Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 30 March 2019

Final Saturday in March.  Tomorrow is scheduled to be the very last day in March, and April arrives on Monday.
This has been one of those days for odd thoughts and no answers. 
Perhaps answers will come during the night.

Meanwhile, it was relatively warm (though raining) most of the day.  But the thermometer is doing a dive, and sub-freezing temperatures, and, perhaps, the horrid thing SNOW may appear during the night hours.  If, when I rise, we have a layer of snow over a glaze of ice, I may stay home from church.  The last such weather event that we had here, the township's road trucks didn't appear until around 1:15 p.m.  As we're on the down slope near a "navigable waterway", that means you don't go up the hill.  So we shall see what the morning brings. 
Aggravating, as tomorrow is the final day of March, with April commencing on Monday.
But we're not alone in the weather thing.  I saw just a little while ago that our one-time home in west Arkansas is under a big-time freeze warning.  As is most of eastern Oklahoma, the top 2/3 of Arkansas, much of SE Missouri, and into Tennessee.  NOT what they were expecting to experience this far into Spring.

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For several reasons, I have chosen to show these passages in Deuteronomy from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Deuteronomy 23

Exclusion and Inclusion

1“No man whose testicles have been crushed  or whose penis has been cut off may enter the Lord’s assembly. 2No one of illegitimate birth may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the Lord’s assembly. 3No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord’s assembly;  none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the Lord’s assembly. 4This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.  5Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but He turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.  6Never seek their peace or prosperity as long as you live. 7Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a foreign resident in his land. 8The children born to them in the third generation may enter the Lord’s assembly.

Cleanliness of the Camp

9“When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid anything offensive. 10If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp. 11When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come inside the camp.  12You must have a place outside the camp and go there to relieve yourself. 13You must have a digging tool in your equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. 14For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything improper among you or He will turn away from you.

Fugitive Slaves

15“Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you. 16Let him live among you wherever he wants within your gates. Do not mistreat him.

Cult Prostitution Forbidden

17“No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute. 18Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s  earnings into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.

Interest on Loans

19“Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or anything that can earn interest. 20You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do  in the land you are entering to possess. 

Keeping Vows

21“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. 22But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. 23Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised  to the Lord your God. 

Neighbor’s Crops

24“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want until you are full, but you must not put any in your container. 25When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Deuteronomy 24

Marriage and Divorce Laws

1“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.  2If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he  dies, 4the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 

5“When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

Safeguarding Life

6“Do not take a pair of millstones or an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

7“If a man is discovered kidnapping  one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

8“Be careful in a case of infectious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them. 9Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt. 

Consideration for People in Need

10“When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security. 11You must stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you. 12If he is a poor man, you must not sleep in the garment he has given as security. 13Be sure to return it  to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God. 

14“Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town  in your land. 15You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

16“Fathers are not to be put to death for their children or children for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.  17Do not deny justice to a foreigner or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. 18Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed  you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this. 

19“When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.  20When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this. 

Today's Reading and Stuff -- Friday, 29 March 2019

Happy Friday to all.  I guess.
A bit of a sad day for me.  It was on this very day, in 2007, that I got the call from my brother, a looong distance call, that my mother had passed over.  We had been living far away for around 15 years.  For a number of years before that,  a fair distance away even though in the same state, so visits even then had been infrequent.  I regret that distance and rarity:  it was not done as a sign of estrangement, totally, but the effect is the same.  I believe -- no, I KNOW -- that I will see her again, but I'd dearly love to hear her voice today.

