Isaiah 40 ~ the foundations of the earth

Isaiah 40

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and cry to her

that her warfare is ended,

    that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand

    double for all her sins.

Isaiah 27:6

In the days to come, Jacob will take root. 

Israel will bud and blossom 

and fill the whole world with fruit.

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

    and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

    and the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

    and all flesh shall see it together,

    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades

    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

    surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

    but 

The Word of our God 

will stand 

forever.

Go on up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

    lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

    “Behold your God!”

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

    and His arm rules for him;

behold, His reward is with him,

    and His recompense before him.

He will tend His flock like a shepherd;

    He will gather the lambs in his arms;

He will carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead those that are with young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His Hand

    and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

    and weighed the mountains in scales

    and the hills in a balance?

Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

    or what man shows Him his counsel?

Whom did He consult,

    and who made him understand?

Who taught Him the path of justice,

    and taught Him knowledge,

    and showed Him the way of understanding?

Revelation 4:6

Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass,

 clear as crystal. 

In the center, around the throne

Revelation 21: 1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, 

for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 

and the sea was no more. 

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

    and are accounted 

as the dust on the scales

    Behold, He takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

    nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

All the nations are as nothing before Him,

    they are accounted by Him 

as less than nothing and emptiness.

To whom then will you liken God,

    or what likeness compare with Him?

All Roads lead to Bethlehem

Roman Road time of Jesus

Bethlehem, Israel

An idol! A craftsman casts it,

    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

    and casts for it silver chains

he who is too impoverished for an offering

    chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

    to set up an idol that will not move.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?

    Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood 

from the foundations of the earth?

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

who brings princes to nothing,

    and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Coliseum Coin,

perhaps Temple of Jerusalem gold

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

    scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

    and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me,

    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see:

    Who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

    calling them all by name;

by the greatness of His might

    and because He is strong in power,

    not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,

    and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

    and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

    His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power 

to the faint,

    and to him who has no might 

He increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

    and young men shall fall exhausted;

but 

they who wait for the Lord 

shall renew their strength

   They shall mount up 

with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint.

All have sinned and fallen short of His Glory

Revelation 21:23-27 

The glory of God gives it light, 

and its lamp is the Lamb. 

By its light will the nations walk, 

and the kings of the earth

 will bring their glory into it, 

and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 

They will bring into it the glory 

and the honor of the nations. 

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, 

nor anyone who does 

what is detestable or false, 

but only those 

who are written 

in the Lamb's Book of Life.

How do we know gravity does not exist in Heaven? Do Angels fly?

The parents of Samson knew!

Judges 13

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, 

“O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” 

9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” 

And He said, “I am.” 

12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?” 

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 1

4 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, 

neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. 

All that I commanded her let her observe.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 

17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is  your name, so that, 

 your words come true, we may honor you?” 

18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is Wonderful?” 

19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.

 20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, 

the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. 

Now Manoah and his wife were watching,

 and they fell on their faces to the ground.

The Angel of the Lord

Abba, Father,

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for He has visited and redeemed His people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David

As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

    and to remember His Holy Covenant

The oath that He swore to our father Abraham, 

to grant us

    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve Him without fear

    In holiness and righteousness before Him

 all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to His people

    in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy 

of our God.

    Whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

    to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Blessed be the Highest Name of Jesus Christ

Bless the Holy Spirit as the Light of mankind

Light of the Nations

Light of Heaven

Blessed be our Father 

bringing us His exact nature

in Jesus Christ,

Lamb of God

Savior of the world

Forever

and ever.

Alleluia Amen!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yay Jesus

Philemon 1 ~ Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people

 

Police looked at early art of Paul and 

drew this of Paul's face. I do think early Christian art

supports a look at the face of Paul!

Philemon 1

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
5 because
I hear about your love for all his holy people
and your faith in the Lord Jesus.

6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective
in deepening your understanding
of every good thing we share
for the sake of Christ.

7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.

It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.

11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.

14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary.

15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.

20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.

21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Friends, in difficult times:

We have only one decision to make when we are faced with:

~ job loss

~ tragic accident or fatal accident

~ illness - the highest probability of bankruptcy

~ injustice

~ racism

~ crime

~ power struggles and attitudes used as weapons

~ families that do not care for one another

~ domestic violence

~ sexual violence

~ physical illness

~ labeling - false or true

~ aging

~ isolation caused by divorce, illness, distance for jobs, children growing up, widowhood









What Decision?

Is God Good?

Why this Question? Because even to decide there is no God - based up things like the variations of water used to create life on the planet. The intricacy of DNA. The inability to create dirt. No ability to create a seed for any substance. The inability to reproduce ourselves without using what God has given us. The solar system, creating gravity. The beauty of the world. Love.

This is a crucial question - is God good?

Job fought this. Humility found the answer. Humility can be a tool used of cruelty. So, what is the answer. Love.

When we are Loved  - we are filled by something we can hardly define. We recover. We Hope. We have the ability to rise again.

Critical

I was talking to a Pastor who said he is called into the hospitals to help strangers. Dying is hard. Generally not for believers. Usually a believer comforts the ones the believer loves. And passes on to Jesus. Why talk about death when we are talking about finding Joy in Life. Because at this critical time - we find what matters. There is no greater revealing, than at critical.

Romans 8:28

We know that in all things

God works for the good

of those who love him,

who have been called

according to His purpose.

If we believe God is Good - we have the power of His Grace to rise again.

If we believe God is Good - we can Love.

If we believe God is Good - in this faith - we are nourished. Able to fill others. Filling up ourselves.

If we believe God is Good - we can take failings of life and trust God for better days.

