Psalm 31:1-2 ~ I take refuge!

Psalm 31:1-2

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!

The photo of the first cave could be God observing His Creation from the Heavens. And the next cave could be David's cave he never thought he'd live in. Or John's cave on Patmos. Or Lazarus' cave in France.

Or it could be the day John was in his cave on a Sunday and the walls melted and Jesus was in His Heaven speaking with John. Matching the descriptions of near death experiences.

And if we continue the thought of God feeling distant like the Book of Esther - at work - but not visible. What did God think of Polio?

The era where people quit eating tomatoes and watermelon for breakfast. The era my father-in-law went to camp in Tyler, Texas as an 11 year old boy, to find his cabin of 15 boys and one counselor were unable to get up one morning. About noon the rest of the camp realized the entire cabin had been stricken with Polio. Ambulances took all 15 boys, with one adult camp counselor, to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. One boy survived of the 15 - my father-in-law. My father-in-law was very marvelous.

Polio.
No end was in sight. Franklin Delano Roosevelt would have much to say about Polio. Unknown cause, unknown cure.

Jesus Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit are much more linked to the Plans seen in this Life.
TODAY - The Miracle of the Salk Vaccine. No one knows why the vaccine for Polio Works.

There is far more hope than the spiraling fear.

We can talk about:
Purity of food chains, Mad Cow Disease, Chemical Warfare, number of tests, exponential, pandemic, school closures and school lunches. We can talk about H1N1, Ebola in Dallas, Texas in 2016 with one death only. (My mother was in critical condition in the same Presbyterian Hospital, with the Ebola man, at the same time with Pneumonia.) We can think of children in a swimming pool wondering if Polio was next. Shriner Hospitals displayed children in Polio leg braces for more than a lifetime.

And we will speak of Italy and causes and cures.

Fear
How Frightening for the Generation to remember what Polio was for their children. For Polio Survivors today. "History on Fire" with Daniele Bolelli, it's bleak to hear of the painter, year 1571,  the child Caravaggio had to escape the city on foot, smuggled out and most of his family died. Milan died. And then think of the term Pandemic.

Do we need to stay home? You bet.

We learn the art of waiting.
We remember the summer days of childhood. My father-in-law always said you are privileged to have two lifetimes. In childhood, you have a summer day lasting a hundred years from early morning to dark and bedtime. And then you are an adult for decades and decades and decades and you find that lasts about 15 years when your children are born and your grandchildren are twenty years old.

Suddenly we have time. And we can count our blessings. 96% Survival. 85% Survival.





We can picnic in our own front yard or patio.

Peter liked Tents!

Abraham lived in a Tent! 

We have time to recreate something really Historic. The Festival of Booths (ie The Transfiguration Peter was speaking of). Camping in your own front yard. Being the People of God and His New Covenant with the Grace of Jesus Christ who will be part of this virus Passover. Passover is Survival to Abundant Life.

Economic insecurities are awful. Black Plague would be far worse. Caravaggio left 1,500 pages of Police Records. College Professors and Psychologists believe Caravaggio was a total disaster because all of the men in his family died and most of family died in the plague. We are more fortunate. Self Quarantine.

Abba,

We want to be in the Large Number of Saints who Gather in JOY
to be
In That Number When the Saints Go Marching In!




We are learning to Wait upon You and will practice "Give us The Day!"


We will Live Abundant Life and will live Psalm 78

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
6 that the coming generation might know— even children yet to be born — to arise and tell their children,
7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments!

Using what we do have on hand...

Discovering knowing the past, seeing way back, makes the future far more Joyous.

Discovering the Walk of Faith - like the Salk Vaccine - Tells us God is Working.

John 5:17
Jesus answered them, 
"To this very day My Father is working until this hour, and I am also working.”

We Boldly Pray for this Virus to be Healed, Done and Finished. Amen in Jesus.

We are this day Covered in the Name, the Love, the Mercy the Grace of You - Our Living God.
In Self-quarantine - stay cation. Praying for all people in all this event - united and finding many, many Medical studies of Doctors working across Borders for Healing. The Medical Sharing is Immense. The Solutions Providers range across the earth You call Your Good Creation.

Jesus is the Exact Nature of You, our Living Father God. Healing and the Light of the world is at work in the medical communities and medical studies reaching across the Good Creation.

(Listed in the Medical Studies online at the very end!)

To Live Abundantly placing You and seeking Your Kingdom First. To Live Love, Peace and Joy.

Thank You - Remembering Answered Prayers we all know.

Jesus Christ, God's Son, is Our Living Passover. Alleluia. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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Acts 1 ~ The Father has fixed by His Own Authority

Acts 1

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 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. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.



Everyone I know has the same situation. We are all discussing the virus. Is this the world's biggest Pet Rock scare if 96% of younger, healthier people even contract the virus will survive. 85% of older and health issues will survive. The news flits from East to West, Left to Right.


The Word of God is put together in an interesting and Living Word of God way, truth and Life.

1. Waiting for God to reveal His Plans is looking in the right direction.
2.  The Holy Spirit will attend, appear and comfort those asking Jesus and Father God.
3.  God - who has been His Counselor? God will do Acts and Miracles and Plans of God and none of us will fully know God's Plans.
4. Jesus is never going to leave or forsake us.
5. Prayer is mentioned next. God is there.
6. Praying unites us.
7. Praying makes the Circle of Love Complete.
8. Miracles of God - Jesus unites His very own Brothers and with His Sisters and Mother.

Acts 1 is one of my favorites. Jacob wrestled. All his life, Jacob wrestled. Jacob wrestled with the Angel and his hip was put out of joint. Jesus waited upon the Lord and His Family was Reunited. Jesus looks for healing and comfort.

