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scribeforchrist-blog · 2 months

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Turning Away From Indecisiveness

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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+ John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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SUBJECT: Turning Away From Indecisiveness

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM CLEANSED BY GOD

I AM SUBMITTING TO GOD

I AM FORGIVEN

I AM HOLY

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READ TIME : 8 Minutes & 22 Seconds

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THOUGHTS:

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How many of us can say I am here for God, my life is for God, and what I do is for him? the other week, I was driving, and I started crying ,out of nowhere and I kept saying I wanted to be more of what God wanted me to be. I want to be a good person, and it bothered me for a while that I was crying this badly because it was so overwhelming and I kept thinking maybe this is a attack from the enemy and he brought this emotion on, or maybe it was just in my head that I wasn’t doing enough. I even went into prayer later on.

I asked the Holy Spirit why I felt this way; he said because you are growing in me, and you know to walk in my presence, your heart must be pure and do this in a contrite heart. Everything we should do daily ,should be to please Him, OUR AIM ,OUR GOAL SHOULD BE “I want to please God; I want to be what God wants.”; many people in the bible struggled with that. They knew they weren’t pure. Look at Isaiah.

• Isaiah 6:5 Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

• Isaiah 6:6-7 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.7 he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

See, he said, I am ruined because I am a man with unclean lips. He knew that because he lived among others, he could quickly become defiled and that he was impure. Many people think that if I did this and I did that, it would make me pure, but it doesn’t. Many people say, well, I have a title that makes me pure, and it doesn’t; what makes us pure is when we entirely rely on God to cleanse us of our sins.

We let him change us, and we talked about this , this week: how we can't rely on PEOPLE because PEOPLE will drop the ball every time, but when we genuinely want God to be our Lord and Savior. We truly want to be cleansed by him, not by detoxing or sagging our home, which no one shouldn’t be doing if we say we are believers because when we do this, we are welcoming spirits into the home; it's not a good idea, but none of these things will purify us the way we need to be purified, every day we must seek the lord to cleanse us so that we can be better for Him.

Verse 10: Make the heart of these people calloused; make their ears dull, and close their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Some of us are like these people. Our ears are dull, our eyes are closed, and if we don’t turn to be healed, and if we don’t turn to be cleansed, we won't ever be. Many of us read the word, but we don’t change our lives. We hear the word and are taught by our pastors etc, but we don’t hear it because we may be on the same stage they are on. However, the stage God wants us to be in is reaching out to Him , not other things.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The word tells us that because of grace and through faith that is why we are saved , and that this is a gift from God, not a result of what we did, and this is done so none of us can say we cleansed ourselves, so no one can say I saved my self ,so no can’t say I did this on my own because we all get this sense of pride when we accomplish something like losing weight, graduating, compliments it heightens or emotions it gives us dopamine, and that makes us feel good. We get so excited when this hormone is activated that we lose track of a lot; we forget who we should be praising.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a compliment, I love acknowledgment, but I have learned that all the things we have , or have accomplished is because of God, and this is one of these things; God gave us which is grace , and everything else , we didn’t do anything, we didn’t save ourselves at all, God saved us, and when he did ,he did it so we can be okay so when someone congratulates us for this or that remember we must stop and say glory be to God, DON’T allow compliments or other things to blind you by what God does.

To be cleansed, we must accept that we have flaws; we must accept this is something God has to do, not us, and when we start to take the pressure off of ourselves, and we do what Isaiah did and say, I am unclean, he can start cleaning. I went to Disney world this year. I stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort, and before we left, I had to leave a tag or something outside the door stating I needed my room clean. I had to permit them, or I could’ve left a note stating I didn’t want them to clean my room , but before it was done, I had to say yes or no.

This is precisely what God is looking for: a yes or a no. We have to say God cleansed us, and sometimes, we don’t have to say a word he knows, but to go deeper, we must give the Holy Spirit permission to do so. Do you want to be cleansed? Are you still undecided, friends? The longer we wait to be cleansed, the longer we postpone our call and a deeper connection with God.

***Today, God is asking us what do we want to do. Do you want to go deeper? Do you want to continue dealing with things ourselves? God isn't making us do this; he’s going to wait. Go to him today and say, God, I need my temple cleansed. I want to change, I want to be different, I want to walk close to you. Help me to do this, and he will. Some of us are standing in one place, not knowing where to go or what to do because we are indecisive.

Don’t allow your indecisiveness to block your connection with God; don’t allow your indecisiveness to keep you stagnated in your growth with God. God is looking for people who are willing to go deeper. That’s willing to be cleansed, but he can’t make us go there. He can show us the way like a good Shepherd, but he can’t make us go there to get there. We must deny ourselves to get there. We must let go of pride to get there; we must let go of our title to get there. We must let go of who we think we are. We must cling to God and his view of us? ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father, thank you for today; we ask you today to be with us to show us the way. Father, we are asking for you to come in to cleanse our temple, to cleanse us of our sins; lord, help us to let go of the things we do and to hold on to your hand. Lord, help us to be kind, compassionate, loving, and forthcoming; help us not to hold back, but help us to cling to you and look for your guidance; in Jesus' Name, Amen

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REFERENCES

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+ Philippians 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

+Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

+ Hebrews 10:12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

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FURTHER READINGS

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Proverbs 2

Leviticus 2

2 Peter 1

2 Chronicles 22

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orthodoxadventure · 5 months

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Prophet Isaiah

Commemorated on May 9

With a great voice like that of a trumpet, you proclaimed the coming of Christ to the world. You were revealed as a swiftly-writing scribe of the things to come; therefore, we acclaim you with hymns, most illustrious prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before the birth of Christ, and was of royal lineage. Isaiah’s father Amos raised his son in the fear of God and in the law of the Lord. Having attained the age of maturity, the Prophet Isaiah entered into marriage with a pious prophetess (Is 8:3) and had a son Jashub (Is 8:18).

Saint Isaiah was called to prophetic service during the reign of Oziah [Uzziah], king of Judea, and he prophesied for 60 years during the reign of kings Joatham, Achaz [Ahaz], Hezekiah and Manasseh. The start of his service was marked by the following vision: he beheld the Lord God, sitting in a majestic heavenly temple upon a high throne. Six-winged Seraphim encircled Him. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they flew about crying out one to another, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with His glory!” The pillars of the heavenly temple shook from their shouts, and in the temple arose the smoke of incense.

The prophet cried out in terror, “Oh, an accursed man am I, granted to behold the Lord Sabaoth, and having impure lips and living amidst an impure people!” Then was sent him one of the Seraphim, having in hand a red-hot coal, which he took with tongs from the altar of the Lord. He touched it to the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah and said, “Lo, this has touched thy lips, and will take away with thine iniquities, and will cleanse thy sins.” After this Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, directed towards him, “Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?” Isaiah answered, “Here am I, send me” (Is 6:1 ff). And the Lord sent him to the Jews to exhort them to turn from the ways of impiety and idol worship, and to offer repentance.

To those that repent and turn to the true God, the Lord promised mercy and forgiveness, but punishment and the judgment of God are appointed for the unrepentant. Then Isaiah asked the Lord, how long would the falling away of the Jewish nation from God continue. The Lord answered, “Until the cities be deserted, by reason of there being no people, and the land shall be made desolate. Just as when a tree be felled and from the stump come forth new shoots, so also from the destruction of the nation a holy remnant will remain, from which will emerge a new tribe.”

Isaiah left behind him a book of prophecy in which he denounces the Jews for their unfaithfulness to the God of their Fathers. He predicted the captivity of the Jews and their return from captivity during the time of the emperor Cyrus, the destruction and renewal of Jerusalem and of the Temple. Together with this he predicts the historical fate also of the other nations bordering the Jews. But what is most important of all for us, the Prophet Isaiah with particular clarity and detail prophesies about the coming of the Messiah, Christ the Savior. The prophet names the Messiah as God and Man, teacher of all the nations, founder of the Kingdom of peace and love.

