Trust in the steadfast Love of God

John 12

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

I will not forget you this day LORD GOD, hold me in Your Mercy, Father. Blessed is the man that you cover his sins and credit his faith as righteousness.

Psalm 52

8 But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.

Blessed are the eyes that did not see and yet believe. Jesus, Your name is Love. I take Your abundant blessings. We are the Easter People Alleluia.

1 Thessalonians 4

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Love never ends!

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer

An Open Letter to Howard Carter Presbyterian Minister - New Zealand.

Hi Howard! How in the World!!! Blog

You posted the most interesting blog post on the recent elections in New Zealand. And you sustained your viewpoints with the hope of Jesus believing and Word believing Church drawing from the timeless lessons of Revelation.


We’ve just had a long and hard election campaign here in New Zealand, and if you are a member of a particular political party that didn’t do so well in the polls you are just about to start an equally long and laborious leadership primary. …Amidst all the weird stuff that seemed to be the defining feature of this year’s election people, me included, really wanted to know where the various leaders and parties stood on the pressing issues.


Where do you stand on the housing crisis in Auckland?

Where do you stand on climate change issues?

Where do you stand on education?

Where do you stand when it comes to child poverty in New Zealand and doing something about it?

Where do you stand when it comes to foreign ownership of New Zealand land?

Where do you stand on the living wage issue?

We needed to know where they stood so we could decide into whose hands we should trust the future of the country.



The book of revelation was written as encouragement to a church facing persecution, suffering and tribulation. Both pressure and opposition from outside and difficulties and divisions from within and in the face of that it starts with a clear vision of where its leader stands. Both one of its earthly leaders, John the elder and more importantly its founder and true head… Jesus. Amidst all the weird and wonderful images and visions which are the defining feature of the style or genre John chooses to write in, first century apocalyptic language… a bit like sci-fi or science fantasy…there is a clear vision of Jesus and where Jesus stands when it comes to the church in its trials and troubles.

Bishop Clark Lowenfield Anglican Church of HopePointe in The Woodlands, Texas just sent out a letter to our Church Family asking us to vote in November. Saying, as always, Clark neither points right or left, Clark has a King and that is Jesus Christ. Vote as a Christian. Timely and good advice.

We jaw about politics all year long - our opinion only matters exactly once in reality - taking gratitude from the men and women who died for our freedoms - moving to the polls to express our viewpoints. Vote!

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the enameled plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

God and His Vast Greatness remove boundaries, bring history to solutions for today and ask us to take our faith into action.

Let's briefly tie -
1. The Exodus 1500 B.C.
2. John, being vibrant and alive in the amazing cave on Patmos Island with it's view of earth to Heaven - seen in the photos as astonishingly similar in 2014 as in 101 A.D.
3. World War II
4. The Middle Ages
5. Solutions for today and a prayer. The Church as Living Water Old Testament NT OT




1. The Exodus

The Exodus speaks to today. As well as the results from the Exodus to Government and what we are capable of as a Light of all mankind dwelling in us.

The Ipuwer Document was found near the Pyramids and describes a citizen in great anger the events of the Plagues were not well thought out by Government and admonishes the Government to be in better shape.  This is an eye witness account. Currently resides in The Leiden Museum in Holland

Feel free to skim or skip the detail.

{PAPYRUS 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.
EXODUS 7:21 ... there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

This was the first plague.
PAPYRUS 2:10 The river is blood.
EXODUS 7:20 ... all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

This water was loathsome, and the people could not drink it.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Men shrink from tasting -- human beings, and thirst after water.
EXODUS 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
The fish in the lakes and the river died, and worms, insects, and reptiles bred prolifically.
EXODUS 7:21 ... and the river stank.
PAPYRUS 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!

The destruction in the fields is related in these words:
EXODUS 9:25 ... and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.
PAPYRUS 4:14 Trees are destroyed.
6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found..

