Colossians 3:15-20 ~ Thankful

 

 

Colossians 3:15-20

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, 

to which indeed 

you were called in one body. 

And be thankful. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, 

Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

with thankfulness 

in your hearts to God.

 And whatever you do, in word or deed, 

do everything 

in the name of the Lord Jesus

Giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 

Husbands, love your wives, 

and do not be harsh with them

It's the Time of the Season

It's about to fly past Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, and the next morning dawns as All Hallows' Day. All Saints' Day. And if this isn't enough celebrating, then allow All Saints to continue to be 3 Days of All Souls' Day.  The olden days were inclusive!  And followed with Thanksgiving!

I grew up with my step-grandfather, Rev. Wm Tate Young, who was an extended part of the family. He had gone to University of the South with my great-uncle, Bob Wilson, as his roommate.  Tate had proposed to my grandmother about 1926. Unfortunately for Tate, my grandmother had met my grandfather and was, according to Grandmother Bit (Augusta Elliott Wilson Anderson Young), breathlessly waiting for her other brother's roommate to propose - my grandfather. Tate was part of our lives - my whole life. He married into the Wilson family and everyone loved having Tate near us. My mother told me, about 4 years before he married my widowed grandmother, to consider Tate as my only grandfather. Tate was pleased, and I was too.

Finding Steadfast Love, Forever

Tate's house, later with my grandmother, was usually the Thanksgiving destination. And countless Sunday dinners. Tate christened me as an infant, as visiting priest from both Sherman and Dennison Episcopal Churches, at St. Michael's and All Angels Episcopal Church.

All went well. Back in the day, baptisms could be private, mine was. 

And on the way home, Tate was driving, waving, talking and gesturing. It was believed... Tate might have drifted out of his lane during this merriment. And the other driver in the middle lane, sat on his horn in retribution, loudly. Then the offended driver, sped up window-to-window, lifted his middle finger in the international sign of, "I'm a jerk, think a lot of myself and this is my description."  The driver attempted to yell something to match and go along with his personal signal, and his mouth fell open to his collarbone - - - realizing Tate was wearing a black suit with a white, clerical collar.

Tate laughed, smiled, raised his hand back and waved. His mood didn't flag, even a notch. Tate, said, to the quiet car, "Look, it must be one of my parishioners!"  We all laughed a good amount of time. Decades and decades.

There are other 'auto-mobile' quotes from Tate.  "Hell is like going on vacation, with those you love, in a small car. "  

Tate believed firmly in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit 

and having a firm opinion. 

On - everything.  But not from the Pulpit. 

Because Jesus is more important than an opinion. 
The Pulpit blesses all of us, in Jesus Christ.

So, we need a Church, centered, believing Jesus is Lord

God's Word is True

and we are all sinners. 

God is Love.

Jesus is Forever

Jesus doesn't have a Direction

He is the Direction and the Destination

Jesus is Living Water. And with His presence, as the Holy Spirit, Holy Water goes everywhere Holy Water wants to go.  In the thirstiest of places. Jesus is seen in the schools, hospitals - all aspects of the fullness of the earth.  The Holy Spirit is both All and Almighty, yet, gentle comfort going where invited.

Tate was a Priest for over 50 years. He went everywhere to everyone. With an open heart.

The Church is his guide. The Door is open because the Heart is Open.

Opinions are pushed aside. Jesus is Love. In the Pulpit, Tate was teaching the Word of God, not agenda. Uniting. Not dividing.  Always praying for the President and for Justice for everyone.

As a child, watching Tate and going to Parochial schools - I have found the best portion of the week is Worship.  Beautiful. Marvelous. Worship.  We stand before the Lord and tell Him Thank You.  We thank Him for our Blessings, we are precisely, exactly who we are to Him. 

We are under His Pinion. His Umbrella. Invited to His Throne, His Heart, His Joy. We bring our joys and sorrows and know Him as Father. The Exact Nature of Jesus Christ. 

Each week, as Episcopalian or Methodist, we always prayed to be one with the Holy Catholic Church. This doesn't mean we will be saying the Eucharist in Latin anytime soon.  Instead, this is a request of God to be at Peace with one another, who say, "Jesus is Lord." Overcoming the this and that.  Know, deeply, all will be before Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow, Jesus Christ is Lord. 

Catholics are diverse. Episcopalians diverse. Methodists diverse. Presbyterians had 14 different denominations, last time I checked. Diverse and diversity are different in a Church and in the secular area.  Heaven has no closed gates. 

God never says not to pray after 10 pm or before 10 am.  

Prayer opportunities never cease!

Times and seasons change. 

 This season has something different constantly happening, like popcorn. 