The prophet foretells the birth of the Messiah from a Virgin, and with particular clarity he describes the Suffering of the Messiah for the sins of the world. He foresees His Resurrection and the universal spreading of His Church. By his clear foretelling of Christ the Savior, the Prophet Isaiah deserves to be called an Old Testament Evangelist. To him belong the words, “He beareth our sins and is smitten for us.... He was wounded for our sins and tortured for our transgressions. The chastisement of our world was upon Him, and by His wounds we were healed....” (Is 53:4-5. Vide Isaiah: 7:14, 11:1, 9:6, 53:4, 60:13, etc.).

The holy Prophet Isaiah had also a gift of wonderworking. And so, when during the time of a siege of Jerusalem by enemies the besieged had become exhausted with thirst, he by his prayer drew out from beneath Mount Sion a spring of water, which was called Siloam, i.e. “sent from God.” It was to this spring afterwards that the Savior sent the man blind from birth to wash, and He restored his sight. By the prayer of the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord prolonged the life of Hezekiah for 15 years.

The Prophet Isaiah died a martyr’s death. By order of the Jewish king Manasseh he was sawn through by a wood-saw. The prophet was buried not far from the Pool of Siloam. The relics of the holy Prophet Isaiah were afterwards transferred by the emperor Theodosius the Younger to Constantinople and installed in the church of Saint Laurence at Blachernae. At the present time part of the head of the Prophet Isaiah is preserved at Athos in the Hilandar monastery.

For the times and the events which occurred during the life of the Prophet Isaiah, see the 4th Book of Kings [alt. 2 Kings] (Ch 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, etc.), and likewise 2 Chr 26-32.

[Text from OCA]

Endowed with the gift of prophecy, prophet-martyr Isaiah, herald of God, you made clear to all the incarnation of Christ by proclaiming with a great voice: “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in her womb.”

#Christianity #Orthodox Christianity #Prophet Isaiah #Orthodoxy #Eastern Orthodoxy

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childofchrist1983 · 1 year

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Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. - Isaiah 6:5-8 KJV

Having this vision and seeing how holy God is, Isaiah panicked. Isaiah is unworthy. He is sinful and dirty in comparison to the greatness of God. He dwells and lives among other humans who are just as sinful. Have you ever experienced a similar realization? God is so good, and by contrast, we are worse than dirt. God is great, and none can measure up to Him. Isaiah is worried about his state of being. What can he do? How can he bear to stand before His Creator, the one true God who is so pure and holy when Isaiah is not? We see in the next two verses that God forgives and purifies him.

As sinners, we are not worthy to stand in the LORD God Almighty's presence, to unbuckle His shoes or wash His feet. He is indescribably good. We are nothing compared to Him and His glory. We are so prideful. going on about thinking this world revolves around us, that we are better than or more important than God or that He doesn't exist, and that we are awesome. But Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ is the only one who truly awesome and perfect and worthy of all the praise and glory. We must humble ourselves before Him and seek Him always.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

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phoenixshallrise · 3 months

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Massive corporate chains: lol look at us with our skyrocketing prices we’re so rich lolololol

Our lord and savior Attorney General Tong: hey yall just here to check and make sure you’re not price gouging or anything lol

Massive corporate chains:

Massive corporate chains: omg everyone look at how low our prices are now <3

#politics #fuck capitalism

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sins-spookyboogie · 2 years

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Tong is a God and I won't be taking questions. 😶

CR: bbbluv

#idc argue with ya mama #tong thanayut #tankhun theerapanyakul #kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #bible sumettikul #bible build #kinnporsche crack #kinnporsche brain rot #kinnporsche world tour #kp world tour d1 #kp world tour #tong our lord and savior

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fandombros · 3 years

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my boyfriend, just trying to tell me something

me, trying to debate whether or not I’ve related something to heaven official’s blessing too many times this conversation

#have i told you about our lord and savior the prince of xian le yet #how does he deal with me #im sorry honey bun #im lost in the sauce rn #heaven official's blessing #tgcf #mxtx #mo xiang tong xiu #theres so many things that relate to it though #trauma #love #why revenge doesnt make you feel better #the list goes on

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ectoplaasm · 2 years

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Kazuichi Soda is the Ultimate Cook!

I sat for the longest time going “how do I put Kaz in the little chef outfit” and then I was laying awake at night and the answer hit me. Dive Bar. Since the Ultimate is Cook and not Chef, Kaz running a little dive with his family makes more sense than whatever I was thinking before! And who better to use as a reference for dive chef than our lord and savior Guy Fieri? From there, everything else fell into place and I could keep his horrendous (said lovingly) color palette. Also I adore all of Kaz’s little pins on his default and anniversary artwork so I made him some extra :) a classic little “kiss the cook” badge, a whisk and some tongs based off of his normal pins, a frying pan, and fruit (we have fruit magnets on our fridge and so I have them to him for some reason).

Fun fact: Kaz and I have the same birthday AND height. If only I knew who he was at 16, when I had hot pink hair, I then would have had an easy Halloween costume :,)

Read IIRTTPCIAC (talent swap fic) here! Slight spoilers under the cut :)

Pew pew death portrait

I found a DR texture so hopefully the edits mesh better than last time!

#god this one was so fun to make #kazuichi soda #soda kazuichi #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #sdr2 #sdr2 kazuichi #ultimate cook #fanganronpa #sprite edit #my art #digital art #iirttpciac #sdr2 au #talent swap #sdr2 fanfic

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orthodoxydaily · 2 years

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Icon,Saints&Reading: Sunday, May, 22, 2022

May 22_May

Fifth Sunday of Pascha: The Samaritan Woman.

THE HOLY PROPHET ISAIAH (8th c. B.C.)

For the times and the events which occurred during the life of the Prophet Isaiah, see the 4th Book of Kings [alt. 2 Kings] (Ch 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, etc.), and likewise 2 Chr 26-32.

Source: Orthodox Church inAmerica

ICON: ZARAYSK ICON OF ST NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER (1225)

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - the most revered saint in Russia since ancient times - was born in Asia Minor in the second half of the 3rd century in the Greek colony of Patara in the Roman province of Lycia into a family of wealthy Christian parents, in his youth he was given over to the service of God under the guidance of his uncle, the bishop Patarsky. His uncle elevated him to the rank of priest. The saint's entire life was indeed an example of Christian service to God and people. When his parents died, Saint Nicholas inherited their fortune, which he gave to the needs of charity. Saint Nicholas was the bishop of the city of Myra in Lycia in Asia Minor (present-day Demre), his ascetic life and miracles won fame during his lifetime. The saint took part in the First Ecumenical Council of 325, at which he condemned the heresy of Arius, who denied the Divinity of the Son of God Jesus Christ. According to church tradition, for a slap in the face to the wicked Arius, he was deprived of the priesthood, the Savior Himself and the Mother of God brought Nicholas the Gospel and the omophorion - signs of hierarchical dignity. This event is called the Nicene miracle and is depicted on almost all the icons of the saint. Saint Nicholas died about 345 and was buried in the city of Myra in Lycia. In 1087, when the Turks took the city, his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari.

Local veneration of the saint began immediately after his death. In Constantinople, his cult took shape in the 4th-7th centuries. The veneration of St. Nicholas came to Russia with the adoption of Christianity, and from the 11th century it became widespread. The iconographic type of St. Nicholas of Zaraysk is a full-length image of the saint with his arms spread apart: the right hand is folded in a gesture of blessing, in the left is the closed Gospel. According to A. Poppé, the name "Zaraisky" appeared only in the 16th century. "The Tale of St. Nicholas Zaraysk" describes the history of the ancient miraculous icon that has not survived, which was brought from Korsun through Novgorod to Zaraisk in 1225. In 1237 Ryazan was the first to experience the horror of the Tatar invasion. In "The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu", it is said that after the murder of the Ryazan prince Theodore by the Tatars, his princess threw herself from a high tower onto the ground and "became infected (broke) to death." After they were buried near the icon of Nikola Korsunsky, the image began to be called Zarazsky or Zaraysky.

The spread of this iconography in the XIII-XIV centuries is confirmed by the number of monuments in icon painting and small plastic arts. In Byzantium, this iconographic type was not widespread. In Russian art, he becomes one of the favorites, which was facilitated by the popularity of the plot in literature. The earliest works: the icon of the first half of the 14th century "Nikola of Zaraisky and the Apostle Philip" from the State Tretyakov Gallery collection and the Novgorod icon of St. Nicholas of the first half of the 14th century from the Ozerovo churchyard.

