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lailoken · 3 years

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“Further Protective Rites and Measures

In all rites and operarions against the black witch's curse and the lifting of ill-influence the practitioner may employ salt: this to be cast about the place, person or other to receive the exorcism and protection of the working. Likewise within such operarions, and in the making of charms against evil bewitching, both the practitioner and the client may employ the aid of the 68the Psalm;

‘Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.

Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.

The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.

They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.

The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.

Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.

Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:

To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.

Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.’

An old and wise practice, found within the West Country and beyond, to guard the home from the entry of the black witch's influcnce is to cross upon the hearth the iron fire-iools A simple charm; potent in its form, its material and its location. For the same need may a piece of bacon be selected and sruck with many pins This device is then to be hung high within the chimney. Here we may ponder that the evil influence seeking entry into the home via the chimney will encounter this flesh before any other. Thus the bacon may be seen to act as a decoy, and the pins to prick and stab at the originator of the curse.

Another similar and powerful charm for the protection of che home, and its inhabitants and contents from the attentions and influcnces of evil spirits and ill-wishers is the stuck heart. The hearts of horses, or other large animals, stuck with many and countless thorns and pins may be secreted within the chimney, or within the roof space by being hung upon a beam, and there to be left undisturbed by the occupants in order that it’s protective influence may remain.

As well as the Hearth, the doorways into the home are also to be guarded with protective influences. Such signs as the pentagram may be cut into the sill of the door, and horseshoes traditionally fixed to the door itself and to the lintel above it. Such measures ensure that all evil spirits and influences are denied entry into the home.

A good general protective charm for the household, but in particular to bring upon the place protection from fires, is to have the slough of an adder hung, and there to stay, upon a roof-beam of the building.

Protections may be provided against hauntings by hanging up within the place where the apparition makes its appearances the skull of a horse. This, one would imagine, would have the added benefit of also providing a deterrent from the attention of intruders of a more corporeal narure. The lucky holed stone, or ‘hag-stone', provides a more compact charm against spirits when hung within the bedroom.

The silvered backing of mirrors is, it is believed, thought to attract lightening, thus during a storm are all mirrors in the household covered to prevenr lightening damage to the property.

There are protections also for the livestock of the houschold, numerously in the form of plant-charms as we shall see within the ways of the green artes. A charm specifically for the protecrion of animals who have gone missing appears in the simple act of hanging a pair of iron shears upon the main cross beam of the household. The charm brings assurance that the animal will come to no harm whilst missing from its home.”

—

The Black Toad:

West Country Witchcraft and Magic

by Gemma Gary

#the black toad #Gemma Gary #west country witchcraft #West Country magic #protective magic #protection

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officialyourdailyinspiration · 3 years

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Effectual Prayer

by Charles Spurgeon

"Oh, that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments." - Job 23:3-4

In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. It appears that his objective was to pray as in God's presence. He would appeal from the lower courts, where his friends had judged unrighteously, to the High Court of heaven. There, said Job, "I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments." There are two things here set forth as necessary in prayer: ordering of our cause, and filling our mouth with arguments.

Job teaches us how he meant to plead and intercede with God. He does, as it were, reveal the secrets of his closet and unveils the art of prayer. We are admitted into the guild of suppliants; we are shown the art and mystery of pleading; we have taught to us the blessed handicraft and science of prayer.

First, it is needful that our suit be ordered before God. There is a vulgar notion that prayer is a very easy thing, a kind of common business that may be done anyhow, without care or effort. Some think that you have only to pull a book down from the shelf and get through a certain number of very excellent words and you have prayed, and then you may put the book up again. Others suppose that to use a book is superstitious, and that you ought rather to repeat extemporaneous sentences, sentences which come to your mind with a rush, like a herd of swine or a pack of hounds, and that when you have uttered them with some little attention to what you have said, you have prayed.

Now neither of these modes of prayer were adopted by ancient saints. They were accustomed, like Job, to order their cause before God in the manner of a petitioner coming into Court. A petitioner does not come into court unprepared, stating his case on the spur of the moment. Rather, he enters into the chamber with his case well prepared, having learned, moreover, how he ought to behave in the presence of the great One to whom he is appealing. There are times, when in peril and distress, that we may fly to God just as we are, as the dove enters the cleft of the rock even though her plumes are ruffled. But in ordinary times we should not come with an unprepared spirit. See yonder priest? He has a sacrifice to offer. But he does not rush into the court of the priests and hack at the bullock with the first ax upon which he can lay his hand. He washes his feet at the brazen laver, puts on his garments, adorns himself with his priestly vestments, and then he comes to the altar with his victim properly divided according to the law. He is careful to do according to the command and takes the blood in a bowl and pours it in an appropriate place at the foot of the altar, not throwing it any which way. He does not kindle the fire with a common flame but with the sacred fire from off the altar. Now this ritual is all superseded, but the truth which it taught remains the same: our spiritual sacrifices should be offered with holy carefulness. God forbid that our prayer should be a mere leaping out of one's bed and kneeling down and saying anything that comes first to mind.

When I feel that I am in the presence of God and take my rightful position in that presence, the next thing I shall want to recognize will be that I have no right to what I am seeking. I cannot expect to obtain it except as a gift of grace. I must also recognize that the only channel for receiving mercy is through his dear Son. Let me put myself then under the patronage of the great Redeemer. Let me feel that now it is no longer I that speak but Christ who speaks with me, and that while I plead, I plead his wounds, his life, his death, his blood, himself.

The next thing is to consider what I am to ask for. It is most proper to aim at great distinctness in supplication. Do not beat around the bush but come directly to the point. I like that prayer of Abraham's: "Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!" There is the name of the person prayed for and the blessing desired all in a few words. Many persons would have used a roundabout expression of this kind: "Oh that our beloved offspring might be regarded with the favor which thou bearest to those who," etc. Why not be distinct and say what we mean as well as mean what we say? It is not necessary to rehearse the catalog of every desire you may have had, can have, or shall have. Ask for what you now need. Ask for it plainly. Your eloquence and oratory will be less than nothing and vanity. Let your words be few but let your heart be fervent.

You have not quite completed the ordering when you have asked for what you want through Jesus Christ. There should be a searching as to whether it is assuredly a fitting thing to ask, for some prayers would never be offered if men did but think. A little reflection would show us that some things which we desire were better let alone. We may, moreover, have a motive at the bottom of our desire which is not Christ-like, a selfish motive which forgets God's glory and caters only for our own ease and comfort. Now although we may ask for things which are for our profit, yet still we must never let our profit interfere in any way with the glory of God. There must be mingled with acceptable prayer the holy salt of submission to the divine will. When we are sure that what we ask for is for God's glory, then, if we have power in prayer, we may say, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me."

The second part of prayer is filling the mouth with arguments, and the first question is, why are arguments to be used at all? Most certainly it is not because God is slow to give or because we can change the divine purpose or because he needs to be informed of our circumstances. The arguments to be used are for our own benefit. When we bring forth strong reasons, it shows that we feel the value of the mercy. There is no need for prayer at all as far as God is concerned, but what a need there is for it on our own account! The very act of praying is a blessing. To pray is to bathe oneself in a cooling stream, to mount on eagle's wings above the clouds, to enter the treasure house of God. To pray is to grasp heaven in one's arms, to embrace the Deity within one's soul. To pray is to cast off your burdens, to throw away your rags, to shake off your diseases, and to be filled with spiritual vigor. It is to reach the highest point of Christian health.

Now the most interesting part of our subject remains: a rapid summary and catalog of a few of the arguments which have been used with great success with God.

It is well in prayer to plead with Jehovah his attributes. Abraham did so when he laid hold upon God's justice when he pleaded for Sodom. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Here the wrestling begins. It was a powerful argument by which Abraham grasped the Lord's left hand and arrested it just when the thunderbolt was about to fall. But there came a reply to it. It was intimated to him that this would not spare the city, and you notice how the good man, when sorely pressed, retreated by inches; and at last, when he could no longer lay hold upon justice, he grasped God's right hand of mercy, and that gave him a wondrous hold when he asked that if there were but ten righteous there the city might be spared. So you and I may take hold at any time upon the justice, the mercy, the faithfulness, the wisdom, the long-suffering, the tenderness of God, and we shall find every attribute of the Most High to be, as it were, a great battering ram with which we may open the gates of heaven.

Another mighty piece of ordnance in the battle of prayer is God's promise. When Jacob was on the other side of the brook Jabbok and his brother Esau was coming with armed men, he pleaded with God not to suffer Esau to destroy the mother and the children. As a master reasoner he pleaded, "And thou said, Surely I will do thee good." Oh the force of that plea! He was holding God to his word, "Thou said."

A third argument to be used is that employed by Moses, the great name of God. How mightily did he argue with God upon this ground! "What will thou do for thy great name? The Egyptians will say, Because the Lord could not bring them into the land, therefore he slew them in the wilderness." Now, if the Lord should not be as good as his promise, not only is the believer deceived but the wicked world looking on would say, "Aha! Where is your God?"

We may also plead the sorrows of his people. Jeremiah is the great master of this art. "The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!" He talks of all their griefs and trials in the siege. He calls upon the Lord to look upon his suffering Zion, and ere long his plaintive cries are heard.

It is good to plead with God the past. David prays, "Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me." Moses also, speaking with God, says, "Thou did bring this people up out of Egypt." As if he would say, "Do not leave thy work unfinished."

Lastly, the grand Christian argument is the suffering, the death, the merit, the intercession of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I am afraid we do not understand what it is that we have at our command when we are allowed to plead with God for Christ's sake. When we ask God to hear us, pleading Christ's name, we usually mean, "O Lord, thy dear son deserves this of thee; do this unto me because of what he merits." But we might go farther. Supposing you should say to me, you who keep a warehouse in the city, "Sir, call at my office and use my name, and say that they are to give you such a thing." I should go in and use your name and obtain my request as a matter of right and a matter of necessity.

This is virtually what Jesus Christ says to us. "If you need anything of God, all that the Father has belongs to me; go and use my name." When you have Christ's name, to whom the very justice of God has become a debtor and whose merits have claims with the Most High, there is no need to speak with fear and trembling and bated breath. Oh waver not and let not faith stagger. The name of Christ which you plead shakes the gates of hell!

The man who has his mouth full of arguments in prayer shall soon have his mouth full of benedictions in answer to prayer. It is said (I know not how truly) that the explanation of the text, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," may be found in a very singular Oriental custom. It is said that not many years ago (I remember the circumstance being reported) the King of Persia ordered the chief of his nobility, who had done something which greatly gratified him, to open his mouth. And when he had done so, he began to put into his mouth pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds until he had filled it as full as it could hold. Then he bade him go his way. This is said to have been occasionally done in Oriental courts toward great favorites. God says, "Open thy mouth with arguments," and then he will fill it with mercies priceless, gems unspeakably valuable. Would not a man open his mouth wide to have it filled in such a style? Surely the most simple-minded among you would be wise enough for that. Let us then open wide our mouths when we have to plead with God. Our needs are great. Let our requests be great, and the supply shall be great too.

#Effectual Prayer #Charles Haddon Spurgeon #Job 23:3-4

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buzzdixonwriter · 4 years

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Mark Twain's "War Prayer" memorial day

It was a time of great and exalting excitement.

The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams – visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation

God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory –

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,"Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside – which the startled minister did – and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!"

The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention.

"He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import – that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of – except he pause and think.

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two – one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this – keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer – the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it – that part which the pastor – and also you in your hearts – fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words:'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!'That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father,

our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them – in spirit – we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.

O Lord our God,

help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave

and denied it –

for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.

Amen.

(After a pause.)

"Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

#Bible #Christianity #culture #ethics #evil #Hell #history #Jesus #love #Mark Twain #morality #rank hypocrisy #sin #writing

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writingsformuse · 5 years

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So Be It (part ii)

SUMMARY: (Crowley x Reader series)

You turned her head to glare at the demon next to you. A newer face, but familiar somehow. He stands tall with his shoulders back, looking in the same direction you had been gazing at moments ago. What struck you most were his pitch black wings, a standing contrast between the angel’s white wings and your own brown ones. His feathers looked soft, but they seemed burned at the edges.

Oh, right- you think- the fall.

WORD COUNT: 1373 words

AUTHOR: Lydia

NOTES: here ya go! enjoy, and feedback/reblogs are loved dearly. message me if you wanna be put on the tag list!

part i

It was the seventh day of the world, and you were growing rather tired of the view ahead of you. Sand, blown by wind and shaped into haphazard dunes for miles upon miles upon miles. As to why anyone would put an oasis of a garden here was beyond the celestial being, but that must be part of God’s “ineffable plan” the angel in white next to you continues to muse over. This angel, so pure and built to God’s image perfectly, but you could sense an ounce of speculation in his heart.

Good, you’d think when you’d notice him think for himself. Be you.

Your eyes focused on the two humans walking. It hurt your heart, watching those two first humans be forced from Eden. Your heart ached, not for their punishment, but for the trickery- the warping of free will for an agenda evil. Or maybe, more than Hell’s doing, you were more upset with God Herself for placing a forbidden tree in the center of a luscious garden with no way of stopping a new creature with free will.

Yes, that you were made about. Temptation, from both sides.

More than most, you were aggravated at yourself for not catching the serpent on time. The serpent, a demon no doubt, gliding across the Garden floor growth to the fate of humanity. You were upset you weren’t around to remind Adam and Eve they could make (and should make) their own choices for their own good.

“Well, that went down like a lead balloon.”

You turned her head to glare at the demon next to you. A newer face, but familiar somehow. He stands tall with his shoulders back, looking in the same direction you had been gazing at moments ago. His hair, long and red and tucked into curls, was blown behind him gently by a wind coming from the east. The most peculiar of all was the stark resemblance of the snake he had just formed from; the serpent that tainted the Garden of Eden, you recognized. His eyes were slated down the middle, a jaundiced yellow around the black crevice. Snakes adorned his face under his sideburn, and you found it amusing. What struck you most were his pitch black wings, a standing contrast between the angel’s white wings and your own brown ones. His feathers looked soft, but they seemed burned at the edges.

Oh, right- you think- the fall.

“Sorry, what was that?” the angel, Aziraphale, asks. He, too, watches the humans in worry. You found it humorous the immediate difference between him and the demon- two sides of two very distant coins. You were somewhere in the middle- you were the middle.

“I said, ‘Well, that went down like a lead balloon,’” the demon repeated. You still stare at him as he looks past you to the angel.

“Yes, yes, it did, rather.” Aziraphale’s voice is laced with concern, and it’s rubbing off on you. Your eyes travel back to Adam and Eve.

“Bit of an overreaction, if you ask me.” The angel looks at the demon with a side eye. “First offence and everything.” You understood though, you would almost say you agreed. “I can't see what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil anyway.” You furrowed your eyebrows at that, thinking about the fallen’s words.

