John 1 ~ The Light shines +

John 1 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

 
The Archangel Gabriel  stands in the presence of God our Father; and he has met some very interesting people. 

Gabriel witnessed Zechariah's amazing miracle with prayer answered.

And Gabriel, The Archangel, witnessed a young Mary believe and wonder with innocence. This time Gabriel is privileged  ~  "God has Highly Favored Mary."

This is tremendous Good News for several reasons and involves us today.

Daniel 9
Gabriel is met for the first time and goes to Daniel with good news, again, saying when the 2nd Exodus will be over. Daniel learns and tells us of a vast network of Angels. Of Angel positions as if the Heavenly Host is regulated and established with positions and jobs. Orderly as God tells us He is. 


1 Corinthians 14:33
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.




Father God must find people interesting.

Daniel is a slave in a lavish foreign culture seeing all types of behavior far from kosher and instead of being angry at his fate, apologizes for their sins. A slave apologizing to Father God for the reason he is a slave.

And all go away from God's messenger - enlightened.




What would you say to Gabriel? Far fetched... 

Consider this - the absolute truth is not Daniel, not Zechariah, not Mary felt any day or any moment of their lives - The Archangel Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God Father Almighty - was ever just about to visit.

We who believe in Jesus, will, probably,  speak with Gabriel one day.

Our Good News is Jesus is born in a manger, a place for domesticated animals.
Holiness greets every day regular life.

Surely Father God is reaching out to us, this generation today - when pets have never had more thought and attention lavished upon this formerly very lowly part of the family.  Father God tenderly reaches for our heart. Explaining How High is the Most High. Then explaining these Heavenly Host - are part of our spiritual life. And this is interesting. More interesting is the depth of the plan to come to our lives. To put God's Holy Spirit into our souls. Available  today warming us to speak with God of our concerns to look and see His answers and solutions.

The Awesome Power of God upholding all with His Word. 

God's Love lives with us in conversations we call prayer.  Father God reaches high and wide and deep.  Our reachable God works daily sending Love. 

We can do absolutely nothing to take care of God 
To fob off all this kindness shallowly into an 'earned' category. We are, and will always be, "in the given to" category of God.  Gifted with Love to Live Eternally with God our Father. We are loved, all we must do is reach back with Love.

Father God is not uninformed or unaware of the details of our lives. He keeps us for Himself. Our events are in His Hands.

Let us be Grateful. Every Day. Jesus is given to me and to you.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~ Charles Dickens

I will live and strive and I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!

Father God,

Bless us with Your Willingness, Grace and Mercy, we rely upon Jesus.

We Bless You for time to prepare for the coming rush of Holidays. Even in rainy tropical storms we know You are here lighting our souls with Joy.

We give Praise to Your name.  Gratitude for helping us to do the Good Works You have prepared for us to walk in. Help our attitudes, words and works bring more of Your Heaven to this life. 

We always rely upon Your Blessing of Protection and Help. Coveing our Loved Ones with Healing, Blessing and Love.

 We have peace knowing Your sufficiency. And gratitude for the Kindnesses given to us Today. Help us to be a blessing to others.

Thank You for our Conversations with Jesus You have given us in prayer. Amen.

Father God, we pray for Houston during this Tropical Storm.

For the safety of our lives and homes.

We Believe in the Light of Jesus Christ even in dark stormy times. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

Psalm 130 ~ Plentiful redemption

Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents.

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

2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

6 my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

8 And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

Jesus told us, He came for us to have Abundant Life.

Apply that idea of Abundant Life all over the millenniums of Scripture.

When Jesus says Abundant Life, we can't fail to remember He meant He had existed before Abraham. Jesus intended to Give Almighty God His Father a New Heaven and a new earth. Jesus would be sitting at the Right Hand of God.


How did Paul react to this?

1 Thessalonians 4

We urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11 and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands


When Jesus was born, the Heavenly Host appeared. Not only Gabriel who stands in the Presence of God. The Whole Heavenly Host. The Host who have sang Holy, Holy, Holy to God. The Host Jesus called Legions of Armies. It's written Nations shall arrive at His Brightness. Nations.

And where did this Abundance chose to Sing. To Shepherds abiding in the field, taking watch over the field and flocks in their care. In Bethlehem, City named for Living Bread. The aroma of toasting bread was asked for by God Himself in His Temple.

