What’s With the Weather?

On Mother’s Day it was a wonderful warm day with gentle breezes here in the High Desert.  Just a week later it was very HOT! My thermometer reached 96 degrees (35c) and yet yesterday (May23) it almost snowed. The temperature dropped to 42 degrees (5c) and it was a freezing rain and high winds (25-33 mph).  In the Valley below there were tornadoes (unheard of in Southern California), hailstorms and minor flooding.  Just what is going on?  Of course my cat, Target, blames me for the crazy weather and my garden is confused but who do I complain to? 

And yet, as I got up this morning and looked out my window at the San Gabriel Mountains and saw the thin layer of new snow shining in the dawn’s glow, I praised God for His majesty and the beauty that He has given us.  This late rain and snow has curtailed our fire season, cleaned our streets and brought a little joy for those who love to play in new snow.  The birds are singing, dogs and horses romping in the crisp morning air and kids playing make an old man glad.

Thank you God, for bringing a bright shining day! Isn’t that a line from an old song of my youth, when the “Jesus Freaks” sang of the Joy of the LORD?  What ever became of them?  I miss them.

Christianity Today/June 08

I just got my copy of June’s Christianity Today  and have read it cover to cover.  I don’t care what church you go to or what denomination you prefer, THIS Magazine should be a must on your reading list.

The cover story, How to pick a President, is a gem.  Fleming Rutledge’s, When God Disturbs the Peace, should be required reading for all churches wanting to start a justice ministry.  and the interview with Tim Keller is inspiring.

I also read that the House of Representatives passed a “Jubilee Act” that would allow poor nations debt forgiveness, a bipartisan bill by Maxine Waters (D. Calif.) and Spencer Bachus (R. AL). How Biblical is that!?

Favorite Scripture

I’m curious?  What is your favorite scripture and what English translation do you prefer? 

 Please send them to me in the comments and if you like, tell me why you like this verse.  I hope that I will not receive a whole bunch of John 3:16, but a variety of verses. 

To start you off, my Salvation verse was Romans 4:6-9 and My Sanctification verse is Ephesians 1:13-14.(NAS)

Scripture Prayers cont.

June 2.08

You grant me life and favor, and your care has preserved  my spirit. (Job 10:12) For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround himas with a shield. (Psalm 5:12

The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. (Isaiah 50:7)

May29.08

Let the morning bring word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.  Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift my soul. (Psalm 143:8)

(You LORD Jesus) are the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

May 16.08

I am unworthy, how can I reply to You, O Lord, I put my hand over my mouth. (Job 40:4) I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2).

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuse. (Psalm 57:1)

Who can make straight was was crooked?   When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider; God has made the one as well as the other. (Ecclesiastes 7:13,14)

Psalm 119:57-64 (Heth)

The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Thy words.

I entreated Thy favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Thy word.

I considered my ways, And turned my feet to Thy testimonies.

I hastened and did not delay to keep thy commandments.

The cords of the wicked have encircled me, but I have nor forgotten Thy Law.

At midnight I shall rise again to give thanks to Thee because of Thy righteous ordinances.

I am a companion of all those who fear Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts.

The earth is full of Thy Lovingkindness, O LORD; Teach me Thy statutes.

Jesus is our portion, He is the Cup of Blessing, overflowing with mercy and justice for Righteousness.  He is our inheritance, He is our Mercy and He is our Promised one.  We are to keep our Hope in the Promise of God’s Righteousness and guard against all other things that try to separate us from  Him.   We must guard and keep safe in our being, the covenant of God.  It is in the Covenant of Jesus that we can claim the inheritance of the Father.  Because of the Law of the Father, God of all creation, we are restored to Him.  In this we should always thank God and give Him praise.  God searched our hearts and gave us the desire to know Him.  We then should also search out God with all our hearts, seeking to be healed of all the scars of our sins.  We should cry out for His mercy for we are not worthy nor have we ever been worthy of His Lovingkindness.  We should be merciful because of His mercy and we should seek His protection from the wiles of the world.  God gives to us His unfailing love, His Salvation and His promise fulfilled.