Overt sadness, depression, denial, ignoring the situation - Oh - the ways I've dealt with major changes in the past.  However, now, I give myself permission to feel how I feel.  And realize this is a season.  Huge changes take at least two years to grieve, and this is natural, is the heart in healing time.  We lost our daughter being stillborn during Hurricane Ike. Grief can be placed in the Hands of God forever. We allow this to return for moments, to remember love, and we put this back in His Capable Hands. 

 Vacations, in emotions, are times when we have a headache, or we know our mood is low. Then we know to tell ourselves, I'm putting this in God's Hands and taking a vacation from the worry or the sadness.  No new, huge decisions will be made. This is rest. 

The other aspect of dealing with pressure from all directions is to be kind, speak willingly and speak politely. I speak truth with mercy and don't always like the results, but people have to decide their own path. I know mine will be Love the Lord and seek Him first. 

I watched the news a great deal during the Pandemic. Saw Lemon tell people not to be friends with those who have different ideas. Heard Anderson say some sites are loved by everyone, but he is saying, stay away from some sites, they aren't for us. The news is an opportunity to pray. In fact, I pray watching television shows from a decade back. Lord, please help us all - not to be that. Let's find more, instead. 

Be more Heaven on earth.

Now, I watch the news, maybe, ten or fifteen minutes a day. Got the gist. Stories seem to repeat in a more aggressive way.

When people will disagree.  That's ok. Let's be polite and speak the truth with mercy. I worked in Pro Life. We talked to single, married, happy, sad, doing well, struggling and overcome. We did STD tests for gay people, married and sad people. Almost everyone cries to find out they have this happened to them. It was a time they found sex used as a weapon instead of love.  And this is trust betrayed.  The way we have meaningful conversation is to be honest with one another. And speak willingly to those who speak politely.  Truth and mercy are the goals in Jesus Christ. His Word, His Plan, He comes First. 

The Bible has 3,000 pages of disagreement, struggle or conflict. Evidently, God planned and we learn as we struggle. And this is Unity.  Unity in a love for Jesus Christ.  Unity for open hearts. Unity becomes what God is ... Love. 

In my Pro Life work, I'm not a Republican, I'm the Child of Jesus willing to talk about the situation honestly and with hope and recovery. The East is far from the West, overcoming sin and unhappiness. Completely and Forever as God's Promises.  Not with judgment. With Hope.  Speaking of unhappiness.   If someone seeks to leave, then this is their choice.  But the Door is open like the Gate of Heaven. 

The Book of Acts has a plan for true Jesus Unity.  Prayer. I will pray for your concern, please let me know, let's pray.  In Pro Life, I always prayed like this and have never been thought of as uncaring to pray like this:

Abba, Father, 

We come together to pray 

and ask You to be present, 

hear this prayer, please,

in Jesus Christ.

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 to find and bring

to become

 more Heaven

to this earth.

Your Plan, Your way,

Your Son is best.

Establish us on your path,

help keep us near You

and on the path.

Your Wonderful Plan.

You Include All in Your Plan.

Encourage us in Love

Encourage us with Your Joy.

Jesus, teach us to follow You

more closely in Your Word.

Correct us in Your Love

to remain with You.

Help us when the path isn't seen

Protect us to remain with You.

Your Love is

where I want to be.

Forgive me for my 

flaws, weakness and sin.

Because You are God of Love

and I need you in my life.

Help us with our needs

today

and You will help us tomorrow as well.

Bless Israel with peace,

Bless families with living, loving hearts,

Reawaken God being first.

Bless this Nation.

Bless the Nations who need You.

In Jesus,

Amen.

Psalm 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Colossians 3:17 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, 

do everything 

in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks 

to God the Father through Him.

Psalm 136:1

  

Give thanks to the Lord, 

for He is good, 

for His steadfast love 

endures 

forever.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Roads of Heaven

Thank You Lord Jesus 

James 2:13 ~ Mercy triumphs

 

During Betrothal, like Joseph to Mary, the groom works to enlarge and build upon the family home. Multigenerational housing. Handed down for years, like the Prodigal Son Parable.

Nazareth First Century Village Recreation

Nazareth, Israel

 

James 2:13

For judgment is without mercy 

to one 

who has shown no mercy. 

Mercy triumphs over judgment.

As an adult, I have a new appreciation for The Book of James.  The People who grew up knowing Jesus as a Child! Come On! Tell me more!

When and how did my interest in James and Jude? During the 5-year trial, of wow. The James Ossuary Trial for 5 Years in Israel.  Ossuaries are small chests in which the bones of the dead were placed after the flesh had decayed. Sarcophagi are body-length coffins made of stone.