God of the Universe would chose a manner of arrival, when we consider His Holiness, we can find Home.

When Solomon asked our Living God, our Father, to live and move and have His Being in the Temple Solomon and David and dreamed, planned and created. The Robe of His Garment filled His Temple.

When Moses asked to see some of the Glory of God, Abba directed him to move his eyes away. And Moses shone.

When Job complained and complained God should hear him, God did. Job lived to tell his story.

When Abraham moved from fertile lands to live under huge Oaks to be the Father of Nations, Angels arrived. To fill Abraham with an idea of God. To wonder and strive and fail and strive.

The Brothers of Jesus Christ left their lives to live all over the world, taking their spouses, to explain God's Glory. Jesus waited on them.

The Prodigal Son's Father shared His Abundance. Just as Jesus delighted in Proverbs 8 with His Father's Master Workmanship. Jesus knew He would share in His Father's Abundance.

Gideon rose up from being the least of all the clans and least in his clan. And was strengthened in his faith and trust to be brave enough to ask God.

Zechariah was holding forth in the Temple of God and forgot to hold on to God's Mercy. God gave Him not only His Promises, but gave him new love and his voice. An opportunity to house the Mother of God.

Joseph gave up being David's Royal Line of sons to move to Egypt. And God directed him to live with the King of Kings. Joseph's family is recorded as being solidly remembered as family intact.

John would not give up Jesus. Would not depart. John is the first Child of God welcomed into Jesus' family. John graces us to find God is Love. God is God. God we will allow to weave all things to Good and Love the God of Love and Encouragement.

Peter gave up walking on water we find by the last Chapter in John. Peter knew what it was to fall into the depths and be raised up immediately as Jesus was Living Water. Peter was raised up the see God, Moses and Elijah and given the call to continue to pray for Good to be interwoven in God's Glory. Peter would travel so far he would live to see the beauty of the sun rising in Rome and to carry the keys of Heaven.


Abba,

Each day You renew Your mercies. Each day tells it's story to the next.

The Abundance of God calls us to Live, move and have our Being with You, our Father.

Do you see what I see?

Psalm 145:7

They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Psalm 104:16

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Romans 8:32

Will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Isaiah  35

The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

2 it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

3 Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come"

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

Luke 8:19-21 ~ hear the Word of God

Luke 8:19-21

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him (Jesus)  because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”


If Mary and James and Joses and Simon and Jude had been doing the Will of God, they would have fully reached Jesus and His Heart. A point we should well consider.

Jesus said even the sparrows receive God's Mercy, but not Mary, James, Joses, Simon and Jude on that day.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.





The Scriptures are filled with examples of God's Grace, His Mercy and Acts of God.

It's rare to see an example of defined, "NO." This is a very definite answer to human thinking. Approaching Jesus made this prayer. The prayer is rejected.

Apparently, lives well lived like Mary and James and Joses and Simon and Jude do not reach past the Will of God Himself. God is always God. His Good Will Prevails.

When we live hearing the Word of God and doing the Word of God, we know the Power of Scripture and the Power of God.

John 15

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in me
that does not bear fruit he takes away,

and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified

Abba, Father,

Let us live in You and abide in You and know The Power of Your Word and Your Glory.

We ask according to Your Will. In the Holy Name of Jesus, let us have Your Good Will be done on earth as it is Heaven!

Give us This Day! Today let us know Your voice. Open our Heart.

Our Daily Bread. Making good choices in Jesus. For the portion of Bread tenderly cared for and growing, help this tender portion to be in Your Care and Love. For the dry goods portion of Bread, that we are Your good Stewart of Your Gifts in our Lives.

Forgive and remember our sin no more. Heal our diseases and iniquities.

Help us to forgive others exactly as You'd this done.

Lead us far from temptation. Deliver us from evil.

This is in Your Kingdom, Your Powar and Your Glory.

In Jesus we ask. Amen.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

Acts 20:1-5 ~ stayed

Luke 4:4

Man shall not live by bread alone, 

but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Acts 20:1-5

After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Jesus tells us every Word of God is written with His deliberation. And in God's Good Plan, the childhood of Jesus, the household of Mary and Joseph have given rich clues. We are able to read James and Jude for their years with Jesus and the reuniting of the brothers in Acts 1 and 2. Paul refers to their diligence in the New Testament, traveling with Jesus'  in-law sisters.

