good. Knowing Love. Rejoicing when the spots come clean. Being grateful.

Consider an example of Jesus.

Luke 18
The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

That's a great reminders for those bringing the Gospel forth. We need that lesson - like I do - today.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Mark 6:1-6 ~ healed them

Mark 6:1-6

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5
 And he could do no mighty work there,
except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching.



Oh Little Town of... Nazareth
How still we see thee lie


Matthew 7
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Briefly, let's say archaeologists have found a population of 480 people in the hometown of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas — mentioned as the brothers of Jesus in Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3.

Mary's family is not given the Biblical historical nod. Yet they returned to live there and Nazareth records the city saw them as perfectly blended.

Luke 2:51
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Nazareth re-built watchtower Isaiah referred to.

Rejection is something we will all experience.

How did Jesus do with the rejection of his hometown?

Thirteen times he is referred to - not as Jesus bar Joseph - instead Jesus of Nazareth.



Jesus is recorded as vacationing. Visiting with His disciples, seeing His mother and family for a week. Having His brothers tell Him to claim His Kingship. Almost being pitched off a hillside at Nazareth.

And with the rejections - Jesus - Upgraded!

Matthew 4:13
And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtal

Epiphanius in his Panarion (375 AD) numbers Nazareth among the cities without Christians. No relationship to Christ.

Eusebius tells us this is because Constantine, under Diocletian, killed all the Christian great nephews of Jesus who refused to renounce Him. Eusebius (Church History 1.7.14), speaks of “Nazara.” In the same passage Africanus writes of desposunoi - relatives of Jesus - who he claims kept the records of their descent with great care.


If we aren't in tune with the Word of God to be true, we would see Epiphanius teach us Nazareth had rejected Jesus for all time. Discrediting Jesus.

Luke 18:37
They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”


Jesus healed Nazareth. Even when Nazareth was discredited in Jerusalem, in the Temple, among the Governing Body of the Temple, sneered as biblically of no account, Jesus never says "I'm Jesus of Capernaum."


2 Corinthians 5:7
For we live by faith, not by sight.

Romans 8:24
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?

1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.


Because Jesus healed them. Nazareth was never lost to history.

John 10:11 
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

John 17:19
For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Romans 11:25-36 ~ this will be My Covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Romans 11:25-36

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 ““For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

If we could find someone who has known the mind of the Lord.

The mind of the Lord... Who...

That's those who read the Word of God!

People. Like ... us.


Ah sweet mystery of Life at last I found Thee - oh Life...

Proverbs 17
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the Lord tests hearts.

24 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

Which sorta makes that sunset photo - complex.

 

God says the Fight is ON.

Zechariah 9:10
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Life is a test of our willingness to soldier forth. Soldier? Like this - - -

2 Chronicles 20:15
Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's!

Explaining the work of Salvation is His. The Battle is His.

Who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?” We have a noble task - a gift we can give to our Father - Gratitude.

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.


Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

We read recently that Paul was strongly motivated to spread the Gospel of Jesus because Paul tremendously loved the people he ministers to. Yes some are untouched, not warmed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why would some people draw back, have hardness of heart?

Jesus did answer.

Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.

Life is a test. When we draw a line, we want to stand where we can be pleased we stood. We don't want to count on lying to Father God. Not have expectations to press on His Mercy, we were counting on Him looking the other way and handing out a free pass to be selfish.

The Lord bless us, we ask in the Highest Name of Jesus. The Lord make His face shine with favor and forgiveness. The Lord be gracious to us for honoring Him. The Lord turn His face to guide us in His paths with gentle Love. The Lord teach and give us peace. Help us to be grateful for His help daily. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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