The memory of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6 (December 19 according to the old style), July 29 (August 11 according to the old style, the birth of the saint), on May 9 (May 22 according to the old style, transfer of the relics).

Source: Zhanna Grigorievna Belik, Ph.D. in art history, senior researcher at the Andrei Rublev Museum, curator of the tempera painting fund.

And

Olga Evgenievna Savchenko, Researcher at the Andrei Rublev Museum.

JOHN 4:5-42

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly. 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. 25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." 27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" 28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. 42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

ACTS 11:19-26, 29-30

19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. 22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. 23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 29 Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. 30 This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristianity #eastern christianity #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscripture #gospel #wisdom

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thisworldinwonder · 3 years

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Kaninang umaga, nasa labas ako ng bahay. Pinagmamasdan ko yung mga halaman ni mama. Then, napansin ko na may isang halaman sa pader. Hinanap ko yung dulo, kung saan siya nakatanim. Nagulat ako nang makita ko na yun na pala... sa pader lang siya nakatanim!

Sa gulat ko, sinabi ko yun sa mama ko. Sabi sakin ng mama ko, "Oo ganyan nga yang halaman na 'yan. Kahit di mo alagaan, tumutubo at lumalago."

It made me realize what the Lord said in Matthew 6:25-34 about not worrying about our lives. 🥺

Ang sabi sa verses 25-27, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

Yung mga ibon, mga bulaklak, mga halaman, they grow and survive as God feeds them. They don't worry about tomorrow. Tayo, hindi man maiwasan ang worries pero sabi, hindi ba't mas mahalaga tayong mga tao kay Lord?

Yes! That is true! If you feel like you are not special enough or not valued by anyone, I am telling you right now that there is Someone who is higher above everything and everyone else who sees you the other way around.

To Him, you are special and loved.

To Him, you are wonderful and beautiful.

To Him, you have capabilities and a good future.

He cares for you more than animals and plants because you are a beloved child to Him.

Kaya lang, para marealize at matanggap mo 'tong mga bagay na 'to, you need to acknowledge and accept Him. Accept Him as a Lord and Savior, as a Father and God above all.

When you do it, I can assure you a journey of life worth living, a life with purpose and a life of victory.

If you want to let Jesus be in your heart and life right now, you may pray this prayer...

"Heavenly Father, I acknowledge you as the only true God, the Lord and Savior of all. I am a sinner and I have made mistakes in my life. I humbly ask for Your forgiveness and for Your grace to fall upon my life. I accept you as the Lord in my life and I am now giving you this life for You to change. Thank you Lord. This is my prayer in Jesus' name, amen!"

I praise God if you are still reading up to here and my prayer goes with you, too. Feel free to message me, brother or sister. 😊 May the Lord bless you and keep you safe! ❤️

#Jesus #Bible #Christ #God #Evangelism #Word #Holy #motivation #encouragement #Lord #Save

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stpaullutheranchurch · 2 years

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Epiphany 5 February 6th 2022

Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13) “Fat hearts … heavy ears … shut eyes”

Psalm: Psalm 138 “The Lord … regards the lowly”

Epistle: 1st Corinthians 14:12b-20 “Mature in thinking”

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11 “Depart from me … I am a sinful man”

Sermon Text: Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon Title: “Woe is Me”

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Apostle Peter said to Jesus, after the great catch of fish, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”. (Luke 5:8b) Isaiah said to the Lord sitting on His throne, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips”. (Isaiah 6:5a) Moses also, at the burning bush, “hid his face for he was afraid to look at God”. (Exodus 3:6b) Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees”. (Genesis 3:8b) And John, in the book of Revelation was terrified in the presence of God saying, “when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead”. (Revelation 1:17) Why all of this fear in the presence of God? And from His own people!

The Lord said to Moses in the Holy Scriptures, in the book of Exodus, “you cannot see My face, for no man shall not see Me and live”. (Exodus 33:20) To be in the presence of the perfectly Holy, Almighty God is a scary proposition, because we are not perfect or holy, we are in fact born sinful; “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) as the Apostle Paul describes it. “For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and wickedness of men”. (Romans 1:18a) That is why man is afraid to be in the presence of almighty God.

Imagine being Isaiah in our text this morning and seeing this vision; “I saw the Lord sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim. (angels) Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew”. (Isaiah 6:1b-2) Even the mighty seraphim covered their faces in reverence for the most Holy God.

Their number is not mentioned, but their number was great. Isaiah reports that “one called to another and said; Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts (which means armies); the whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds shook (violently) at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke”. (Isaiah 6:3-4) It was after Isaiah saw this sight that he declared; “Woe is me. For I am lost; (I am undone. I am as good as dead.) for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King; the Lord of hosts”. (Isaiah 6:5)

As a prophet of God, Isaiah had been allowed to see what no sinful human being would normally see and he was terrified; very much aware of his sinful/fallen nature; that he had sinned against God “in thought, word, and deed”; as we confess. He was very much aware that he could not stay in the presence of God without some intervention that had to come from outside of himself. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said; Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, your sin is atoned for”. (Isaiah 6:6-7)

Only the Lord could make such a sinner righteous and He took care of Isaiah’s sin and has now prepared him for the ministry; his vocation as a prophet; of speaking God’s Word to the people of Israel. As one whose sins have been forgiven, Isaiah was able to freely answer. “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying; whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me”. (Isaiah 6:8) In addition to calling Isaiah, the Lord is also bearing witness to His triune nature, using both the singular and the plural to refer to Himself; “Whom shall I send? Who will go for US”. (Isaiah 6:8b)

Then Isaiah is told what his ministry will be like. It is contrary to what many pastors and congregations want or expect to happen. The Lord said to Isaiah, “Go and say to this people; keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed”. (Isaiah 6:9-10)

In other words, Isaiah will have a long, hard ministry of preaching repentance to a mostly unwilling audience. Israel refused to listen to the Lord’s call to repent. Interestingly, verses 9-10 are quoted six times in the New Testament; in each of the four Gospels and in Acts and Romans. The Word of God; the Gospel in particular, will have one of two effects on those who hear; either it will strengthen the faith of those who gladly hear it, or it will further harden the hearts of those who reject it; for even though Scripture declares that God desires all to be saved, Jesus said some “are not willing”. (Matthew 23:37b)

Through the prophet, the Lord further describes the rebellious Israelites, who were unwilling to hear the Word of the Lord in this way; “Sinful nation. A people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged”. (Isaiah 1:4)

God did not destroy them immediately, He gave them repeated warnings, but eventually Jerusalem will be destroyed and all of them that are not killed, will be carried away into exile. Yet, there is also always a remnant who will believe the Word/Gospel of the Lord; “for the Lord knows those who are His” (2nd Timothy 2:19b) and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” the church. (Matthew 16:18b)

Therefore, we know that some will hear the words of Isaiah and will repent and return to the Lord their God. He compares them to a mighty tree, “when it is felled and only a stump remains”. (Isaiah 6:13b) But from that seemingly dead stump will come forth something wonderful.

He said, “the holy seed is its stump” (Isaiah 6:13c) which is referring to Christ. Later he prophesies, “there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit”. (Isaiah 11:1) Again speaking of Christ Jesus, through whom the sins of the world would be atoned for. So, despite his fear, Isaiah is told that “your sin is taken away and your guilt atoned for”. (Isaiah 6:7b) Despite his fear, Peter is told, “Do not be afraid, for from now on, you will be catching men”. (Luke 5:10b)

The means for doing this is of course the Word of God. Isaiah, like all of the prophets, preached repentance and forgiveness of sins to the people of Israel; and Peter, like all of the Apostles, preached “repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. (Acts 2:38) Our Lord calls all sinful people to repentance and saving faith through the same means of grace; and through the office of the ministry, He always uses sinful men to preach His Gospel. (for all pastors are damned sinners, just like everyone else)

Nothing other than the Word of God; the Holy Scriptures; by the power the Holy Spirit, can convert the hardened heart of sinful man. The entirety of the Bible is God’s Word, as Peter said, “No prophesy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. (2nd Peter 1:20b-21) Paul also declared, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness”. (2nd Timothy 3:16)

Scripture owes its origins to God alone; “whose Word is truth”. (John 17:17b) Jesus said, “MY Word will not pass away”. (Luke 21:33b) “It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit; of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. (Hebrews 4:12) Therefore, we are urged as Christians, “to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16a) for “His Word possessed authority”. (Luke 4:32)

Since we also know that (saving) “faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17) “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful … not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging each other all the more as you see the day (of His second coming) approaching”. (Hebrews 10:23, 25) The Apostle Paul warns us, “if anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ … he is puffed up with conceit and knows nothings”. (1st Timothy 6:3-4a)

We “preach the Word urgently, in season and out of season” (2nd Timothy 4:2a); we preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27b) because the unbelieving world needs to hear His Word; we preach because our neighbor needs to hear the Word; We preach because we Christians also need to hear the Words and promises of God, over and over again; that He has atoned for our sins and taken away our guilt. For Jesus said “If you abide/remain in My Word, you are truly My disciples”. (John 8:31)

So, we pray that God would let everything that happens in our lives; whether sickness, trial and tribulation and certainly every blessing, drive us to cling to Christ Jesus and His perfect inspired, inerrant Word; the Gospel of our salvation. Amen.

