Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 21 February 2017. ==> updateS (2 of them)

==;  update #1:  a bit ago, she threw up stuff she probably hadn't eaten yet!  Running a nasty temperature and has asthmatic wheezes while breathing.  So, we have placed a call to reschedule the infusion.  And we have been able to "get in" to the Primary Care doctor (about 35-40 minutes away) for about 90 minutes from now.  So more "stuff" going on.  Will advise.

-->  update #2   Doctor findings:  BAD case of strep.  REAL bad.  Not bad enough to admit her to hospital (though the margin is getting slim) but bad.  So we embark on yet another round of antibiotics.  We've been going through these rounds --- this is the third -- of infections and antibiotics for two months now.  This round is supposed to last for 10 days, that previous one, ending about 10 days ago, lasted for 14 days!  I brought her home from doctor office -- a 40 minute drive --and tucked her into bed.  Then off to the pharmacy: doctor staff  had called in the prescription so I didn't wait long.  Did pick up some yogurt, etc. while there: the antibiotics also kill off the "good" bacteria in your gut, and the yogurt with active cultures helps to restore the balance.  I just got back, fed her pill #1, put some pain killer on the incision of the foot that had that surgery yet still hurts a LOT.  Surgery was in September.  Of 2015.  Not healed yet.

Happy Tuesday to all.

Unseasonably warm here, which I regard as a blessing.  Of course, I am not running a snow-plowing service.  Probably, those who do have a different attitude on the matter.

Off in just a few minutes to go next door to assist Dear Wife in "watching" the Little One.  The mom, wife's niece, is at work.  Wife is the "designated watcher" most days, though not on Thursday:  wife is scheduled for a nasty "infusion" tomorrow morning and will be hors de combat for at least four days.  So one of the grandmothers, wife's sister, gets the honor.

Wife is still feeling lousy, but we are grateful that the nasty fever she'd been running for well over a week broke late Sunday night/early Monday morning.  A welcome sign, truly.  I really had expected to be hauling her to the ER on Sunday afternoon, probably should have dragged her, but she wanted to try to avoid it.  So we shall see.  She has been having the asthma-like "wheezes" for the last week, took one of those "breathing treatments" around 6 pm.  Helped her breathing ability quite a lot, and greatly reduced the wheezing sounds, though not a total cessation.  She still does not have any kind of an appetite, which is most unusual for her.  One hopes that it will not be worsened by tomorrow morning's infusion.

Had a series of somewhat nasty back and forths with a cousin yesterday.  Subject was "refugees" and "illegal aliens" in general.  She takes great exception to the very term , and is one of those "open borders" adherents, a stance to which I am in opposition.  Gets a bit loud, though I tried to moderate the tone on my end.  But it's an issue that brings out some very strong reactions on all sides, and there does not seem to be much middle ground.  Then I saw a link out of the newspaper in Denver, showing how the sheriff there did not honor an ICE detainer on a prisoner, releasing him on a low bail bond.  Leading in relatively short order to that same ILLEGAL ALIEN committing an armed robbery that concluded with the victim being shot to death.  Perhaps you regard that as of no import, but I doubt that the victim's family and friends would agree.

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Our assigned study in the Old Testament for today is chapters 5 and 6 in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 5

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: 3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. 4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; 7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. 9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; 14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: 19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: 24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. 25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: 26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. 27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. 29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; 30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

Numbers 6

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: 3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD. 9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. 13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, 15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. 18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: 20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. 21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation. 22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

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The New Testament portion is verses 1-20 in Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4:1-20

1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? 14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 12 December 2014

relatively quiet.  Dear Wife is moving around a little bit, was over at Niece's house (next door) to "watch" Beloved Great-Niece most of the day, went over around 0630 and came home around 3:30 p.m.  She's next to me right now, on phone with Beloved Elder Daughter.  Daughter has quit her teaching job, she's in hiding now, escaping the serious death threats that she was receiving from her students.  Her students were, largely, comprised of ILLEGAL ALIENS that the Manchurian Candidate allowed to enter the country, illegally on both parts, thereby displacing the students who actually belong there.  I find it hard to generate a truly Christian response.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 12, 13, 14 of Hosea.  This completes Hosea.

Hosea 12

1	Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2	The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
3	He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
4	Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;
5	Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
6	Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.
7	He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
8	And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
9	And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10	I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
11	Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
12	And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
13	And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
14	Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his LORD return unto him.

Hosea 13

1	When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2	And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3	Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4	Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5	I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6	According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7	Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8	I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9	O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10	I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11	I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12	The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13	The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14	I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15	Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16	Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Hosea 14

1	O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2	Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3	Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4	I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5	I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6	His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7	They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8	Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9	Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 3 of the Revelation.

