Friends

I thank you God for the friends I have that speak honestly to me. I thank God for the friends that foster my spiritual growth.  As E.C. McKenzie put it "Some people make enemies instead of friends, because it is less trouble." It takes very little effort to alienate the friends we already have. On the other hand finding and keeping a friend requires all the skill we can muster up, but the reward is great. Maintaining a good friendship is work but rewarding. How we chose to strengthen or weaken that friendship speaks to the value we place on that friendship. Friendships that we chose to nurture apply to all relationships in our live. Have I been encouraging spiritual growth in my relationships? Am I treasuring my special friends? Do they know that I care. Am I building my relationship with Christ

Proverbs 27

¹ Do not boast about tomorrow,
       for you do not know what a day may bring forth.  ² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
       someone else, and not your own lips.
 ³ Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
       but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.
 ⁴ Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
       but who can stand before jealousy?
 ⁵ Better is open rebuke
       than hidden love.
 ⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
       but an enemy multiplies kisses.
 ⁷ He who is full loathes honey,
       but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
 ⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest
       is a man who strays from his home.
 ⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
       and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.
 ¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,
       and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you—
       better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
 ¹¹ Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;
       then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.
 ¹² The prudent see danger and take refuge,
       but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
 ¹³ Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
       hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.
 ¹⁴ If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning,
       it will be taken as a curse.
 ¹⁵ A quarrelsome wife is like
       a constant dripping on a rainy day;
 ¹⁶ restraining her is like restraining the wind
       or grasping oil with the hand.
 ¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
       so one man sharpens another.
 ¹⁸ He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
       and he who looks after his master will be honored.
 ¹⁹ As water reflects a face,
       so a man's heart reflects the man.
 ²⁰ Death and Destruction ^[a] are never satisfied,
       and neither are the eyes of man.
 ²¹ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
       but man is tested by the praise he receives.
 ²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
       grinding him like grain with a pestle,
       you will not remove his folly from him.
 ²³ Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
       give careful attention to your herds;
 ²⁴ for riches do not endure forever,
       and a crown is not secure for all generations.
 ²⁵ When the hay is removed and new growth appears
       and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
 ²⁶ the lambs will provide you with clothing,
       and the goats with the price of a field.
 ²⁷ You will have plenty of goats' milk
       to feed you and your family
       and to nourish your servant girls.

Stand Firm or Lose it All

Trusting God in troubled times. God is faithful. I pray that I do not lose heart. Father God I ask for a sign that I am doing your will. I pray that I stand firm in your faith.

Isaiah 7

The Sign of Immanuel

 ¹ When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.  ² Now the house of David was told, "Aram has allied itself with ^[a] Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
 ³ Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, ^[b] to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field. ⁴ Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, ⁶ "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it." ⁷ Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
       " 'It will not take place,
       it will not happen,
 ⁸ for the head of Aram is Damascus,
       and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
       Within sixty-five years
       Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
 ⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
       and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son.
       If you do not stand firm in your faith,
       you will not stand at all.' "
 ¹⁰ Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."
 ¹² But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."
 ¹³ Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you ^[c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and ^[d] will call him Immanuel. ^{[e] 15} He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. ¹⁶ But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷ The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria."
 ¹⁸ In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. ²⁰ In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River ^[f] —the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also. ²¹ In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats. ²² And because of the abundance of the milk they give, he will have curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. ²³ In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, ^[g] there will be only briers and thorns. ²⁴ Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.