The peace of God …

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scribomaniac · 7 years

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A Rumor in Westeros (Anastasia AU)

Gendry | Winterfell

Deep within a pathetic excuse for a forge, with drafty walls, little lighting besides the struggling embers of a fire, and the frozen earth beneath him acting as the floor, a smith tried to work. Hammer met anvil again and again, a thousand times over, as it warped a slab of metal into a semblance of shape.

Winter was coming, it was almost here, and although the forge was probably the warmest place in all of Winterfell, even it couldn't ward off the chill. Another gust of wind pierced the forge’s crumbling walls with a sharpness the smith had never been able to give his blades, and made the fire, which had barely just recovered from the last gale, flicker and dim.

Cursing, the smith grabbed a pair of tongs and threw some more coal onto the fire and then snatched up a pair of bellows to breath in some life. The fire crackled and hissed, growing taller and brighter and stronger. At least until the next roar of wind came through.

He’d just picked up his hammer and shifted the piece of metal on the anvil, figuring out where he should strike it next, when the wooden door to the forge burst open, revealing a man on the other side. “Gendry,” he greeted, his tone short and clipped from the cold. His ears, unprotected by his short hair and lack of hat, burned a red brighter than the fire, and his salt and pepper beard was tangled in a web of miniature icicles.

“Davos,” Gendry nodded, then began to shiver from the chill. “Close the bloody door, yeah? It's colder than a Wildling's corpse out there.”

Davos blinked, then shook himself out of his thoughts. The movement dislodged some icicles free of his beard, sending them flying down to the ground. Hastily, he closed the door. “What's that you're working on? A piece of armor?” He asked, his tone almost hopeful.

Gendry scoffed, looking at the warped piece of metal on his anvil. “Armor? From this reused piece of shit?” He shook his head, “No metal was meant to be reused and reshaped this many times. If it were anywhere else it'd be in the rubbish.” He sighed, wondering if it wouldn't end up there regardless of his efforts, “I'm trying to shape it into a pot,” he admitted. “I just need it to bend . . . a bit more.”

Looking up at Davos, he asked, “How was town? You sell anything?”

For the past few years, ever since Davos had found Gendry in Flea Bottom and brought him up North to escape the Queen for the second time in his life, the two had been scraping by by selling products from Gendry's forge. Gendry would make the products--reforged cups, pots, kettles, the occasional horseshoe--and Davos would do his best to sell them. Easier said than done, though, when no one had any money.

“Oh, aye, I got a few copper pennies here or there. I was able to get rid of a pair of horseshoes, actually. Got a nice silver stag for them.”

That was impressive. Davos must've come across a Knight or maybe a Lord from a lesser house. Silver was hard to come by, especially with the taxes being as high as they were. The reminder made the smith wince.

“We're not going to make it through Winter are we?” Gendry sighed, his blue eyes trained onto his work. Gripping and regripping his hammer nervously, he glanced up at Davos, then back down again. “Not going on like this we're not.”

“Aye,” Davos nodded solemnly, his hands clasped together in front of him. “And half the North will be joining us in our graves by the sight of it.” Eyes darting left and right, searching for any eavesdroppers or spies--though the thought of anyone risking their balls to frostbite just to spy on them made Gendry snort--Davos stepped closer. “Right, well that's what I came to talk to you about. Our survival.”

His voice was quiet and his words crisp as he spoke quickly and with importance, “I had an idea. Now,” he said sternly, his brows furrowing and almost becoming one. “I know you won't like it, but I've had it, so just give me a moment, all right?”

Frowning, Gendry nodded. Feeling as if this conversation was about to take a turn, he placed his hammer on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. Now that he stopped moving, stopped his work, the cold was beginning to seep into his skin. He grimaced, shifted in an attempt to ward the chill away, and hoped Davos would be quick.

“I've heard a rumour,” he said, almost awkwardly as he wrung his hands. “In town. A rumor about the Princess Arya. Now, no, no,” he held up a hand, stopping Gendry’s objections before they could start. Sighing, Gendry closed his mouth, signalling for the older man to continue.

“We both have.” He said, his accent becoming thicker with ever word. Usually Davos’ voice reminded Gendry of the sea, of the sailors he'd known growing up in Flea Bottom. Usually the sound of it helped put the younger man at ease. This time, though, it just added to his dread. “Heard, I mean, that she survived.”

Gendry's face darkened. Yes, he knew the rumor well. Mayhaps better than anyone. That although the Starks did not survive, one of the siblings may still be alive. Some idiot, probably a fancy poet, had gotten it into their thick skull that since the details of Arya’s disappearance were unclear, she must still be alive somewhere.

Once, not too long ago, Gendry had believed the rumors too. He'd justified it, even. He'd known more than most had, anyway. He knew that she survived King’s Landing. So, he thought, why couldn't she survive the Red Wedding?

It was a fool’s dream, though. He'd come to realize that, with time. None of the Starks survived.

Lord Stark had been the first to die, but little did anyone know at the time that he wouldn't be the last. Not long after him, just a few moons, the traitor Theon Greyjoy killed and burned the youngest boys, Bran and Rickon, and hung their bodies from the castle’s gate for all of Winterfell to see.

Next was King Robb, the savior of the North, the Young Wolf. Not even he could survive whatever curse had been placed on his family. He and his mother, the Lady Catelyn, had been brutally slain under the protection of guest right by House Frey. Their deaths had changed the country drastically. If a king couldn't feel safe in the home of their own Bannerman, what chance did the common folk have? After the Red Wedding, neighbor turned against neighbor, and the North was left defenseless.

Then the poor Lady Sansa, crushed on the rocks of Blackwater Bay. Some say the fall was an accident, some say that the late King Joffrey pushed her, and some say that, after hearing about the death of her brother and mother, she became broken hearted and jumped. The Stranger didn't care about the whys or hows, though, and neither did Gendry. Dead was dead, after all.

As for Arya, most thought she had perished at King’s Landing, not long after her Lord father, though how no one could say. All they knew was that she was in the Red Keep with her sister, Sansa, and assumed she came to the same tragic end as the rest of her family. But Gendry and a handful of people knew differently. Arya had made it out of the lion’s den, had been on her way to Castle Black to reunite with her bastard brother, Jon Snow, and had been so close to freedom. Then she met Gendry and everything turned to ruin.

Chest tightening at the thought of their meeting, Gendry had to physically shake off the guilt that had once again come so close to consuming him. Focusing back on Davos, he tried to hear what the man was saying.

“It's a lot of money, Gendry,” he was saying, “enough for both of us to live happily, if not modestly, for the rest of our days. I was thinking we'd do that somewhere a bit warmer, perhaps Lys, but--”

“Sorry, what?” Gendry interrupted, not following. “What money?”

Pursing his lips and breathing slowly out his nostrils, Davos glared at Gendry and began again, slower this time. “Prince Jon. Arya's cousin. You remember him, yes?

Gendry did, though not many people would call them cousins. To many Northerners, Jon Snow was still Ned Stark’s bastard son. To the Southrons, he was just another usurper, vying for the throne. To Gendry though, he'd always be Arya's favorite brother.