Today is another "doctor day".  This  one is the eye doctor.  Among the matters to address is the need to get the signed document attesting to her "legally blind" status, in order to get a new "handicapped" tag for the car so that I can park close enough to make it less painful for her on the occasions she goes anywhere.  There's more to the visit than that, but that is certainly part of it.  They confirmed the macular degeneration in the one eye, as well as cataracts, the latter particularly pronounced in the eye that has already had several surgeries.  Currently not sufficiently advance to justify further surgery At This Time.  The ophthamologist recommended that she begin taking some special vitamins that are believed to help with the macular degeneration.  And further recommended getting them over-the-counter from E-bay or Amazon or the like, rather than some of the more "official" (and FAR more expensive) channels.  So we're looking into that.  Since my own dad suffered the macular degeneration, she's thinking that it might not be a bad idea for me to be taking some of these supplements as well.

Two "songs of the day" and they're both appropriate.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
I urge attention to the words on this. 
We need to be focused upon Him.  Not on the things that attract our attention and make us to forget him. 

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there
Over us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conquerors we are

And turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

His word shall not fail you, He promised
Believe Him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

And turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Surely Goodness And Mercy

This is straight from the Psalms.  And always appropriate.
Yes, the Good Shepherd found me, as they relate.  That's a thing about sheep and shepherds, something that most people, having had no experience with sheep, overlook.  Sheep that have strayed and become lost generally don't realize that, they just wandered place to place, not really paying attention.  Unless and until the Shepherd seeks them out and brings them back home, they're easy prey for whatever.  Happens.  Happened even more in those times.  Like those sheep, we are prone to wander off until we find ourselves in hopeless situation. 




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I for one have reason to be glad that my parents did not follow the rules in verses 18 - 21

Deuteronomy 21

1If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

2Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

3And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

4And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

5And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

6And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

7And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

9So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

10When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

11And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

12Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

13And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

15If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:

16Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:

17But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

22And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

23His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 22

this is in the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation, which I am coming to like.

Caring for Your Brother’s Property

1“If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; make sure you return it to your brother. 

2If your brother does not live near you or you don’t know him, you are to bring the animal to your home to remain with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you can return it to him. 

3Do the same for his donkey, his garment, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.  

4If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen down on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.

Preserving Natural Distinctions

5“A woman is not to wear male clothing, and a man is not to put on a woman’s garment, for everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord your God.

6“If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young. 

7You may take the young for yourself, but be sure to let the mother go free, so that you may prosper and live long. 

8If you build a new house, make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it. 

9Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; otherwise, the entire harvest, both the crop you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. 

10Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 

11Do not wear clothes made of both wool and linen. 

12Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear. 

Violations of Proper Sexual Conduct

13“If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and comes to hate her, 

14and accuses her of shameful conduct, and gives her a bad name, saying, ‘I married this woman and was intimate with her, but I didn’t find any evidence of her virginity,’ 

15the young woman’s father and mother will take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city elders at the gate.  

16The young woman’s father will say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her. 

17He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying: “I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,” but here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ They will spread out the cloth before the city elders. 

18Then the elders of that city will take the man and punish him.  

19They will also fine him 100 silver shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives. 

20But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found, 

21they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.

22“If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. 

23If there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and has sex with her, 

24you must take the two of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death — the young woman because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s fiancée. You must purge the evil from you. 

25But if the man encounters an engaged woman in the open country, and he seizes and rapes her, only the man who raped her must die. 

26Do nothing to the young woman, because she is not guilty of an offense deserving death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him. 

27When he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her. 

28If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered, 

29the man who raped her must give the young woman’s father 50 silver shekels, and she must become his wife because he violated her.  He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

30“A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not violate his father’s marriage bed.

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Psalm 64

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

2Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

3Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

4That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

5They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?

6They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.

8So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

9And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.

10The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

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Luke 20

1And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

2And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:

4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

5And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

8And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

9Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.

12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.

13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.

15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?

16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

17And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

19And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

20And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

21And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

22Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?

23But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it?They answered and said, Caesar's.

25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

26And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

27Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,

28Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

29There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.

30And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.

31And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.

32Last of all the woman died also.

33Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.

34And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

39Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

40And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

41And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?

42 And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

43 Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

44 David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

45Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47 Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.