Well, we've made it into Novem-brrrr. NOT my favorite time of the year.
And we have S N O W, that filthy 4-letter word, in today's forecast. I haven't seen any, yet, but it's ugly enough outside that it wouldn't surprise me. The weather radar earlier today showed a "mix" of snow and real cold rain hitting the area for much of the day. I hate this stuff. And, yes, some people love it, and the Hand on the controls isn't mine. And won't be.
Wife is exhausted after yesterday. She had two kids -- the great-niece and great-nephew -- yesterday and niece's house next door. 7 - 3:30. And, then, we had the annual "Trick - or - Treat" thing, so we set up a little table in the drive, opened the tailgate on our ancient vehicle, and sat in the opening as the scary monsters came by. We'd been volunteered to hand out for us and for niece & husband, as they took the Little Ones around. So we were doing that from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., and then had to pack the few remains of the goodies away, and come home. Neither of us had eaten since around 06:30, which doesn't bother me, but it's not good for her.
So we defrosted and heated up some home made vegetable beef soup made several weeks ago, with some el-cheapo saltines, and ate, finally. And then, crashed like plane wrecks. Little Cat woke us around 05:00 and I rose, put her out of the room, and slept some more.
She's up and in the chair after having had both a late breakfast and a late lunch. Two blankets and an orange cat which serves as a heating pad on her, and trying to recuperate.
And, of course, the news is full of the accounts and comments, etc., on the Moslem terror attack in New York City yesterday. With all of the usual obfuscation by the usual suspects, the Lie-berals, the Fake Stream Media (CNN, NBC. CBS, MSNBC, HLN, ABC, the NY Times chain (like the Boston Globe), the McClatchy chain (like USA Today), the Washington Post chain, and all the rest. Blaming everyone and everything, of course, other than the persons and policies that permit and encourage such atrocities. And the bi-partisan treason that enabled it. Such as, for example, the "Diversity Visa lottery" idiocy, pushed into being by NY Senator (then a Representative) Charles Schumer (that I have nicknamed "Scheisskopf", which fits) and hastened and approved by George Herbert Walker Bush. This paticular Moslem heathen killer hails from Uzbekistan. Yes, one of the "-stans", not from Yemen or Syria or Iran. Many people are not familiar with the Uzbeks, I know of them, but actually know none, which seems like a rarity some times. Anyway, for those interested, you can see the place on a map at this link. It's on the old "Silk Road" that led from China to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. You may be familiar with the names of some of the cities, such as Samarkand and Tashkent.
But the "enlightened" and "tolerant" and "superior" types, ever bowing to the false god of "Diversity!", ensured the entry of this louse (and the 23 others that he was able to bring in, courtesy of his ill-gotten "green card" and the silliness of "chain migration"), and probably many more like him. To the detriment of the citizens of this land. And, of course any attempts to choke off further entries will certainly be met with horrified cries by all the usual suspects, including those in supposedly Christian agencies. I've not yet heard from my contacts in some of them, and even my government contacts, those still around, are being very quiet. Which may mean something, or it may not.
This isn't over yet, and it will get worse.
You may find it instructive to check on the very latest world-wide casualty list from the Moslem devil-worshiping heathens. Here's a link. As of this minute, they're showing a count of 32,028 attacks world-wide since 9/11. Now, for reference, that doesn't of course include the 400,000,000 or so Hindus that were murdered just in the region of India beginning shortly after Mohammad trundled off to Hell and only ending (or slowing down) with the British occupation of India and Pakistan. Or other such cases in the 1400 year string of appalling evil. Now we hear, or at least I do, from some "tolerant" types, including one guy I've known for more than 50 years, AND his kids, about how we should have "pulpit-sharing" and "common cause" and "find common ground" with the adherents of this doctrine of demons. Never!