“He’s in Mereen now, with his aunt, Queen Daenerys. He believes Arya's still alive, Gendry, and he's offering a reward to the person who can bring her back.” Davos’ brown eyes searched Gendry's, looking for any signs of anger, disbelief, maybe even grief. Gendry looked back, unsure of what emotion the older man would indeed find.

“So I thought,” Davos continued hesitantly, “that since the two of us are in an opportunistic position, that we might . . .”

“Might what?” Gendry shrugged, the action bordering on aggressive. Running a hand along his jaw, he grimaced. The small hairs there scratched at the skin of his hand even though he'd just shaved that morning, which wasn't good--he couldn't afford a beard right now--but could be dealt with later.

“Just find an Arya lookalike, teach her what to say?” His fingers twitched with the need to hit something, “Then what? Dress her up as a lady and take her to Mereen?”

“You knew her better than anyone,” Davos argued, “save for her family, and they're all gone.”

“And so is she!” Gendry bellowed, his temper flaring like his fire did earlier. His face had turned a blotchy red and the cold no longer seemed to touch him. Pacing back and forth in the small forge in an attempt to exercise away his rage, Gendry continued. “Arya's dead, Davos! And maybe Jon Snow doesn't know that yet, or hasn't accepted it yet, but she is, and he will.

“He was her favorite brother, he'll be able to spot a fake miles away, and I for one do not want to be caught in a lie by someone whose aunt can control dragons!”

“Gendry, lad, calm down,” Davos waited for Gendry's pacing to stop, for him to take in some deep breaths and cool his blood. “I know the idea doesn't sit well with you,” he took a step closer and placed both hands on the taller man's shoulders. “I don't much like it myself, but it's all we've got right now.”

Looking over his shoulder for a moment, once again keeping an eye out for any enemies, Davos sighed, “You're right, we won't make it through a Winter this far North, but we can't go south, either. I was Hand to a king that never sat on the throne, and you,” he stopped to take a breath, his dark eyes, “well, with every passing day you look more and more like the dead King Robert, especially with that beard you keep trying to keep off your face.”

He paused, then, “Someone's bound to notice, and since Winterfell is currently decorated with colors from House Bolton, well,” he grimaced, “let's just say I'd rather face a dragon than that bastard Ramsay.”

Gendry had to admit, he had a point. At least the dragon would be quick about it. Ramsay was known for dragging things out, making his victims suffer. The stories he'd heard had been enough to give him nightmares for days.

Shaking his head, Gendry took a different approach, “And how, exactly, would we get to Mereen?”

Taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest, Davos raised a brow, “I've been able to smuggle some money away these past few years,” he chuckled. “Enough to get three people across the Narrow Sea to Mereen, and then stay a few nights at a simple inn.”

“And then what?” Gendry asked, his brows raising up to meet his hairline. “We walk up to the palace, or wherever it is royalty lives in Mereen and just, what? Ask to meet with their prince?” He shook his head, “Why would they even meet with us?”

“You forget, lad, that I knew Jon,” Davos said, his beard hiding his frown. “Back when he was Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.” He nodded his head confidently, “I can get us an audience.”

Eyes softening, the older man said softly, “We can't stay here anymore, Gendry. We need to start over. We need to take a chance.”

Gendry sighed, a slow acceptance rushing through his veins and loosening the tension in his neck and shoulders. Davos was right, he knew that, they couldn't stay in Westeros any longer. It was just asking for tragedy, and hadn't they both lived through enough of that?

“All right,” he nodded, rubbing a hand down his face. “All right. Well,” he said, trying not to think of how all this could go wrong. “Who else could pull it off but me and you?”

“You and me,” Davos corrected automatically, making Gendry duck his head and smile.

Cat | Braavos

Cat felt the weight of her new purse hit against the meat of her thigh as she took step after step. Part of her was tempted to pat it, like patting herself on the back, but refrained. Such an action would do nothing but bring attention to it, and after having just won it, the young woman didn't wish to part with the coins in it so quickly. Ensuring that no one would challenge her to a duel and steal her prize, Cat pulled her long coat to cover her sword and new purse.

She'd won the purse off a young, green horned fool of a boy from Salty Town. He'd most likely had never been in a real duel in his entire life before today, and it hadn't even been a challenge for Cat to disarm him and win her prize. Kids like him were always visiting the city this time of year, looking for adventure and excitement, and they always went home a few pounds lighter than they came.

Running her thumb up the length of her sword's handle, she she wondered how best to spend her winnings. Perhaps she'd buy a pomegranate, or a Myrish orange, if she could find someone who sold them. Or perhaps she'd visit some of the girls at the Happy Port. She hadn't visited them in a while, maybe she'd buy some oysters for them all to share.

There was a lot of silver there, though, she thought as the purse bounced against the fabric covering her leg again. More than she'd seen in a long while. More than enough to . . .

She stopped and shook her head, she knew where that line of thought led. To the Bay, to a ship, to her home . . . In truth it led nowhere. Cat didn't even know where home was.

North, her thoughts stubbornly answered. Her home was in the North. Westeros.

She gritted her teeth, and then what? She asked herself. Then what would she do? The purse of silver wouldn't last forever, and she couldn't even remember the last time she'd been in her native country, or why she left. There might not be anyone to return to anymore, either.

Her grip on her sword tightened, her slim fingers turning bone white beneath her skin. Looking down at the sword--at the only link to her past--Cat’s chest swelled with an unnamed emotion. She'd had the sword for as long as she could remember, before that, in fact. It had been the only thing she could truly call her own after she'd left the House of Black and White.

The sword was small, meant for a child, really, but Cat’s hands were small, too, and the Braavosi preferred to use lighter blades in duels, ones that only needed to be held in one hand, so no one ever questioned her about it.

It had a name. Cat knew it had one, long ago. She wished she could remember it, she knew it was a good one, but its name continued to elude her, just as the rest of her past did.

Every now and again she'd remember something. Nothing tangible, just small flashes that were too obscure to gain anything from them--a warm hug, a hand ruffling her hair, the taste of lemon cake on her tongue--breezed in and out of her mind, and made her ache for the life she once had.

The memories, her past, would return to her. Someday. Cat knew this to be true, knew it with every fiber of her being. It might be tomorrow, it might be a year from now, it might be more, but one day Cat would know the name of her sword, sure as she knew her own, and, more importantly, who had given it to her.

She wondered sometimes, especially at night, after having awoke from sleep, whether or not she had a family. She must have, at some point. But no, she thought, family wasn't quite right. Pack. She had a pack.

The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. The words surprised her, stopping her in her tracks. Where had they come from?Although the words felt foreign and unused, they also felt right, like they belonged to her.

Still, Cat had never thought about packs or wolves before. Braavos had no wolves, and the people here never spoke of them, so she wouldn't have heard the phrase from a stranger or a friend. In fact, no where on the Eastern continent were there wolves. But in Westeros . . .

Cat blinked and realized she'd been standing in the same spot for far too long. Taking a look at her surroundings, her mouth dropped open as she realized where she was: Chequy Port. Her feet had led her almost all the way up to a ship without her noticing. Closing her mouth and shaking her head, Cat could take a hint.

It was time for her to take the first forward in finding out who she was, and the first step towards her future. Releasing a shaky breath, she squared her shoulders and walked up to the Harbormaster.

Swallowing down a spike of fear and pushing down on the rush of excitement buzzing in her hands, Cat voice was steeled with conviction as she announced, “I’m looking for a ship to Westeros.”

A/N: Um...yes, all the Stark's are dead except for Arya (it's like there's a curse or something)

Updates will not be too regular unfortunately. I'm already 3000 words into the next chapter, but then it has to go through edits and my friend who helps me edit these things is in a very different time zone so that can slow it down some.

I'm going to be taking things from ASOIAF, GOT, Anastasia (1997) and Anastasia the musical. So it'll be a hodgepodge but hopefully a good one.

If you liked this chapter please let me know by leaving reblogging! See you all next time!

#got #asoiaf #gendrya #anastasia au #gendry #arya stark #davos seaworth #im really digging this fic rn #but for all my tog peeps #dont worry #i plan on finishing my other wips #too

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childofchrist1983 · 1 year

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Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. - Isaiah 6:6-7 KJV

Isaiah was dirty and full of sin. He was unworthy to see God's holiness. Then the Heavenly being took a hot coal from God's alter. He put it on Isaiah lips and his sins were taken away and cleansed.