“It’s not about knowing the difference, it’s about falling for temptation to act upon a side.” Your first words aloud grab the demon’s attention, and he cocks his head ever so slightly as he looks at you. Studying, you would say, but he looks away before you can pin the look.

“Well, it must be bad…” the angel started.

“Crawley,” the demon informs him.

“-Crawley. Otherwise you wouldn't have tempted them into it.”

“Oh, they just said, ‘Get up there and make some trouble,’” he says nonchalantly, and you chuckle shortly.

“Well, obviously. You're a demon.” The nerve of the angel, you swear. “It's what you do.”

“Not very subtle of the Almighty, though,” Crawley begins. “Fruit tree in the middle of a garden with a ‘Don't Touch’ sign. I mean, why not put it on the top of a high mountain? Or on the moon? Makes you wonder what God's really planning.” You avert your gaze back to him, and he’s already looking at you. Studying, indefinitely, you decide. He knows you agrees.

No wonder this one fell, you think.

“Best not to speculate. It's all part of the Great Plan.” Aziraphale, in every way, looked like he was trying to convince himself the same. “It's not for us to understand, it's ineffable.” And he looked mighty proud of using that word to a new person.

“The Great Plan's ineffable?” Crawley asks. Now he was studying his angelic counterpart who still has not made direct eye contact.

“Exactly. It is beyond understanding and incapable of being put into words.”

“Awfully funny was of having a plan if you can’t share it,” you mumbled, and Aziraphale shot you a look of caution. “Oh, I’m down here for a reason-”

“Didn't you have a flaming sword?” Crawley asks, and you look to Aziraphale.

“He did,” you muttered, scanning the garden.

“It was flaming like anything. What happened to it?” Aziraphale releases a soft “uh” and you chuckle again. “Lost it already, have you?”

“Gave it away,” you informed him.

“You what?” the demon gasps.

“I gave it away!” Aziraphale says, standing his ground. “There are vicious animals, it's going to be cold out there, and she's expecting already.” Again, trying to convince himself.

“And heavenly said, ‘Here you go, flaming sword. Don't thank me!’” you half-mocked.

“‘And don't let the sun go down on you here,’" he added, and you nod to confirm the tale. “I do hope I didn't do the wrong thing.”

“Oh, you're an angel,” Crawley whole-mocked. “I don't think you can do the wrong thing.” In your mind, you ask as always, what makes wrong so wrong? But it’s a question for another time, a question for possibly other entities rather than the ones on each side of you.

“Oh, oh, thank you,” the angel stammers. “Oh, thank you. It's been bothering me.”

A lion roars across the dunes, and you gaze to the beast in front of the humans. You shifted your footing, watching anxiously. The flaming sword in the man’s hands adds strength to the felt fear, and you frowned deeply. Oh, how badly you wanted to go and help them.

“I've been worrying, too.” You look to the demon on your left at the sound of concern in his voice. “What if I did the right thing with the whole ‘eat the apple’ business? A demon can get into a lot of trouble for doing the right thing.” What makes right so right?

More importantly, you thought, Is this free will speaking? But you pushed the thought down, saving it for a day long away.

The man lands a fatal blow to the lion’s neck, and it falls heavily. You relax your shoulders, shifting back to your previous stance.

“It'd be funny if we both got it wrong, eh? If I did the good thing and you did the bad one.” Both chuckle at the demon’s words, but you remain silent. Both of you could do what you want, not what you think home office will want.

Aziraphale stops laughing as soon as he realizes the implications of consequence behind the joke. “No, it wouldn't be funny at all.”

Suddenly, thunder sounds over the dunes behind Paradise. You flinched, and quickly look at the demon beside you. You raised your wings, one over Aziraphale and one over Crawley, more worried about whether or not what’s about to fall is holy water, worried if this being next to you might singe and wither at the slightest raindrop.

The rain falls softly onto your wings, and it feels adequately normal. But you kept your wings high, both of the men comfortable under the shelter and you fine with the rain. Crawley looks above him at your cinnamon-colored wing. He gazes at you, eyebrows furrowed, and nods. You release a soft smile, and look out over the dunes yet again at the humans.

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

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03/04/2020 DAB Transcript

Numbers 2:1-3:51, Mark 11:27-12:17, Psalms 47:1-9, Proverbs 10:24-25

Today is the 4th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today. Feeling a little bit more…a little bit more like myself here moving through the jet lag. And today, at least in my life it's a mile marker, a milestone marker. Today is my birthday and I've stopped celebrating the passing of another year in my life in my biological age. I’m 15 today. This is my 15th Daily Audio Bible birthday. So, watch out. You got a raging teenager going lead you through the rest of this year in the Scriptures, but I'll…I’ll try to act more my biological age than my Daily Audio Bible age. But anyway, it's a…at least for me, it just marks…I can’t believe it…15 years. Wow! That is…I can't believe it. But anyway, let's move into the Scriptures and allow God to speak to us into our day. And, so, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. And we’ll read Numbers chapters 2 and 3 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in our reading from the Gospel of Mark today Jesus is in Jerusalem, the holy city that we just returned from and He’s walking in the temple complex and it’s like He gets ganged up on because the chief priests, not the minor ones, like the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, they came to Him and…and they're asking Him, “like, by what…” you know… “like, by what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the right to do this? And Jesus is like, “I'll answer that question if you answer one of mine.” And then He asks the question about John, “is he from heaven or is he from man.” So, we can read this and ho like, “Jesus is very astute. He's very observant. He knows what's going on. He sees what they're doing. And, so, He outwits them with this question.” And although that's…that's true, there's more that He's asking, then it might seem, because He's not just trying to catch them in their own trap or catch them in their own trick. He’s asking a question that would inform, that would reveal their hearts whether or not they have eyes to see and ears to hear. So, he's like, I'll answer that question, but…but I'm not gonna answer that question if you don't…if you can't…if you don't have eyes to see or ears to hear the answer. “So, let me ask you a question? What about John? Was he sent from God or was he just some crazy guy?” And, so, they discuss it and they're not saying like, “hmmm…let's truly ponder that question.” They're trying to figure out the right answer that will keep them protected and safe in their power. Like, so, they’re like, “if we say from heaven then it would be like, why didn't you believe him? But if we say he was from man then the people are going to freak out because they thought he was a prophet.” And, so, they’re like, “we don't know.” And, so, Jesus is basically then saying, “you don't have eyes to see and ears to hear, so I'm not telling you by what authority I do these things.” And then immediately he launched into a parable to illustrate to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear, especially because He's…He's there with the chief priests and scribes and the elders. And, so, He's telling this story for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear the story of God and man. So, He talks about a beautiful vineyard being cultivated and developed and made right for…for…for growing. And, so, this man who owned the farm then leases the farm to tenant's, right? These would be the ones in authority. These are the ones Jesus is specifically identifying as these high priests, scribes and elders in this parable. But not just them presently. All the way back. The line of the Levites that were reading about in the book of Numbers. Like, we’ve just zoomed a couple thousand years forward and this is them, at least in office. And He was like, “the time for harvest came and the farmer sent someone to collect and that person got beat. These are the prophetic voices that have been sent all along, calling the people, inviting the people back. But the leaders beat them or killed them or struck them on the head or treated them shamefully until finally, God said, “I'll send my beloved son. Surely, surely the people of God will respect the son of God. But instead they identified this beloved son and decided, “if we can get rid of Him, we can have it all.” And, so, they killed Him, right? In the story is the story of God and man and the story of redemption. And Jesus concludes poignantly, “what will the owner of the vineyard do?” You know, like “after all that's happened, after they've beat up servants, killed servants, and killed his son, what's he gonna do? He will come and destroy the tenants”, right? And the tenant's in this story is aimed at the people Jesus is talking to, these religious elite people who are so entrenched in their tradition and so accustomed to their power that they do not have eyes to see or ears to hear. In so many ways this parable is like an invitation to the chief leaders to open their eyes to what they are not seeing, the kingdom of heaven in the world. And just like the parable goes, they left there and plotted. They’re gonna arrest Jesus and get Him out of circulation. So, if there is one thing that we should be beginning to see fairly clearly as we move through the Gospels, this kingdom is here, it is happening, it is moving forward, it will reach its fullness, but it can go completely undetected if you don't have eyes to see and ears to hear, which is why in part we’re spending this year with this word that we’re just simmering on all year, this word “vision”. We also have a word, “settle”. But this word, “vision”, is a specific kind. It's eyes to see the kingdom at work in this world and our place in it. May we not be deeply religious people who are completely aligned.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that. We way ask again for her eyes to be opened. We may be asking this many many, many, many, more times all year long to keep it on our radar to understand that it's available. We can open our eyes. We just have to look around and stop looking for everything that's challenging us or everything that's bad. We have to look for that which is holding back the darkness. That's the kingdom. And when we see light poking out of the darkness no matter where it's coming from, we need to recognize it. We need to take Your words to be true. Those who are not against us are for us. Wherever light is peeking out, no matter where it's coming from, may we recognize Your kingdom at work in this world. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

It’s…well…it’s my birthday. That's going on around here. Probably try to find an hour or two to take a little reflective drive or something and just continue moving through the jet lag. It's…I mean there are some hours now that…that are making sense, but a lot of the hours don't because you’re just kind of moving back…moving back into this time zone. So, thank you for your prayers over that.

Reminding you that…visit the Daily Audio Bible shop. There are a number of resources there for the journey through the Bible in a year. And, so, take advantage of those. They’ve been created for this journey including the Promise Land films that I’ve mentioned a number of times as we were in Israel. That is a great…that resource was created for this journey to. Just to…just changed me when I was able to go to the land of the Bible and get some context, like look around and understand the context of the stories. That's when this whole thing was birthed just to really try to bring as…as comprehensive review of some of the places that we’ll visit in the Bible into our eyes and into real life so that we can see them. So, that's available in the shop. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link and it lives on the homepage and I thank you for clicking that link. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is number to dial or you can just hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Protected by His Wings in Virginia calling for a prayer request. I retired from the Army after over 27 years of service, 21 active duty and I retire in 144 days and I covet your prayers on God’s will…well what I do in retirement. I pray for ears to hear and eyes to see and a discerning heart and I pray that I meet wisdom at this crossroads. And I covet all of the DABbers prayers. I also pray…want to put a shout out for his little Cherry in Canada, Kristi from Kentucky, and Candace from Oregon. I truly love hearing your voices, your prayers and I pray for you daily and I do miss you when I don’t hear you. Lastly, Tina, you called I believe on the 24th…25th of February is when your prayer was called. And you said you weren’t saved but you are hoping to soon be saved. What are you waiting for girlfriend? We love you. Become a child of God today. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Romans 10. Dear sweet woman of God, I hope…hope you say this prayer. I hope you become saved today. Come into His kingdom, come into His arms. He loves you and we love you. I hope to hear from you soon.

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible by the this is __ __ calling from Cleveland Ohio. I have literally…literally, excuse me, been sitting in my car with full-blown waterworks today. I am grateful to God for you Brian, for you Jill and the entire Daily Audio Bible community. I’m so thankful to my sister Jennifer for introducing me to this community some years ago. Today I want to send a special shout out to Harold. Welcome to the family my brother. I am so grateful, and I was elated to hear the testimony. My sister shared some of it because I hadn’t heard all of the prayer calls. But she shared it on Sunday and then I tuned into some of the calls and I just heard what had happened. I’m so happy for you. So welcome to the community. Welcome to eternity. Just special prayer request right now for my mom who has been fighting this dreadful disease. I’m praying for her strength, praying for healing, praying for my family, praying for my dad. And those of us on the front line with her every day. I appreciate the comments and the commentary that Brian gave today after the message, “what profit a man to gain this world and lose his soul.” And his perspective helped me to articulate what I’ve been feeling and going through with the daily stressors of the unknown and the daily stressors of the known and trying to, you know, just not have fear and not doubt God and to understand that these challenges is where God shows up and He gives His glory. So, I am grateful today. I am happy today. I am renewed today. I’m refreshed today and I love you all and thank you again so much for everything that you do. This is __ __ again from Cleveland Ohio. I can’t wait until there’s an opportunity for me to connect with each and every one of your…face-to-face should I say. I have connected virtually but hopefully one day when there’s another gathering, I will be able to come and touch and agree with some of you…

Hi this is Rachel from Pennsylvania and I just wanted to say, Tina, welcome to the DAB community and…and you hope to be a believer soon, but I think you sound like you already are. Just ask Jesus to, you know, come into your life and lead you and guide you and, you know, as long as you believe He died on the cross for your sins then your saved. I also want to say welcome to Mattie to the community who joined around the time we did the long walk last year. It is so great to have you guys here with us. I also wanted to pray for little Winston who had heart surgery yesterday, February 25th. Dear Lord, just please help Winston to heal quickly and completely so that he can live a full life that glorifies you. I also want to pray for his little Cherry and God’s Smile and Victoria’s soldier. I just pray protection over them from illness and for complete healing. Thank you, Lord for these women and for their encouragement and the joy that they bring every time I hear them call in. I want to lift up our loved ones, all of the loved ones who we’re praying for individually and as a community. I pray Lord that You open their eyes and their hearts and comfort them, give them the desire to follow and to get to know You completely and let them know that You’re real, let them feel Your presence and see You working. Let them learn from their trials and struggles and to come out on the other end with joy and happiness and peace and confidence and excitement to grow your kingdom. I just want to lift up my sister Melissa and her family. They’re expecting a new baby in September and her husband’s getting ready to go under way next week…

Hi this is Jesse from Massachusetts I am a first-time caller and I’m just going to pray for Daniel who is in Singapore and who had asked for prayer for his country that’s facing the coronavirus. So, Lord I just lift up Daniel and I lift up the country of Singapore and in particular the church in Singapore. I pray that You would remind them that You have not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and of love and I pray that You would show Danielle and show the church how You want to use them in this situation which is very dark and scary and difficult for the country and for those around them. I pray that You would give them wisdom to know what to do and…and how to love those around them, especially during a time when it may be easier and conventional wisdom they say that it’s better to isolate Yourself and…and prevent being infected but I just pray that You would give them wisdom to know how to show love in the situation. And Lord I pray for not just Singapore but for the whole world that’s facing this fear of coronavirus. Lord I pray that You would give wisdom to the public health officials to know how to make good decisions to stop the spread of the virus and with the least economic impact on the world. And I pray that You be with the global church as well and that You would just help us to…to show love and know how You want to use us in the midst of this difficult…

Dear heavenly Father I just want to come to You today I just want to lift up all of those Lord who are struggling with any illness, any medical issue. God I just pay right now that You be with them in the midst of their situation. God, that they would know that they have hope in You Lord Jesus. I know we fully can’t understand God some of the stuff that’s going on, explain Lord why cancer happens, why there’s loss of vision, and why people can’t walk God and why, You know, doctors can’t explain things going on God. But we can trust and know that You have us in Your hands. God, I just pray over those Lord who are feeling lonely and lost in their situation, who feel hopeless. God, I pray that You would give them hope. God, I pray peace over them. And I pray Lord Jesus that there would be answers God, that You would come, that You would fulfillment healing in their lives. Lord it may not be on this earth God but that they ultimately Lord will be healed. And I ask that they would just trust in You. Help us Lord God to just trust in You. I pray Lord that joy would overflow and abound in each of our lives and we thank You so much God that You are our healer by Your stripes we are healed. God and I pray for those in…in their hearts Lord Jesus, those who need a healing touch from You in their hearts who need to come to know You Lord Jesus I pray for their lives Lord Jesus that they would not delay any more God that they would choose to walk with You. We thank You and love You in Jesus’ name we pray.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, To Be A Blessing in California. Wanted to just say I hope __ find you all doing well. It’s a beautiful day in California, which is wonderful and troubling all at the same time. 75°, February 26th. A little early for the warm weather…weather. So, please pray for us to get rain. We need it desperately. Also, I need prayer of protection and wisdom and guidance. I am in a new position at church, which is great. God has plans which is wonderful which are a wonderful and…and yet at the same time I know that I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I will. I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth. I’ll do that too. But in the meantime, with all of those details where I’ll make mistakes, that God’s grace is sufficient in my weaknesses and that people will be forgiving as I will be forgiving too. Yeah, that would be great. Also, continued prayers for my workplace. You know, there are times when it’s easier than others. I’m grateful to have a job and I’m also finding myself a little weary as well. So, I don’t want to complain and grumble because I really want to complain and grumble. I’ve been grumbling trying to tell people but no one’s available so I called the line. Thanks for the prayers. So, appreciate it. God bless.