This portent was accompanied by consuming fire. Fire spread all over the land.
EXODUS 9:23-24 ... the fire ran along the ground.... there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
The fire which consumed the land was not spread by human hand but fell from the skies.
By this torrent of destruction, according to Exodus,
EXODUS 9:31-32 ... the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

It was after the next plague that the fields became utterly barren. Like the Book of Exodus (9:31-32 and 10:15), the papyrus relates that no duty could be rendered to the crown for wheat and barley; and as in Exodus 7:21 ("And the fish that was in the river died"), there was no fish for the royal storehouse.
PAPYRUS 10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps... The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong (by right) wheat and barley, geese and fish.
The fields were entirely devastated.
EXODUS 10:15 ... there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.
5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.

The statement that the crops of the fields were destroyed in a single day ("which yesterday was seen") excludes drought, the usual cause of a bad harvest; only hail, fire, or locusts could have left the fields as though after "the cutting of flax". The plague is described in Psalms 105:34-35 in these words: "... the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground."
PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found... hunger.
The cattle were in a pitiful condition.
EXODUS 9:3 ... the hand of the Lord is upon the cattle which is in the field... there shall be a very grievous murrain.
PAPYRUS 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan....
Hail and fire made the frightened cattle flee.
EXODUS 9:19 .. gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field...
21 And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.
PAPYRUS 9:2-3 Behold, cattle are left to stray, and there is none to gather them together. Each man fetches for himself those that are branded with his name.

The ninth plague, according to the Book of Exodus, covered Egypt with profound darkness.
EXODUS 10:22 ... and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 9:11 The land is not light....
"Not light" is in Egyptian equivalent to "without light" or "dark". But there is some question as to whether the two sentences are entirely parallel. The years of wandering in the desert are described as spent in gloom under a cover of thick clouds....

The Last Night before the Exodus
According to the Book of Exodus, the last night the Israelites were in Egypt was a night in which death struck instantly and took victims from every Egyptian home. The death of so many in a single night, even at the same hour of midnight, cannot be explained by a pestilence, which would last more than a single hour. The story of the last plague does seem like a myth; it is a stranger in the sequence of the other plagues, which can be explained...

...Apparently we have before us the testimony of an Egyptian witness of the plagues.
On careful reading of the papyrus, it appeared that the slaves were still in Egypt when at least one great shock occurred, ruining houses and destroying life and fortune. It precipitated a general flight of the population from the cities, while the other plagues probably drove them from the country into the cities.

The biblical testimony was reread. It became evident that it had not neglected this most conspicuous event: it was the tenth plague.

In the papyrus it is said: "The residence is overturned in a minute." On a previous page it was stressed that only an earthquake could have overturned and ruined the royal residence in a minute. Sudden and simultaneous death could be inflicted on many....

EXODUS 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt: for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
A great part of the people lost their lives in one violent shock. Houses were struck a furious blow.
EXODUS 12:27 [The Angel of the Lord] passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.
The word nogaf for "smote" is used for a violent blow, e.g. for thrusting with his horns by an ox.
The residence of the king and the palaces of the rich were tossed to the ground, and with them the houses of the common people and the dungeons of captives.
EXODUS 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon.
PAPYRUS 4:3, and 5:6 Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.
6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets.
PAPYRUS 6:3 The prison is ruined.

2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
To it correspond Exodus 12:30:
... there was not a house where there was not one dead.
In Exodus 12:30 it is written:
... there was a great cry in Egypt.
To it corresponds the papyrus 3:14:
It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.
The statues of the gods fell and broke in pieces: "this night... against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment" (Exodus 12:12).

A book by Artapanus, no longer extant, which quoted some unknown ancient source and which in its turn was quoted by Eusebius, tells of "hail and earthquake by night [of the last plague], so that those who fled from the earthquake were killed by the hail, and those who sought shelter from the hail were destroyed by the earthquake. And at that time all the houses fell in, and most of the temples."
The earth was equally pitiless towards the dead in their graves: the sepulchers opened, and the buried were disentombed.

PAPYRUS 4:4, also 6:14 Forsooth, those who were in the place of embalmment are laid on the high ground.

