Isaiah 60:1-9 ~ The Glory of The Lord

Isaiah 60:1-9

Arise, shine, 

for Your Light has come,

    and

 the glory of the Lord 

has risen upon you.

For behold, 

darkness shall cover the earth,

    and thick darkness the peoples;

but 

The Lord will arise upon you,

    and

His Glory will be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to 

Your Light,

    and kings to the brightness 

of Your Rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, 

and see;

    

They all gather 

together, 

they come to You;

Your sons shall come from afar,

    and Your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Then You shall see 

and be radiant;

    Your heart shall thrill and exult,

because 

the abundance of the sea shall be turned 

to You,

    the wealth of the nations shall come 

to You.

A multitude of camels shall cover 

You,

    the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

    all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

    and shall bring good news, 

the praises of the Lord.

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered 

to You;

    the rams of Nebaioth shall minister 

to You;

they shall come up with acceptance on My altar,

    and 

I will beautify 

My Beautiful House.

Who are these that fly like a cloud,

    and like doves to their windows?

For the coastlands shall hope 

for Me,

    the ships of Tarshish first,

to bring your children from afar,

    their silver and gold with them,

for 

The Name of the Lord your God,

    and for the Holy One of Israel,

    because 

He has made You beautiful

Milk Grotto 

thought to be

The Birthplace of Jesus Christ

Matthew 2:1-12

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

in the days of Herod the king, 

behold, 

wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, 

“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly 

and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the Child, and when you have found him, bring me word,

 that I too may come and worship Him.” 

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. 

And behold, 

the star that they had seen when it rose went before them 

until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. 

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 

11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary His Mother, 

and they fell down and worship Him.

 Then, opening their treasures, 

they offered Him gifts, 

gold and frankincense and myrrh. 

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 

they departed to their own country by another way.

Proverbs 4:23

Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life

Abba, Father,

 May the God of hope fill us all, everyone, 

with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit 

we may abound in hope.

Jesus working today,

 guiding the faithful to be pleasing

We always seek to have Jesus pleased with in us. Living.

Father God, we are grateful to begin with You.

We always need Jesus Christ, Son of God.

Dwell in me,

Dwell in us,

Dwell in those we Love,

Help us to seek You first.

And we will finish well, in Jesus Christ. 

Help us find and bring

to become

 more Heaven

to this earth.

The Lord,

The Almighty,

Our Father,

Bless,

Save,

Secure

and Uphold

those who had no

Christmas in

Israel.

And Ukraine.

Those here with us.

We know:

Our God is working. His Son, 

Jesus is working.

In Jesus,

Amen.

Roads of Heaven

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus

Psalm 30 ~ His saints †

 

And we still see the few Christmas lights still up.  And adults say, "Oh, A Christmas Light!" Then we all talk about when we start for Christmas and why we take down. What's really happening, in this age of roller coaster living, is the hope for joy, tolerance, mercy and information sharing. Now, the good news is - we all mostly adore seeing Christmas lights, even late. 

This is probably the Joy of Christmas and the delight in the Light in the world. 

Psalm 30

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up

and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried to You for help,

and 

You have healed me.

3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;

You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints,

and 

give thanks to His Holy Name.

5 For His anger is but for a moment,

and His Favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I shall never be moved.”

7 By Your favor, O Lord,

You made my mountain stand strong;

You hid your face;

I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cry,

and to the Lord I plead for mercy:

9 “What profit is there in my death,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!

O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

12 that my glory 

may sing 

your praise 

and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

We've all read about the world before electricity experiencing electric, night lights. The Awe. But in the Temple in Jerusalem, the Menorah is tall, or taller than men at the time.

Matthew 5:14

You are the Light of the world,

A city upon a hill.

The Temple of Jerusalem was run upon Olive Oil. The Temple was not run on ambient light and was a sight to behold in the evenings from across the valleys and the 7 hills of Jerusalem. John begins His Gospel speaking of the Beginning and Jesus is the Light of the world and Light of mankind. The True Light. This was something the Temple pilgrimage would have known. 

Remember the wedding virgins with oil in their lamps. Matthew 25. 

1 John 1, this is such an important theme on the awe of Light in the darkness. John begins again with Light in the darkness. The Temple would always light up at night, yet, 2 Million Pilgrims on Holy Days, this is a lot of Light. 