Similarly, Jesus cleanses us who have faith in Him. He cleanses us and He makes us pure. Jesus Christ is our only hope of salvation from our wickedness and sins and the damnation of Hell it brings. He is the only way to spiritual rebirth, to our Heavenly Father and to Heaven! Do you have faith in Jesus Christ to remove your sins and save your soul? If you cannot confidently answer, think and pray about it. It is always better to be sure. If you still struggle with doubt and unbelief, get on your knees and ask God to reveal Himself to You. Proclaim your faith in Him with a repentant and humble heart and give Him your life. This is the way to salvation from your wickedness, sin, and the punishment that we as sinners all deserve, but Jesus bore for us out of pure love, mercy and grace. Thank the LORD Jesus Christ for bearing the burden and punishment of our sins and wrongdoings. He is the ONLY way to come to salvation, the Heavenly Father and to everlasting life in His Kingdom of Heaven.

As Christians, we place my faith in Him and Him alone. We know and believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And our LORD, God, Savior and King. We believe in our Heavenly Father and Holy Spirit also. We believe in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as the Holy Trinity and know that the Trinity is one. We know His Holy Word is the ultimate Truth. We must put no one and nothing else before Him in our hearts and our lives daily. If He is not, we must ask His forgiveness and His help to remove idols and sinful temptations from our lives. We must place our life, faith, and trust in Him, repent from our wrongdoing, and come before Him in faith and love. Our lives are in His hands, and we come to Him, because He is gracious and wants us to trust and call on Him always.

May we humble ourselves before God always, asking Him to forgive our sins and make our hearts and lives anew through His Holy Word and Spirit. May He help us make Him and His Holy Word top priority, so we can grow spiritually and grow in our relationship with Him as we apply it to our daily lives. Thank God that we can focus on Him and everything about Him, for that is what keeps us sane and at peace. May our words and actions always be a reflection of Him and His Holy Word and Spirit and will for all our lives.

Everyday, we must remember to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and guilt. May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus!

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

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dalyunministry · 4 years

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Bro. Calvin Nii Bannerman

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RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

DATE : 30th October, 2020.

Father God in the name of Jesus! I thank You for my life and the person(s) reading this life. Please forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and purge our sins with the everlasting blood of JESUS. Let us be Holy You have predestined pathways for us to walk down. Holy Spirit lead us our savior JESUS Christ. Amen

The title of my message is RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, real relationship has to be based on reality, let me explain it. There are couples who get married, and they get married in haste, they don't think things through, the physical attractions too great and they think they can work their problems so they get married.

Later , they file for divorce and here is what they say, "the person that I thought I marrying was not the person I am married ". What was the problem? They had a relationship but it wasn't based on reality. The most important thing as humans is our relationship with God, because how you see God is going to determine about you. If your view of God is wrong , your view of life is wrong. If your view of God is wrong, your view of success is wrong. If your view of God is wrong, your view of important is wrong.

1. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE IS TO HAVE A REAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE REAL GOD.

If God is real, the most important thing is to have a real relationship with Him. We are going to find out an incident that took place 2500 years ago about a prophet named Isaiah. This message is going to teach you how to have a relationship with God like how you can have a relationship with your mother, father, son, daughter siblings etc. First of all we have to find out who is the real God we are trying to connect to, to begin with. To do that we are going to look at how Isaiah said how to relate with right God in a real God.

1. I will see God for who He really is.

Isaiah begins to tell us the exact year this incident took place in his life. Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died...

• Why did he write that done, why did he put it down in the text?

Let me tell you why that year was so important, because this was the year something happened in Isaiah's life that was so huge and so important and so life changing he can point out the exact date , the exact day and time. He can tell you what happened. You have to understand the background of the story. Back in bible days , there was a king who reigned in Judah, and his name was Uzziah, he was one of the most successful kings because he strengthen the economy, everybody was doing well and he provided them the 3 basic things any nation will loved, they had peace, prosperity and security , they didn't worry about anybody coming to conquer the land. Now they were kind of in a this crisis mode because an enemy named Syria is on a rising and Syria has a large army , much larger than Judah, much more powerful than Judah has. Now they know the king is dead , they have been watching the whole situation unfold. So this giant cloud of fear has blocked this sunshine of joy , now this people are really in a panic . They don't know who to turn to, they don't know what to do, because their leader has died. And then this happens, Isaiah 6:1 ...I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,...

Whenever I read this part of the Bible I skipped it until I understood it's significance, from the beginning of the Bible to the book of Isaiah, no one has ever seen that before. Moses, Daniel, Jeremiah , David, Ezekiah nobody had ever seen this picture of God ever and here's Isaiah for the first time being allowed to see such a picture.

He sees the creator of the universe, the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He's sitting on a throne and not just an earthly throne but an eternal throne. He goes on to tell us the kind of throne He saw

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Now put all in a context, what did Isaiah said, the year that king Uzziah died I see another king , this is what he's trying to let us understand, there are 2 kings in verse 1 for a reason, you have a mortal king and an immortal king. You have a king who's dead and a king who can't die , you have a human king and a divine king.

You have a king that someone can take his place and another no one can take His place . Isaiah focus wasn't the king who had been buried but a king who can't be buried. What Isaiah saw then is what God wants us to see right now, remember these were trouble days Isaiah and the nation of Judah , good king had died and they were without a leader , they were like a sheep without a shepherd .

A Syria is on the horizon and they don't know what is going to happen, when things are going bad , God says to Isaiah, 'Tell my people when things are going bad look up,when things look hopeless, fear not. When Isaiah saw the real God , he saw clearly what we need to see today. Isaiah says I see a God on a throne, He got his hands on the throttle, He is in complete control . In the midst of all this, there's a sovereign God who is in control and we don't have to worry about anything else.

The thing we need to remember is there's a God who's High and lifted up, He is sitting on a Throne , He's in control, He knows what He's doing , He has never made a mistake. He got everything exactly where He wants them to be.

Now the story continues....Isaiah 6:2-3 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. This is the most important picture of God in the old testament or probably the whole of the Bible. Now we know what makes God GOD. These angelic creatures, the seraphims, they're are calling out continuously HOLY HOLY HOLY is the Lord of host. The see a God who is Holy, the chief attribute of God is not love, it's not mercy , it's not grace, the chief attribute of God is HOLINESS. The Hebrew word for Holiness is a word literally meaning to separate, it comes from a semantic word meaning to cut, it is a picture of cutting an object to separating one piece from the other piece.

In other words Holy is to separate and to set apart and it's so different from everything else that it got to be treated like that. What the seraphims are telling us is this, the God that we are serving is a God eternity removed from us. He's holy and we are not. He's a different creature that we have to treat Him differently than any other creature. You can't compare with any other creature, there's no one like Him, there's nothing else like Him, He's holy, therefore we have to see Him differently and relate to Him differently than anyone else or anything else. By the way, do you know why the word Holy is repeated 3× ? Is not because God is deaf, in Hebrew poetry, repetition was the way you emphasize on something ,in this our generation if we want to emphasize something we underline it or we bold it or write it in CAPS, they didn't do that back in that day. Back in that day, In Hebrew language, if you want to emphasize something and raise it to the highest level, you will repeat it, and it is not coincidental that in the entire bible anything repeated about God than the attributes about His Holiness.

God is HOLY HOLY HOLY, that is the only attribute of God of all the attributes of Him.

Is God merciful? YES.

Is God loving? YES.

Is God gracious? YES.

Of all the attributes of God , what really makes God is ,HE is HOLY HOLY HOLY and remember how I see God determines how I relate to Him , that's why we are told in verse 3 ...the whole earth is full of his glory. His glory doesn't just feel the temple, but His glory feels the entire earth , I will tell you why Isaiah put that out there, there's nothing more disgusting than we put God in our little box or we try to say this is the God I want Him to be. When it comes to God you have to think outside the box , you can have a box. God doesn't fit the Catholic box, the Baptist box or the Presbyterian box , He doesn't fit in any body's box. His glory feels the entire earth the bible says. If I'm going to relate to God the right way, I have to see God the way He really His. How will you really know you have seen God the way He really is?