Revolt and Flight

The description of distrubances in the Papyrus Ipurew, when compared with the scriptural narrative, gives a strong impression that both sources relate the very same events. It is therefore only natural to look for mention of revolt among the population, of a flight of wretched slaves from this country visited by disaster, and of a cataclysm in which the pharaoh perished.

Although in the mutilated papyrus there is no explicit reference to the Israelites or their leaders, three facts are clearly described as consequences of the upheaval: the population revolted; the wretched or the poor men fled; the king perished under unusual circumstances....

PAPYRUS 4:2 Forsooth, great and small say: I wish I might die.
5:14f. Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more!
The escaped slaves hurried across the border of the country. By day a column of smoke went before them in the sky; by night it was a pillar of fire.
EXODUS 13:21 ... by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
PAPYRUS 7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.

The translator added this remark: "Here the 'fire' is regarded as something disastrous."
After the first manifestations of the protracted cataclysm the Egyptians tried to bring order into the land. They traced the route of the escaped slaves. The wanderers became "entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" (Exodus 14:3). They turned to the sea, they stood at Pi-ha-Khiroth. "The Egyptians pursued after them. The Egyptians marched after them." A hurricane blew all the night and the sea fled.

In a great avalanche of water "the sea returned to his strength", and "the Egyptians fled against it". The sea engulfed the chariots and the horsemen, the pharaoh and all his host.}


And how does this relate to us?
Government is our way of passing on our responsibilities.

When God started to unfold the Exodus - His form of Government was - Judges - Self Government.
What can I do for others today? Reaching further back into the past, Jonah asked Judah to form armies and rescue Israel. And they did.

Passing on our responsibilities to others limits us. We cannot just jaw about the limitations of Government. We can all donate to Christian thrift stores. Look diligently to what we can give cheerfully. Give Time. Let our actions lend to being asked our opinion for Jesus' ways.

God uses our histories to teach us. Today.

2. John's Revelations for Today.

John did not deny Jesus. John did not perish when Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. - the natural lifespan of Jesus.
Look at the cave. This is not the lunatic long bearded guy walloping in LSD mushrooms. God's blessings are available today to see how immutable His Word is - we see Patmos has not changed greatly in 2,000 years.

Heck, I'd live in that cave and say, "No Mortgage!" A word our grandparents had never heard of in a time when housing is outrageously expensive and not based on the Biblical principals of 7 year debt. Forget the Status Quo we need better Solutions.

John is recorded as being alive, active, well and Fighting the Good Fight in the years 100, 101 and 102 A.D. By Church historian Bishop Papias of Hierapolis. John is telling the Gnostics not to the riiiight. And the Jews not to the llllleft. John is a great example of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. If you want to live the Spirit of Truth honoring the Commandments of God's Word - this is where most of the blessings of all the New Testament and Old Testament are combined.

God sustains, blesses, rewards, loves and gives John as an example of Loyalty.

3. World War II

We have taken an era where the World did not want war. United as Brothers to put down evil. And we have taken our Victory and gone way over to the right left. Left right. We have forgotten our unwillingness to have war. Pope Francis says this is a patchwork piece meal World War III. We need to vote for those willing to sustain Peace. And Solutions.

Jesus said let the dead bury their dead. He wasn't kidding. War and hate must snuff itself out.

We must see the History we have had handed to us and what we have done with what we can do. Hitler rose because... people wanted the government to hand them solutions. We must rise in our determination to answer what we can for ourselves and let Government regulate what aspires to God.

4. We have Forgotten the Joys of the Middle Ages Church

We must acknowledge each century understood their circumstances better than we did. We must say bringing the Word forth is a necessity. But we have forgotten to applaud the fact the Church lived the Word of God. The Church fed the hungry. The Church believed their lives were Lights to bring forth more Light. They had an open door policy. Hospitals were created by the Churches willingness to lay down their lives to heal. The fortifications of draw back behind the safety of the walled villages led to the end of Serfdom. The Church built outside the walls and said "Come to me all of you are weary and heavily burdened and will give you rest." And don't you be messing with our security - you villains. Get over here and have dinner. And when your child gets the small pox, yes we are going to even take care of the villian's children. Oh yes, we make a very good beer and wine. Do you want to learn agriculture?