We wonder all the time about Atlantis and Thonis-Heracleion. Alexandra. When Rome had heated water, heated floors and therefore heated homes, glass for windows and roads to last millenniums. The Temple of Jerusalem saved Solomon's Portico from the First Temple for incredible history, beauty, steadfast architecture and God's grace upon the building. There was a magnificence in the Light of the world.  Julius Caesar's son-in-law, General Pompeii, traveled from Rome, specifically to see the Temple in Jerusalem and stride, as a gentile, into the Holy of Holies and the gentile banned Temple itself. Upon seeing the Temple in Jerusalem, he immediately changed his mind about his own impertinence. General Pompeii's soul suddenly understood the majesty of the Holy Spirit and His Authority. Considering the Temple interior and doors were entirely gold encrusted upon all the Temple including the doors - we must take the Presence of the Holy Spirit as yesterday, today and tomorrow.  

We live in an age when the new ideas are not at all pleasing to very many people. To attend the holiness of the 4th to 15th century Vatican artists we know to be so inspired and hear this awe and wonder described as, "cartoons" is less than information. No one is fooled when the explanation of the word, "cartoon" is reinvented and explained to us, as if we were toddlers. 

I was asked a few years ago why I even included the Goliath pottery. A pottery found in the city of Gath, where Goliath was raised and lived. David and Goliath were both found on the shard.

In 2005, below the late 9th-century BC antiquity level, the Iron Age IIA, an important inscription was found.  Scratched on a shard typical of the Iron Age IIA, two non-Semitic names written in Semitic "Proto-Canaanite" letters were found. Two names, "ALWT" (אלות) and "WLT" (ולת), are etymologically similar to the name Goliath (גלית), the biblical Philistine champion who was a native of Gath. 

These two name fragments probably indicate and approximately the same time as Goliath is described in the Bible. The ostracon is evidence of the cultural period. And the earliest evidence for the use of an alphabetic writing system in the Philistine culture.

This piece was effectively cancelled. And not by those with training. The Museum in Jerusalem never removed the viewing of the piece.  The public did not forget the David and Goliath Shard.

The news reports gave two numbers - 

Daily 120,000 people visited this Goliath shard when the Exhibition opened in The Bible Museum in Washington, DC in 201. Or 120,000 people visited this shard in the first year.  This is what the article stated.

Regardless, with so many people acting faithfully: 

Today, when looking up the pottery, we find the accreditations are accepted, again, because the find was in the correct place and had the correct documentation of the archaeologists, trained in the understanding of the facts. And this is as it should be.

We will pray for Salt Papyrus 124 in London's Victoria and Albert Museum, archived away from public awe and wonder. The Lord Bless us all with the return of Salt Papyrus to public view daily! Amen Jesus. 

I know, let's ask King Charles. He would do this! The donor was his great, great, great, great-grandmother Queen Victoria. 

124

Salt Papyrus 124 Up Close - Very Clear
British Museum EA 10055
Late 19th dynasty, c. 1200 BC
From Deir el-Medina
The papyrus contains the petition of problems of Amennakhte = Mose

Seti II - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seti_II

"Seti II (or Sethos II), ... Evidently, this 'Mose' must have been a person of the highest importance, perhaps the king Amenmesse himself or a senior ally of the king."

Deir el-Medina
Deir el-Medina (Arabic: دير المدينة‎) is an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th dynasties. The settlement's ancient name was "Set Maat" (translated as "The Place of Truth".)

Abba, Father,

 May the God of hope fill us all, everyone, 

with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit 

we may abound in hope.

Jesus working today,

 guiding the faithful to be pleasing

We always seek to have Jesus pleased with in us. Living.

Father God, we are grateful to begin with You.

We always need Jesus Christ, Son of God.

Dwell in me,

Dwell in us,

Dwell in those we Love,

Help us to seek You first.

And we will finish well, in Jesus Christ. 

Help us find and bring

to become

 more Heaven

to this earth.

The Lord,

The Almighty,

Our Father,

Bless,

Save,

Secure

and Uphold

those who had no

Christmas in

Israel.

And Ukraine.

Those here with us.

We know:

Our God is working. His Son, 

Jesus is working.

In Jesus,

Amen.

Roads of Heaven

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus