Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 20 September 2018

This is going to be "A Day".  We've all of us had them.

Today is the anniversary of the day, back in 2011, I got The Call from my younger brother that "Dad's gone".  We were living nearly a thousand miles away, in the Deep South.  I had last seen Dad, all too briefly, back in early July that year, at the nursing home that was his residence.  He was blind (macular degeneration), spent most of his time in bed or on a lounger there.  Essentially, all of his friends had preceded him Across The River.  His fervent prayer that he be allowed to live long enough to see Mom all the way through had been granted: she'd died 4 years previous.  He was a far better man than I could ever hope to be, but I was able to pass some things along to him in that July meeting that might have been a reassurance to him. That's worth something.
So, today, I will remember that good man.

We're set for a doctor appointment at 09:00 today, perhaps we'll get some hopeful news regarding the horrid pain from her damaged right knee.  It's not getting better, not at all, though as we know sometimes the "soft tissue" issues are more intractable than damaged bones.  We shall see.  Dealing with her "complex conditions", as the docs word it, is always a challenge.

==>  aaand we're back.  LONG visit in doctor office.  Likelihood of the failure of some of the surgeries on that joint, including the one in 1991, but others going back to her early childhood.  She really and truly has known a life of pain.  So, an injection was administered right into the joint.  She and I need to make another trip, probably tomorrow morning, to get some "labs" done in prep for her appointment with Primary Care doctor on Tuesday morning.  Lots of "fun".

But some folks are in worse matters.
We had to do some creative re-routing coming home.  We live in a small neighborhood within sight of the state line, with a pretty busy state highway on one perimeter and an industrial area and the road that divides the states on another.  A road leads from that state highway down to our neighborhood, and there's a wreck.  Police and ambulances on the scene, one dead.  Seems a minivan encountering a garbage truck doesn't do well, but a single-operator truck (meaning the driver is in and out doing the work, hence not using a seat belt) doesn't do well either.  Having seen all too many people, including more than a few "soccer moms", streaking down the highway yakking on a cell phone (or texting) taking up several lanes of the four available, it's too much like Daytona at times.  Someone's getting A Call or A Visit right now.  Not good.


So, "Day By Day, With Each Passing Moment", seems somehow appropriate.  Not sure why, but it came to me, completely unbidden.  Yes, it's one of those 600 or so of my personal favorites.  Ok, so I'm weird.  I have been called worse.


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Isaiah 41

1Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

2Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.

3He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

4Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

5The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.

6They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

8But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

9Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

11Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

13For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

20That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

22Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

23Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

24Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.

26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

27The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

28For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

29Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

Isaiah 42

1Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

2He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

3A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

4He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

5Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

7To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

8I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

9Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

10Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

11Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.

13The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

14I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

15I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

16And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

17They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

18Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

19Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord'sservant?

20Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

21The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

22But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

23Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?

24Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.

25Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

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Proverbs 18

1One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires;

he rebels against all sound wisdom.

2A fool does not delight in understanding,

but only wants to show off his opinions.

3When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes,

and along with dishonor, derision.

4The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters,

a flowing river, a fountain of wisdom.

5It is not good to show partiality to the guilty,

denying an innocent person justice.

6A fool’s lips lead to strife,

and his mouth provokes a beating.

7A fool’s mouth is his devastation,

and his lips are a trap for his life.

8A gossip’s words are like choice food

that goes down to one’s innermost being.

9The one who is lazy in his work

is brother to a vandal.

10The name of the Lord is a strong tower;

the righteous run to it and are protected.

11The wealth of the rich is his fortified city;

in his imagination it is like a high wall.

12Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud,

but humility comes before honor.

13The one who gives an answer before he listens —

this is foolishness and disgrace for him.

14A person’s spirit can endure sickness,

but who can survive a broken spirit?

15The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge,

and the ear of the wise seeks it.

16A person’s gift opens doors for him

and brings him before the great.

17The first to state his case seems right

until another comes and cross-examines him.

18Casting the lot ends quarrels

and separates powerful opponents.

19An offended brother is harder to reach

than a fortified city,

and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

20From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;

he is filled with the product of his lips.

21Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruit.

22A man who finds a wife finds a good thing

and obtains favor from the Lord.

23The poor person pleads,

but the rich one answers roughly.

24One with many friends may be harmed,

but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

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2nd Thessalonians 1

Greeting

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Judgment and Glory

3We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. 4Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches — about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring. 5It is clear evidence of God’s righteousjudgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.9They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength 10on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed. 11In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.