Luke 1:37 ~ With God

Yesterday we spoke of God and prayer changing life.

We did not write of the people in African hotels waking to cries of Murder. What of lives lost? What of the people left to suffer?

Jesus died upon the Cross. Jesus is the exact nature of God. When the Son died - the Father felt this. The skies blackened completely. The earth shook and tore on the Place of the Skull. The Temple broke in half and the veil of the Holy of Holies tore. Again we find evidence of the Eclipse. Evidence of the earthquake. Always inside us - evidence of Jesus.

Jesus wept with Lazarus' family. Jesus raised the widow of Nain's son.

The deaf man to be healed was privately taken to have this explained to him. Jesus did not just run over the man's understanding. Great care was taken to explain God's arrival.

The blind men were asked to explain what they wanted. Jesus did not jump into the room and rush to His next scheduled event.



David told God, Your judgments of me are right. Parents do not always parent because they have the same faults. We feel that in too many ways we are not good enough to ask God. This is a valid thought. All have fallen. God is merciful. Not our butler, not the waiter. God of His Love.

When did God tell us - with Him all things are possible?

During this sign, the King of Judah, Ahaz, refused to ask a sign. To not try God too hard. Ahaz lived 'realistically' leading the people away from the solid gold Temple as Assyria grew. Live realistically. And Ahaz's son, Hezekiah, was to live by faith.

12But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!" 13Then he said, "Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?…

We Celebrate Christmas easily. Our Father God announced all things are possible - as Jesus was told to arrive. By the one who stands in the Presence of God. Gabriel explained the impossibility and the truth.

There was no hope of Israel to survive the Babylonian destruction.

There was no hope of Israel to survive the destruction of Titus in 70 A.D. and almost 2,000 years later - in these troubled times - Israel thrives. The 3 million could not survive the 100 million against them. And today we have Israel.

Those who fell - Jesus fell. Lazarus fell.

Raised by God.

Our Father,

Who art in Heaven
Holy is Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom Come
They Will be Done
On earth as in Heaven

Give us this day
our Daily Living Bread

Forgive us our Trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,
Deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.

And all of us pray, we are loved, touched, saved and encouraged,
Jesus is God Amen.

2 Chronicles 20:15 ~ For the battle is not yours, but God's

Our Prayers are with all of those at Peace
- who have found war and violence

This is not new in the Bible.

David knew this as he watched his father's flock.

Lent is Preparation. Preparation for Life in Jesus Christ. Preparation for walking with God daily. Preparation for believing the Word of God. Preparation for deepening our life in the Body of Christ - Community - Church - bringing more Heaven to earth. Preparation for our own eternity - today.

We talk a lot about stopping bullying. Nothing wrong with this.

We do our part each day to provide mercy and justice. Because we see in the History of the world - times of peace. Peace time  exist, bringing in times of more Faith, more Hope, more Love.

Realistically, you cannot stop the mouths of what God calls the two natures of mankind. With more compassion to all and more belief in the structures of Love and obedience to God - we can see times of Awakening and Refreshing. David knew this time in the midst of his 23 year struggle in the 'Anointing' of God. This Anointing is, of course real, and was a great deal of work - like the Exodus. Not surprisingly, Works of God take continual Hope, Faith and Love.

God calls the two natures of mankind wheat - sustaining, nurturing, workable. And chaff - what blows around, isn't edible, doesn't sustain us, generally an irritant. Chaff the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.Chopped hay and straw used as fodder - trash. Today we sometimes call Chaff 'talking trash'. Chaff will annoy someone in a less than patient mood. Chaff will stick to someone not properly prepared. Chaff can get in your eye.

The Christian Church grew in a time of great wealth and power.  In these 'Glory Days'  oppression happened. And in these days, medical care was hard to obtain. People knew to comfort, sustain, protect each other from what lurked out there. A time when people would pray for healing, pray for protection. People knew to pray their faith for each other. Place a hand on a shoulder, bow a head and pray for one another. "God Bless You" was something meant. Part of the culture of Christ Jesus.

