Today;s Readings -- 08 October 2011

Happy Saturday to all. I hope that you have a nice weekend. Lots of football on tap, lots of activities. The Alabama National Fair is going on just a few miles from our modest dwelling, but we won't be able to attend. And many other neat things are happening. Enjoy them.
I'm about to crash and die after yet another long night in the "short stint" on the night tour that I was "asked" to take on in order to give a "little break" to someone who'd been hired for that express purpose. I have now completed 23 months of that "short stint". proving something of the character of my employers. I wish them well, and wish for a new job. Soon.

This morning;'s reading continues in the book of Isaiah with chapters 39 and 40. The last few verses would be good ones to commit to memory.

Isaiah 39

1	At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
2	And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
3	Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
4	Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
5	Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
6	Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
7	And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
8	Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

Isaiah 40

1	Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2	Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3	The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4	Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5	And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6	The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7	The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8	The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9	O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10	Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11	He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12	Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13	Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14	With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15	Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16	And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17	All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18	To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19	The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20	He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21	Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22	It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23	That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24	Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25	To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26	Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27	Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28	Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29	He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30	Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31	But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This evening's passage is chapter 4 from Phillipians.

Philippians 4

1	Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
2	I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
3	And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
4	Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
5	Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6	Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7	And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8	Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9	Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
10	But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
11	Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12	I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13	I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
14	Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
15	Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
16	For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
17	Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
18	But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
19	But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
20	Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
21	Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.
22	All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
23	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Today;s Readings -- 07 October 2011

Happy Friday to all. Perhaps it will be a good day. We could use a few of them.

This morning;'s reading continues in the book of Isaiah with chapters 37 and 38. This is part of a really remarkable story, one I had not really paid attention to until about 10 years or so ago. A wonderful tale of the Lord's involvement in a desperate situation, a God-sized problem. He still does that, something that I for one sometimes lose sight of.

Isaiah 37

1	And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2	And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3	And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4	It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5	So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6	And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7	Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8	So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9	And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10	Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11	Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12	Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
13	Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
14	And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15	And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16	O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17	Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18	Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19	And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20	Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
21	Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22	This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23	Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
24	By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25	I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26	Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27	Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28	But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29	Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30	And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31	And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32	For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
33	Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34	By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
35	For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36	Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37	So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38	And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Isaiah 38

1	In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
2	Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
3	And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4	Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
5	Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6	And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
7	And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
8	Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
9	The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
10	I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11	I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12	Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13	I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14	Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15	What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16	O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
17	Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18	For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19	The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20	The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
21	For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22	Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

This evening, chapter 3 of Phillipians.

Philippians 3

1	Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
2	Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
3	For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
4	Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
5	Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6	Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7	But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8	Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9	And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10	That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11	If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
12	Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13	Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14	I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15	Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
16	Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
17	Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
18	(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19	Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
20	For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21	Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Today's Readings -- 06 October 2011

Thursday now. For me, this represents the beginning of the second half of the work week. Have now put in 30 of the 58 scheduled hours this week (for which I will receive 40 hours of pay, meaning I will be away from Dear Wife Friday and Saturday nights, for no compensation whatever). It could be worse.
Heard from a couple of recruiters, "headhunters" to many of us, yesterday. I am past the point of getting my hopes up on anything, but it was nice to be contacted. We shall see.

This morning's Old Testament reading is chapters 34, 35, and 36 from Isaiah.

Isaiah 34

1	Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2	For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3	Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4	And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
5	For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6	The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7	And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8	For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9	And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10	It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11	But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12	They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13	And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
14	The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15	There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16	Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17	And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

Isaiah 35

1	The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2	It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
3	Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4	Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
5	Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6	Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7	And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8	And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9	No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10	And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 36

1	Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2	And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
3	Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
4	And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
5	I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6	Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7	But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
8	Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9	How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10	And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11	Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12	But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
13	Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14	Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15	Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16	Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
17	Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18	Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, the LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19	Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20	Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21	But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
22	Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

This evening, chapter 2 of the letter to the Phillipians.

Philippians 2

1	If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2	Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3	Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4	Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5	Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6	Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7	But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8	And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9	Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10	That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11	And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12	Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13	For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14	Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15	That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16	Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
17	Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18	For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
19	But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20	For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21	For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
22	But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
23	Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
24	But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
25	Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
26	For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27	For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28	I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29	Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30	Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

Today's Readings -- 05 October 2011

And now a Wednesday is before us. I am trying, truly, to work up some sort of enthusiasm for the day. Hard to do. Dear Wife is still down with various maladies, spending much of her time flat on her back. The regimen heavy-duty antibiotics that the docs put her on in response to the nasty sinus infection that she contracted during our Ohio visit,is tearing up her G.I. tract. Killing off the various flora in the lower tract, and leading to, among other things, nasty yeast infections, requiring another med to fight. And amid all that, the lupus "flare" meant they set her off on another "dose pack" of prednisone. Which harms the body's natural resistance to infcections, causing need for yet other meds to counteract that and ........ It makes for a tricky situation.

This morning's reading in the Old Testament is chapters 31, 32, and 33 of Isaiah.

Isaiah 31

1	Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
2	Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
3	Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
4	For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
5	As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.
6	Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
7	For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
8	Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
9	And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 32

1	Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2	And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3	And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4	The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5	The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
6	For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7	The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
8	But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
9	Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10	Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11	Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12	They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13	Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14	Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15	Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16	Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17	And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18	And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19	When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20	Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

Isaiah 33

1	Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2	O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3	At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
4	And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
5	The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
6	And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
7	Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8	The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
9	The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10	Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
11	Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12	And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
13	Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
14	The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15	He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16	He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
17	Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
18	Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19	Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
20	Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21	But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22	For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23	Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
24	And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

This evening, chapter 1 of the letter to the Phillipians

Philippians 1

1	Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2	Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3	I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4	Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5	For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6	Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
7	Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
8	For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
9	And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10	That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.
11	Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
12	But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
13	So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
14	And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15	Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
16	The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
17	But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18	What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
19	For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20	According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
21	For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22	But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23	For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24	Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
25	And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
26	That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
27	Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
28	And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29	For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
30	Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.