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almostperfectchance · 4 years

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*** Full extract from a Descendant high commanding officer during an operation, in collaboration with Union and Republic forces, overseeing the Battle for Caladis against Homeworld’s Kybran Seige Army ***

*** Year 8091/2012 Earth Time ***

I look back now...and it’s almost unreal to believe that this cursed world was once the birthplace of our Sacred Order; our sanctuary and refuge for the faithful, the forgotten, and the persecuted, human and gem alike.

This world, much like Ody'n Prime and Drax, has changed hands many times. We used it as a haven. The Republic used it as a prison world. And now these Homeworld heretics wish to use it as a mining colony for their own purposes. Of course, the Republic themselves used their prison labor to conduct mining operations of their own, but that’s not something they would teach in the SGR history books.

Whether it’s mining for minerals or harvesting new gems, what’s the difference really? Maybe the Republic doesn’t kill their slaves in the end, but honestly it’s still getting harder to tell the difference between the two anymore.

Both sides want to pretend that their vision of the universe should trump all else, both are elitist pigs, both sides try to protect their image in the face if their own atrocities, and they both go so far as to pretend that they have a set of principles when it comes to war, expansion, and conquest...as if anyone should ever expect them to follow those rules themselves when the chips are down.

There’s even word going around in the void that Homeworld now pronounces that they only conquer worlds with “no intelligent life” as if to erase all of their past crimes in the galaxies beyond...

(scoffs)...What a load of shit!

It’s awfully convenient that they’re the ones who get to decide arbitrarily whats worthy of being intelligent and what isn’t. It didn’t stop them from committing genocide across the Andromeda galaxy while hunting us down one by one. It sure as hell didn’t stop them from coming back for us now!

At least the Republic has the spine to openly display their misguided biases and brutality for the universe to see...

(sigh)

At least they make an attempt to stand by their principles, misguided as some of them may be. More than I can say for these purist gem blasphemers, who judge and dictate the galaxy as they see fit, still acting as if they see themselves as equals to the Requian Gods themselves.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another century...another war...another tyrant...only this one refuses to know when she’s been beaten.

During the civil war, we spent decades and countless lives trying to take back our Father’s land from the SGR and their relentless dogs. With the help of Commander Cyrus’s leadership and The Father’s vision, we had some success. While we were never able to take back the entirety of our holy world, we were able to get the Republic’s attention, even after we were forced to surrender.

We were finally given a chance to rebuild, and possibly a chance to seek a peaceful redemption in the eyes of everyone.

Yet in the span of a week, the indiscriminate destruction of Homeworld’s vanguard fleet destroyed nearly everything we had gained. Countless efforts, the sacrifices of many a loyal human and gem, many of my own friends, most of them innocent...all lost for nothing...

An atrocity that Homeworld will not simply wash away like all the others...and one they will live to regret! One way or another, the will of the Union and the Descendants will be reborn; we will rejoice, and the gemstones of our oppressors will be shattered and spilled in a sea of fire! We will force the Diamonds to see their precious perfect kingdom crumble piece by piece from beneath them, and then they too will lie shattered in the ashes!

A United Andromeda defeated the Diamonds once before through rebellion and revolution, we will do it again...only this time we’ll finish the job, with or without the help of the SGR...

...or Pink Diamond.

Still it doesn’t make the chaos we face today any easier, or any less unsettling...

It was Cyrus’s plan to provoke Homeworld back into the theater of war, through the illusion of perceived weakness. Everyone always knew that Yellow Diamond would return one way or another to finish what she started, but I always had my own unsettling doubts about Cyrus’s intentions.

Homeworld did return, but at what cost?

Not only has everything we have build for the last two centuries now more in jeopardy than ever, but we are now left at the mercy of one Regime facing off against another. In the aftermath of the civil war, we became yet another vassal state to the SGR, and the scars on both sides haven’t even had the time to start to heal.

Yet here we are once again, forced by fate, to align with one monster in order to defeat a bigger one...

Caladis was among the first of many worlds to fall under Homeworld’s rapid invasion force, and they attacked without mercy. Even the mighty bulwark of the Republic’s armored might was thrown off balance by the initial attacks. Not that it slowed them down for very long. In no time at all, Chancellor Reiben’s response to the conflict was as swift and ruthless.

Of course we didn’t want to be left standing on the sidelines, watching as the two Titans skirmish and squander over our hard fought gains. But then again...our involvement wasn’t entirely by choice.

The Chancellor felt that since this war was caused by our own actions (not that she was entirely wrong), she felt that the Union should be the ones who would have to pick up the slack and do most of the dirty work, but for none of the rewards.

Caladis would be retaken from Homeworld, but the planet would lay entirely in the Republic’s hands.

More sacrifices and lost souls wasted away for nothing...

But at least with Caladis, the planet was among a small handful of worlds that the Republic would spare no expense in retaking. I guess “an example was to be made” as the arrogant Chancellor would put it.

I guess the one shining light in all of this, as much as it pains me to say, was that there was as much grief as there was relief that the SGR wasn’t shooting at us for once.

A selection amongst the Chancellor’s finest in her council would accompany my forces to Caladis to retake it: The 58th Mechanized Regiment of the Lunar Wolves Valkyierian Stormtroopers led by their Quartz Corp Marshall herself, Serena Quartz, and their Sentinel Force Commander, Reyna Vance.

The Valkieryan Congressional Guard...their elite reputation precedes them in the eyes of most. I personally find them to be overrated: Pampered jar headed Pearls and Lapis Lazulis with more specialized armor, weapons, ships, mechs, tanks, and resources than sense, and yet just as ruthless and unforgiving as their yet superior Quartz Marine counterparts.

Despite our best efforts to retake the world, they would be the ones to take all the credit...and the gains. And that reality alone will be what forever pains and haunts me the most...

Nonetheless...

I will not allow my faith to linger. I still believe in The Father’s vision without question as he believes in me, and despite my doubts with Cyrus and the Union’s plan, I will still trust her judgment...

...for now.

*** High Confessor Lapis Am’byr Slavic Lazuli ***

The Prophet’s 1st Shadow Company

The Right Hand of The Father

#steven universe #pearl steven universe #lapis lazuli #voidborne

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dailybiblelessons · 5 years

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Saturday: Preparation for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Roman Catholic Proper 21 Revised Common Lectionary Proper 16

Complementary Hebrew Scripture from The Writings: Nehemiah 13:15-22

In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food. Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath.”

When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture from the Latter Prophets: Jeremiah 1:1-3, 11-19

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.”

Then the Lord said to me: Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land. For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them. And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land–against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.

Complementary Psalm 103:1-8

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Semi-continuous Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together. They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”

O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace. But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.

I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued. All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Luke 6:1-5

There are parallel passages at Matthew 12:1-8 and Mark 2:23-28.

One sabbath while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

Year C Ordinary 21, Catholic Proper 21, RCL Proper 16: Saturday

#C Odinary 21 Saturday #Sabbath #Pharisees #Lord of the Sabbath #profaning the Sabbath

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pinkykitten · 6 years

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Prom

FFXV

Warning: i did not re-read this

Requested: By anonymous Hiiiiii!!! I was wondering, seeing as it’s prom season, could I get some prom headcannons for the chocobros???

Authors Note: i never went to prom, ive never been, ive never even seen videos of it so this may suck, just like my life so. im not sure i did this prom thing right but i promise u this is super cute and fluffy. also i used young gladdy and young ignis for this so pls dont be mad. i just thought because they r too old for prom so i chose the brotherhood young ones. another thing is i am so so sorry this took so long i know u guys dont deserve this and i just feel so bad that i make u guys wait so much. just know u guys r the best and i apologize for all this. just know i am trying really hard to do ur guys requests. so again i am sorry, let me know what u think and i hope u like this.

Noctis

you are so scared in the beginning to go to this prom with noctis

like excessive sweating

its not pretty

but napkins help 😜

you wear this dress:

noctis went dress shopping with you and told you he wanted his “princess” to pick whatever you wanted

this dress spoke to you

noctis was a bit iffy when you asked him to this prom

determination, and pestering made him change his mind

when he sees you for the first time

BASHFUL BOIIIIIIII

he is a loss for words

blushing like a tomato

“noct are you okay”

its just you’re so beautiful!

takes you in a nice, black limo

you both cuddle in the vehicle

you thank him for coming and he just nods

he whispers in your ear how gorgeous you are, how much of a goddess you look, and just really how much he loves you

lets just say...you almost cry!

HE IS JUST SO GOD DANG SWEET AND ADORABLE

he even gives you little, special kisses all over your face

but he is still bashful

when you get to the high school everyone is staring at you two

obviously cause noctis is high and mighty

i mean he is a prince

you get self conscious, but noctis holds your hand for reassurance

you both drink some juice at the juice bar

eat some cake which had many flavors so you had (your fav flavor cake)

and noctis had chocolate

these girls came by and tried to flirt and take noctis away

they were gorgeous

but noctis did not care

“i am going to be spending an amazing time with my girlfriend who is the most beautiful person in this room”

THEM TEARS THO

towards the end of the prom they place a couples dance song

you are scared to ask noctis since he doesn't really like attention on himself

instead though noctis brings you to the dance floor with a light smile

you guys dance to Like I'm Gonna Lose You · Meghan Trainor · John Legend

its slow and just perfect

you both just melt into each other

enjoying the love

the whole dance floor become empty with just you two swaying to the beat

“i love you noctis”

“i will always love you y/n”

Prompto

oh my god

the moment you mentioned it prompto was already shouting a yes

i think he was more excited than you

you and him went dress shopping and he of course took many many many many many many many many many

did i say many

pictures of you

until you found the right gown, in which you didn’t let him see

texts you the day before the prom asking if he should wear a specific type of suit

of course it is bright neon yellow, and it has a chococbo on it

“no prompt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

when he arrives at your house on prom day he opens up to see you all elegantly

you wear this dress:

“promt are you crying?!?”

yep ya boi is shedding tear at how gorgeous you are

“holy crap if you’re this beautiful in prom whats it gonna be like on our wedding day”

you laugh at his comment and wipe his tears, kissing him on the cheek

“okay so before you kill me y/n. I was gonna get a chocobo to carry us to the prom, but I didn’t end up doing that so instead I rented us a car.”

its a vintage car

you think it fits prompto a lot

of course in the car prompto sings to you and is really all jumpy

when you both arrive you notice some kids making fun of prompto, calling him fat still after he lost the weight (which u didn’t mind at all you loved him equally both ways)

you stomp to them and start giving them a peice of your mind

prompto has to take you away from them

kissing you and thanking you for sticking up for him

you both see cupcakes and just dart to them

getting frosting all over your face, prompto has a frosting mustache

“excuse me good madam but you are looking ravishing in that spectacular dress” promto says in a old man British accent voice

you smash a cupcake in his face, you and him both laughing your butts off

after you both get cleaned up you hear a slow couples dance song

you and prompto squeal in excitement and make a run to the dance floor

you guys dance to Tori Kelly - I Was Made For Loving You ft. Ed Sheeran

the lyrics make prompto cry a little and kiss you lovingly

you and prompto dance slowly and just in love

prompto twirls you like a princess

you feel safe and just made for this young man who you call yours

Young! Gladiolus

(not my gif! do not own!)

you thought gladiolus would say no because he is always so busy

you’re very much surprised to hear him agree and want to go

“i’m gonna be wearing something sexy, i’m such a tease”

yes thank you gladdy

you try your hardest to pick something out that will make you feel beautiful and like a princess on the special day of the prom

of course you would never forget gladdy’s little sister who wanted to come to the dress shopping

iris giving her very strong opinions

JUST LIKE HER BIG BRO!!!!!!

she saw a specific dress and nodded explaining why it was the one

you were hesitant but iris reassured you it was perfect

the more you looked at it the more you fell in love

you wear this dress:

the special day you are a nervous wreck

you are clumsier than ever

“whoops sorry didn’t meant to knock that over”

you hear your doorbell and run to get it

you trip over your own feet as you open the door

YAY LANDING ON GLADIOLUS

his big, strong, muscular arms catch you

“hey, baby are you o-”

when he sees you all perfect his eyes go big

you stand to your full height and give a bashful smile

“do you like it gladdy”

he is a loss for words

puts on his bravo attitude again but with a kind smile he tells you how beautiful you are

thank u iris!!!!!!!!!

you end up being driven in his car the whole way he keeps telling you how gorgeous you are

when you guys go to the high school gladiolus grabs your hand

placing your tiny hand in his huge, rough one

he brings it to his lips and kisses it

“ready to have fun baby”

you smile and nod

you both go to the drinks and gladiolus brings out his alcohol

“GLADDY!!!!”

he explains he wants a lil kick

puts a bit in his juice and asks if you want

you shrug and say yes

its not a lot just very little

after that you tell gladioulus that iris helped you pick out the dress

this makes gladioulus more happy and he kisses your forehead

you both dance to the music like a couple of crazy people

shaking, twisting, just acting like two dorks

suddenly the slow couples song plays and you sit down knowing gladioulus hates those

“hello, what are we doing? y/n we should dance out there!”

you disagree and he picks you up bridal style with ease

he places you in the middle and wraps his arms around you to dance to the music

you guys dance to Bazzi - Beautiful feat. Camila

gladioulus tells you that what this song says he feels that way about you

he gives you kisses in the middle and sings the song to you quietly

just between the two of you

since gladiolus is so tall you take your shoes off and place your feet delicately on his

your head pressed against his chest

hearing his heart beat quicken at the contact you guys make

he chuckles and places a kiss on the top of your head

Young! Ignis

(not my gif! do not own!)

ignis was the quiet one and he attracted you the way he cared so much for the young prince

you shyly asked him and at first he kept saying excuses that is until he saw how sad you were

he brought your face to look at him and with a smile said yes

you were a simple gal and ignis was simple as well

you didn’t want nothing to extreme all you wanted was to feel pretty

you went by yourself to dress shopping

noctis was there trying on suits

he noticed you were alone and without your consent told you he was going to help you

WE’RE YOU IN THAT NEED OF HELP

noctis picked out a plain, simple dress

you had to say yes it was just perfection

you wear this dress:

it was light and feathery and it fit your body perfectly

ignis came and the minute he opened the door he was in love

you were not dressed up too much it was like you descended from the heavens

thats what he felt y’all!!!