Praise and Thanksgiving

Psalm 50:1-6

¹ The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
       speaks and summons the earth
       from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
 ² From Zion, perfect in beauty,
       God shines forth.
 ³ Our God comes and will not be silent;
       a fire devours before him,
       and around him a tempest rages.
 ⁴ He summons the heavens above,
       and the earth, that he may judge his people:
 ⁵ "Gather to me my consecrated ones,
       who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
 ⁶ And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
       for God himself is judge.
       Selah

Short Term Cost for Long Term Benefits

  We think all of our problems will be solved when we become a Christian. We take God into our hearts and mind and declare that He alone is the one true God and that his son, Jesus, is the Christ. But our problems seem to increase, not decrease when we make and believe and try to live by that declaration. There is always a cost. We experience pain associated with that decision. Along with those comes sacrifice.  The world tells us we must avoid discomfort and inconvenience. Instant gratification is the way, the American Way. Jesus shows us that is far from his way of life. What has been costly for you in following Jesus? Ask God for strength to bear the real cost of discipleship. We must develop an urgency for mission and evangelism work.  

 

 

Luke 9:51-10:24 (New International Version)

Samaritan Opposition

 ⁵¹As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,

Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them^[a]?" ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶and^[b] they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

 ⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."  ⁵⁸Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
 ⁵⁹He said to another man, "Follow me."
      But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
 ⁶⁰Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
 ⁶¹ Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
 ⁶²Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Luke 10

Jesus Sends Out the Seventytwo

 ¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two^[c] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ²He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.  ⁵"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' ⁶If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. ⁷Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
 ⁸"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. ⁹Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' ¹⁰But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' ¹²I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
 ¹³"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.^[d]
 16"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
 ¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
 ¹⁸He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
 ²¹At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
 ²²"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
 ²³Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Increase My Faith

Father God I think back to what my life was like before I met Christ and I pray constantly for forgiveness and mercy. I thank you God for the transformation that you have made in me. I am not where I need to be yet but I am much better off than I was then.I thank you God for the instant rebirth and constant remolding of my character that you are doing daily. Father God my walk with  you has taught me the importance of obedience. I walk with believers and non believers daily. If a non believer became a believer, would I believe them? Lord I pray for the salvation of those that I know are not converted to your will and your way. I ask you God to increase my faith.

Acts 9

Saul's Conversion

 ¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"  ⁵"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
   "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ⁶"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
 ⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
 ¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
      "Yes, Lord," he answered.
 ¹¹The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
 ¹³"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
 ¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
 ¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

    Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" ²²Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.^{[a]  23}After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
 ²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. ³⁰When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
 ³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Restless Heart

Father God I ask that you still my restless heart. I know that the busyness of this world is crowding me in. I am fighting to keep my mind clear of worry so that I can sleep at night. Help me to do a better job of clearing my mind. I must cherish those that I have in front of me at this time. This moment in time will never come again. How do I say goodbye to those that I know I will never see again? Thank You God for bringing me to the Word, right now, today, at this moment in time. Father God I ask you for the courage to say the words that are most important to the ones that I love and whom I care for very deeply. Lord give me courage to speak with confidence and to recognize who needs spiritual care. Lord Almighty allow me to take time to express my love and hope for their future and my own. Let me slow down and live in that moment sincerely and reflectively.

Acts 20:13-38

Paul's Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

 ¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. ¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. ¹⁶Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.  ¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. ¹⁸When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. ²⁰You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
 ²²"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
 ²⁵"Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.^[a] Be shepherds of the church of God,^[b] which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
 ³²"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
 ³⁶When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Radical Authority

God is full of surprises. Those who know him delight in his authority. This upsets people who do not know him and work only on the religious aspect of who he is. They distort his message and therefore distort the image of God. They forget that every now and then God will do something new and fresh and different. God is Unique.
Those with packaged religions and secure traditions fall apart when Jesus is in the picture. Call on Jesus and he will do a new thing in your life. Give authority over to Jesus. Ask Jesus to rule over your whole life. Jesus was relentless in his battle with the religious legalists of his day. They distorted God's law and by doing so distorted God's image. I ask Jesus to rule over all areas of my life. In areas that I did not allow him to come I say come into those areas and rule over them.

