Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 05 March 2018 way late

 Sorry.  Yesterday, I thought I'd hit the "publish" button.  What I'd hit was "close", not too long after the "save" buttons.  And never noticed.  My fault entirely, thought somehow I doubt that the world will collapse over the issue.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Happy Tuesday to all.
Wife has promised to try to cut my hair today.  She's been doing it for me, for most of our 30 years together.  I last visited a licensed barbershop in 2003 I believe, and that was several states ago.  ( but it was a guy in that town who was a bit famous:  his name was Fred Kinslow and it was he who cut Elvis Presley's hair when Elvis was going into the Army.  So it was an occasion.  Some big-time Elvis fans are still around and have been envious.).  So, perhaps, by nightfall I shall appear to be a bit less of a wild man roaming the streets muttering to himself.  I may still BE a wild man roaming the streets muttering to myself, but the outer appearance may change.  A little bit at least.

Looking around the news.  War, rumors of war, earthquakes, plagues, the recent manifestations of the Four Horsemen.  Seems like it's been that way my whole life, and since the Fall.  Yes, the earth groans in anticipation.

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted
I don't know why this came to mind, really.  But it reminds us that that, no matter how sad and grim the day and the circumstances be, the Lord is coming and will set things aright.

Work For The Night Is Coming
this is one from my growing-up years.  Not real common now.  But it bespeaks what we now call "a sense of urgency" that is all too rare now.  Those people we do not tell of Christ may die tonight, and die without Him.  Is our comfort worth that?

==============================
=================================

Has anyone ever been associated with a church without internal rancor, strife, and all of the ills that we would like to imagine are only to be found among those outside the walls?  Have seen far too much of it, far too often, and generally to no good purpose.  Yes, a dog returns to its vomit.

Numbers 11

1  And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp

2  And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.

3  And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.

4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

7  And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

8  And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

9  And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

10  Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

11  And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

12  Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

13  Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

14  I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

15  And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

16  And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

18  And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

19  Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

20  But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

21  And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

22  Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

23  And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

24  And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

25  And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

26  But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

27  And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

28  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

30  And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31  And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

32  And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

33  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.

34  And he called the name of that place Kibroth–hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted

35  And the people journeyed from Kibroth–hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

Numbers 12

1  And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.Ethiopian: or, Cushitemarried: Heb. taken

2  And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

3  (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

4  And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

5  And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

6  And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

7  My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

9  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

10  And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

11  And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

12  Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.

13  And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14  And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

15  And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

16  And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

=================================
====================================

Psalm 47

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.

 

1  O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.for: or, of

2  For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

3  He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

4  He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5  God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6  Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

7  For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.with: or, every one that hath

8  God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9  The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted

==============================================
=================================================

Luke 3

1  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,

2  Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

3  And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

4  As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

5  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

7  Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

9  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

10  And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

11  He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

12  Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?

13  And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.

14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

15  And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;

16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

17  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

18  And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.

19  But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,

20  Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.

21  Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,

22  And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

23  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

24  Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,

25  Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,

26  Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,

27  Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,

28  Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,

29  Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,

30  Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,

31  Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,

32  Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,

33  Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Judah,

34  Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,

35  Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,

36  Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noah, which was the son of Lamech,

37  Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.