If we believe God is Good - in this impossibility - we are able to read the Word of God applying to us. To our core.

If we believe God is Good - we are moved beyond our comfort zone. Creating failure. Jesus declares this to be true. Creating courage. Creating Life. Creating a funny path we never saw - giving us meaning. Making our obscure quirks part of life. Making life a beautiful work of stained glass - from the bits and pieces. Creating quilts. Creating paintings. Creating space to trust and love. Overcoming. And in the Body of Christ taking chances - we find we are part of a culture coming out behind the walls of the Middle Ages. Learning to read and see the Word of God. Defeating disease - creating hospitals. Feeding the starving - creating a culture of farmers to feed one another. Defeating slavery - of debts - creating a place where families can have hope.




Because we believe God saw His creation as good.

Because we believe God sees inside all of us and finds us worthy of His Love. To save the world.

To believe well enough that it is not, "all about me." Blessing all of us. Making our lives, our families, our homes, our jobs, our neighborhoods, our risks, our failures, our joy - making the blessing cover us all. Because we hold Christ in our essence. Christ in our being. Jesus is our hope. Jesus is Love. Jesus Loves. Jesus Lives.

Because God is GOD.

We believe in Mercy.

And in the Love - we are all blessed.

Colossians 4:3

As you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word,

so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ

Abba, Father,

You, Our Father, has loved us so much that we are called children of God. 

And we really are His Children!

John, Your Beloved Disciple calls You, "God of Love." 

Paul calls You, "God of encouragement!"

We pray rightly over Christmas! For us all!

Please You Bless us and Keep us,
Make Your Face Joyfully Shine upon us,
Be Gracious to us!

May we Lift up Your Face to Smile upon us!
Cover us in Your Peace, the Very Peace of You, Our God, Knowing Your
Willing Plan for a Hope and Future!

To place the Name of Jesus in our souls. Jesus before us,
Jesus behind us, Jesus Living Water pouring and flowing surround us and those we Love. Help us to Seek You First. Dwell with us.

Help us to have more Heaven upon earth.

The Blessing of Jesus upon us. 

For all the Times You've 

Helped Thank You!

Alleluia and Amen in Jesus Christ!

We put our Hope of Blessing upon Jesus

Amen  

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yay Jesus 

Romans 8:27-28 ~ according to the Will of God

This exact print was a prayer my father said many times. A Scottish prayer he had learned from his Grandfather in Rosedale, Mississippi. Daddy loved to quote this. We were in Williamsburg in a print shop, my mother saw this being printed on the printer showing print techniques from the colonial days. The whole family waited outside the shop for the paper to dry and bought this. We've had this in my family 46 years from the date of purchase, sometime in 1976.

Today, I had the grumps finding the things I needed for the Tree lights to work. Then the lights just wouldn't sit on the branches and I felt overwhelmed as we fought with the lights, dangling from the top of the ladder. Then the new ornaments, carefully shopped to finally decorate the back of the tree, decided to hide in different boxes and places they should have been in.  I very briskly and loudly sorted the boxes with Christmas wrap and... and the empty boxes, and accidentally broke a favorite lamp I've had since college. So many loving and warm memories.

Yelled. Acted the Grinch, forsook the lovely Christmas Carols playing. The dog decided the kitchen was a great place to stay by the door. I suppose I acted up for at least 45 minutes. I found what I was looking for. Looked over at my husband now grooming the dog. He was so calm. Edward asked me if I had sorted it out yet. Yes. And I found what I looked for and sorted about 15 boxes in record time. By the way, I found what I was looking for, Edward. 

Edward smiled and said good, got it out of you. Yes. Feel better? Yes, mostly.

I was tacky. Beastie, not exactly long-legged.

And my spouse smiled. Glad to see good humor returned. God of Love. God of Encouragement. Wanting to find us stronger and more able to see past our flaws and to the God of Love. Giving us understanding, believing we will get past our small mindedness.  Believing, we will leave our selfishness and be glad, very much, for the Blessings God Lavishes on us.

Jesus got on the water and traveled where God would take Him. Water can be dangerous, storms lethal. Life changes. 

We have to adapt within the changes 

and find the Blessings to see 

God Loves us.

I looked inside me and around me, nothing jumped up to say, "Bad Person." And then. Glad to not have offended. With some sorrow at the possibility to have offended what is good and loyal. Loving. Now, as maudlin, threatened joy in forgiveness. I reached up, in the backyard, to pull down several dead twigs and small branches. Was stung by an asp. 3 Benadryl capsules later, soft gel, popped rubbed in fire bites with a bandage. 

One Scripture comes to mind to make maudlin stop by way of Benadryl. And sleepy.

Romans 8:27-28

And He who searches our hearts 

knows the mind of the Spirit, 

because the Spirit intercedes for the saints 

according to the will of God. 

28 And we know that God works all things 

together for the good 

of those who love Him, 

who are called according to His purpose. 

Romans 1:7

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: 
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship with 

His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Romans 8:30

And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, 
He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 11:29

For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable.

1 Corinthians 1:2,3 

 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus 
and called to be holy, 

together with all those everywhere 

who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 their Lord and ours: 

 Grace and peace to you 

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are told God gives us abilities to walk in Good Works. Sometimes when you don't even deserve the mercy, God is very merciful inside us. And strengthens us. To Love again.

Blessed are the Merciful, they shall receive Mercy. I am blessed freely and without fully deserving.

Abba, Father,

The Joy of the Lord is our Strength. Alleluia Jesus Christ.

We will give Justice with Mercy 

and walk humbly with our Lord.

Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:4
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

We will carry Jesus and Christmas in our hearts every day.

Abba

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes Jesus, 

Thank You

Yay Jesus