Luke 5:17-6:11

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

 ¹⁷One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.  ²⁰When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
 ²¹The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
 ²²Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ²⁵Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

The Calling of Levi

 ²⁷After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, ²⁸and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.  ²⁹Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
 ³¹Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

 ³³They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking."  ³⁴Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? ³⁵But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast."
 ³⁶He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "

Luke 6

Lord of the Sabbath

 ¹One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. ²Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"  ³Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." ⁵Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
 ⁶On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.
 ⁹Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"
 ¹⁰He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. ¹¹But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Comfort for a Troubled Heart

How do you bring comfort to someone who is heartbroken? The challenge of giving comfort to people who feel their world has become totally unglued is a tough thing to do. When you are challenged at every step of your walk with Christ you become brokenhearted. When you are questioned about the decisions that you make in you life; do I take care of this child, even though he is not my own; do I tell people that the guys in the picture are a couple, they are gay, is that any stranger's business who looks at my pictures to just know and make irrational judgments about them, do I really plead my case to someone who has basically belittled my existence and ignored what I have asked, in the most basic of terms? I ask God to comfort my troubled heart. I ask God to comfort all those who are struggling with themselves to handle life's cruelty.

John 14

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

 ¹"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God^[a]; trust also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus the Way to the Father

 ⁵Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  ⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know^[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
 ⁸Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
 ⁹Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? ¹⁰Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

 ¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another

Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[c] in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."  ²²Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
 ²³Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
 ²⁵"All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
 ²⁸"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. ³⁰I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
      "Come now; let us leave.

Tale of Two Cities

If Seattle is a problem let me continue to throw fire on the flame. When in Seattle I stayed with my friend at her hotel. She of course was there for a conference, I was there for fun. Visiting my daughter, seeing the sights, the San Juan Islands, whale watching, Mt. Rainier, sightseeing, and lots of wine tasting. When I was at the hotel on Monday morning after spending a wonderful day on Sunday on the mountain, I got up early, went to the whirlpool, walked around the regular pool doing water aerobics, I felt good. She had to go to a workshop so I was on my own for the morning, I was meeting Jarrod and the boys for lunch. Now just to make things clear, she and I are not Lesbians. She had her bed, I had mine. I had to make that clear since sex is on your mind at every encounter. After all, I think you think all women are slutty seductive hoes, so it really doesnt  matter what I say. After I got dressed I went down stairs looking for coffee and french fries. I found my friend and some others who were at the conference with her. One man was there with his wife and he and I started talking about business, grandchildren and retirement, after the others left. We talked for about an hour. It was nice. That's all it was. I got my french fries and went to the room to wait until I was picked up a few hours later. Was he flirting, probably. Did I pick up on it and encourage, maybe, he was fun to talk to, but that was all it was. I know how to control myself and I know that his wife is there and I will not embarrass myself or my friend by sleeping with the husband of one of her friends. I don't do stuff like that.  If I did, I would have slept with the married man from church who sent me a porno link in an email. Or maybe I would have said something more to the man on Sunday who saw me holding my grandson in my lap, resting his head on my bosom and said, I wish I was him and my head was there. Now this is church for Christ Sakes!!!! WTF!!!! But then the creme de la creme are the women that come to me talking about how they have confessed their love to you and how they know they can rock your world. I have two right now who feel they are the one for you. I say nothing. Just ask them to pray for guidance and deliverance. I personally know three women right now who are waiting for you to leave the church so they can convince you to be their one and only.You are always going to have women hitting on you. I will always have men doing the same thing. I don't know how couples who are involved with people and enrich their lives handle the infatuation clause. Its inevitable. You cant take it so serious or yourself so serious.



