Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 25 April 2018

First thing:  the Song of the Day.
I truly do not know why this came into my mind early this morning, and is there still.  I associate it with the "good bye" moments that  have been an all too frequent part of my life.  But, God Be With You Till We Meet Again" is it.  Some background to it is to be found here and also here.  The lyrics here.  

God be with you till we meet again 
By His counsels guide, uphold you 
With His sheep securely fold you 
God be with you till we meet again 

Till we meet, till we meet 
Till we meet at Jesus' feet 
Till we meet, till we meet 
God be with you till we meet again 

God be with you till we meet again 

Neath His wings securely hide you 
Daily manna still provide you 
God be with you till we meet again 

God be with you till we meet again 
When life's perils thick confound you 
Put His loving arms around you 
God be with you till we meet again 

God be with you till we meet again 
Keep love's banner floating o'er you 
Strike death's threatening wave before you 
God be with you till we meet again

 
Yes, "...  till we meet at Jesus' feet".   has some real meaning for those of us who have seen loved ones go on ahead.  As my visitor told me, moments after the call that told me of my own mother's passing, "You'll see her again."  Do you believe that?  I do.

Another version here.


Yes, my mind goes into some odd places sometimes.

But.
I Have Decided To Follow Jesus is a thing to never be said lightly.  Yes, He paid for our salvation.  But there are those who, from the beginning, have paid a very high price for their faith and their open proclamation of that faith and sharing that faith.  I get a daily message on  "social media" daily, sometimes more often, from a site called Anabaptist Martyrs Guide.  For example, there were two such posts today.

• in 1534 (April 25th), Claes Claesz of Westzaan was burned at the stake in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for his faith.
• in 1528 (April 25th), Hans Leupold (aka Hans Schneider) was executed by beheading in Augsburg, Germany.  Again, for his faith.

And those executions were ordered and carried out by supposedly Christian authorities and citizens.   Some were Roman Catholic.  Others doing these deeds were Lutheran or Calvinists, we call them Presbyterians now.  Those were not done by heathens, unless you think of Lutherans as heathens, an argument I choose to defer for the moment.
But others are being slaughtered throughout the world, today.  Generally by heathens.  I DO count Moslems as heathens, as I do Hindu followers, as well as the animist cults in Africa, South and Central America (including Mexico, by the way) and southeast Asia. 
Yet supposed Christians here, some of whom I know personally, are willing and eager to demonstrate their "tolerance" in making common cause with some of these heathens, notably Moslems, right here not 30 miles from where I sit.  Which brings to mind another song.  I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.  Read and hear the story.  Never take the faith lightly.  It cost our Lord His life.  It costs His followers daily.

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Judges 17

1  And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

2  And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son.

3  And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

4  Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

5  And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

6  In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7  And there was a young man out of Beth–lehem–judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

8  And the man departed out of the city from Beth–lehem–judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

9  And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth–lehem–judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

10  And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.

11  And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.

12  And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

13  Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Judges 18

1  In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

2  And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

3  When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

4  And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

5  And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

6  And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.

7  Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

8  And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

9  And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

10  When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11  And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.

12  And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath–jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh–dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath–jearim.

13  And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

14  Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

15  And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.

16  And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.

17  And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.

18  And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?

19  And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

20  And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

21  So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.

22  And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.

23  And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?

24  And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?

25  And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

26  And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

27  And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

28  And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth–rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.

29  And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.

30  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

31  And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

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Psalm 83

A Song or Psalm of Asaph.

 

1  Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

2  For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

3  They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4  They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

5  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

6  The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarites;

7  Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8  Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

9  Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kishon:

10  Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

11  Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

12  Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

13  O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14  As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

15  So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

16  Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord.

17  Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18  That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.

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John 15

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.