Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 16 August 2018

Noonish already.  OK, it was when I began this.  Dear Wife had some better ideas for the use of my time and attention.  Doing some washing of her feet, with some Epsom salts involved in the soak, and then pushing back the cuticles on her toes, was part of that.  So was nibbling some leftovers in the fridge for lunch:  we call it "grazing", and it is fine with me.  She's now kicked back in the recliner, added pillows under the feet for more elevation, a blanket over her, and the "rescue" cat on her lap, snoozing.  Such is considered to be a a good day.  I guess it is.

We didn't go to the cell phone store yesterday and aren't doing so today.  Tentatively next week:  they've agreed to replace Wife's busted hunk of junk under a combination of warranty and insurance.  How something that old was still under warranty is a miracle -- the way things work, she was about (as in "within the week") of making the last payment on the phone (we ((ok, her)) were at one time, several states back, dealers selling cell phones and got some dealer privileges, which we still have) which, if made, would have ended the warranty and the insurance.  So it's working out.
But,  Yours Truly, had to go back Over  The Line this morning to pick  up a few items forgotten yesterday in the Great Monthly program.
Niece had an 08:15 appointment at the dentist, so Wife (with my help) was across the back  yard at 07:25 to be with the still-sleeping kids while Niece was away and Nephew-in-law wasn't yet back home after another 11-7:30 shift.  So I went off by myself.  Came back, put things away, and assisted Wife up the steps:  Niece back already.

Got a message from the local library, a book I'd requested weeks ago had finally arrived (had been getting the "in-transit" message for two weeks, but this inter-library-loan stuff means it could be, and in this case was, coming from the Ohio//Kentucky/West Virginia corner of the state.
So I'll settle in for some reading this week.

• The Real Lincoln, subtitled as A New Look At Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unneccessary War,  by Thomas DiLorenzo
• for most of my life, Abe Lincoln has been put forth as some kind of a saint.  I'm not so sure about that.  Arguably at least, some of the results of the Civil War / War Between The States / War of Northern Aggression, etc. haven't been wonderful.  Just as one example, one of the results of that is ever-increasing encroachment by the Federal (feral) government, to the extent that we now say "The United States IS ....", rather than the previous (and perhaps better) "The United States ARE ....".  That's just one of the several examples.  I haven't read this yet,obviously, but several people whose opinions I normally respect, have spoken highly of the work.
• Cure for The Common Life by Max Lucado
• I'm not always a big fan of the books authored by some of these high-profile preachers.  Examples of the problem are not hard to find, I won't give names.  Lucado has generally been pretty good, and several of his books are there on the shelf at the library, so it's worth the effort to check it out.
• 101 More Hymn Stories  by Kenneth Osbeck, subtitled as The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns
• I'm becoming an amateur hymnologist apparently.  The "story behind the story" of so many of these is fascinating.  How people, many of them in the midst of the "storms of life", often with great tragedy, turned that into something that decades, centuries, and -- in the particular case of David and the Psalms -- millenia later.  Fanny Crosby, for example, wrote several THOUSAND hymns, many of them to be found in our hymnals, while being totally blind.  The stories behind so many others, where people responded to tragedies by turning to the Lord, and pointing the way to Him.  Not such a bad thing to leave behind, is it?

So I may spend a few days more or less off-line, buried in a couple of books.  Coffee by my side  of course.


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Today, chapters 13 and 14 in Job.  Note, in particular, verse 15 in chapter 13.  Do I have that sort of faith and trust in the Lord, regardless  of the circumstances?  I, like many, are too affected by circumstances.  But our happiness, and very definitely our joy, should not be linked to circumstances.  The experiences of David, Job, Paul, and certainly Jesus, should  point that out.

Job 13

1Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

2What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

3Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

4But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

5O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

6Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

7Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

8Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

9Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

10He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

11Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

12Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

13Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.Hold…: Heb. Be silent from me

14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.maintain: Heb. prove, or, argue

16He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

17Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.

18Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

19Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

20Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

21Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

22Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

23How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

24Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

25Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

26For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

27Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.lookest…: Heb. observestheels: Heb. roots

28And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

Job 14

1Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.few…: Heb. short of days

2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

3And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.can…: Heb. will give

5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

6Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.rest: Heb. cease

7For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

8Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?wasteth…: Heb. is weakened, or, cut off

11As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

13O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

18And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.cometh…: Heb. fadeth

19The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.washest…: Heb. overflowest

20Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

22But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

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Psalm 143

A Psalm of David.

1Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

2And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

3For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

4Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

6I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

7Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.lest…: or, for I am become like, etc.

8Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

9Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.flee…: Heb. hide me with thee

10Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

11Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

12And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

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Today, beginning the epistle to the Galatians.
For reference, Galatia was a region in central Anatolia.  The capitol of Galatia was then called Ancyra.  Today, that city is called Ankara, the capital of Turkey.  Yes, there were Christians in Turkey long before the appearance of the heathen cult of Islam.  And will be again.

Galatians 1

1Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

2And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

3Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

4Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

5To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

14And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

16To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

17Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

19But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

20Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

21Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

22And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

23But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

24And they glorified God in me.