Tale of Two Choices
I struggle to live according to God's law.I wonder about the reward for doing so. I continue to ask the question, will there be a difference for those who do the right thing and those who live their lives in rebellion against God's love? Our choices now make an impact on God's judgment of us in the future. I try to do what is right, I see others who dont play by the rules and they seem to be very successful. Where is my blessing, where is my reward? I thank God for the assurance of my reward in salvation. I know that God does not only reward in heaven but also here on earth. I thank God for my reward.
Revelation 14

The Lamb and the 144,000

 ¹Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. ²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. ³And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. ⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

The Three Angels

 ⁶Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. ⁷He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and

the springs of water."  ⁸A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
 ⁹A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, ¹⁰he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." ¹²This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
 ¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
      "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

The Harvest of the Earth

 ¹⁴I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man"^[a] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." ¹⁶So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.  ¹⁷Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." ¹⁹The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. ²⁰They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.^[b]

UNFAITHFULNESS

I have been without sex since 1989. Really. I divorced in 1987 and was off my menu. Then I had a hysterectomy, that's right, no children in this oven anymore. If God is going to give me a baby then we are really talking about a miracle. Having had the hysterectomy, my sex drive went down to zero. Just recently I started taking hormones to bring it back up again. Why not. S the last two weeks I have been on these hormones and I get to feel sexy again.
Now when I was in Seattle, I did not have any sex. I wasnt taking the hormones so I could care less about sex. If I talked to someone, like the guys at the conference, it was purely business. So again I say, you don't know me. If you think because I went on vacation I was out having hot sex every chance I got then you are wrong. You are so wrong. So I should  imagine that when you go on vacation you are out having sex. Thanks for that wonderful image.

Ezekiel 16
The Bride of God
The source of true spirituality-gratitude. Ingratitude is unforgivable. God is love and His faithful unconditional covenant with us shows that we are always loved by Him. What feelings do I have when I hear of the sexual unfaithfulness of people that I know and love. I thank God for his faithfulness in my life and for his covenant love.

An Allegory of Unfaithful Jerusalem

 ¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices ³ and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵ No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.  ⁶ " 'Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" ^{[a] 7} I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. ^[b] Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.
 ⁸ " 'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
 ⁹ " 'I bathed ^[c] you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. ¹⁰ I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, ¹² and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. ¹⁴ And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 ¹⁵ " 'But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. ^{[d] 16} You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. ¹⁷ You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. ¹⁸ And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. ¹⁹ Also the food I provided for you—the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 ²⁰ " 'And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹ You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them ^[e] to the idols. ²² In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
 ²³ " 'Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, ²⁴ you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. ²⁵ At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. ²⁶ You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and provoked me to anger with your increasing promiscuity. ²⁷ So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. ²⁸ You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. ²⁹ Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, ^[f] a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.
 ³⁰ " 'How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! ³¹ When you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
 ³² " 'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! ³³ Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. ³⁴ So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
 ³⁵ " 'Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! ³⁶ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth ^[g] and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood, ³⁷ therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. ³⁸ I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. ³⁹ Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. ⁴² Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
 ⁴³ " 'Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?
 ⁴⁴ " 'Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like mother, like daughter." ⁴⁵ You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. ⁴⁷ You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. ⁴⁸ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
 ⁴⁹ " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. ⁵¹ Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. ⁵² Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
 ⁵³ " 'However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, ⁵⁴ so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. ⁵⁵ And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. ⁵⁶ You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷ before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom ^[h] and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. ⁵⁸ You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD.
 ⁵⁹ " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. ⁶⁰ Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹ Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. ⁶² So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. ⁶³ Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

I ALWAYS want my hug

What is it about being in public that when you see me you pull back as if waiting for me to begin the hugging process. The actual embrace is composed of two people. There is no democracy involved with the hug. It is truly a monarchy. I am yours and you are mine. There is no debate on this matter so when you see me I expect, no demand, that I receive my hug. Not a confused look on your face wondering whether I should hug her or not. I demand my hug always. I will continue to be hug deficient untli you get this right. What were you thinking. Oh and McClurkin got the woman at the well wrong too.

The Handwriting on the Wall. Never underestimate the influence of a Godly life. We must stand for God over the long long haul of life. Who's life has been an example for you?