 5 Years of Israel Trials 

The James Ossuary

Lots of controversy, the ending basically unpublished. 

The Louvre expert 
and 

the CIA expert testimony expressly gave their opinion -

on the lid being the actual ossuary of James, the brother of Christ, for antiquity carbon dating and the location of the find. The Israeli judge listened to testimony for over 2 years and decided to declare it all to be a matter of faith.

If you happened to see bing's video "10 Highly Disputed Religious Artifacts" you are going to experience more of what you already know. People Cannot Agree What These Objects Are. And as a result we see them with faith, or we don't. No artifact in the world will give faith.


Christianity makes an astonishing claim. Jesus Christ is God's only Son. 

Jesus Christ fulfills the many, many requirements of the Old Testament, even into the hundreds. The Gospel went forth in an age without multimedia capabilities and, in 16 years, the Roman Emperors were putting people to death, for almost 300 years, over belief that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and does what He says and returned in triumph over death.

What would be the proof of Jesus returning from the dead? It isn't secret. It isn't hidden. This is right there in the open. People risked death for hundreds of years, millenniums, even today, to spread the Good News. Lives are changed. People are strengthened. Everyone in life has a story of someone who died in a remarkable way (my grandmother, as she was dying, saw all the people she knew and was shaking hands and oh-my-ing). We all have a story of knowledge of used electric heart paddles, they've come back with something to say. Someone who had a miracle. An Act of God. Something they think of and... there it is.... faith. God loves you and cares.

There are real artifacts of the Bible, undoubtedly. http://www.bible-history.com There are hundreds of history books to support the Scriptures.  The FBI says the parts they can determine are real. The head of antiquities for the Louvre says it is real. The government’s star witness, Yuval Goren, former chairman of Tel Aviv University’s institute of archaeology, was forced to admit on cross-examination that there is original ancient patina in the word “Jesus,” the last word in the inscription that reads

“James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

Judge Aharon Farkash has wondered, out loud, how to judge when even the experts don't agree - has told the prosecution to consider dropping the case. After 5 years, they did. 

Mercy, Mercy, Imagine being told to decide for ourselves.

Today and Then,

Some Big Similarities

James lived in a time he knew to be dangerous. 

John lived, expressing the evil he'd been an eyewitness.  

James knew what it was to be the brother, Jesus said, "Whoever does the will of God, is my brother."  And James is recorded in the Book of Acts as repentant and daily gathering with the disciples and his mother Mary to pray daily. James is recorded as being one of the ones JESUS appeared to after His resurrection. 

Mary had real opinions in Luke 1 about the wealthy, the proud, the hungry and the Promises of God. Mary had social, economical, religious and soul-based opinions. She wasn't milk toast or always smiling. In the Book of James and Jude, we find men raised with thinking opinions and flavored with Jesus sitting at the breakfast and dinner, leaning back to eat, couch and table.

How many times did someone at the Holy Family dinner table with brothers and sisters throw up their hands and pretend to nap at the dinner table and couch?

Too often, we throw up our hands and forget to pray for our loved ones.

Too much separation. Too little respect. We let Luke 12 be the Word of God we place upon our families. Yet, we have forgotten something important. The first century lived this division, we do not need to repeat it and sigh. Rather, sigh in the Holy Spirit and pray, pray, pray. I was challenged to pray for a portion of my family in 2009. So I started to every day. Just praying the Lord's Prayer and "Jesus, please" while picturing their faces. And Dear God. It got So much worse. And I told our Pastor, Thanks for that (figuratively speaking!).  And he replied, "Yes, that happens frequently with real prayer. Keep doing it." (okay, great....) And I have to tell you, the results have been rather outstanding to me. And then not that. I pray for my family in its entirety when I take a vitamin. I pray for their whole (holy) health. 

I have a dear friend at Church, I've seen her take her adult child's children each weekend. The adult child was not living a godly life. Using, I suspected, soft drugs, living with a man who wouldn't legally marry her or put his name on their children. Driving a far direction to get the kids. And giving them all their love and support. Taking the kids each week to our Church and Church special events. That blended family has bloomed. A marriage, children who glow, an adult baptism, children's baptism, parents who went forward in Church to say "I will love the LORD", grandparents who feel blessed beyond compare. Because they lived LOVE.  Did the adult child honor her and love her for these years? Not really. But they lived the LOVE anyway. The results are only of GOD.

Our prayer lives are a journey.