This is simple, when I see God the way He really is,

2. I WILL SEE ME THE WAY I REALLY AM.

As soon as Isaiah sees the real God see how his reaction was in 4

Isaiah 6:4-5 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

When Isaiah sees God through the wind of His HOLINESS, the wind becomes a mirror and all of a sudden He seems himself in his sinfulness , because when you see how Holy God is ,you see how unholy you're. When you see how righteous God is ,you see how unrighteous you're. You will not see yourself of what you truly are until you see God of who He truly is. When Isaiah saw who he truly was ,he didn't like the picture, see what he said in verse 5 I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips...

The word undone or ruin is, to come unravel, a lot of the Jewish knew him as a prophet and a righteous man but when he came in contact with God he came apart "I am a man of unclean lips" that's what Isaiah says. I am dirty, all my so called integrity , decency is compared to your HOLINESS. Because when God is high and lifted up we will be brought low and taken down. When we get honest with our relationship with God, He gets merciful with us. Look verse 6, Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

This verse tells us how God loves the sinner and He hates the sin, perfect illustration, because what Isaiah hated about himself , you know what Isaiah, I hate it too. But you know what I love you more than I hate your sin, so you know what I'm going to take care of your sin problem. You said you are dirty, yes you're, but I'm going to clean you up,you know you deserve Justice but I'm going to give you mercy . One thing that has to happen for us to have a real relationship with God is we have to get real with God.

3. I WILL SEE OTHERS THE WAY THEY REALLY ARE.

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Look what happens to Isaiah, He got real close with God and he eavesdropping a conference call with the TRINITY. When you read the verse again, God wasn't talking to Himself,He didn't say who will go for me? 'He said who will go for us'. He was talking about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and Isaiah is listening to the conversation.

Isaiah says Isaiah 6:8... Here am I; send me. This is so refreshing, the deeper you go with God in your relationship the more you will surrender who you're to who He is.

• How do I know I have surrendered to God?

Here is how you'll know, You have to surrender to God and you will do anything God tells you to do even if it means you'll fail or even if it means you'll die. God comes to Isaiah and says Isaiah, you need to tell other people about the encounter. They need to have the real relationship with Me like you did, they need to be cleansed like you did. Write it down

Isaiah 6:9-11 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

• Do you understand what God said to Isaiah?

I want you to tell them what I want you to tell them but they are not going to listen, I want you to preach to the people, exactly what I have told you but they're not going to respond.

• Isaiah, are you willing to do that? Isaiah says here am I Lord send me.

• Why will Isaiah agree to that? Here's why, because Isaiah finally understood how this works , all God wants from me and my relationship with Him is to be FAITHFUL. He doesn't call me to be successful, faithfulness is my part, success is God's part . Don't ever judge a pastor or a minister by how big his ministry or church is growing. There are a lot of Isaiahs out there and they are preaching and they are faithful as faithful can be and God has placed them there to do His work like those with big and huge ministries. There's no where God rewards success, God rewards faithfulness, so all what God wants us from is faithfulness , so when God asks who will go for me, say God 'here am I send me'. Wrapping it up, what does all this mean. God is Holy, what is the big point, because God is Holy, we got to be Holy ,we want to be like Him, that's exactly what Peter said in 1st Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Now let me tell you what this means and I will close, you want to get close with God, you will take your life and tell God , here am I send me ,you'll take your money and say here is it Lord, use it for your glory and your honor. God is so Holy, He is so Holy, He sent His son Jesus to die for the one thing that will keep us from being Holy and keep us from being related to Him. And He raised Jesus from the dead to prove that through Him we can have a real relationship with Him that will last for all eternity and then we can see God more clearly than ever.

Thank you

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sins-spookyboogie · 2 years

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I ain't never moving on. I just live here now.

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #tong our lord and savior #tong thanayut #jeff satur #kp world tour #kinnporsche world tour 2022 #kinnporsche crack #kinnporsche brain rot #tankhun theerapanyakul #kim theerapanyakul

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keeganbooks · 4 years

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KNOWING YOUR BIBLE

In this visit, the focus will be a continuation of last week’s discussion on having a relationship with God. The Bible is God’s Holy Word to the follower. As written. in 2nd Timothy, chapter 3, verses 16-17, the apostle Paul wrote: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” One might assume that every good work of God needs to be done by one, through belief and faith, belongs to God.

In our last visit, emphasis was placed on the importance of Bible reading and study, as well as the importance of prayer and meditation, in helping one to develop a close relationship to God. In James, chapter 4, verse 8 James wrote: “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

This is how “drawing near to God” occurs: Through consistent reading and studying the Bible, one’s faith and belief in God increases, helping the follower to develop a desire to get to know God. Continuation in reading and studying the Bible and praying, causes the follower to grow spiritually. To grow spiritually is a spiritual process that influences the follower’s thinking, seeing, and/or hearing; and noting a spiritual influence in what is happening in day-to-day living experiences. Spiritual growth can simply be, for we Christians, growing in the knowledge of God and the son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; and allowing that knowledge to influence the continuance of our lives. As spiritual growth continues, new ways of thinking are occurring. Insight into who God is, how God thinks, and how God wants the follower to think and act are being spiritually realized. Spiritual growth results in a relationship between God and the follower. The follower realizes that he or she belongs to God.

There are more components in developing a relationship with God. Certainly worship through church services, fellowship opportunities with fellow Christian colleagues, and attendance in Bible study and Sunday School, usually associated with a church, will help foster the follower’s relationship with God. Worship will be discussed in future blogs.

Bible verses that are helpful in nourishing this relationship between God and the follower have been written in the past several blogs. Go to the blogs by going to the website above left to read and contemplate on Bible verses. If time is a factor, read only the written Bible verses at the bottom of each blog. The follower can return to the blogs several times a week for reading Bible verses that are associated with the topic of the blog. This will help in becoming familiar with the Bible and how it is written. All Bible verses are from the New Revised Standard (NRS) Version of the Bible.

MAY GOD BLESS YOUR BIBLE STUDY THIS WEEK!

A strong relationship between God and the follower requires commitment. Bible verses will reveal commitment of some of the people written about in the Bible. Joshua said in Joshua, chapter 24, verses 14-15: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Isaiah said in chapter 6, verses 1-9: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings; with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out. Then I heard the voice of the Lord say,” Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I, send me.” The Apostle Paul said in Acts, chapter 20, verses 18-24: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews, and Greeks, about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. And now as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me. in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.” The next blog will continue on the topic of commitment.

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years

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06/04/2019 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 22:1-23:23, Acts 2:1-47, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 16:19-20