We need to be able to say "God Bless You" and "I will pray for you". "Can I pray for you now?"

It's Ten O'clock - Have you Prayed for Someone Today?

Good. Do they Know You Prayed???

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.


Mark 9:29
Jesus replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."


Ephesians 6:12-18
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces

2 Chronicles 20:15

Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.


1 Samuel 17:47
All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's








In times where the enemy numbers 100 million and the remnant is 3 million - God is still very able to win. God's hands and God's feet - are God's. In distinct words - when hope appears almost gone in times of violence - God is Perfectly Able. Do not lose hope.  Violence happens in the Bible to the good and the evil. Hope is within God as a viable and real event - today. Victory belongs to God.

In all generations - we recognize the hand of God shapes our world. Our prayers are a good thing. God's works are God's.  The Battle is God's. 

Probably the only painting of George Washington painted prior to the Revolutionary War.


In “Recollections of Washington”, George Washington Parke Curtis wrote of Washington's amazing survival.The coat in the painting is close to the uniform worn by General Washington in 1755 during the Battle of the Monongahela. There are four holes according to Washington’s account. There is no doubt his adopted children did know the story because George Washington Parke Curtis wrote this book.

After the Battle of Monongahela, George Washington wrote from Fort Cumberland to his younger brother, John Augustine Washington, July 18, 1755:

“But by the All-Powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!”

The United States and President Washington had a miraculous escape.  Psalm 91.

The Ship with Paper Missiles

The year was 1956. Israel had been a modern nation for eight years, surrounded by hostile enemies who were planning wars to destroy the Jewish state. The navy of Israel was for all purposes, almost nonexistent. The main enemy of Israel was the Egyptians, under the leadership of President Nasser. The Egyptians had several battleships and Nasser gave orders to move one of the large ships toward Haifa, in Israel.

The Israelis had one beat-up hull of a ship. They immediately painted it and put huge paper Mache missiles on the deck. When the Egyptian ship arrived, the Israeli’s sent a smaller boat out to meet it and warned them they had a new ship with very large missiles pointed at the Egyptians. The orders were given for the Egyptians to surrender immediately, or be destroyed. Oddly enough, the Egyptians surrendered their battleship, to a hull with fake missiles!

The Miracle of the 67 War

In May 1967, Egyptian and Syrian troops massed on Israel's borders, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and Egyptian President Gamel Abdal Nasser filled the airwaves with calls to drive the Jews into the sea. The mood in the 19-year-old-country of Israel was bleak. Facing five well-equipped, Soviet trained Arab armies, Israel's defeat was virtually a foregone conclusion.

The black humor on everyone's lips that Spring was: "The last one out, don't forget to turn off the lights."

Everyone knows that instead of defeat, Israel achieved a stunning victory. On June 5 at 7:46 AM, Israeli planes destroyed the entire Egyptian air force on the ground. In six days, Israel tripled its territory, gaining the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and -- most precious of all -- the Old City and the Temple Mount.

The crucial strategy of destroying the Egyptian air force while their planes were still on the ground opened the way for the Israeli victory. The success of the maneuver is generally attributed to the Israeli planes flying below the tracking altitude of Egyptian radar. Many other factors, however, contributed to the success of the air strike and the subsequent battles. In fact, the coincidences and unlikely happenings at precisely the right time were so plentiful that, as we learn the details of the victory, the details are astonishing.

For example, a few days before the war, the Commander of Egyptian forces in the Sinai was ordered to change commanders in most of his brigades, putting in charge officers who didn't know the terrain or their forces.

On the very morning of June 5th, three hours before the Israeli air strike, Egyptian intelligence did, in fact, issue a warning that an Israeli air attack would begin "within minutes." At that point, Egypt still had time to get its planes off the ground and save them. The message reached the command bunker in Cairo. An aide-de-camp signed a copy, but no one bothered to look for the Commander in Chief.

On the same morning of the attack, Egyptian officers stationed at the radar station in northern Jordan picked up the scrambling Israeli aircraft and sent a red alert message to Cairo. The sergeant in the decoding room of the supreme command tried to decipher the message using the previous day's code and failed.