We know, of course, that no matter what, the Lord is aware of what is going on, knew a million years or so ago what the situation would be. And is allowing it for His purposes. I know that He is not blind to the suffering. And, as we have been seeing the Scripture studies, has often used evil nations and evil cults, to accomplish His purposes. Remember that Jesus was born into a nation occupied by their enemies. So we must resist the temptation to despair. just as we must resist the temptations to get "tolerant" of great evil. Remember that at one time, it was pretty common in ancient Israel and Judah, for those hedging their bets to offer sacrifices and burn offerings to Ba'al, Asherah, Dagon, etc., and then, ON THE SAME DAY, go into Jerusalem to the Temple there, and offer likewise to the true Lord. The Lord was not pleased, and that sort of this was among the causes that He lifted His hand of protection, and allowed -- perhaps encouraged -- the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Macedonians, Romans, etec. to attack and conquer them.
Think it can't happen again??
So, for reasons I can't explain, I am drawn to my song, "My Help Cometh From The Lord".
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The Old Testament reading here is chapters 31 and 32 in the book of Jeremiah.
You may recognize verse 15.
Jeremiah 31
1 At the same
time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the
sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause
him to rest. 3
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee. 4 Again I
will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou
shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the
dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of
Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there
shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry,
Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus saith the LORD;
Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations:
publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of
Israel. 8
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from
the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman
with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company
shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I
lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a
straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to
Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and
declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will
gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed
Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore
they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together
to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and
for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a
watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin
rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn
their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice
from their sorrow. 14
And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people
shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice
was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for
her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were
not. 16 Thus
saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from
tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall
come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the
LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was
chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I
shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I
repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my
youth. 20 Is
Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against
him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled
for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks,
make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way
which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these
thy cities. 22
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD
hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in
the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again
their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and
mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities
thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have
satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. 27
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of
Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of
beast. 28 And
it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck
up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to
afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the
LORD. 29 In
those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own
iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set
on edge. 31
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days,
saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth
the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the
stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves
thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before
me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being
a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast
off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold,
the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD
from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 And the measuring line
shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall
compass about to Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes,
and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the
horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be
plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Jeremiah 32
1 The word
that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king
of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2 For then the king of
Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up
in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
3 For Zedekiah
king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and
say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not
escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered
into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to
mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon,
and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight
with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 7
Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee
saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of
redemption is thine to buy it.
8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court
of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy
my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of
Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is
thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the
LORD. 9 And I
bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and
weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
10 And I subscribed the
evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money
in the balances. 11
So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed
according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
12 And I gave the evidence
of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in
the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the
witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews
that sat in the court of the prison.
13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying, 14
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences,
this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence
which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue
many days. 15
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields
and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
16 Now when I had delivered the
evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto
the LORD, saying, 17
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy
great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for
thee: 18 Thou
shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of
the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the
Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work:
for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give
every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his
doings: 20
Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this
day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as
at this day; 21
And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with
signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched
out arm, and with great terror;
22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst
swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 And they
came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked
in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to
do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
24 Behold the mounts,
they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the
hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and
of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come
to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy
thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 27
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too
hard for me? 28
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the
hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city,
shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon
whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink
offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and
the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth:
for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work
of their hands, saith the LORD.
31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of
mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this
day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the
children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to
provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests,
and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. 33
And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught
them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to
receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called
by my name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to
pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither
came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause
Judah to sin. 36
And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning
this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the
king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
37 Behold, I
will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in
mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them
again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for
ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to
do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me. 41
Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in
this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus saith the
LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so
will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
43 And fields shall be
bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or
beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 Men shall buy fields for money,
and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land
of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the
valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity
to return, saith the LORD.
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The New Testament reading is chapter 2 in the epistle to Titus.
Titus 2
1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in
charity, in patience.
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh
holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things; 4 That
they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to
love their children, 5
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7
In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine
shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned;
that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil
thing to say of you. 9
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please
them well in all things; not answering again;
10 Not purloining, but shewing all good
fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all
things. 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ; 14 Who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15 These things speak,
and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
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