If you are so interested, read or reread The Pillars of the Earth,  a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989. I cannot recommend the 2007 follow up because,my opinion, it is too pc, and not relevant and not exactly real. The first book was praised by historians for the historical accuracy. The variations in the two books suggest our unwillingness to see solid facts about history and our attempt to judge history as irrelevant with an almost irrational bias to current thought. If it's not current pc, then we toss out all solutions.


5. Solutions for today and a prayer.

The Church as Living Water Old Testament NT OT. Just as the Old Testament has portions telling us of water flowing from the Temple, the Church is to be such Love of God that Loves pours forth bringing new people.

The point of the Church is not to feel comfortable and at home. Secure in our pew. The point is to feel vast encouragement of God to be loved as we are Today.

And in the brimming over of that Love, to want to bring other's into the warmth.

Not to affirm the standards of the world, but to say the Higher Path has drawn a huge breathe of freedom in forgiveness. To say come with us, the Kingdom of Heaven Is At Hand. With God All Things Are Possible.

To say - your life matters. Your actions of diligence for Jesus. To say, when you need to Preach the Gospel. Use Words after your actions have spoken.

Housing crisis - garage apartments. Be a good tenant, be a good landlord. Form bonds. Old Age Assistance - combine with Day Care. Put Treasure with Treasure.  Builders? Teach reconstruction to the youth of renewal of old places. Make bonds in families for family projects. Rely upon each other. Building Investors? Lets have solutions for good housing at 7 year mortgages. Fall down slums? Reclaim as retirement with young people. Churches are needed there.

Climate change? The world is not ours to control. See the Ipuwer. Be your own Climate Change.

Education? Wisdom? Place this first. Read on the successes of Home Schooling and read the disasters. See innovation. Offer College for free to non-citizens - hope to keep the innovators. PRAY always! Teachers need sabbaticals.

Encouragement of all endeavors. Sale of hand-made art to make life have beauty. Sale of growing fruit and vegetables. Friends who teach skills to other. The need of fellowship and love. Encouragement of travel, ships coming to New Zealand - People have gone back to B and B travel and taxi cabs owned to individuals.

Child poverty. So glad you asked. I work at a Pregnancy Assistance Center. In exchange for 450 homework pieces on parenting, Bible Studies, budgeting, self-esteem, pre-natal, childhood and infant development, breast feeding, nutrition, marriage, the truth about cohabitation blessing the rolling stone, raising blended families, older children and infants, safety and rolls of mom and dad as well as highlighting the positive and dealing with stress - well for the work - you get to sign up for clothes and goods and bedding and all the needs children have. Homework doers get formula, cereal, juice, jars of food, diapers and wipes as well as vouchers to the Thrift Resale Shop.  And are treated with dignity and compassion. With the ability to Google and reply to the form about how they are treated at each visit.

Results are earned. Gratitude is actually lavished and this is a place of Hope and Encouragement.



From one prosperous nation to another - this example is Hope from God and Prayer. One lone woman in the Dominican Republic began to pray for her town. She had no resources to give, but she wanted more for her town than a month of employment for the town picking crops. She saw a run down bar and drinking people with no funds and no hope. She began to ask for help from different charities and was turned down for five years. Vision Trust built a three room school. A Spirit of Giving created a Spirit of Gratitude. Now it's 12 rooms and education for the adults. Then the bar was torn down. And in it's place a covered arena for sports. There is a small downtown now. And more employment. Prayer goes far in all countries. Jesus is alive.