“uhm, y/n, you look, you look, uhm, exquisite and just gorgeous”

ignis is never this bashful

ignis gently touches your hand and wraps it in his

leads you to the car he drives the young prince in

“noctis told me you were going to look beautiful and he was very right indeed”

GREAT NOW YOU’RE BASHFUL

when you get in the car the backseat has a huge cake

“did you make this ignis”

ignis made a cake for prom

wow...just wow

when you arrive ignis opens the car door for you like a gentleman

you help him with carrying the cake

after a few dances and drinks you pester ignis to let you try his cake

he is very nervous

he is legit SHAKING when cutting your peice

you tasted it and smile in satisfaction

with a mouth full of cake you say how good it is

ignis chuckles and kisses your mouth eating some of the cake

now your eyes are wide

“now it taste even better, sweeter i believe”

SOMEONE CALL 911 OR 119 WHICHEVER IT IS WHERE U LIVE AT CUZ U’S DEADDDDDDDDD r.i.p

a couples song comes on and you barely sway to the music

ignis is shy when it comes to dancing but he notices how much you want to do it with him and he just cant refuse

he tells you how much he wants to dance with you and you both go to the dance floor

IS THIS A DREAM

you guys dance to Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud

ignis makes you feel loved and beautiful

he also dances so good

you praise him in dancing and he blushes

his hands grasp yours while dancing showing that he is here for you

“thank you ignis for this amazing night”

“of course, anything for you, my love”

202 notes · View notes

juryokv-blog · 5 years

Note

five times kissed / kanata and wataru

* five times kissed / @crystliz

meeting a god is quite the occasion, even if it’s a false one such as this ! he wholly believes his godhood, does he ? the boy seems to think of wataru & rei as some sort of higher beings too. how amusing ! then, wataru will play along, for who is he to break this reality. ❛ your talents lie in wish granting ? see, i’m a master of magic. would you like to see a trick ? ❜ it’s almost too much fun, entertaining someone whose beliefs in the impossibles of this world is unmoving. he holds kanata’s gaze in his own, the look of childlike wonder in eyes only all the more encouraging & wataru smiles wide.

❛ of course there’s nothing more enchanting than the mystery held in the sea, but i could show you all the land has to offer. fufuhahaha. ♪ would you like a tulip ? daffodil ? some lilies ? ❜ that is this hibiki wataru’s specialty ! pulling flower after flower out of thin air for this god’s viewing pleasure. ❛ oya ? but none of these are befitting of a god. then - a rose ? ❜ the last lingers in hand rather than discarded in kanata’s general direction with the rest, eye contact unwavering as wataru brings rose to lips. no theatrics are spared in his first impressions, a kiss planted upon rose before arm extends back towards this other oddball & flower presses at his lips too. ❛ this is my gift to you, ‘kami’-kun. ~ ♪ ❜

ii.

there’s five of them now. four other individuals who stood on equal ground to wataru & while the name they’ve been given & the force that brought them together may be suspicious in itself . . he couldn’t say he isn’t thankful for these oddballs he’s come to cherish. wataru would never tell the others, cease there be any discontent, but . . he may cherish one above the rest. the way kanata speaks of himself, so mighty & holy, this magician has to stop & listen. who has held his interest like this before ? not many people come to mind, if any.

❛ ‘kami’-kun, i must tell you. ❜ how rude of him to interrupt, though wataru never thought of himself to be such a well mannered person in the first place & the way the latter always looks back at him like he’s about to preach the good word causes something to tug at heart strings. besides, this has to be said ! ❛ you know . . i am no god. neither is rei. we are mere mortals. well . . ! rei i am not so sure about. fufuhaha - ah . . no, you needn’t grant any wish of mine. ❜ he declines the offer before it has a chance to come, knowing kanata would demand a wish from him. even if he believed kanata to have the power to grant any desire, there isn’t anything more he wants than what he has here.

❛ though even as a mortal, i still am powerful, aren’t i ? ❜ wataru’s teasing mostly now. hand reaches across table for kanata’s own, playing with digits & examining flesh before bringing him closer. he is mortal too, even if he & so many others believe otherwise. he must have some desires of his own. wataru presses a short kiss to the back of kanata’s hand as a show of faith. ❛ then allow me to grant the wish of a god some day. ❜

iii.

things had been changing since the unfortunate fall of valkyrie to fine. somehow over night they seemed to be deemed monsters & despise from classmates whom once loved them only grew with each day. it’s becoming clear of the intentions of those scheming behind the scenes, yet they only walk deeper into the traps laid out before them. kanata seems so unbothered, curiously. convinced godhood would save him from being burned at the stake & his growing number of rabid believers almost make it seem impossible to touch him. dread & worry has begun to setting in wataru’s stomach over it all. to kill a god is a inconceivable task, but kanata is human & . . he wishes he’d see that.

❛ your worshipers are quite dedicated. it’s difficult to see you these days, ‘kami’-kun ! ❜ yet he’s managed because this hibiki wataru is a master of trickery & deceit ! up in his hot air balloon no one could find them. at least, that’s what he’d like to believe, but these religious types sure can be . . persistent. even if it’s only for a little while, it has to be good to get kanata away from them. wataru’s stood in the other’s space, an arm placed casually around him & his excuse for that would be how much colder it is this high up in the sky. but really . . he’s felt rather protective of this false god as of late. he wants to keep him selfishly close. with a short glance at the boy beside him & no thought given, wataru presses lips to his cheek. ❛ kanata . . though you are a god, i do hope you’ll rely on me if ever you’re in trouble. ❜

iv.

he isn’t sure how to feel. another oddball has fallen, kanata of all people. yet . . somehow it’s for the better. thanks to a boy with a hero’s heart kanata’s renounced godhood & become human like the rest of them no matter the metaphors used to to liken them to monsters. yes, he’s been cut down, but kanata smiles so much brighter now that it’s almost blinding & wataru can’t look away. the way he radiates when speaking of this boy & the unit he’s joined . . wataru is happy something good could come from something so terrible. he’s also a bit jealous, but that’s nothing he’d ever voice aloud.

❛ fufuhaha - you seem to be having much more fun as a hero than you ever did a god ! ❜ he isn’t one to let petty jealousy get the best of him, kanata’s happiness & well being is of far more import & he really is thankful to that morisawa for achieving something he wasn’t sure he himself could do. ❛ i think this role suits you much better & with that outfit - you really do look like a proper hero ! ❜ hands toy with the edges of kanata’s unit jacket, inspect the sleek new uniform. personally, the power ranger look is not his style, but . . the other boy pulls it off well. especially when sporting such a genuine smile along with it. ah, wataru can’t help himself, leaning forth & pressing a soft kiss to kanata’s forehead. the gesture not as meaningless as he hopes it comes off.

today is the day this hibiki wataru will die. there’s no need for tears, this is the fate he’s accepted & he would be reborn anew after his fall like a phoenix from the ashes. this is his role, after all the villain who must be slain by the main character. wataru will play his part, not because there’s no stopping it, but because he understands why it must happen ! . . that’s not to say his heart doesn’t break for the other casualties of this war. shu, kanata, rei, & their adorable boy they’ve given everything to protect. be it unfortunate so many had to be cut down to pave the path for a better future of this school, yet there’s no rewinding the hands of time & the most wataru can do now is prepare the performance of a lifetime for his upcoming execution !

while he invited his dear oddballs to come see him off to death, ( regardless of any disagreements for actions being taken, it’s only right that they be together on this last day. ) he hadn’t anticipated any desperate acts to change fate until right before he’d step onto stage, as most dramatic scripts went. ❛ you’re a bit early for my performance, kanata & a little late to catch my rehearsal. i’d give you a preview, but my secret weapon already left ! ❜ hokuto has gone to finish final preparations for their portion of the live, thankfully. wataru involved him only to ensure a valuable lesson is learned by his beloved junior, but there’s no need for him to be here for this. the air is tense & it’s almost suffocating, wataru’s heart growing tight for reasons he couldn’t place despite his attempts at light jests.

❛ . . have you any words about what i’m going to do, then perhaps it’s better left unsaid. i understand natsume’s inability to see why i must, he’s still a child, but if it comes from you . . then i might . . ❜ ah, how uncharacteristic of him to think such a thing ! he cannot let his mind be swayed by the heart, by the look in kanata’s eyes & the guilt building in chest over a wish he still couldn’t grant. it had to be kanata here before him now, didn’t it ? for who else could challenge the decisions of a martyr than the person with a hand around his heart ? wataru can’t help but think there’s too many things left unsaid between them for this to be his final day, yet it’s too late & he’d be cruel to speak them now. somehow harmless flirting & words with hidden meanings turn to real feeling & he couldn’t pinpoint when it happened, only that he’d realized not soon enough. they’re engulfed in war & nothing could flourish in such an environment, it’s better left like this.

but there kanata goes, saying things as he pleases as he always does without the consideration of consequences & wataru thinks how unfair life is to hear those three words on a day like this. he’s stunned silent, considering options. there’s a part of him that wants so badly to say it back, the part where his heart resides, but then the mind has to remind him how such things shouldn’t be said so recklessly. he can’t. yet feelings & longing can’t be suppressed entirely either & what makes a person more careless than raw emotion ? so caution is thrown to the wind, wataru forgets ideals & repercussions momentarily to reach for kanata, hands at his face coaxing him closer until lips meet for an overdue kiss.

there’s not enough room for regret with all he’s baring on his shoulders, forehead resting against kanata’s when he draws back, & he can’t think about how this will affect them later either. the pressing matters now are the live about to start & the sacrifice he’ll make & hopefully kanata . . as well as the others could understand. ❛ . . please watch me & don’t take your eyes off me. ❜

#hibiki wataru ——— ic.#crystliz #.........................................bye.#im literally dying

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paladin-andric · 6 years

Text

Nature of the Gods: Part Two, the Dacuni and the Old Gods

Paganism has become rare in the face of monotheism and organized religion. Very few faiths from before the Order of God remain, wherever they are generally practiced by a small minority scattered throughout the lands. There is one place, though, yet untouched by the faith of humanity...the frigid northern lands of the Dacuni. The lands of the wolfmen still follow the gods they’ve been worshiping since the dawn of recorded history. While the Koutu’s religion has been “tainted” as the wolfmen may put it, their gods answer to no masters, answerable to no foreign god.

The wolfmen have a broad range of approaches to their gods. Some loot and pillage in their names, pledging their kill to the gods, or offering the loot to better their tribe in honor of the gods. Some become dedicated holy warriors to defend the temples of the gods, both from invading armies and during states of tribal conflict or civil war. Others simply dedicate their hard work to the gods to show their commitment to the gods’ people. This last approach is often taken by farmers, servants and child-rearing parents who cannot afford to go off on campaigns.

Hafnir

The mightiest of the gods, Hafnir is the God of War. He is typically depicted as a wild wolfman wearing very light armor made of leather and wielding a massive, two handed hammer. The raiders and soldiers look up to and worship him, taking spoils and kills in his name.

The War God is said to be the savior and champion of all wolfmen. At the dawn of time, dragons infested the northern tundra the wolfmen called home, using their vast numbers and magical powers to subdue the wolfmen and warp them into servile and obedient slaves.

One day, Hafnir descended from the sky and killed a dragon elder, freeing the wolfmen slaves from its service. He continued, traveling the land and slaughtering all dragons he came across. He killed so many they fled and went into hiding, leaving the Dacuni tribes free from their tyranny. In a final show of strength, he personally captured and mentally broke a dragon, turning it into his loyal servant, a sign of how the roles of old had been reversed. Even today, his legend influences the wolfmen. Slaying a dragon is seen as one of the greatest feats a warrior could ever accomplish in wolfman society. Many young warriors leave their tribe to find a dragon to slay, eager to prove their worth and glory. Few ever manage to find one, and the ones that do generally don’t come back...

Spuini

The God of merriment. Spuini was said to have been ascended to godhood upon beating Hafnir in a drinking contest. Often described as a wolfman in a permanent state of inebriation, jug of ale always in hand and a huge grin on his face, he is the embodiment of hedonism, and many people tend to look down on such a lifestyle...until they are behind closed doors. Indeed, many wolfmen profess themselves to be simple, modest and self-sacrificing...only to engage in wild parties in the god’s name. The life of the average wolfman is hard, stressful, full of war, death and struggle...few can withstand it without some vices.

The “chosen” of Spuini are laughed at by most other holy orders, thought of as a group of beer-swilling, gluttonous, orgy-having debauchers who have the gall to call their acts divine. While there’s a fair case for this, they also tend to genuinely believe their acts are spreading happiness and joy to the people of the land, as it is Spuini’s wish to give his children something to look forward to in this harsh world. Still, initiates who just want to make merry find their way into the temples anyway.

Spuini himself is said to reward his most zealous followers with a feeling of permanent contentedness. In a ritual of special wine drinking, the god of merriment is said to speak directly to the priests, whispering secrets and expressions of gratitude in their minds...though whether it’s the divine or the drink talking is up for debate.

The god is celebrated for uplifting the spirits of the wolfmen once they were free from the dragons, cheering them up and preparing them to forge their own destiny as Hafnir hunted the dragons down.

Baba

The goddess of the harvest, Baba is depicted as a shaggy wolfwoman with dirt clinging to her tunic, a pitchfork in hand, and a grim look on her face. Once the wife of Spuini, she became enraged as he once drove a tribe of wolfmen into such a state of permanent of ecstasy that everyone stopped working, engaging in an endless festival that ended with a famine that destroyed their tribe. Soon after she left him, traveling the land to warn the wolfmen of the dangers of throwing away diligence. Pleasure is fine...as long as you remember your duties, and temper it with some hard work.