Why did Luke record Paul's travel itinerary?

Verse one - what uproar?

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus as it appeared in Acts 19

Chapter 19 Ephesus

there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence

Ephesus had a riot with Paul teaching the Good News. We don't hear of this in Athens. Jesus said Rome would house His Church, as He told His Disciples in Caesarea. Genesis 12:23 God protects Abraham with a Blessing for those who Bless him and a curse for those who curse him. The New Testament discusses this protection offered by God.

Matthew 11:21

21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Jesus is right, to this day the town of Bethsaida has 3 locations and Bethsaida is unknown exactly.
Chorazin was crushed in 70 A.D. and is ruins. Tyre is not an island as Ezekiel foretold, thanks to Alexander the Great, who then went to visit the High Priest upon learning of the prophesy Alexander the Great would visit the High Priest. Alexander bowed to, "God's Representative on earth." The Scriptures are absolutely fascinating.

Temple of Artemis today

Verse 2 - Encouragement

Paul did not travel through Ephesus, known for worshiping odd things, screaming about hell. Paul records leaving the riot by encouraging people. His speech is called "Encouragement." 

Rather an unusual way to leave a riot.

Verse 3 Onward to Greece 

 (or if it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium)

Here we notice Paul is not 'planting'. We are not seeing Peace, Joy, Love and overall Bliss. We see discord and nothing resembling planting. Something more like hopscotch.

Hopscotch is jumping here - jumping there - no way this flight risk is going to plant a seed to do one single lasting effect. This is 'obviously' doomed. Who would believe this man is starting something of substance? Let's consider the Biblical verse and keep an eye on the names God chooses to write down:

1 Corinthians 3:6-7

I planted,

Apollos watered,

but God gave the growth.

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

The Giants of the Faith


Verse 4 Time and Tide

4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

This is a great idea to know something of these Men God chose to record. Sopater is the head of the Synagogue who saw Jesus, fell in Love with God and became Christian. Sopater is going to go far. Gaius of Derbe is going to show up a few times. He is the older son, hence his name, "Gaius" and maybe God is thinking of the Prodigal Son being oldest? Maybe. God has a 'knack' for name usage comparing the birth of Jesus Christ to his Good Friday.

Timothy gets to live to old age accompanying Paul and will live into his 80's  as a Christian Bishop. One of the first.

But like the photo of Twelve Disciples is the idea behind JRR Tolkien and The Fellowship of the Ring. These men Love Jesus but time and tide is going to push their journeys in separate directions. The Scriptures tell us Life will send us in different Journeys. We each have unique talents and gifts and a unique Plan of God. Our soul and heart -  is to be revealed to God.

The Twelve  Disciples will all have different directions as well as the men Paul loves and worships together. Jesus is the Greatest. Just as Paul is hopscotching about - the direction of the Journey and the Fellowship past, present and future will change all within the Plan of God.

Paul is going on in Jesus Christ.

Abba, our Father,

We are Blessed each day as your renew Your Mercies. Blessed You daily load us with Your Benefits. Blessed to be given Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote of his plans for the year to Timothy and said, "I will see how it goes with me." We do not know all of Your Plans. We are told to Pray with Hope and Expectation for Beautiful Blessings You have given us yesterday and today. We will look with hope to tomorrow.

With You in great Blessings, we have Jesus telling us to Pray with Hope covering Heaven on earth with the Name and Love of Jesus. We have Jesus telling us to look to God giving us this day. God providing Bread - storage of food to provide for our needs. Yeast to cause growth, dry goods for God creating a plentiful storage to know tomorrow is going to be fine.

Jesus Gift of God to cover our cares and those we Love. God working the impossible in life. We all have miracles God has given us. We have not been carried by God so far to be dropped on our heads.

We believe and Trust God as our Good Father. And for our communities, Churches, employment, family and those we Love - Covered with Jesus. Broken backs healed. Healing all of cancer. Prayers answered. Peace found.

The believing world praying Jesus covering His Good Creation. In God we will Abide. Forever.

Amen in Jesus Christ. Amen.

 
 

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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