Ezekiel 36

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Thank You Lord Jesus 

Matthew 11:5 ~ Good News

 

 

Matthew 11:5

The blind receive their sight 

and the lame walk, 

lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, 

and the dead are raised up, 

and 

the poor have 

Good News preached to them

Matthew 5:3–12

Blessed are 

the poor in spirit: 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn: 

for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek: 

for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they which do hunger 

and thirst after righteousness: 

for they shall be filled.

We live in the Post Pandemic, stressed, strange and, yet, some Good News time.

During the Pandemic, we saw so many pictures of people in sadness in Hospitals, Nursing Homes, walking into the Hospital. Journalists screaming. And then the "Peaceful Protests?"  I knew doctors and nurses who grimly did what they needed to do, with the terror of being told Covid would "never" go away. The determination and completely sad faces.  The people visiting and working in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living.

God Bless Them Forever.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, 

but overcome evil with good.

The Animal Shelters after quarantine lifted.  The people who stayed with the Animal Shelters. The Veterinarians who stayed the course during The Pandemic and after.

God Bless You.

Mark 16:15

He said to them, 

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel 

to all creation."

Then, people who suddenly held 2 jobs for the first time. And the people who post hiring lists, making huge lists.

The people who suddenly picked up pets to help the animals have homes and not be euthanized. Fostering an animal to rehome!

God Bless Them.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things 

God works for the good of those who love Him, 

who have been called 

according to His purpose. 

The misunderstandings told about inflation, we see and live, in necessity items cost. Tell the inflation rate to our electric costs, pharmacy costs and grocery costs. The stress from the older population in their medication for items that are $2,700 per month. 

God bless all of us, please.

Matthew 19:17 

And He said to him, 

“Why do you ask me about what is good? 

There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, 

keep the commandments.”

The School Boards, parents and quietly teachers and school nurses, who suddenly became vigilant and determined for Child Safety on So Many Levels. Interest in wholesome education and watching over Children became priority and important, again. Jesus Bless You.

My mother-in-law visited, we went to our local, neighborhood CVS Pharmacy to pick up medications left behind during the visit, and found 2 of her enormously expensive medications were not going to keep costing her $4,000 g per month because instead of 1 set of drops and 1 pill. She could take 2 drops and 4 pills of generic medication, on the shelves for "Years." Honesty in medications. It was over a $3,000 per month savings.

The healthcare workers who put care in a time healthcare isn't mentioned. 

God Bless You.

We would have to realize we are all taking turns experiencing the Post Pandemic. If it wasn't you last year, it could be you this year, as those around you sort out their pressures and sadness. 

Psalm 100:5 

For the Lord is good; 

His steadfast love endures forever, 

and 

His faithfulness 

to all generations.

Christians tend to worry every direction for the goodness of Life - meaningful Life.  And in worrying for and about each other can feel like the poor in spirit or mourn.

Genesis 1:4 

And God saw that the light was good. 

And God separated the light 

from the darkness.

Israel has suffered from a new, bad press for more than 2 decades in the United States.  And suddenly, in the middle of the Pandemic, the White House had Israel and their Neighbors genuinely and with glad and amazed hearts - celebrating and signing a Peace. Suddenly, the world loved Israel and rejoiced in the Peace of Israel.  

We have worried and worried over the open borders and homelessness. Wondered why we suffer an open border. Now, Israel has their border invaded. Our sympathies with Israel for the peaceful families sleeping and killed, kidnapped. The outrage of outrageous words shot back and forth.  

And yet, what we all want is for Israel to have this peace. Wondrous Peace. For all.

Psalm 37:3 

Trust in the Lord, 

and do good

 

dwell in the land 

and befriend faithfulness.

Do your little bit of good where you are

it's those little bits of good

put together

that overwhelm the world

Abba, Father

Help us to be wise,

 we shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; 

and those who turn

and bring many to righteousness, 

like the stars forever and ever.

Abba, Father 

To Him 

Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His Blood

And made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father,
to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, 

and every eye will see Him, 

even those who pierced Him, 

and 

all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. 

Even so. Amen.

Revelation 1

Music within our souls praising God

Psalms 19:1 

 For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens 

declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

St. Martin's Choir 

directed us to the heavens

declaring the Glory of God

and to the skies

proclaiming

the work of His Hands.

We thank You, Father, for hearing our prayers.

 Increase the Love showing the Holy Spirit 

and 

help us with the political upheaval and storms. 

We ask Your mercy on the people You have given us. 

Prayers for the Peace of Israel

and less sensationalism headlining from the news.

A Lasting and Sincere Peace

for the Children of Israel.

Thanksgiving, 

For Your Love and care for the people we love. 

We lift up our concerns to You, knowing Your Love.

Amen in Jesus Christ.

  “For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing.”

― Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Thank You Lord Jesus