She has since seen worship among farmers of course, along with ranchers and hunters. She is seen as the founder of society and civilization at large, for without agriculture, what are we but hunters and gatherers?

Her history with Spuini and her outlook on life has put her faithful into a bit of a rivalry with Spuini’s devotees. Baba’s priests see the “chosen” as worthless burdens, soaking up resources from those in need and getting the desperate and needy hooked on sex and alcohol, while the latter sees Baba’s faithful as humorless sticks in the mud that just need to loosen up and learn how to have some fun.

Those humble and hard working commoners often find solace in the vindication that their toiling is next to holiness, and Baba would do the same in their place. There can be no prosperity if you just sit back and wait for it.

Asvarnin

The god of sin. A younger god, Asvarnin is tasked with keeping a tally of all wrongdoings perpetrated by all mortals. While the wicked may prosper in life, they will have to answer to Asvarnin when they die. He is typically depicted as a wolfman in black robes covering him completely, long hood casting shadows over his obscured face, only his snout visible.

The god of sin is said to trap souls in the “Chamber of Absolution”, where the spirits of those who have sinned are tortured. They must experience pain proportionate to the amount of sin they have accumulated over the course of their lives. Once they have undergone the required amount of torture, they are freed, and must speak with Asvarnin as to their situation. If they remain cruel and wrathful, they will be put back into the chamber until broken. The kind and good may only face a very brief session, a short whipping to drive out impure thoughts or the like.

Asvarnin is said to be distant. Not cold per-say, but stifling his emotions as to properly dole out punishment. He is known to become sensitive and apologize for his dark and cruel job during the talks he has with his victims after sessions. He also comforts those with broken wills, who are silent and shivering after their absolving sessions. Atoning for sin is a job that must be done, but Ascarnin finds little joy in it.

Those that pass find their way to paradise, an afterlife full of rolling hills, thick forests, and halls where the wolfmen dead spend their time relaxing. Asvarnin is a precaution set to ensure only those pure enough can enter, and anyone who starts trouble there will be sent back to him for another session.

He’s often thought of as a lonely and withdrawn god, struggling to build any relationships with his fellow gods. There are so many souls to process...and it is said to have taken a toll on his happiness. Adherents to Asvarnin tend to build shrines dedicated to his glory, in an effort to show him how much they appreciate his hard work. Perhaps if he knows how grateful the mortals are, it will be enough to keep him going...or maybe even put a smile on his face.

Vilini

The goddess of nature. Vilini spends her time watching the lands and making sure the food chain is kept in harmony and perpetual sustainability. She is often depicted as a wolfwoman with a glowing aura, wearing a dress of golden leaves and followed by all manner of animals. When paintings, statues or any other art of her is made, she is typically interacting with or standing alongside animals.

It is the goddess’ job to ensure the safety of the land. Overeager hunters, land-clearing builders, and even beasts hunting more than the land can sustain are said to be visited by her...and cease their activities without question.

Vilini is said to possess unearthly charm and beauty. It is rumored she can make any mortal fall in love with her at a whim, bending them to her will. Even rampaging dragons will quickly hurry to please her and change their ways after a visit from her. She uses this as leverage to ensure all species are kept safe from extinction and the lands a firm base for life to bloom from.

Adherents to Vilini typically build very small, humble temples, as wastefulness would displease her. They try their best to get in touch with nature, and protect it from undue damage. They are fewer in number than most other cults, though they aren’t too rare.

Kalinka

The god of food and cooking. Ever the unusual one, Kalinka is said to be fanciful wolfman with an affinity for baking. Not much is known about him, though he’s said to be one of the more interactive gods, often visiting the tribes disguised as a mortal.

A good friend of Spuini, Kalinka is said to be the brain-child behind many of the recipes for his friend’s feasts. Aside from this, he is shrouded in mystery, his duties and powers unknown. He’s rumored to secretly be mighty and powerful, his silly and bizarre nature a smokescreen to hide his true identity. Who is this god, truly? He can’t just be a chef, can he?

The god of cooking is said to have introduced formalized recipes and meals to the wolfmen in their early years, while they were still searing meat over open fires and eating off of trees.

His favorite raw ingredient is red berries.

Banidol

Thought of as a wolfman hovering high in the heavens, glowing, divine eyes gazing at all below him, Banidol is the god of the Sun and Moon. He’s depicted weaing long, flowing blue ropes with runes inscribed along drapes on his shoulders.

It is Banidol’s job to ensure every day begins and ends. Few powers can oppose this, but there have been a few powerful sorcerers that have meddled with this cycle before...none have succeeded against the god, though. His duty is of the utmost importance, and he shows little mercy against the few that can interfere with it.

The god is said to be reserved and enigmatic. He cares little for frivolous activities like cavorting with mortals, merriment or other such pleasures. He’s said to enjoy the peace and quiet up in the skies, however, finding it relaxing and enjoyable to have a massive expanse all to himself. Secretly, he is deeply shy and socially inept, which becomes apparent when he’s required to work alongside one of the other gods. Anyone who knows him well would know he isn’t actually a mysterious, brooding overlord...but a quiet introvert who is more than pleased to have eons of alone time.

Adherents to Banidol are always listening in on any magical plots big enough to garner attention. They are anti-magician crusaders, dedicated to hunting down wizards and sorcerers who threaten night and day to ensure they can’t tamper with the natural state of things.

Vajerio

God of music. This god is said be a wolfman with a snow white coat of fur, with a loose-cut tunic and a look of bliss on his face, always carrying a harp. Vajerio’s duties include the spreading of joy and wisdom, along with the ending of disasters.

Vajerio’s performances can instill any emotion he wants as intensely as he wishes upon anyone. Legends state after Hafnir’s destruction of the dragons, the few that struggled to regain their hold over the Dacuni were visited by the god. He would make them weep, feeling deep sorrow and regret for their actions with little more than a few songs. They quickly mended their ways and retreated into the wilds, never to seek vengeance against the wolfmen ever again. While the god of war shattered the dragon’s hold over the tribes, Vajerio dealt with the aftermath.

Vajerio is said to visit the mortal world quite often, disguising himself as a traveling minstrel. He uses his persuasive powers to broker peace between warring factions, many people awaiting destruction by army or beast confused when their foes suddenly withdraw.

Adherents to the god of music build temples that function more like a bard’s school than anything, believing in the power of song. They are not looked very fondly upon by the tribes, so most temples to Vajerio are made in Geralthin, by wolfmen minorities.

???

One fateful day, a mysterious god, robed, hooded and wrapped in shadows, appeared from nowhere and attacked Hafnir with magic. The god of war was eventually defeated by the sorcerer, but when the other gods showed up, the attacker fled.

No one, not even the gods, know who this was, but their powers were obviously divine, able to take down the mightiest of the gods. Who was this sorcerer? It surely must have been one of the other gods...but which one?

That’s the end of the list of gods! The Pona are spiritualistic yet lack gods. In the west influence from the humans bleed in, and some of them follow The Order. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about the Old Gods!

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pooma-bible · 3 years

Text

Greetings in the matchless Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Topic: The Second Great Mission of Paul to the Gentiles – To Europe – Corinth & Back to Jerusalem, Antioch!

Rhema Word : Acts 18:9-10 (NKJV) “Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

Let’s pray. Our Gracious Loving Father, thank You for giving us an opportunity to meditate Your Word today along with Your children who have been called to live a holy life Father. I commit everyone who are all meditating this message into Your mighty hand Father. Bless them and give them the oneness of Spirit and make their heart as a good land to receive each and every Word which is living and active Father. Thank You Holy Spirit for helping us to understand the in-depth treasure of Your Word and helping us to live a life as per Your Word Lord. We give all the Glory and Honour to You only Father. We pray in the mighty Name of Your beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Paul and his team are on their second missionary journey, this time into Europe. Corinth was a major city of Greece, a peninsula at the southern tip of Greece with land stretching only about five miles across. It was known as the “lookout”, the “guard”, the “eye of Greece” and as such it naturally became a city of vast wealth. Yes, it was a metropolitan, made up of Greeks, Romans, Jews and adventurers who plied and transacted their business by day and frequented the night clubs by night. Yes, it was a pleasure-mad city, wallowing in sensuality, drunkenness, and extortion.

The passage in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 18 (v.1-17) gives a clear study on the picture of the Corinth and Paul’s ministry which holds many lessons for the Christian believer and Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem and Antioch.

Let us try to understand the following with the help of Holy Spirit today:

1] Corinth – The Bridge of Greece:

2] Paul’s Ministry:

3] Paul’s Terrible Strain & Rejection:

4] Paul’s Witnessing – High & Low, discouragement:

5] God’s Hand at Work:

6] Journey Back to Jerusalem & Antioch:

1] Corinth – The Bridge of Greece:

The Bible says in Acts 18:1-4 “After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation, they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.”

Paul’s ministry in Corinth gives us many lessons. Yes, he demonstrated forcibly what it takes to be an indisputable disciple of the Lord.

(1.1) Evangelism: Paul left Athens and travelled to Corinth. There had been some results in Athens, but the philosophical and intellectual pride made most people close-minded and self-sufficient when considering God and eternity. Apparently, Paul felt his time could be spent more profitably in Corinth. No doubt he stayed in Athens long enough to ground the Athenian believers in the faith, then he struck out for Corinth.

Lesson (1): Intellectual pride closes a person’s mind to the truth of God and eternity.

Lesson (2): A person’s time needs to be spent where the most fruit can be borne unless specifically shown otherwise by God.

Lesson (3): The servant of God must root the young believers in the faith, even if it is under difficult circumstances.

(1.2) Discipleship: The Christian disciple meets and develops people. Wherever Paul went he looked for people who either needed Christ or needed to grow in Christ. Whether Aquila and Priscilla were believers or not at this time is not known. But Paul found this couple, stayed with them, and either led them to the Lord or into a deeper commitment to the Lord.

Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Yes, Paul was doing exactly what Jesus commanded. The point here is how Paul was always reaching out to find people who needed Christ. A dynamic example for us all!

2] Paul’s Ministry in Corinth:

The Christian disciple worked at secular employment when required. Paul was usually supported in his ministry and did not have to work at secular work. But note this verse (v.3). Paul did not hesitate to work with his hands in order to get the gospel out to people. He would do whatever was necessary to reach people and meet their desperate need for Christ and the glorious life of joy and eternity that Christ gives.

Jesus said in John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

Paul while writing to Corinthians says in 1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

(2.1) Preaching – Teaching – Witnessing: The Christian disciple worshipped and taught every Sabbath. Note where Paul was on the day of worship. He was where he should be – worshipping the Lord and serving Him by preaching and teaching others just as the Lord had gifted him to do.

(a) Paul “reasoned” (“dielegeto”) – presented sound, thoughtful, logical points; answered and settled questions in a reasonable way. The tense is continuous action. Paul reasoned and reasoned doing all he could to convince the listeners that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Note there was no sense of bombarding a person in a demanding, forceful, fiery, argumentative spirit.

Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

God revealed through Isaiah in Isaiah 41:21 “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.”

Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

(b) Paul “was trying to” (epeithen) : prevailed, urged, induced, pleaded, begged, sought to move and bring about a change of heart and mind. Paul reasoned and reasoned, doing all he could to reach and help people to trust Christ Jesus the Lord. Again, the tense is continuous action. Yes, Paul continued to persuade.

The Bible says in Acts 18:4-5 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.”

That is why Paul says in Colossians 1:29 “To this end I also labour, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

3] Paul’s Terrible Strain & Rejection:

The Bible says in Acts 18:5-6 “When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

The Christian disciple experienced terrible strain and rejection, but he marched on. Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Silas coming from Philippi and Berea and Timothy from Thessalonica.

They brought financial support which freed Paul to preach Christ full time besides they brought wonderful news about the churches of Macedonia growing in the Lord. Such blessings stirred Paul to minister and proclaim Christ with new vigour. Note three points:

(a) Paul was devoted to preaching, constrained by the Word to give himself completely to preaching and teaching the Word. Note what he was proclaiming: that Jesus is the Messiah.

(b) Paul was rejected. The Jews opposed and became abusive of the name of Jesus. The idea is that they organized and opposed the preaching and teaching of Jesus as the Messiah, and they reviled and spoke reproachfully of Christ.

(c) Paul turned from the Jews to the Gentiles. This was a turning point in the ministry at Corinth. Some Jews were saved, but the vast majority of those reached would be Gentiles. The scene was dramatic and forceful. Paul was not pronouncing a curse upon the Jews, but declaring he had fulfilled his responsibility to them. He was free of their blood, of the responsibility for their salvation. Their blood, the responsibility for their salvation, was now upon their own heads.

Lesson: The Christian disciple is to turn from those who continue to reject the gospel; but when rejected, he is to continue on, not quitting or slacking up. Note: Paul did exactly what Christ said for us to do. He shook off the dust of those who had rejected him.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:12-14 “And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.”

(3.1) Humility: The Bible says in Acts 18:7 “And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.”

The Christian disciple identified with those to whom he ministered. Rejected by the Jews, Paul could no longer preach in the synagogue. Note what he did: he began to preach in the home of a convert named Justus. This says two significant things:

(a) Paul strategically planned and located his ministry. He had been preaching to the people attending the synagogue, so he wanted to be located nearby in order to continue reaching those already familiar with the message. Under the leadership of the Lord, he was able to secure quarters in the most favourable location, right next to the synagogue itself.

Lesson: This is a significant lesson. We should always be alert to favourable location in establishing churches and buildings, and holding meetings.

(b) Paul identified with those to whom he ministered. This is a much-needed point. He was not removed from his congregation, not high-minded or above others in any sense of the word. He was one with the flock of God.

That is why Paul says in Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 18:4 “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

4] Paul’s Witnessing – High & Low, discouragement:

The Bible says in Acts 18:8-11 “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”

The Christian disciple witnessed to high and low. This is clearly seen in that the chief ruler of the synagogue and his family were reached for Christ, but so were many of the other citizens of Corinth. And remember, many of these would be coming from the most sinful backgrounds imaginable, for Corinth was one of the cesspools of immorality and night club life in the ancient world.

Lesson: What an example for the church – reaching both high and low for Christ!

Jesus said in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” He further said in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

(4.1) Discouragement & Encouragement:

The Christian disciple faced terrible discouragement. This is a striking picture of just how human Paul was and how dependent he was upon the Lord’s presence and encouragement. Yes, what happened to this Christian servant is a glorious lesson for every Christian servant when facing terrible discouragement.:

(a) Paul sensed fear, terrible fear. Apparently when Crispus, the chief synagogue leader, and so many others were saved, the Jews began to be stirred; and the potential storm of persecution once again lay on the horizon for Paul. Just keep in mind how severely he had been persecuted, suffering so much for his precious Lord:

(i) his life had been threatened in Damascus (Acts 9:23).

(ii) his life had been threatened again in Jerusalem (Acts 9:20).