It's so difficult for us to imagine God of Heaven and earth allowing the Oneness of God to be a child. And in uncertain times, we are reminded we are part of God's Plans and our plans can be interrupted. Jesus didn't rule over His earthly Brothers He had grown up with. The Wedding of Canna shows Jesus and His Disciples spent time with His Family. Jesus allowed His Brothers their own time and lives. God's Love reunited them.

Time. Tithes are often said to be: 1. Time 2. Talent 3. Treasure.

What we have seen since there is more stay-cation for many in caution ... more walking, more bicycling, more dogs being walked. More visiting. We are given Time.

1 John 2:24
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

In this time of uncertainty, behold, we Abide.

Abide is to Accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation.
Even listening to one another complain is Abiding.

And in this season, we are finding a way, truth and Life.

Abba, Our Father,

Your work for mankind is to Believe in the One You sent.

Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.

This week, I've seen a generous Spirit when I've coughed in public during the pollen season of Houston, Texas. I've heard strangers call across the street to someone who Sneezes, "God Bless You!" And heard generous, "Thank you!!!"

We have all checked on each other and encouraged each other in 96 and 85% Quotes. We have all shared our troubles. And I've been amazed to find Universities and Cities so easily put another plan in place.

Father, if we discover this is the biggest Pet Rocks of quarantine - help us all to remember Your Mercy instead of our hardships. Help us to hold on to the truth of Love, Prayer and Encouragement of one another. Help us to attain wisdom if this was ever needed in the future the Pet Rocks of quarantine - has Found Purpose.

Bless those who have fear of Avalanche of new situations and troubles to find comfort to rest and renew. To remember and receive Your Mercy.

Jesus has blessed us to Stand Firmly in His Word to pray God's Mercy expectation to find this on this earth as in Heaven.

Jesus Blesses us to remember this Day to find His Joy.

Father God, help us to Live finding You first and Your Kingdom. To live in Life, Love, Peace and Joy. Faith.

Jesus cover us with Faith, Hope and Love. And we will all remember the people we are praying for and know the Circle of our Prayer in His Love. Covered in Jesus. Jesus saves the entire world by His Love and Word.

Jesus has found Life to be Joy.

Amen.

Patmos

John 17:15

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world

 but that you protect them from the evil one.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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Psalm 135 ~ Praise the Name of the Lord! Exodus 34 to Jeremiah 31 †

Psalm 135

1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the name of the Lord;
praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.

3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.

4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own,
Israel to be his treasured possession.

5 I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.

6 The Lord does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,

in the seas and all their depths.

7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

Lent is a time we consider all the aspects of life and death. We consider how Jesus would find Life such Joy to approach death.

And we wonder what purpose God the Almighty would have, other than maturity, for suffering. We are His Treasured People.

When we look at Scripture we find the words 'anger' and 'fear' are used with recurring frequency. A friend of mine was amazed looking at the 40 year desert of the Exodus and realized she would have been part of the people complaining.

When God spoke the Big Bang Words, He said, "Let there be Light."

Genesis 1:3-5

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

God was sorting Light from dark.

If we had never known trouble in life,
we would do what we do after we live enormous blessings - Complain.

 How can we say we are Blessed, if we never know hunger, fear, anger, injustice and then we are Blessed to know God's Protection.

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills

And all the nations shall flow to it,

3 and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob

That He may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 He shall judge between the nations

and shall decide disputes for many peoples

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.

5 O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord.

What will our Father, the Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth do teaching us the difference between earth and the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus has paid to Give to His Father Brand New.

In this Life, God has told us Jesus is Living Water.

Why would God make this distinction of Living Water? 

Jesus is Merciful.

Water will wear down. Jesus will not. Father God does not require His Beloved are defeated.

Jesus tells us the work of mankind is to Believe the One God has sent.

Psalm 135:7-9

7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstborn of people and animals.
9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.

One of the signs of the Old Testament in the Exodus was the striking down of animals and first born children. Moses told the Children of Israel God expects us to be Yar. Reverent of God. Trying to build up the community. Trying to build up our lives. To be a Light to the Nations. The Old Covenant of God says:

Exodus 34

5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today.

The New Covenant is explained by Jeremiah saying we are responsible to present ourselves to God and responsible for our own lives and goodness of heart, word and deeds. Consider with me, we know the plagues killed children and animals as the Exodus did. The old and the young are typically involved in illness. This time - like the Aids Epidemic of Africa - where hundreds of orphans were left to learn farming in Church groups of the small farms left to them. Consider this virus is unique to skip the children. And greet the news saying, God is Good. God is Good to the Children. New Covenant. We seek, not as Moses was told not to see God's Glory - we are told in the Lord's Prayer from John's visit to Jesus in Heaven - we are told to seek God's Glory.

I Believe we live in a time of Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ Revival.
A Time of Great Mercy in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 31:1-34

“At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, 

and they shall be my people.”

2 Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5 Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’”

7 For thus says the Lord:

“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9 With weeping they shall come,

and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for I am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall be like a watered garden

And they shall languish no more.

13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the Lord.”

15 Thus says the Lord:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

declares the Lord

And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17 There is hope for your future,

declares the Lord,

and your children shall come back to their own country.

18 I have heard Ephraim grieving,

‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

bring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the Lord my God.

19 For after I had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;

I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son?

Is he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord.

21 “Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

consider well the highway,

the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

22 How long will you waver,

O faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:

a woman encircles a man.”

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes:

“‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness,

O holy hill!’

24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,and the children's teeth are set on edge.’

30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. 
Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. 

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”



Actually this virus might be the world's largest Pet Rock 
or Pandemic of the World Wide Health Organization, 
but either way 
It's Wondrous and Amazing the Children 
are not really becoming sick.

Philippians 4
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things and the God of peace will be with you.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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