And where was Egypt's Commander in Chief? The night before, he and most of his top officers attended a party at an air force base in the northern delta area, at which a renowned belly dancer performed. Early the next morning, he took off for the Sinai, where he had ordered all his top commanders to assemble in order to meet a high-level Iraqi delegation. When the Israeli strike happened, not one senior officer was at his post.

These amazing stories clearly demonstrate “The Battle belongs to the Lord!”





Winston Churchill's Grandson - Winston Churchill was in Israel for the War as a War Correspondent.

Among the rank & file, there was deep anxiety, even fear. My Israeli reservist escorting officer, a lawyer in his mid-forties, recently married with a small daughter, told me in all earnestness that, in the event that Israel was being defeated, he would have no hesitation killing his wife and daughter, rather than let them fall into the hands of the Arabs. It would indeed have been a second Masada.
For my part, I found myself wondering what I – a Goy and a Brit – should do in that event, given that I was from a foreign land and had no direct involvement in the quarrels of the Middle East – beyond a Grandfather who had been a strong supporter of the Balfour Declaration!

Without hesitation, I concluded that I would grab whatever weapon might come into my hands and fight at the side of the Israelis. From that moment onwards, though I avow the right of the Palestinians to have their own independent state within the confines of Biblical Palestine, which has been their homeland over the centuries, I have counted myself a Zionist, firmly believing in the justice of the existence of the State of Israel.

Just after dawn on 5 June 1967 – just as the world was beginning to believe that Israel’s days were numbered – Israel made her lightning strike, destroying the Egyptian Air Force in 2hrs50mins & four Arab air forces in the space of 36 hours. It was one of the most instant and dramatic military victories of all time. To many, it seemed to be the ‘war to end all wars’!




"...if you examine the days leading up to the war, you will see that the feeling among the Israeli public, and even among many government ministers, was that of the eve of a holocaust."
Menashe (Muni) Ben-Ari


"Every one of the hundred million Arabs has been living ... to see the day Israel is liquidated"
Cairo Radio’s Voice of the Arabs broadcast, May 18th, 1967.





"For Israel, the waiting was excruciating and debilitating. Israel's citizen army had to be mobilized. As its soldiers waited on the various fronts for the world to rescue the nation from its peril, Israeli society ground to a halt and its economy began bleeding to death. Army Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin, later to be hailed as a war hero and even later as a martyred man of peace, had a nervous breakdown. He was incapacitated to the point of incoherence by the unbearable tension of waiting with the life of his country in the balance, knowing that waiting too long would allow the armies of 100 million Arabs to strike first his country of 3 million." Charles Krauthammer


There were also the grim preparations that had to be kept secret: the parks in each city that had been consecrated for possible use as mass cemeteries.- Golda Meir

“The Battle belongs to the Lord!”

Abba,


Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you, there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.



We thank You, Abba,
For Your Blessings, You willingly give ever day of our lives.
We thank You, Abba,
We are Israel today to You as well.
We thank You, Abba,
For Your forgiveness All Your prior Love and Care.
We thank You, Abba,
For Your Love, for those we Love and lift up their cares to You.
We thank You, Abba,
For Your Preparation in Lent and in solemn times in our life. For health, hope and provision.
We thank You, Abba,
You save the world in Jesus Christ.
We thank You, Abba,
You fulfill Your Word and Your Promises. Always.

Just as we love to hear Merry Christmas, let's be brave to say "God Bless you." With the same joy. Let's be brave like Diane and Marc who say, "I will pray for you." And usually receive a glad thanks and sometimes "I will pray for you now." Let's be brave for 60 seconds together.

Our Amen in the Name of Jesus.

Psalm 18 ~ I love you, O Lord, my strength

Lent is Preparation.

Overcoming Doubts.

Living the Promises of God with Peace.

Psalm 18

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God, I cried for help.
From his temple, he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his rules were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?—

32 the God who equipped me with strength
and made my way blameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.

36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You delivered me from strife with the people;
you made me the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.