(iii) he had been persecuted and run out of Pisidian of Antioch (Acts 13:50).

(iv) he had faced possible stoning in Iconium (Acts 14:5).

(v) he had been stoned and left for dead in Lystra (Acts 14:19).

(vi) he had been opposed and made the center of controversy by the church itself (Act 15:11).

(vii) he had experienced the loss of his closest friend and companion Barnabas (Acts 15:39).

(viii) he had been beaten with rods and imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23).

(ix) he had been cast out of Philippi (Acts 16:39).

(x) he had been threatened in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-7,10).

(xi) he had been mocked in Athens (Acts 17:18).

Yes, the dear servant of God was shrinking from having to face the uproar of persecution again. He was apparently thinking about moving on or else keeping silent for a while hoping the storm would pass. This is seen in the very first words which the Lord spoke to Paul: (1) Do not be afraid; (2) Keep on speaking and (3) Do not be silent.

(b) God met the need of His dear servant with a vision of the Lord Jesus Himself. Note: it was the presence of the Lord that encouraged Paul. The Lord gave Paul a most glorious promise, “I am with you”. It is the very same promise He gives to us (Matthew 28:20). Paul needed nothing else, just the perfect assurance and sense of the Lord’s presence, the presence of the One who had done so much for him and whom he loved so much.

God said in Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Apostle Paul says in Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7-8 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”

(d) Paul was faithful to the Lord’s call, remaining in Corinth for eighteen months teaching the Word of God. Note a crucial point that we all need to learn. Paul continued on by faith, enduring in the ministry. He did not live on spiritual highs but by faith. God gave him spiritual highs, deep experiences with Himself when Paul needed such encouragement and guidance. But the deep spiritual experiences were not common occurrences. Paul had to walk by faith and not feeling. What a lesson for us!

While writing to Timothy, Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:12 “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.”

5] God’s Hand at Work:

The Bible says in Acts 18:12-17 “When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.”

The Christian disciple saw God’s hand at work. God fulfilled His promise. This is clearly seen in these verses. Some months later a new proconsul, Gallio, began his rule in the district of Achaia of which Corinth was a part. The Jews, thinking they might be able to manipulate this new ruler, rose up against Paul and dragged him before Gallio. But note what happened:

(i) Gallio would have nothing to do with these religious hair-splitters. He had them removed from the court.

(ii) The Jews, embarrassed and ashamed, turned against the leader Sosthenes, who had aroused them against Paul; they beat him right there in front of the court before Gallio.

Note: Sosthenes later became a convert to Christ. He also became a minister of the gospel with Paul (1 Corin 1:1). How marvellously the Lord fulfilled His promise to Paul, not only it protecting him from harm, but the Lord converted the very leader of those who would harm His dear servant.

That is why Paul while writing to Timothy says in 2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:6 “So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 2:9 “Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.”

Psalmist David says in Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”

6] Journey Back to Jerusalem & Antioch:

The Bible says in Acts 18:18-22 “So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.”

This is a clear picture of the heroic disciple. In these fiver verses, the journey Paul struck out on and covered is over 1500 miles long.

(6.1) Paul struck out despite being comfortably settled (v.18): The heroic disciple struck out despite being comfortably settled. He did not have to leave Corinth. After the court trial and a favourable ruling by the new proconsul Gallio, Paul was able to settle down in a permanent ministry, coming and going and bearing witness and ministering freely. No man could blame Paul for settling down and carrying on a dynamic ministry in Corinth as (i) he was protected by Gallio’s ruling; (ii) he was having phenomenal results; (iii) he was loved by many of the believers; (iv) he was in a strategic city of commerce and trade which would assure the spread of the gospel far and wide.

But, note a critical fact here. God had not called Paul to be the minister of a local church. Paul was called to carry the gospel forth as an evangelist and a missionary. To remain in Corinth as a local church minister would be against God’s will. Paul would miss God’s great call for his life. The point is this: being the heroic believer that he was, Paul (i) struck out because it was the only way to fulfill God’s purpose for his life; (ii) struck out despite being comfortably settled; (iii) struck out to carry the message of the glorious gospel forth and (iv) struck out to reach men and women, boys and girls for Jesus Christ.

Yes, the striking and heroic courage of Paul is seen in that this journey covered over 1500 miles.

Lesson: How many of us turn away from God’s call because of (i) family and friends; (ii) success and acceptance; (iii) position and prestige; (iv) possessions and materialism and (v) security and safety.

Note: the heroic believer refuses to miss God’s will and call for his life. He denies himself and takes up his cross daily and follows Christ, no matter where it takes him.

That is why Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Jesus also said in John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

That is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

(6.2) Paul put himself under a vow when needed (v.18): The heroic disciple put himself under vows when needed. When Paul left Corinth he took some vow before the Lord, refusing to cut his hair until the vow was fulfilled. It was completed when he reached Cenchrea and he cut his hair. What was the vow? Wat is a vow (i) of thanksgiving and praise for such a fruitful ministry in Corinth? (ii) of commitment to break away from such a comfortable and peaceful ministry in Corinth? Or (iii) of prayer for safety as he travelled back home to Antioch?

The answer is unknown. However, there is a great lesson for believers in the fact that Paul took a vow before the Lord. Vows are too often ignored and dismissed by believers just as fasting is. Yet Scripture teaches both.

The Bible says in Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:21-23 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. But if you abstain from making a vow, it shall not be sin to you. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.”

(6.3) Paul made disciples of those who would go with him (v.18): The heroic disciple trained others. Paul took Priscilla and Aquila with him. Note two significant points:

(a) Paul was committed to making disciples, to building dynamic witnesses and ministers. He trained those who were willing to go with him.

(b) Priscilla was named before her husband Aquila. This is significant, probably pointing to the fact that she was the stronger and more mature Christian of the two.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

(6.4) Paul witnessed faithfully wherever he was (v.19): The heroic disciple witnessed faithfully wherever he was. Paul’s stay in Ephesus at this time was very brief. But he did not sit still. No matter where Paul was or the brevity of his stay, he bore testimony to the glorious salvation in Christ Jesus. Yes, he reasoned with the Jews.

The Bible says in Acts 4:20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Jesus said before ascending to heaven in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

(6.5) Paul showed honour to other leaders (v.20-21): The heroic disciple showed honour to other leaders. Note: even the Jews in Ephesus were open to Paul on this brief visit. They asked him to stay with them for a while, hungering for the Word of God. But he could not stay at that time. He had to go on to Jerusalem to keep the feast (probably Pentecost). He was leaving Priscilla and Aquila behind to teach the people. They would be in good hands. The point to note is Paul’s courtesy to the leaders who asked him to stay. The whole tone of Paul’s answer was a gracious reply. He went to extra pains explaining that he (i) had to leave and (ii) wanted to come back, if God willed.

Lesson: We must show honour to other believers always, no matter (i) how important God’s call; (ii) how significant our gifts are; (iii) how important people may view us and (iv) how busy we may be.

That is why while writing to Philippians Paul says in Philippians 2:3-4 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Paul also said in Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

James says in James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

(6.6) Paul was attached to his home church (v.22): Yes, the heroic disciple was attached to the mother church at Antioch. Note the words “the church”. This is most likely the church at Jerusalem. Jews always spoke of going up to Jerusalem. Nothing is shared about the visit beyond the simple fact that he visited the church in Jerusalem. But note another fact: right after visiting the Jerusalem church he went down to the Antioch church, and nothing is shared about his visit there either. This is probably significant. Paul had just had a most glorious experience – carrying the gospel for the very first time into Europe itself. Bursting at the seams with the joy and the fullness of the Lord, he was bound to desire to share the glorious news with his mother church, Antioch. But he also longed to share with the mother church of Christianity, Jerusalem itself. He had experienced the fruits of Pentecost on his second missionary journey, and he wanted to share the glorious celebration of Pentecost with the apostles and those who had experienced Pentecost itself.

Note how attached the heroic servant of the Lord was to the mother church, how much he wished to share the glorious reports of God’s grace with them. This helps explain his sense of urgency in rushing to Jerusalem.

Lesson: Every believer needs such an attachment, such a sense of responsibility to his home church.

The Bible says in Acts 20:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Apostle Paul, while writing to Corinthians says in 2 Corinthians 11:28 “Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”

Let us introspect ourselves.

Shall we humble ourselves while listening to the Word of God and obey?

Shall we spend considerable time while sharing the gospel and till we reap the fruits for the Lord?

Shall we try to root the young believers in the faith even under difficult circumstances?

Shall we put our efforts in finding the people who needed Christ by reaching out to them?

Shall we turn from those who continue to reject the gospel and march on without quitting to a favourable location so as to find the people who needed Christ?

Shall we try to reach both high and low end people for Christ as Jesus gave His life for everyone?

Shall we have the confidence that our Lord is always with us when we reach people with gospel?

Shall we remember our Lord’s great calling for us and stretch out to carry the message of the glorious gospel forth for Jesus Christ without comfortably settling down in one place?

Shall we refuse to miss God’s will and call for our lives and take up our cross daily and follow Christ, no matter where it takes us?

Shall we show honour to other believers besides having a sense of responsibility to our home churches?

Let us Pray: Our Heavenly Gracious Father, we thank You for helping us to understand about “The Second Great Mission of Paul to the Gentiles – To Europe – Corinth & Back to Jerusalem, Antioch” Father. Father, please help us to humble ourselves while listening to Your Word and obey fully, help us to spend considerable time while sharing the gospel till we reap the fruits for You Father. Please help us to root the young believers in the faith even under difficult circumstances and help us to put our efforts in finding the people who needs salvation Father. Please help us to turn away from those who continuously rejecting the gospel but to march on to a favourable place without quitting so as to find the people who long for salvation Father. Father, please help us to reach everyone irrespective of their standing in the society as Your beloved Son Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for everyone Father besides having the strong faith that You are always with us. Father, please help us to remember Your great calling for us and stretch out to carry the gospel forth without comfortable settling down in one place besides taking up our cross daily and follow Your beloved Son Jesus Christ Father. Please help us to show honour to other believers besides having a sense of responsibility to our home churches as well Father. We give all praise, glory and honour to Your Holy Name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

God bless you all.

0 notes

dfroza · 3 years

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Proverbs and book of Psalms

for September 21 of 2021 with Proverbs 21 and Psalm 21, accompanied by Psalm 94 for the 94th and last day of Astronomical Summer and Psalm 114 for day 264 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 21]

The king’s heart is like a channel of water directed by the Eternal:

He chooses which way He bends it.

Everyone may think his own way of living is right,

but the Eternal examines our hearts.

To do what is right and to seek justice—

these please Him more than sacrifice.

The lamp of the wicked lights his way;

a proud look, an arrogant heart—all sin.

A well-thought-out plan will work to your advantage,

but hasty actions will cost you dearly.

The fortune made by a swindler

is a fast-burning fog and a recipe for death.

Wicked people will be swept up in their own violence

because they refuse to seek justice.

Dishonest people walk along the crooked path they have made,

but the innocent travel the straight course they have laid.

It is better to dwell outside on the corner of your roof

than to live inside your house with a badgering wife.

Wicked people delight in doing bad things;

their neighbors never see even a hint of compassion.

A naive person wises up when he sees a mocker punished.

A wise person becomes even wiser just by being instructed.

The right-living understands how evildoers operate;

he subverts them and ruins their plans.

If you ignore the groans of the poor,

one day your own cries for help will go unanswered.

A gift given in secret soothes anger,

and a present offered privately calms fierce rage.

When justice is done, those who are in the right celebrate,

but those who make trouble are terrified.

People who wander from the way of wise living

will lie down in the company of corpses.

Those who live to party, who pursue pleasure, will end up penniless;

those who enjoy lots of wine and rich food will never have money.

The wicked become a ransom for those who live right,

and the faithless pay the penalty for their treachery against the upright.

You would be better off living in the middle of the desert

than with an angry and argumentative wife.

The wise have a generous supply of fine food and oil in their homes,

but fools are wasteful, consuming every last drop.

Whoever pursues justice and treats others with kindness

discovers true life marked by integrity and respect.

One wise person can rise against a city of mighty men

and cause the citadel they trust to collapse.

Guard your words, mind what you say,

and you will keep yourself out of trouble.

The name “mocker” applies to one who is proud and pompous

because he is defiantly arrogant.

What slackers crave will surely kill them

because they refuse to work.

All day, every day the greedy want more,

while those who live right give generously.

The offerings of wrongdoers are despicable to God;

it’s even worse when they bring them with evil motives.

The testimony of a false witness is eventually impeached,

but the person who truly listens will have the last word.

The wicked wears a defiant face,

but the right-living plans his path.

No one is wise enough or smart enough,

and no plan is good enough to stand up to the Eternal.

No matter how well you arm for battle,

victory is determined by Him.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 21 (The Voice)

[Psalm 21]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

The king is glad because You, O Eternal, are strong.

In light of Your salvation, he is singing Your name.

You have given him all he could wish for.

After hearing his prayer, You withheld nothing.

[pause]

True blessings You lavished upon the king;

a crown of precious gold You placed upon his head.

His prayer was to live fully. You responded with even more—

a never-ending life to enjoy.

With Your help, his fame and glory have grown;

You raise him high and cover him in majesty.

You shower him with blessings that last forever;

he finds joy in knowing Your presence and loving You.

For the king puts his trust in the Eternal,

so he will not be shaken

because of the persistent love of the Most High God.

King, your hand will reach for all your enemies;

your right hand will seize all who hate you.

When you arrive at the battle’s edge,

you will seem to them a furnace.

For the fire of the Eternal’s anger, the heat of His wrath

will burn and consume them.

You will cut off their children,

lop off the branches of their family tree.

The earth will never know them,

nor will they ever be numbered among Adam’s kin.

When they scheme against you,

when they conspire their mischief, such efforts will be in vain.

At the sight of you, they will sound the retreat;

your bows, drawn back, will aim directly at their faces.

Put Your strength, Eternal One, on display for all to see;

we will sing and make music of Your mighty power.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 21 (The Voice)

[Psalm 94]

God of Vengeance

A Wednesday song composed by King David

Lord God Almighty, you are the God

who takes vengeance on your enemies.

It’s time for you to punish evil!

Let your rays of revelation-light shine from your people and

pierce the conscience of the wicked and punish them.

It’s time to arise as judge of all the earth;

arise to punish the proud with the penalty they deserve!

How much longer will you sit back and watch the wicked

triumph in their evil, boasting in all that is wrong?

Listen to them bragging among themselves,

big in their own eyes, all because of the crimes

they’ve committed against your people!

See how they’re crushing those who love you, God,

cruelly oppressing those who belong to you.

Heartlessly they murder the widows, the foreigners,

and even the orphaned children.

They say to themselves, “The Lord God doesn’t see this.

Their God, the God of Jacob, he doesn’t even care!”