Christians who pray are always a good source. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Father GOD, renew us in hope, compassion, longing for the fulfillment for Your Word. Equip us in all good things as You have promised to send us forth for Your Glory. We ask Your Vast Blessings and see them with faith. Help us with our specific prayer request, knowing that our treasure is actually the Father God to Child relationship of trust, intimacy and knowledge with hope, faith and love. Thank You, Jesus, for all our blessings we are so ambivalent about, but would never hope to lose. In the privilege of calling upon the Highest Name of Jesus Amen!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

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John 6:11-59 ~ For on Jesus, God the Father has set His Seal

John 6

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

When Jesus promised the the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit, what was the first requirement?

1 Corinthians 11:24
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Communion.

What should we get for renewing the Temple of God within us?

Father God is like that. Just as we are going to please Him, He is renewing us.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

What should we expect for doing what people have done for millenniums to honor the Light of God within us?

Belief in a Living God.
Believe God calls us and He will never depart from us.
Believe when we are not in this body, He calls us to dwell with Him in Eternity.
Believe He abides in us.

Thank you, Father God. Renew Your Spirit within me. Help my thoughts and my soul be a welcoming place for You. Search and know every joy, shadow and variation within me, Your child. Let Your Light bring greater Light. You Live. And Live within me. You forgive sin as a gift. You will not depart from me. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, You abide within. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

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2 Kings 22:1-2, 10-20, 2 Kings 23 ~ not turning aside to the right or to the left

2 Kings 22

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.




10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.




2 Kings 23

Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 

The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.




17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.




19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord.


25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”

28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

When the Second Temple was destroyed the stones were scattered and most ended up close the Temple, near the present Western Wall. Recently a stone was discovered as a top cornerstone. Now, in those times the Temple Priests would gather beneath these cornerstones and blow the trumpet (shofar) announcing the Feast of Trumpets. This particular stone is inscribed, “The Place of Trumpeting.” This cornerstone was used for the Feast of Trumpets.

It's likely a copy of the Law had been placed in the cornerstone of the Temple by Solomon (966 B.C.). The masonry had cracked, as they were repairing it the documents came to light. Nabonidus, a king of the same period roughly, delighted to dig into foundations of buildings that were ancient in his day to recover documents placed there centuries earlier. This he did at the temple of Shamash at Sippar.


The Scriptures record the Book of the Law was found during a renovation and repair of the Temple. Critics write which Books were suddenly presented or written, however it's historically accurate documents were placed in cornerstones of the building. Emperor Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was known to have done this as well.


 

Life rarely rests in victory for most of us. Josiah was unique.


Joshua 1:7
Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.

Few people in Scripture achieve this. The Works of God are His. It's a good way to look at the problems in life and ask about with God.

He will balance us out.


Proverbs 4:27
Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Solomon is remembered in this passage, verses 13 and 14 of Chapter 23. Solomon was an author of Proverbs. Solomon had decades where he was not right with God. And returned to wisdom as he continued to look for God.


The Works of God cannot rest on men. Mankind will veer from Grace and Revival to Law. From Law to semblance and form of religion. Jesus was comfortable to go to quiet places to pray. Not leading multitudes in long prayers.  Jesus didn't perform like the musical.  He is relationship. 

The Father of the Prodigal Son never asked His younger son why he couldn't be more like the older son. Jesus never sent people away saying - come back when you are more worthy. 

Jesus never asked Gideon to be more like David.  God said David had a hard life and said when I have a son, I want my son to be - yours.  God chose not the perfect, but the man who would always look for the mercy of God. The Love God has.


2 Corinthians 2:14-17
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.


Psalm 32
Of David. A maskil.

David knew ups and downs, yet knew blessings.

1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Jesus operates on the principal of Salvation is needed. A Savior is required and with Love and Salvation offers the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. We want to honor Him.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

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Matthew 1:1-20 ~ My Generation... we won't ffffade away

Matthew 1:1-20

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah [Chapter 29] was right when he prophesied about you:

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Isaiah was 700 years before Jesus and knew the atmosphere of the generation of Jesus.

Jesus came to this life with joy. Eating and drinking. Enjoying people. Healing.

Isaiah ends the message well!!! 
Still in Chapter 29, Jesus flooding His light in all of mankind. His Glory grace and truth filling the generation blessed to see Him. His Word Fulfilled!