46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,
48 who delivered me from my enemies;
yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
you rescued me from the man of violence.

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing to your name.
50 Great salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his offspring forever.




1250 B.C.

The site of ancient Jericho is visible today and covers 10 acres. (c 1250 B.C.)
{Reference - The Torah contains the number of (adult, male) Hebrews freed from Egypt, the descendants of the seventy sons and grandsons of Jacob who took up their residence in that country. Altogether, including Levites, the number given is 611,730.}
(Reference - The Temple of Jerusalem was 36 acres at the time of Jesus 30 A.D.)

The Canaanite population has been estimated at up to 3,000.
By Professor Kathleen Mary Kenyon, Oxford Don and Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford from 1962 to 1973. Leading Archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. Best known for her excavations of Jericho, called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century.

Excavations to Jericho ~
At the north end, a portion of the mud brick wall atop the stone retaining wall survived, demonstrating the city wall did not fall in this area. Nothing remains of the mud brick city wall at other points investigated, showing that it had collapsed everywhere else.

Remnants of the collapsed city wall were actually found still in place in three places at Jericho. According to the Bible, Rahab’s house was incorporated into the fortification system (Joshua 2:15). If the walls fell, how was her house spared? As you recall, the spies instructed Rahab to bring her family into her house and they would be rescued. When the Israelites stormed the city, Rahab and her family were saved as promised (Joshua 6:17, 22–23). At the north end of the tell of Jericho, archaeologists made some astounding discoveries that seem to relate to Rahab. A portion of that mud-brick wall was still standing to a height of 8 ft. What is more, there were houses built against the wall! It is quite possible that this is where Rahab’s house was located.





1000 B.C.

David had "Fellowship" with the Lord.

See the Shape of Jerusalem.

The First Fruits of David's Efforts.

The Census of David is said to have recorded 1,300,000 Israel males over twenty years of age, which would imply a population of over 5,000,000 of Israel. David attended to the Lord as his First Effort. David gave the Lord First Fruit of His Heart.


We have learned of battles in the middle of the night where troops turned on themselves and went home. We know of Biblical prophecies fulfilled. Mostly this is people hearing in faith and walking in faith. Like Moses with his hands held up high for the battle. 2 Samuel 5 has David listening to the wind to hear when God is with him. David built outside of the city walls - trusting God to protect him more than walls a troop can climb.







470 B.C.

Nehemiah's population was about 40,000 people willing to return from Babylon slavery after 70 years. 1.1 million perished as Jerusalem fell. This return effort was not first fruits and covered two different kings of Babylon encouraging the return - the Babylonian Kings wanted to rebuild God's Jerusalem Temple.

This is the Good King Darius Mosaic. The slaves are the Jews being returned to Judah, Jerusalem. Emperor Xerxes was also working on the return. Ezra writes of the supreme effort to make the people move as a team to build the Temple and the city wall.

Philippians 2:13
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him




Out of the Depths: A WWII Vet's Miracle of Survival
09-08-2014
Mark Martin

And that brings us to July 30, 1945.
A Japanese submarine spotted the Indianapolis in the Philippine sea and fired a spread of torpedoes.

Two hit their mark and in less than 15 minutes, the ship went down.

Around 900 of the nearly 1,200-man crew who survived the initial attack found themselves oil-soaked, many with injuries, and clinging to kapok life jackets in the shark-infested waters.

"I thought of mom and dad back home; I thought of six younger brothers, an older sister and a younger sister, and I thought of this certain brunette that said that she would wait for me," Harrell recalled. "And I told the Lord, 'I don't want to die; I want to live!'"

Harrell, who was 20 at the time, said he began to think of scriptures.

"'I'll never leave you nor forsake you,'" Harrell quoted from the Bible. "Seemingly that came to mind, no audible voice, but I knew that the Lord was speaking to me. 'Lord, You're speaking to my heart. I'm going to make it.' Well, I didn't know I'm going to be out there four and a half days."

Four and a half days of unbelievable horror. No food; no water; and yet surrounded by water in all directions, along with sharks.