But you’d better watch out, you stupid fools!

You’d better wise up! Why would you act like God doesn’t exist?

Do you really think that God can’t hear their cries?

God isn’t hard of hearing; he’ll hear all their cries.

God isn’t blind. He who made the eye has superb vision,

and he’s watching all you do.

Won’t the God who knows all things know what you’ve done?

The God who punishes nations will surely punish you!

The Lord has fully examined every thought of man

and found them all to be empty and futile.

Lord Yah, there’s such a blessing that comes

when you teach us your Word and your ways.

Even the sting of your correction can be sweet.

It rescues us from our days of trouble

until you are ready to punish the wicked.

For the Lord will never walk away from his cherished ones,

nor would he forsake his chosen ones who belong to him.

Whenever you pronounce judgments, they reveal righteousness.

All your devoted lovers will be pleased.

Lord, who will protect me from these wicked ones?

If you don’t stand to defend me, who will? I have no one but you!

I would have been killed so many times

if you had not been there for me.

When I screamed out, “Lord, I’m doomed!”

your fiery love was stirred, and you raced to my rescue.

Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control,

the soothing comfort of your presence

calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight.

It’s obvious to all; you will have nothing to do

with corrupt rulers who pass laws that empower evil

and defeat what is right.

For they gang up against the lovers of righteousness

and condemn the innocent to death.

But I know that all their evil plans will boomerang back onto them.

Every plot they hatch will simply seal their own doom.

For you, my God, you will destroy them,

giving them what they deserve.

For you are my true tower of strength,

my safe place, my hideout, and my true shelter.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 94 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 114]

A Song for Passover

Many years ago the Jewish people escaped Egypt’s tyranny,

so that Israel, God’s people of praise,

would become his holy sanctuary,

his kingdom on the earth.

The Red Sea waters saw them coming and ran the other way!

Then later, the Jordan River too

moved aside so that they could all pass through.

The land shuddered with fear.

Mountains and hills shook with dread.

O sea, what happened to you to make you flee?

O Jordan, what was it that made you turn and run?

O mountains, what frightened you so?

And you hills, what made you shiver?

Tremble, O earth, for you are in the presence of the Lord,

the presence of the God of Jacob.

He splits open boulders and brings up bubbling water.

Gushing streams burst forth when he is near!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 114 (The Passion Translation)

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dalyunministry · 3 years

Text

Pas. Johnraj Lamech

🍁

Greetings in the matchless Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Topic: The Great Mission to An Individual: A Study of Witnessing.

Rhema Word: Matthew 4:19 (NKJV) “Then He (Jesus) said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Let’s pray. Our Gracious Loving Father, thank you for giving us an opportunity to meditate Your Word today along with your children who have been called to live a holy life Father. I commit everyone who are all meditating this message into your mighty hand Father. Bless them and give them the oneness of Spirit and make their heart as a good land to receive each and every Word which is living and active Lord. Thank You Holy Spirit for helping us to understand the in-depth treasure of Your Word and helping us to live a life as per Your Word Lord. We give all the Glory and Honour to You only Father. We pray in the mighty Name of Your beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Lord Jesus promised the apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Note two things: First, the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, which is key throughout the book of Acts and especially so in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Second, the movement from Jerusalem (the city)—to Judea (the province in which Jerusalem is located)—to Samaria (the adjoining province, and one not well thought of by Judeans)—to “the uttermost parts of the earth.” I like to think of this as a series of concentric circles moving outward from the center. It speaks of a movement of the Gospel outward from the Holy City—to the more ordinary province of Judea—to the adjoining province of Samaria that is considered quite unholy—to “the uttermost parts of the earth,” a place where dragons and heathens lurk.

The fulfilment of this four-part movement (Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the world) had its beginning in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost with Peter’s sermon (chapter 2). That sermon resulted in the baptism of three thousand people, many from places far beyond Jerusalem, places to which they would subsequently witness.

The fulfilment of Jesus’ promise that the Gospel would reach to Samaria and to the ends of the earth began with Philip’s mission to the Samaritans (Acts 8:4-25)—the story that immediately precedes the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Samaritans were marginal people—separated by history and theology from the Jewish community. But Philip went to Samaria and proclaimed the Gospel there—and the Samaritans welcomed him and responded to his message with great enthusiasm. The apostles in Jerusalem heard of this, and sent Peter and John to Samaria. These apostles laid their hands on the Samaritans, who received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John then returned to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel in Samaritan towns along the way.

This context is foundational to understanding the story of Philip and the eunuch—an early fulfilment of Jesus’ promise that the apostles will witness to him “the uttermost parts of the earth.” People in that time and place thought of Ethiopia as “the uttermost parts of the earth,” and they also thought of people like the Ethiopian eunuch as unacceptable from the standpoint of nationality, race, and blemish (castration).

This passage recorded in the Bible in Acts 8:26-40 stresses the importance of an individual to God. Yes, a miraculous act was needed. God is seen leading Philip to a single person who needed to know Christ, and in the interview between the two we have a strong study on WITNESSING. We see just what is involved in witnessing to an individual:

1] Guidance: Philip was led by an angel of the Lord (Acts 8:26)

2] Witnessing: What Philip found? (Acts 8:27-28)

3] Holy Spirit’s Guidance: What Philip sensed? (Acts 8:29)

4] Seeking God: What Philip did? (Acts 8:30-34)

5] Witness: What Philip said and proclaimed: he preached Jesus (Acts 8:35)

6] Decision: What Philip saw happening? (Acts 8:36-38)

7] Continued Leadership of the Holy Spirit : What Philip experienced: (Acts 8:39-40)

1] Guidance: Philip was led by an angel of the Lord (Acts 8:26)

The Bible says in Acts 8:26 “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.”

Yes, Philip was led by an angel of the Lord. Please note Angels are “ministering spirits”, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:14). There was a particular individual that God wished to reach with the gospel and save, so God sent an angel to instruct Philip where to go. Here, the point is this: Philip had not way of knowing God’s will in this particular case, not apart from a personal confrontation from God. So, God confronted and instructed Philip in such a way that Philip knew exactly what God’s will was.

The angel instructed Philip (i) to go and (ii) to go south to a certain road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. The road was a desert road.

Here, again we need to note: God did not tell Philip why he was to travel the main road to the South, but just instructed “to arise and go”. Just as Abraham of Old Testament, Philip had to walk by faith. And this he did. He arose and went, not knowing why, but trusting God to show him.

We learn the following two points from this:

(i) God does whatever is necessary to instruct and guide believers. He is not limited to our theories and beliefs. He has at His disposal all the power and all of creation to use as He wills. And He will use whatever is needed to reach anyone who is truly hungry to know the way of salvation. No one will ever be lost, nor if they honestly believe God and earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). God will see to it, no matter what has to be done.

That is why Jesus told in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Apostle Paul said in Acts 17:26-27 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

The Psalmist says in Psalm 105:4 “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!”

Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”

(ii) Secondly, what we learn from this: the cry of the hour is for believers (a) to go, (b) to go out to the roads of the world and (c) to trust God to lead to those who are seeking Him.

Jesus said in Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

While explaining about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said in Matthew 22:9-10 “Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

That is why Paul while writing to Romans says in Romans 10:11-13 “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

2] Witnessing: What Philip found? (Acts 8:27-28)

The Bible says in Acts 8:27-28 “So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.”

What Philip found was a man riding in a chariot returning from Jerusalem.

i) Philip found a foreigner, a man from Ethiopia. Ethiopia was hundreds of miles from Jerusalem. The eunuch had been to Jerusalem to attend a religious feast.

Too often believers shy away from foreigners, shy away from anyone who differs from them. God wants us to reach everyone, no matter what nationality they are. Just think, everyone is a foreigner to some people of the world. Everyone differs from someone else. We cannot let differences keep us from witnessing and sharing Christ.

Jesus said in John 7:37 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

Apostle Paul said in Romans 10:12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

While writing to Timothy Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

God says in Isaiah 45:22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you end of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

ii) Yes, Philip found a high-ranking government official who served under the Queen of Ethiopia. This teaches us that the upper levels of society and government must be reached for Christ as well as other citizens.

Remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.”

Apostle Peter said in Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The Bible says in Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

iii) Yes, Philip found a eunuch. Being a eunuch shows that he was a man of extreme commitment and dedication, a man who was probably seeking after truth. It was the policy of queens to choose outstanding eunuchs to fill official positions in their governments.

Remember, it takes a person of commitment and dedication to be saved. The lazy, complacent, unproductive and comfortable do not have enough interest and concern for life to be genuinely saved.

The Bible says in Proverbs 6:6-11 “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep— so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.”

Remember what Bible says in Proverbs 10:5 “He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.”

Also, please remember what Bible says about the sluggard in Proverbs 24:30-34 “I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; so shall your poverty come like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.”

iv) Yes, Philip found a worshipper. This definitely shows he was seeking after the truth and after God. Just note, he was a convert to Judaism and had travelled hundreds of miles to Jerusalem to worship in the temple.

This shows, a person must be a worshipper of God Himself. Also, note that just being a worshipper is not enough. The person must be seeking after the only living and true God to be saved.

The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

David declares in Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”

The sons of Korah says in Psalm 84:2 “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

(v) Yes, Philip found a reader of Scripture. Just picture this scene. The Ethiopian official is riding along in his chariot, not observing the scenery, not taking care of some official paper work, but reading the Bible. The man was experiencing a deep hunger and thirst for God.

a) This shows, a person must hunger and thirst after righteousness, true righteousness, to be saved. One must not only believe, but diligently seek God. True belief is diligently seeking God.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Jesus also said in John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

Apostle Paul said in Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 26:9 “With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

b) This also shows that when witnessing, believers need to be alert to the attitude, interest, commitment, and seeking levels of the lost. If the levels are low, the witness needs to quickly sow the seed and move on. There are others whose commitment and seeking levels are high, and who are ready to give their lives to Christ.

That is why Psalmist says in Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

David says in Psalm 63:1 “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

3] Holy Spirit’s Guidance: What Philip sensed? (Acts 8:29)

The Bible says in Acts 8:29 “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Yes, Philip sensed the impulse, the tug, the movement, the direction of the Holy Spirit to approach this particular man. And he sensed the man needed Christ.

This shows two things. (a) There is great need to be led by the Spirit in our witnessing. But this necessitates being surrendered and controlled by the Spirit. The great need of the hour is for believers to be controlled by the Spirit of God. Then and only then can we expect to be led by the Spirit. Just note the clear statement of the Scripture “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

(b) To whom should we witness? To what particular person or persons?

(i) The Spirit of God will guide and direct us.

(ii) The problem is not the Spirit’s willingness to guide and direct us. The problem is our not being surrendered and controlled enough by the Spirit to sense and know His direction.

(iii) The Spirit of God has been trying to gain control of people’s lives ever since Christ walked upon the earth. He has needed lives to reach the world, but so few have been willing to put their lives under His control, so few have been willing to “go”.

That is why Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit in John 16:13-14 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

We can see the guidance of Holy Spirit to Peter as well in Acts 10:19-20 “While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

While disciples were fasting for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the Bible says in Acts 13:2 “ As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

4] Seeking God: What Philip did? (Acts 8:30-34)

The Bible says in Acts 8:30-34 “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

Philip did four significant things:

i) Philip obeyed the Spirit of God. He ran up to the chariot. When he did what the Spirit instructed, Philip found out that the man had been prepared to receive the witness of the Lord. He heard the man reading the Scripture out loud.

ii) Philip initiated a conversation with the man. Note Philip did not wait for the man to notice and question him as to why he was running alongside the chariot. Philip took the lead; he spoke first.

iii) Philip joined the man. The man invited Philip and welcomed him. The man was one to whom the believer was to go, one who welcomed the witness. Note here, believers are not to go to those who do not welcome the message.

iv) Philip noted where the man was in his seeking of God. The man was extremely faithful (a) in worshipping God. Yes, he had travelled hundreds of miles to worship in the temple at Jerusalem and (b) in reading the Scripture.

But the man had a problem. He did not understand the most basic truth – the truth that Christ had died for him. He did not know that God’s Messiah had already come and died for man.

Just note that the man was reading Isaiah 53: 7-8, which is a prediction of the coming Messiah, Isaiah 53:7-8 “ He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? for He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.”

That is (a) of Jesus’ death: His being led like a sheep to the slaughter.

(b) of His willingness to die. His not opening His mouth.

( c) of His humiliation in death: His judgement – the justice due Him was taken away and denied Him. Yes, He was deprived of justice.

(d) of His descendants, His seed or followers: His descendants or generation of followers are innumerable. Who can number them since Jesus’ life was taken from the earth.

The man just did not understand the Scripture. He did not understand that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the prophecy, that the Saviour had already come and died for the sins of men.

Please note that so many do not know Christ even today. Why? For the same reason the eunuch did not know: they have never heard. No believer has gone to tell them.

Remember, what Jesus said in Matthew 25:43 “I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.”

Jesus said in Luke 12:47 “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”

James warned us in James 4:17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

Prophet Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 33:8-9 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”

Prophet Ezekiel further said in Ezekiel 34:4 “The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.”

5] Witness: What Philip said and proclaimed: he preached Jesus (Acts 8:35)

The Bible says in Acts 8:35 “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

Yes, Philip preached Jesus. He took the prophecy in Isaiah and answered the very question of the man. Philip showed how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. He preached the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus.

The Author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 9:28 ”Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:21-24 “ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

Peter further said in 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

6] Decision: What Philip saw happening? (Acts 8:36-38)

The Bible says in Acts 8:36-38 “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.”

Yes, Philip saw three significant steps taken by the man:

(i) The man desired baptism. Note the immediate request: “ See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

(ii) The man believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (Acts 8:35).

Apostle Paul said in Romans 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

(iii) The man believed and immediately followed through with baptism (Acts 2:38).

7] Continued Leadership of the Holy Spirit : What Philip experienced: (Acts 8:39-40)

The Bible says in Acts 8:39-40 “Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.”

Yes, Philip experienced the continued leadership of the Holy Spirit. Here two things happened:

(i) Philip was no longer needed. His task was done. It was time for him to move on, so the Spirit of God took him away. The word for “caught away” or “suddenly took” (herpasen) is strong. It means to be snatched away quickly, immediately, miraculously. It is the same word used for the rapture of the church (1 Thess 4:17).

(ii) The Holy Spirit led Philip back to Samaria. Note that he travelled throughout “all the towns” preaching Christ. Eventually he came to the city of Caesarea where he bought a house and set up his evangelistic headquarters (Acts 21:8).

Let us introspect ourselves.

Shall we obey God’s calling like Philip and walk by faith by trusting God to show the ways?

Shall we understand the cry of the hour to go out to the world and trusting God to lead to those who are seeking Him?

Shall we remove all our shyness while sharing Christ to foreigners as God wants us to reach everyone, no matter what nationality they are?