Today is the 4th day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure, it is an honor, it is the joy to come around the global campfire together with you and spend some time stepping away like we do every day from whatever's going on and just orient ourselves to God through His word. So, that's exactly what we’ll do. We have been spending time moving through David's story, King David, in the book of second Samuel, and we have just begun the book of Acts yesterday as we move forward into this story of the formation of the church and what happened right after Jesus ministry. So, we’ll get to that in a minute, but first second Samuel chapter 22 verse 1 through 23 verse 23. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of acts today we witnessed earthmoving monumental things, right, Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the church. So, Jesus followers had been praying together and waiting in one place, and according to tradition, this place is the same upper room where Jesus enjoyed His last supper. And the promised Holy Spirit fell upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and tongs or flames of fire over their heads and those present were given the ability speak in other languages. And then there were pilgrims from all over the known world. And if this upper room is the same upper room then it was on Mount Zion. And, so, pilgrims from all over the world would've been around and they heard the testimony of God's kindness spoken in their native tongue, which caused an incredible stir because these people were Galilean and how could they speak all these different languages and communicate so clearly? But Pentecost in the book of Acts gives us the first clue that the gospel was something that was to be spread throughout the entire world. It wasn't to be exclusive. It was to be spread to every nation and tongue. So, like, in this day and age we can say, “yeah, dah, like, of course, that's exactly…isn’t that one of the great missions of our faith?” But what this would mean at that time, like at this flashpoint, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and God's goodness being spoken in all these other tongues, what this is gonna ultimately mean is gonna cause an incredible amount of controversy among the early church. And we’ll get to that as we journey through the book of Acts and into the letters of Paul. We’ll see all of this very clearly. The confusion triggered by the many tongues being spoken caused hearers to marvel but it caused others to scoff and accuse Jesus followers of being drunk. And this revealed the way that the message of hope in Jesus would continue to be opposed. So, as it was for Jesus, so it will be for the early believers and so it still is today. So, Peter gives this first recorded mass introduction to the gospel of Jesus and 3000 people believed and were baptized as a result. And, so, we can immediately see the change in Peter after having gone through Jesus death and burial and resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He's transformed and 3000 people, according to the book of Acts, were baptized into the faith that day. And, so, many scholars concluded that the only place, anywhere around there, anywhere even around Jerusalem for the most part, anyplace that many people could have been baptized would've been the mikvah or the ritual cleansing baths found at the temple complex. And the ruins of some of those mikvah are still there, just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as the southern steps that would've led into the temple place that Jesus would have taught, a place that Jesus would have walked. And, so, it is known to be the birthplace of the church, a place we visit when we go to Jerusalem each year. So, our time in Acts today was the flashpoint that began what we know as Christianity, right? People were not known as Christians at first. This term would be actually a Gentile term that will be coined in Antioch once the gospel began to spread out but the story that we read from Acts today is the origin story of the church that collected itself around the teachings and ministry and belief in Jesus and it's the same Holy Spirit that leads and guides us. And we’re on the same mission to bring light and good news. So, we have clearly moved out of the Gospels and clearly moved into the book of Acts, but now what we are reading is the story of the early church and its mission. It connects the dots to us because it is the same church and we are on the same mission. So, we may be reading the stories of those who have gone before us in earlier times, but we are now reading our own story and we are to collaborate in this story with the same Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We can often read these stories and their magnificence, and we read them as the exceptions to the rule, we read them as like something that You did that was magical at a time long ago and we would sure love to see that again, we would sure love to see Your power poured out again as if those things have passed away as if You were a different Holy Spirit as if Your power has diminished since then. Forgive us for this. You are the Spirit of truth and You have been sent by our Savior to advocate for us, to comfort us, to lead us into all truth, to lead us deeper into Jesus, to reveal the narrow path that leads to life. So, come Holy Spirit, even as we read of the stories of the origin of the faith we invite You to renew us in our faith today. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and, of course, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And we mentioned, we announced yesterday the global campfires coming back together for 2019 at the family reunion 2019. It was a tradition that we began last year and had a blast at the Family Reunion and so we’ve just decided to do it again, but we needed to find a place to have a little more access, a little more people. It sold out last year so quickly. And, so, we went and searched. We found a great camp up on the lake, not too far from the airport, not too far from Nashville, very very convenient, wonderful place to stay, wonderful place to play. It's going to be amazing. And, so, the Family Reunion for 2019 will take place August 31st through September 2nd 2019, which is Labor Day weekend here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. If you're staying on site the cost will depend on, you know, what kind of accommodations that you want. So, check them all out. We recommend everybody comes. Stay together, play together be together, eat together, get to know each other, like deepen the relationships with people that you may have been praying for and only know by voice for years. Make those connections and your brothers and sisters who are going through the Scriptures with you, have them in your life. This is this is what community and family is all about. So yeah, we recommend you come and hang out and stay and check all that. If you’re staying off site, the cost is $55 per person. It includes two evening meals, plus our time together in the evening as well as use of the grounds, which are spectacular. If you’re staying on site, there are a number of options. You just gotta check it out. It’s gonna be a blast. You can find out about the Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion 2019 at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. And based on the fact that we've only announced it once, looks like we’re gonna have a good time, a lot of you want to come, and we’re so excited to host you just have a wonderful time together in community here in the rolling hills of Tennessee where we spend our lives.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. The link is on the homepage. If you’re 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 the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DABbers, my name is Anna and I listen on a regular basis and this morning I was listening, and I heard Norman call into the prayer line and he was calling to encourage Christine who had been separated from her husband and Norman gave the testimony of how his own wife had prayed for the restoration of their marriage. And Norman and Christine I was so moved by both of you and both of your situations because my birthday, my 40th birthday, is in six days and I have not been married yet, but I have been praying for my husband since I was even a little girl. I remember being five years old and one day to be married and imagining my husband and talking to God about what it would be like to be a wife and a mother. And I know that it’s how has designed me, and I’ve kept myself pure and I’ve prayed and I’ve journaled to my husband and written him letters and I know that God is faithful. Even this morning, today’s the 2nd of June, even this this morning we heard the Scripture from Psalms that says I gave my burdens to the Lord, I carried my situation to the Lord and he answered me and I believe that God is gonna answer me but would you all pray with me for my husband that this would be the year that we come together and start building the kingdom of God together. Pray for my husband. Whether he knows the Lord or not, I know that God has given me word that he’s gonna love the Lord. I ask that you would pray for him, that he would come quickly, and that no weapon formed against our marriage would prosper. I have full faith in God’s good answer me. Thank you.

Hello dearest DAB family, this is Lori formally from North Carolina now I’m from all over the place. Recently we sold our house and all our stuff and bought a truck and an Airstream, and we’ve name them Stanley and Living Stream and now my husband John and my cat Rosie and actually our cat Rosie are traveling all over North America. So, we know God is up to something with this whole new adventure, but we just don’t know really much at all. So, we would really appreciate your prayers for our safety and that we would definitely follow the Spirits leading for navigation in the earthly and heavenly realms and that God would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what He would want us to do and accomplish for His kingdom purposes while we’re on this new adventure. And even more importantly than that, I just want to say how important it is for us, especially now that we’re on the road to know that we’re part of such an amazing extensive family and we’re so grateful for this podcast and grateful for the Hardin family. But more importantly than anything we’ve already asked, I want to just ask you to pray for my sister Sheila. She’s been suffering from a degenerative spine issue for much of her life and lately it has been slowly stealing her mobility to the point where it’s getting very scary. And I just pray that you will join me in praying for her divine healing, just as God killed my brain heal ocular tumor back in 1982. And more important than her physical healing I want to pray and ask you to pray with us that she would come to know and love Jesus. That’s my heart cry. So, thank you so much for your fervent and effectual prayers my dear family. And also want to give a shout out to Angel in California…

Hey DAB family, this is blessed like me here. I want to share a message about God’s power. In Psalm 22 I was reading and at the end it said, “and I will praise and worship God’s power.” I was just thinking on how much influence that could do to our faith if we were to praise God’s power, if we were to just really, really understand that once we praise God’s power God can never get smaller to us, He can only get to get to us. God is a powerful God but how often do we praise His power. Praise God’s power so when you’re walking through the Valley or you’re walking through a dark spot in life you can know, you can have a light that will light up and say, “I serve a God that is powerful, I serve a God is able, I serve a God that’s with me and works through me and is a powerful God”. And once that happens, oh my goodness, it’s like dynamite, it’s more than dynamite because we serve a God that is powerful. Blessed like me coming here with a message of power, God’s power. Praise His power, but I’m also thanking every one of you for your prayers, for your love that you do for one another, that is a powerful thing to do as well. Love you guys, love you Brian and Jill for this awesome memory…ministry…I always get that wrong. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Blind Tony for mentioning my name and bringing me up often. I’m listening at times but not always. Love you and thank you for this ministry Brian.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Jordan from Georgia. I haven’t called in a while. I called in about some health issues and my horse dying. I wanted to give an update. My health issues are still very prevalent. I think that’s the right word __ but I just felt like I needed to call in today. I’ve felt like this for a while and I don’t know why but I feel like there’s somebody out there who needs intense prayer, very intense prayer. I’ve been trying to think of the words to say but I just can’t think of it. But if you’re listening, God will put this on your heart and He will let you know that this is for you. I pray that you will stay strong in what you’re going through, that you will know that no matter who you think is not there, God is there for you, and no matter how hard people may try to tear you down, there is no tearing down a stronghold that is made with God. If you guys could keep me in your prayers that would be amazing. I just wanted to let you guys know how, despite the amount of tension I have in my day-to-day life, I turn this on every night and I feel an intense amount of joy for the last seven minutes whenever everybody’s praying. I feel like I’m constantly being prayed over even though none of it is for me necessarily. And it’s just amazing to see this kind of family come together. So, I pray you all have an amazing and wonderful day.

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