He said shipmates, who not in their right mind either because they were injured or because they drank salt water, began to hallucinate.

"He leaves the group," Harrell said, referencing a shipmate. "And he gets out 50 to 75 yards, and you hear a blood-curdling scream, and you see that kapok go under. And then like a fish cork, then that kapok brings that body back up. But by now all the blood and more, more sharks, more fins, and they are kind of fighting over what was there."

Despite witnessing scenes like that, Harrell refused to give up hope.

He believes God directed him and several of his buddies to a crate of rotten potatoes. The "hearts" of the potatoes were still edible.

He also believes God sent a small rain cloud one day to provide desperately needed water.

"So what do you do? 'Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Lord! Thank You!' And that little rain cloud comes over; you get a few drops, maybe a few tablespoons full of water," Harrell explained.

Miraculous 'Angel'

The brutal conditions took their toll. The number of sailors and Marines dwindled down to a little more than 300.

Finally, a plane flew over the area low to the water -- a miracle because the pilot, Lt. Wilbur Gwinn, wasn't looking for the survivors. He didn't even know they were missing -- no one did.

"Lt. Gwinn goes aft; he opens the Bombay door, and in just a flash, he looks down at the ocean below, and what he saw was an oil slick," Harrell said.

Flying even lower, Gwinn, who they called "Angel," saw debris, sharks, and sharks attacking survivors.

He radioed for help, and eventually, 317 crew members of the USS Indianapolis were pulled from the water.

Harrell spent months in hospitals, recovering. After everything he went through, it's easy to see why Harrell is a decorated Marine. He was even awarded The Purple Heart.

A letter dated August 13, 1945, reads: "The Purple Heart is awarded by the medical officer in command to Edgar Alvin Harrell for wounds received in action against an enemy of the United States on July 30, 1945."

Out of the Depths

Harrell went on to marry Ola, the brunette who waited for him.

Only 36 survivors of the worst Navy disaster in the history of the United States, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, are still alive.

Harrell shares his story of God's providence at schools and churches. He calls it a ministry.

He and his son, David, also chronicled the unforgettable story in a new book, Out of the Depths.





"There's not a day that goes by, many, many times a day, I just look up and say, 'Thank, You Lord!'" Harrell exclaimed.

1 Corinthians 8:6 ~ all things

Exactly Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day. Overcoming is in this.

And we would say "Ash Wednesday is Solemn." And Valentine's is not. Not exactly. What we are celebrating are two events of God's Own Victory. In one day. We are 2 Homeruns for God.

Many times Jerusalem has wished all of Israel was an Island. Wanted a different set of circumstances. If only. God'd.

Psalm 91:6

nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday


Jesus cried out, "My God, My God You have forsaken me."

I Love Jesus. He is so honest.

And now we know Jesus died before the two guilty men. In fact, the soldiers couldn't believe Jesus wouldn't suffer more. Jesus had died, according to the Mayo Clinic - of a broken heart. Heart failure.

Jesus knew and, yet, He was so broken for us. So broken. Jesus was overcoming. Teaching us to pour out our heart to God. Be Honest. Reach for the Hand and Heart of God.

Overcoming.

We have the trouble of the world. The dark.

We have God. The Light.

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

Jesus is teaching us about the faith to have in overcoming in the most dire - direst of situations.


John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

1 Corinthians 8:6

There is but one God, the Father,

from whom all things came

and for whom we exist.

And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,

through whom

all things came and
through whom we exist.

We find the most amazing things come of the difficulties we place in the Hand of God.

What we learn.

From being surprised at the fiery trial. We learn. We learn in suffering, we find overcoming. And in overcoming - Hope! And in more overcoming - Joy! And in the next circumstance - more balance and trust. And in the next - reliance on God!!!. In the prayers of overcomers - you find - this:

"Bless my sister, her marriage is in trouble." "Bless my brother, I'm ok, but he suffers. He does not know the Love Jesus has. Help my brother to know Jesus." "Bless my parents, they have worked so hard. Help them to know we appreciate them. Help them to not worry." "Help my Daddy not to worry so much. Help my Daddy to know Jesus." "Bless my little boys, they are precious. Help them to know Jesus all their days and we will not be concerned for them. Help them never to let go of Jesus' hand. If you could see them, you'd pray harder."