Shall we show more alertness to the attitude, interest, commitment and seeking levels of the lost while witnessing?

Shall we sense the impulse, the tug, the movement, the direction of the Holy Spirit to approach the person who needs Christ?

Shall we surrender ourselves fully to the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to control us and lead us as per His perfect will?

Shall we obey the Spirit of God and carry out what the Holy Spirit instructs us?

Shall we initiate the conversation boldly with the person to whom we are led by the Holy Spirit?

Shall we help the person in understanding the gospel with the help of the Holy Spirit?

Shall we preach the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus and clarify the very question of the person as per the Word of God with the help of the Holy Spirit?

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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04/26/2021 DAB Transcript

Judges 6:1-40, Luke 22:54-23:12, Psalms 95:1-96:13, Proverbs 14:5-6

Today is the 26th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful as it always is, wonderful to be around the Global Campfire together with you as we move into our workweek, take the next step forward and…and let the Scriptures speak into our lives. So, we’re in the book of Judges as we read through the Old Testament. Yesterday we read about the leader of Israel, the female judge Deborah. Today we’re going to begin a story of the judge, of famous judge actually, a very famous story, the judge Gideon. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Judges chapter 6.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Judges today we have met Gideon and we’ll move all the way through that story as we continue to read forward. And certainly, we’ll have things to talk about as…as we do move forward through that story. But as the stories kinda getting set up today couple things that…that are interest…interesting, anyway interesting enough to point out. In this story, the angel of the Lord or the Lord's angel comes to Gideon. And it's interesting because we’ve seen the angel of the Lord before already and will continue to see the angel of the Lord or Yahweh's angel or the Lord's angel. We’ll see this reference throughout the Bible. And we can read this and just go, “yeah. It’s an angel of God. There…I mean…there's. Some of them have names like Gabriel or Michael and this one’s just the angel of the Lord. So, it's an unnamed angel.” Actually though, this angel speaks like first person as if He is the Lord. Like, let me just quote a passage. This…this is after…after the angel of the Lord disappeared, after Gideon brought the meal and fire came out of the rock and the angel disappeared. “Gideon”, so I'm quoting, “Gideon then realized that it was the Lord's angel he had seen. And he said, in terror sovereign Lord I have seen your angel face-to-face but what the Lord told him peace. Don’t be afraid you will not die.” It's interesting that the angel of the Lord is another way of understanding that this is the Lord. This is the Lord's presence. The angel of the Lord is different than other angels in other words. The angel of the Lord speaking in first person as the Lord. I mean this is the stuff theologians will love to examine from all kinds of angles and have for centuries and centuries and centuries, but general consensus is when the angel speaks in first person, even though they are referred to as the angel of the Lord, this is the Lord appearing and speaking with people. The other thing that's interesting as this story begins to get set up is how Gideon refers to himself and who it is that God goes to to rescue his people. So, we know the lay of the land. The Midianites are oppressing the people and they have to hideout just to try to make enough food to survive. When the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon Gideons basically like, “whatever happened to the God that our fathers told us about who did mighty acts?” And the Lord speaks to Gideon telling him, “I'm calling you to set Israel free. Like you're gonna do one of these mighty acts.” Gideon is then like, “who am I? Like my tribe is the smallest tribe and I'm an inconsequential member of a small family in this tribe. Like I'm nothing. Who am I?” After the period of the judges when we enter into the time of the monarchy and we meet Israel's first king whose name is Saul, he's gonna say with very similar things, “my tribes the smallest tribe and I'm the least important member of the smallest family of this tribe.” And when we look at the example of Jesus and see that He was born into a normal existence not like born into high-ranking royalty, we begin to see these threads that God really isn't interested in our earthly power or resources to get done what He wants to get done. Like He demonstrates all the time that He can go to the very least of these and do unbelievably earth changing powerful things. And, so, it should be no wonder to us than that we are continually focused in our faith toward “the least of these.”

Another thing like this…is this little like incidental in the gospel of Luke today. So, we have entered the passion narrative and Jesus has been arrested is being questioned has been brought before the Roman prefect, Pilate, who has determined that Jesus is Galilean, so he sends Him to Herod. And often we can think like they had to bind Jesus and put Him on a cart and carry Him by donkey for several days to wherever Herod was. But that was…they were in the same complex in Jerusalem. So, he sent Him to Herod's palace, to Herod's quarters to be examined by Herod. Of course, Herod wondered whether Jesus was a resurrected John the Baptist, what was going on there. So, he’s eager to meet Jesus, but Jesus wouldn’t even really talk to him. This encounter actually becomes a catalyst to…to bring Herod and Pilate together in like friendly relations. Before that they weren't friendly. Herod was the king of the Jews. He was installed there. He was a client kind of puppet king loyal to Rome and Herod and Pilate didn't get along. The…the thing that sort of drew them together is Herod's making fun of Jesus. So, Herod asked Jesus a bunch of questions. Jesus doesn't answer. The people accusing Jesus, the religious leaders are making all kinds of accusations that Jesus isn't responding to. The soldiers are there on guard. They’re making fun of Jesus and one of the ways that they make fun of Jesus is to put a royal robe on His back, right? Sort of like they're making fun like, “Oh. Now we see that you actually are the king of the Jews. Hail King of the Jews.” So, they put this robe on Him and we know from other narratives that the crown, right, the crown of thorns. “Okay. So, you're the king of the Jews. So, let us bow down before your authority.” That’s what’s going on here. Pilate sent Jesus to Herod because He was Galilean because and He claimed to be the king of the Jews. So, he sent the king of the Jews to the king of the Jews for him to sort it out. Herod ultimately doesn't get the answers. He just thinks Jesus is a peasant crazy person, whatever. And, so, this robe, this royal robe is put on Jesus and then Jesus is sent back to Pilate where Pilate would then see the joke. “oh the king of the Jews has figured out that this Jesus guy actually is the king of the Jews because now He's got a royal robe on Him.” And that little bit of mockery of Jesus, that joke pulled them together when they had been enemies in the past. So, just a couple, kinda little vistas, little viewpoints off the side of the path here. As we continue our journey all of these things become so fascinating over time as the context of the story that we are telling from the Scriptures becomes more and more personal, more and more part of the story of our lives.

Prayer:

Father we thank You. Every day, nearly every day we thank You for Your word because we are eternally grateful. We are always thankful for the gift that You've given us, that we might pour over it, that we might learn from it, that we might learn of it and about it, that its context begins to lay out before us in a way that we can understand and live into. We are grateful that we can do this together in community all over the world. And, so, we pray. Come Holy Spirit continue to lead us into all truth. This is what You’ve promised. This is what we believe. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that’s home, that's home base. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app that's home base in your hand. And, so, yeah, it's good to know where home base is. Check it out whether on the web or in the app.

Check out the Community section. This is where to get connected on social media, places that we are connected. The Prayer Wall lives there and that that's always happening, always, always, we can reach out for prayer, always, always, we can reach back in prayer for one another in the Community section. So, check that out.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop, that's another resource to check out whether in the app or on the web. There are resources there, whether they be things to wear, things to read, things to listen to, or things to write on, or things to write with, things to drink and enjoy, just things for the journey. The DAB Shop is kind of like the outfitter for this year-long journey through the Bible that we are on together. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to keep reading God's word fresh every day and…and offering into the world to anyone willing to listen to it, if that has found its way into your world and has been life-giving to you than thank you. We wouldn't be here if we weren't in this together. And that is a fact. And, so, I'm…I’m humbled every day that we are here, and I thank you for your partnership. So, there is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Family it's Jesse from Washington. It is Wednesday the 21st. I just wanted to update everyone who's praying for my grandma. She's not really doing that awesome. I think I mentioned she can't really move anymore. I mean she can barely lift her hands to her face to eat and she's very claustrophobic too. So, she can't just sit and place or just be in a bed or a chair. And it's even worse now that she can't move herself. And then the last couple times, the last few days I've gone over to talk to her she's…she's…her eyesight's getting worse, she can move less and less. She has like neuropathy in her hands that she's had since before all this stuff happened. So, she can't really feel her hands either. So, and I don't know what to tell her or how to make her feel better than, you know, other than to tell her people are praying for her. But it seems, you know, pretty bleak. She just keeps getting worse and worse and the last couple days she kept saying, you know, she doesn't want to be here anymore and, you know, she wishes she could just take a pill and just, you know, be done with it all. So, I don't…I don't know what to tell her, I don't know how to make her feel better. Like I can't imagine being in that situation myself. And then I guess the other thing too quickly is that it's very sad for…she's the only real person in my life. Like I don’t…I have parents, but I wasn't close with them. So, I know it's very sad and it’s…it hurts me, but I don't know that I'm dealing with it properly because I kind of numb out these things. So, just prayers for that as well. Love you. Thank you. Bye.

Hey this is Troy in Texas. I think I called around Easter about my mom being in a reck and being in the hospital. I want to thank everybody for your prayers. She fought hard but she did pass away, and things have been really tough. Please continue to pray for our family. Pray for my stepdad. He's really, really having a tough time accepting it and being alone. I love this family. I listen to my Daily Audio Bible every morning and it helps me a lot. If you would also pray for my marriage. Things have kind of been a struggle and I want more than anything to connect with my wife, you know, the way that God wants us to connect. So, thank you guys so much for all your prayers and love. I pray for you all. Thank you.

Hello DABbers, this is Vonnie in Northern California and I feel urged to pray for a couple of colors. A few days ago, a man I believe his name was Chad called in with…battling depression and anxiety and this morning a man named Ted called in with the same issues. And my son battles with these same things right now. I wanted to read a portion of Psalm 30. And it was a very meaningful psalm for my husband who also dealt with depression and anxiety. Psalm 30 says, “I will exult you Lord for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemy’s triumph over me. O Lord my God I cried to you for help, and you restored by health. You brought me up from the grave oh Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. I cried out to you O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, and you have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You've taken away my clothes of mourning and closed me with joy that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” So, I just want to pray, Father please in the name of Jesus rebuke the enemy in these men's lives. We ask You to bring them out from this painful time of battling depression and anxiety. I ask You God to overwhelm them with Your joy and peace and security and confidence. Bring them out in Jesus’ name we ask You. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Egbert from California by the way of Believe city. I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I called this morning for your prayers to allow God to continue to work in my life and to continue to use me as only He can. I thank the community for all of the work and the effort that is shown in communicating with each other and supporting each other and prayers. I want to say thank you to the Hardin family for all they do and for the prayer warriors. There is so many people that I would need to thank so I would just say thank you for all the new members, the elders of the community. Continue to pray, continue to trust God knowing that His soon return is so near and we continue to do our part as the body and allow Him to use us in whatever capacity He sees fit. So, thank you and I pray that God blessings would continue to permeate your circumstances and your situation in spite of God is good and He is in control and…

good morning DAB family this is Gwynne from Texas and it is Thursday April the 22nd and I want to lift up a young lady that called in this morning from Louisiana. She's gonna have surgery in her right eye. She has two tumors and they’re bleeding, and the doctor says she needs surgery and they're not sure of the outcome. But I know a God that is sure, a God in heaven. And, so, I'm gonna lift you up right now in the name of Jesus. Lord You know what this surgery means to this lady Lord, that she wants to see just like Lord the…the blind man called out to You, “son of David I just want to see” and You touched him and he was able to see Lord. And I pray for this lady, that You would touch her, she would call out and that You would…she would say son of God. Jesus have mercy upon her that she would be able to see and that the effort the doctors go before her right now Lord that You would anoint their hands and that…that they're going to do what they need to do but You are going to oversee it Lord in the name of Jesus and she's gonna come out giving You glory because they're going to tell her that the surgery was successful. And, so, Father I’m believing and trusting in the name of Jesus for this lady that she will be able to have her sight back 2020 Lord, that she will have her sight back and she will be able to see and that…and that she will give You the glory and the honor. So, Lord, I thank You for what You're gonna do right now. It's in Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

Good morning DAB family this is La Chula coming to you from Los Angeles and I just want to say that this Daily Audio Bible has been such a blessing to me. This morning April 22nd it just really spoke to my heart. Every day I text my daughters and I say pastor Brian's on fire today's amazing. But today's…what stayed with me today is how you live, that's what you believe. And it's so powerful. How I live is what I believe. May my heart be open every day to God's word, to doing His service and living in His will. I actually want to kind of just share that God is not surprised by any actions taken against me. God is in control of my life and He promises His word will never leave me nor forsake me. So, I choose him every day. Every day I choose Him and I just encourage you to do that as well. Choose Him on a daily basis. I lift up my…my family to you, my daughter especially. She's going through a trying time and I know that she's gonna breakthrough because the Lord promises that, and His word is faithful. So, I love you pastor Brian, your entire family, the DABbers that tune in and pray for each other. And I just want to say that, from the bottom of my heart, this is…the Global Campfire is a real thing and I just love you…I love you all. Thank you so much.

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dailybiblelessons · 5 years

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Thursday: Preparation for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Roman Catholic Proper 21 Revised Common Lectionary Proper 16

Complementary Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Numbers 15:32-41

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation. They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.” The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture from the Latter Prophets: Jeremiah 6:1-19

Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looms out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened daughter Zion to the loveliest pasture. Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her. They shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, all in their places. “Prepare war against her; up, and let us attack at noon!” “Woe to us, for the day declines, the shadows of evening lengthen!” “Up, and let us attack by night, and destroy her palaces!” For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her trees; cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her. As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her wickedness; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again over its branches.

To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. But I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in.

Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.

For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed, they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.¹ But they said, “We will not walk in it.” Also I raised up sentinels for you: “Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!” But they said, “We will not give heed.” Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not given heed to my words; and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.

¹This passage is reflected in Matthew 11:28-30, where our Lord urges us to rest in him.

Complementary Psalm 103:1-8

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Semi-continuous Psalm 71

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 12:3-17

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—

“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, ; or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”¹

Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and ‘make straight paths for your feet’², so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹Proverbs 3:11 Proverbs 4:26

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Footnotes in the Hebrew Scriptures that show where the passage is used in the Christian Scriptures are based on information from the The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) by David H. Stern, Copyright © 1998 and 2006 by David H. Stern, used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved worldwide. When text is taken from the CJB, the passage ends with (CJB) and this copyright notice applies. Footnotes in the Christian Scriptures that show where a passage from the Hebrew Scripture is used are from The New International Version Bible® ( NIV®), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. When text is taken from the NIV, the passage ends with (NIV) and this copyright notice applies. Image Credit: Hands image by Gerd Altmann, downloaded from Pixabay, text added by Michael Gilbertson using Photoshop. Hands image used under Creative Commons 0 license. Combined image may be used under the same license. Please credit www.Lectionaryreadings.org.

Year C Ordinary 21, Catholic Proper 21, RCL Proper 16: Thursday

#C Ordinary 21 Thursday #trials #God's children #grace #working on the Sabbath #unjust gain

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