Daniel 5

The Writing on the Wall

 ¹ King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. ² While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver

goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father ^[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. ³ So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.  ⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
 ⁷ The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers ^[b] and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
 ⁸ Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
 ¹⁰ The queen, ^[c] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. "O king, live forever!" she said. "Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale! ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. ¹² This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."
 ¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, "Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. ¹⁵ The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. ¹⁶ Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
 ¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, "You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
 ¹⁸ "O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. ¹⁹ Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
 ²² "But you his son, ^[d] O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
 ²⁵ "This is the inscription that was written:
       Mene , Mene , Tekel , Parsin ^[e]
 26 "This is what these words mean:
       Mene ^[f] : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
 ²⁷ Tekel ^[g] : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
 ²⁸ Peres ^[h] : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
 ²⁹ Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
 ³⁰ That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, ^[i] was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

This is the Day of the Lord

It encourages me to know that God is working to reestablish his rule over all the Earth. King of Kings. Lord of Lord.
Zechariah 14

Zechariah 14

The LORD Comes and Reigns

 ¹ A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be

divided among you.  ² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
 ³ Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake ^[a] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
 ⁶ On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. ⁷ It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.
 ⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea ^[b] and half to the western sea, ^[c] in summer and in winter.
 ⁹ The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.
 ¹⁰ The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ¹¹ It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.
 ¹² This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. ¹³ On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other. ¹⁴ Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. ¹⁵ A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.
 ¹⁶ Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. ¹⁸ If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD ^[d] will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
 ²⁰ On that dayHOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. ²¹ Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite ^[e] in the house of the LORD Almighty.

Thank You Lord

Thank You for your blessings and for your mercy Lord. Thank you for allowing your man of God to bring such great talent to our house of worship. Thank You Lord for allowing us to hear the talent in all its splendor. Thank you Lord. Lord, let my emotions work towards your goal and your will. Father please don't let my emotions get the better of me today. I prayerfully ask you for guidance. When is anger righteous? Can we still accomplish something even if we are angry?  Are there activities or attitudes that get in the way of God's purpose? Lord help me to eliminate any activity or attitude that gets in the way of praising the King of Peace so that His Kingdom might be established right here, right now on Earth.

Mark 11:1-25

The Triumphal Entry

 ¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ²saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "  ⁴They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" ⁶They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
   "Hosanna!^[a]"
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"^[b]
 10"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
   "Hosanna in the highest!"
 ¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Jesus Clears the Temple

 ¹²The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.  ¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:
   " 'My house will be called
      a house of prayer for all nations'^[c]? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'^[d]"
 ¹⁸The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
 ¹⁹When evening came, they^[e] went out of the city.

The Withered Fig Tree

 ²⁰In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"  ²²"Have^[f] faith in God," Jesus answered. ²³"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."^[g]

The Betrayer Approaches

What task has God been calling you to but you have been caught yawning at that critical moment or you have fallen spiritually asleep when the critical moment occurred. What is it that God has for you? Have you spent time in prayer or are you focusing on something else? I thank God for his provisions for me and for his forgiveness when I have fallen short

of the mark set for me. When I am met with different motives from individuals can I remember the one who sits up high and focus on His motive alone? Father God you show me that in the end it is only I who will stand alone before you.

 

 

MARK 14:1-42

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

 ¹Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ²"But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot."
 ³While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
 ⁴Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year's wages^[a] and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.
 ⁶"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
 ¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Lord's Supper

 ¹²On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  ¹³So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹⁵He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
 ¹⁶The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
 ¹⁷When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me."
 ¹⁹They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
 ²⁰"It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
 ²²While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
 ²³Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
 ²⁴"This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. ²⁵"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
 ²⁶When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

 ²⁷"You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written:
   " 'I will strike the shepherd,
      and the sheep will be scattered.'^{[c] 28}But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."  ²⁹Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not."
 ³⁰"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice^[d] you yourself will disown me three times."
 ³¹But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.

Gethsemane

 ³²They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." ³³He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."  ³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶"Abba,^[e] Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
 ³⁷Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
 ³⁹Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
 ⁴¹Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"