Isaiah 29
2 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.”

Acts 3 has Peter on the Temple grounds in Solomon's Portico. God IS filling His Word.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Acts 5:12-16
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.





Egad even Wall Street Worries! 
Worriers out there - Unite!
We wonder about this generation. We worry about the news. We see pandemic being tossed into our lives with news stories about direct contact and Ebola.

Jesus knew about storms in life. 
When a physical human body dies, suddenly and inexplicably, no medical reason is specifically known, the body suddenly is five pounds lighter.  I believe this is our soul's energy, our Light going Home. Life guarantees us very little. What we make of our lives is our metal. Or to put this more aptly - our life's work - a shining Light of His, we hope.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow God is the same. Jesus tells us He is still working. See this with faith.


Luke 8
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”




Jesus will ride this storm to completion with us. 

FACT This virus was identified nearly 40 years ago, in September of 1976, a young Belgian scientist traveled to a remote part of the Congolese rainforest - to find out why so many people were dying from an unknown and terrifying disease. 

FACT This was before the new medications of today. 

FACT We have not seen this develop into a pandemic in four decades. 



FACT The paralyzing virus was identified 50 years ago according to NPR.

My son had a virus mimicking arthritis of the hip when he was five years old. A type of paralysis. The referred doctor said he would get the illness twice before his little body would recognize the illness as a virus. He did and is fine 20 years later.

We prayed for Cal so hard - Edward and I saw a bumper sticker that said, "He knows your faith." I told Edward, I feel like God has spoken to us and we returned home to find Cal was much better. My mom said she thought it was miraculous of God.  God even answers prayers in the car on the way to the grocery store.






Speaking of brains...we were today -

The Independent out of the UK reports the largest-ever study provides evidence that 'out of body' and 'near-death' experiences actually have real findings. Speaking about the evidence provided by a 57-year-old social worker Southampton, Dr Parnia said: “We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating." And yet...

2,060 patients from 15 hospitals in the UK, US and Austria, and has been published in the journal Resuscitation

Experts currently believe that the brain shuts down within 20 to 30 seconds of the heart stopping beating – and that it is not possible to be aware of anything at all once that has happened.

But scientists in the new study heard said they heard compelling evidence that patients experienced real events for up to three minutes after this had happened – and could recall them accurately once they had been resuscitated.

Dr Sam Parnia, an assistant professor at the State University of New York and a former research fellow at the University of Southampton who led the research, said that he previously that patients who described near-death experiences were only relating hallucinatory events.

One man, however, gave a “very credible” account of what was going on while doctors and nurses tried to bring him back to life – and says that he felt he was observing his resuscitation from the corner of the room.

Speaking to The Telegraph about the evidence provided by a 57-year-old social worker Southampton, Dr Parnia said: “We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating.

“But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes.

“The man described everything that had happened in the room, but importantly, he heard two bleeps from a machine that makes a noise at three minute intervals. So we could time how long the experienced lasted for.

“He seemed very credible and everything that he said had happened to him had actually happened.”

Of those who survived, 46 per cent experienced a broad range of mental recollections, nine per cent had experiences compatible with traditional definitions of a near-death experience and two per cent exhibited full awareness with explicit recall of “seeing” and “hearing” events – or out-of-body experiences.

Dr Parnia said that the findings of the study as a whole suggested that “the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice”.

Dr Jerry Nolan, editor-in-chief of the journal which published the research, said: “The researchers are to be congratulated on the completion of a fascinating study that will open the door to more extensive research into what happens when we die.”

Inexplicably the article concludes with the following quote

"Additional reporting by PA"

And THAT dear readers is the "Rest of His Story" in a Word - Scripture.


1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


Father God, thank You for being Love. If we fear, You heal. If we cry out, You answer. Life tests us, and multitudes will all be with You in the Valley of Decision. Decide for us in Love, Mercy and the Fulfillment of Your Word in Jesus Christ the Lord we pray. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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