In God we have all Good things.  The World can offer nothing to us that God has not given greater.  Can the things of the flesh give us everlasting Life with Jesus?  Can the world promise us a peace that passes all understanding?  What man can offer us an inheritance that is Heaven?  No greater is the honor than to be a part of the Kingdom of God.  When Jesus joined us to Him and the Father, we became a part of that Kingdom, a kingdom with out beginning or end.  Will every fiber of your existence to serving and praising God.  Seek first to please God before any action or thought.  Make your life a mercy offering to God because He gave you mercy first.  He promised mercy even before we sinned.  Even though we fail daily to please Him. His mercy has gone before us, His provenient Grace is an usher to His greatness.  Even as I fail, I seek to please because God knows my heart.

I’m Back

As those of you that a regular readers of my blog have noticed, I haven’t been posting much the last couple of months.  I’ve been busy with other stuff and was sick, then my wife (who is my spiritual proof reader) was sick.  Then she fell and broke a rib and was on strong pain killers and not very lucid.  And I had some construction going on so I wasn’t thinking of what the Lord wanted me to share.

Things are back to normal now so I think that I can put more effort in my prayer life and my search through Scriptures to find wonderful thing to share with all of you.  Right off the bat, I can say that the Scripture for today in my everyday living is Psalm 103. But also read Jeremiah 31:1-3, 21-23.

I also want to say that we had an opportunity go take part in a Messianic Seder in April during Passover week.  I am a strong believer in the Traditions of Faith and this is one of them.  A Messianic Seder combines the Traditions of the Jewish Passover Feast with the Promise fulfilled by Jesus. The one I went to used the Seder feast as communion and it was very meaningful and Spiritual to me.  Next year, I will seek out these Messianic Jews and see if we can join them again.

“New” Quotes

Every man’s life is God’s Plan. - Horace Bushnell

Be it long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for. -David Starr Jordan

We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there. -Charles F. Ketterling

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of  life, And he who is wise wins  souls.  -Proverbs 11:30

…If you obey me ( Says the Lord, the God of Israel) and do whatever I command of you, then you will be my people, and I will be your God.  Jeremiah 11:4b

May.19– Our Creator would never have made such lovely days and given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal. -Nathaniel Hawthorne

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help. -Abraham Lincoln 

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”  And the father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!” -Mark 9:23,24

Lazarus, part two continued

Read:  Psalm 61:1-2, Ezekiel 18:10-17

The Lazarus’ in the world are caught up in the many conflicts of the nations, but they are also victims of Natural causes; floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and cyclones and the such.  They are victims of plagues, famine and draughts.  Jesus took those to the cross as well as our sins.  Jesus became the Lazarus for them all.

In the story Jesus tell, the only ones who gave mercy to Lazarus were the dogs.  They were the ones who licked the wounds of the victim of the plights of the world.  To the Jews, all Gentiles were as dogs, so it is fitting that the Gentiles came to Jesus after the cross.  In the Lazarus story, the dogs lick the wounds but they are not healed.  We can try by our own efforts to give comfort and mercy to others, but with out the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are no better than the dogs.  Right now when there is so much tragedy in the world, we give aid to just about every cause, but without the Grace of God behind our efforts, little is done. 

We need to see Jesus as  Lazarus, because clearly, he was making reference to himself with this story.  He was rejected by the people that God had chosen to call His Own.  He was left out of their homes and their hearts.  Jesus took upon himself, the sores of rejection, abuse and neglect.  He took to the cross the woulds caused by sin.  He bore the grief of the loss of grace and He sat on the garbage heap of our wasted lives.  He took the abuse that the people laid on others and He died.

Check out the Book Store!

For those who are looking for something to read or a research book, check out the Book Store added to my site.  There are a lot of good reading material and lots of different types of books. I approve of the variety offered.  You can save money by buying on line and maybe help me earn a little in my old age.