The prayers of the faithful - are heart endearingly precious. Unforgettable. Gracious. Loving. Touching to a Father. Touching the Heart of a Good, Good Father.




Hezekiah stood looking at the Assyrian Army. Like a fire of Locusts. Like an army of ants bringing death. Surely Hezekiah thought himself a fool to have trusted. And yet, Hezekiah placed his hope in God.

2 Kings 19
As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.


2 Kings 19:35
Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

Regroup and more war.

God decided differently.

2 Kings 19:37
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Civil war for enemies. Then illness for Hezekiah. Then political misstep. And still - God protecting Hezekiah. Only Hezekiah quit. When told his sons would live in perilous times - Hezekiah did not go to the prayer mat. We would hope we would every day of our lives - provide prayer and petition for those we love. Surrounding them with Jesus every day of Life. My grandmother Anita prayed for all her days for her son. He was saved in his 7th decade of life. Never, never, never give up.

The Vast God we Worship

Solomon and all the Children of Israel had never seen a Cloud like the Presence of God in His Temple. Jeremiah said we would see unfathomable things of God. And we do today.

The Cloud of the Temple - might - possibly - probably - be -

The glory of God we know through the Hubble Telescope.


The Vast and Unfathomable Wisdom to be found in the Living and Active Word of God. Is Today.

Eilat Mazar is a third-generation Israeli archaeologist, specializing in Jerusalem and Phoenician archeology. A senior fellow at the Shalem Center, she has worked on the Temple Mount excavations, as well as excavations at Achzib. Heading the Shalem Center's Institute of Archeology, she is with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Eilat Mazar: The Bible as a Blueprint "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other." And in reading the location of David's Palace in the Bible, simply looked at the geography - the other finds, and found the Palace of David.

The Vast and Unfathomable Wisdom to be found in the Living and Active Word of God. Is amazingly all encompassing.

Deuteronomy 32:24
They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague And bitter destruction; And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust.

If only the Plagues - brought by fleas had Dr. Eilat Mazar.

We can anticipate more of God's Wisdom found in God's Living Word.

Overcoming. Always involves dark being overcome, saved by the Light of Jesus Christ.

Having Faith - for 24 more hours. And finding we can do that again. Jesus gives us this strength.

Lent. Preparing for the Sorrow of Holy Week. And having Easter as a Celebration. To prepare for our own lives - aging - losing people we love. Their Easter. And then our Easter. Ephesians 3  God prepares His Beloved Children to Live as families in Heaven. And tells us do not be surprised.

Romans 8:37

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Abba,

We ask the Blessing of Your Peace. Your Peace trusts Your Plan, Your Path as Perfect. We ask Your Peace. With Grateful Hearts.

We know in Your Peace, with Your Word, You Create and Uphold:
More than our minds may grasp.
Thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities are Yours.
All things visible and invisible are Yours.
All things are created through You and for Your Glory as God Almighty, Our Father.
By Your Word Heaven and the Heavenly Host
The earth is Yours to call Good.

Because of Jesus. Covering of the Name of Jesus Christ.
We have been given not fear, not dismay to not rise fast and high enough,
but self-control to realize in Your Splendor
You Love us as Your children.
Delight to have us ask and enjoy the Holy Spirit within us.
God of Love.

In Jesus Christ, we know Your plans for us. Plans for welfare and not for harm.
Giving us Jesus today. Plans of Yours for a hope and future.

In Your Word is
death and life
angels and rulers
things past and present
things to come
powers
height and depth we cannot know
everything and anything of all creation
and You would Not have us separated
from the
Love
of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

With our God, our Jesus, our Holy Spirit,
Let our soul and those we love -
Let all of His Creation - to the Glory of God
Sing within our heart, Amen In Jesus Christ God.