Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 27 February 2018

Next-to-last day in February.  That is A Good Thing.  A VERY Good Thing.

I seem to be living in two (or more) worlds at once.  Perhaps am not unique in that

Let's see.  Today is the day Wife's Disability check goes in. So it's the day we (generally meaning I) make the month's second grocery run, supplementing what we got last week when my SS went in.  That's planned to start momentarily.

Yesterday, we received something we'd placed on order.  Repair parts for our clothes dryer.  Quite a few of them, so I spent the afternoon crouched on the floor swapping parts out.  To no avail.  Clearly, the heater element itself was bad, and I replaced it.  And the thermostat.  And the over-temp thingy.  And the cycling thermostat..  And then replaced the covers (losing  only one 1/4" machine screw in the process).  Plugged it in, turned it on.  NO HEAT!  So, I need to dig through mountains of "stuff" looking for a voltmeter.  We've been informed that one potential issue might be that our outlet is not really providing 220VAC to the electric dryer.  110VAC is what it takes to turn the drum, etc., but won't run the heater.  So... tomorrow I get to run the washer, then haul the wet stuff to the laundromat and get stuff done. Could be worse, of course, but  it's a pain.

But that will be tomorrow, because Wife has a doctor appointment, the endocrinologist, at the office halfway down the county south of here.  Appointment for 1:00 p.m., so we'll want to leave around 12:15 or thereabouts.  Never know how some of these things are going to go, so we might be home by 2:00, or not until 5:30.  We've had both situations.

That's a snapshot of the day  to day stuff.

The important stuff, the stuff with eternal consequences, somewhat runs in parallel.

There are disciplines of the Christian believer that are foundational and absolutely necessary.  But too often slighted.  I'm sure we can think of several.  Bible study, of course.
But one is prayer.
And I have been fully as guilty as anyone else in slighting that.  And I miss it, I miss that time alone with the Lord, seeking Him, crying out, listening, wanting desperately to be in His presence.  When I was still working, my  sometimes lengthy commutes gave me as much as an hour of "windshield time" with the Lord.  Just the two of us in that car.  At other times, in prior years, my office mates normally headed  out to lunch.  I had the best part of an hour of silence and privacy, time to read and study, time to pray and seek the Lord, munching a sandwich while studying the Bible.
Now, I have more time.  And use it less well.  That's my fault, mine entirely.

So I am making a promise that this has to end. Has to.  I need the Lord, and it is silly and wrong of me to be fretting all the time about what He wants when I really haven't made getting close to Him and being in a state to hear and see His direction.  That ends now.
So I may be a bit distant and weird (even more so than usual) going forward.  I think it's worth it.


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Leviticus 25

1  And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.keep: Heb. rest

3  Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4  But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5  That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.of thy vine.

6  And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7  And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

8  And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9  Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10  And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11  A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

12  For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13  In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14  And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15  According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

16  According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

17  Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.

18  Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.

19  And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

20  And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21  Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

22  And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

23  The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.for ever

24  And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25  If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.

26  And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27  Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

28  But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29  And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

30  And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.

31  But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee.

32  Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33  And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34  But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

35  And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

36  Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37  Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

38  I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

39  And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

40  But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee:

41  And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42  For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43  Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

44  Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

45  Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

46  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

47  And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family

48  After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49  Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

50  And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

51  If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

52  And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.

53  And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

54  And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.

55  For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 26

1  Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

2  Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3  If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4  Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5  And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

6  And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land

7  And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

8  And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

9  For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

10  And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

11  And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12  And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

13  I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

14  But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

15  And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

16  I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.over: Heb. upon

17  And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

18  And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19  And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

20  And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

21  And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.contrary…: or, at all adventures with me

22  I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

23  And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

24  Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

27  And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

28  Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29  And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

30  And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

31  And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

32  And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

33  And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

34  Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

35  As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

36  And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.shaken: Heb. driven

37  And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38  And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39  And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

40  If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41  And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

42  Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

43  The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

44  And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

45  But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

46  These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

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Psalm 42

To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.

 

1  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

2  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

3  My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4  When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

5  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

6  O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

7  Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8  Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

9  I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

10  As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

11  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

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Mark 14

1  After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

2  But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

3  And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4  And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

5  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6  And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8  She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

10  And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

11  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

12  And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?

13  And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.

14  And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

15  And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.

16  And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

17  And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.

18  And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.

19  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?

20  And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.

21  The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

22  And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

23  And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

26  And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

27  And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

28  But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.

29  But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.

30  And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.

31  But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

32  And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.

33  And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

34  And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

35  And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

37  And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

38  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

39  And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.

40  And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.

41  And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42  Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

43  And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

44  And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.

45  And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and kissed him.

46  And they laid their hands on him, and took him.

47  And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

48  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?

49  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.

50  And they all forsook him, and fled.

51  And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:

52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

53  And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.

54  And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

55  And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.

56  For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

57  And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,

58  We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

59  But neither so did their witness agree together.

60  And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

61  But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

62  And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

63  Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

64  Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

65  And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

66  And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:

67  And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.

68  But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.

69  And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

70  And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.

71  But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

72  And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.