Revelation 3

1	And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2	Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3	Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4	Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5	He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6	He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
7	And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
8	I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9	Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10	Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11	Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
12	Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
13	He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
14	And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15	I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16	So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17	Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18	I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19	As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20	Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21	To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22	He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Today's Stuff -- Friday, 05 December 2014

another gray day outside.  Dear Wife is still pretty much flat, though she sounds a little bit better than yesterday, and definitely better than Tuesday morning.  So it would seem that the heavy-duty antibiotics and breathing treatments are having an effect.  Finally.
She gets this, this pneumonia, generally around twice a year.  And, incident by incident, it is getting harder to fight off.  She's into some antibiotics now that damage her only slightly less than the pneumonia does, and she's pretty well run the formulary.  What happens the next time is in God's hands, to be sure.
Another day.  I need to run to the grocery in a bit, we're about out of the gluten-free bread she has to use.  Found that what they have at Aldi is a dollar less a loaf than what is at WalMart, and better too.  So I'll get two.  (loaves are small, very).
=========.>>>>  later:  went to Aldi all right.  How they run their operation is up to them.  I do think that charging someone $0.25 to use a shopping cart is a bit much, and so is charging for bags. I have several Costco bags (son-in-law works for Costco) so I'll start using them, and bringing them in the store as well.
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had call from older daughter.  She's resigned her teaching job in another state.  Her school district was one of the ones inundated at the start of the school term with several THOUSAND new unplanned students.  ALL of them are ILLEGAL ALIENS that were imported into the country by the treasonous crew running things in Washington right now.  She's twice been hospitalized with stuff that these "children", some with gray hair and gang tats, brought in.  She's now been subjected to serious death threats from the little darlings, all bigger than she is.  Can't suspend, or expel, or arrest them of course:  that would be "disparate impact" or some such garbage.  So she's interrupting her career, moving across state lines, to preserve her life and health.  The kids in the district that actually belong there are being shortchanged, of course, but the bums in D.C. apparently do not care.
Yes, I am bitter.  Very.  May Satan seize them.

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Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 29 November 2014

Wow.  The week has flown by, and I have remarkably little to show for the journey.  Dear Wife has been sick, almost constantly horizontal, since we got back from the brief Thanksgiving Day dinner at her nephew's place.  Says she's feeling a little bit better, but "better" is not the same as "good".  And she does not feel "good", even by her standards.    Lousy.
How lousy?  Well, this morning, 10-12 was calling hours for a cousin of her mother's who was a murder victim last week, with service at noon conducted by one of the Mormons in the extended family.  She was too sick to go, really too sick to do much of anything.  They've scheduled a candlelight vigil at the home of the deceased for Sunday evening, and I much doubt she'll be able to be there for that either.  Which does not help her emotional state, and that in turn does her physical condition no particular good. 
Beloved Elder Daughter called earlier, she's in the middle of a move.  She's been a English, as in ESL, teacher at a city school in the midwest.  The treasonous illegitimati that are running out country right now arranged to dump several thousand ILLEGAL ALIENS into that area just at the start of the school year.  She's been dealing with tatted-up gangbangers, some with gray hair, some pregnant, virtually all of them illiterate even in Spanish, and several who didn't speak Spanish either.  After being hospitalized TWICE for diseases conveyed by the unvaccinated invaders, and receiving death threats from them, she's quitting.  Now.  Out of medical isolation, and moving.  She and husband have a small house about two hours from the apartment she's been camping in -- they'd planned to sell the house and move back together in her apartment.  Now, nope.  Not much choice.  Incidentally, the school system she was in couldn't do much to help her:  they were, by virtue of the lousy dictators in Washington, prohibited from suspending, expelling, or arresting these ILLEGAL ALIENS.  Something about "disparate impact" or some such pack of lies.
Makes it very hard to be nice.  Very hard.
We know, personally, a fair number of people who immigrated to this country.  Dear Wife's father was born in Europe.  Younger Daughter's mother-in-law is an actual legal immigrant (now citizen) from the interior of Mexico.  Neither of my parents spoke English at home before going to school as kids.  And I have for more than 40 years dealt with people literally from all over the world, from Korea and Okinawa and Indonesia, to Guatemala, Ireland, Finland, Egypt, Nigeria, Israel, Lebanon, Greece, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Ukraine, and even the Armenians.  I'm not opposed to immigrants in theory.  Invaders are another matter, and  that is what these are.  Aiding and abetting that invasion is the act of a Benedict Arnold, not an American patriot.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 41 and 42 in the writings of Ezekiel.  I remind you that this was during the time of the Captivity, a judgment upon the people when they decided to be like the nations around them, when THEY did not take the limits of the land seriously.  The ignored the border and became homogenized.  Wasn't supposed to work like that.  The results of that were Not Good, not fun to go through.
And yet, the Lord had not abandoned them.  Or we wouldn't have this account, and we would not have the New Testament at all either.  In many ways, the very existence of these prophecies is also a message of hope, an assurance that there will be a future.  Whatever they were going through, and by all accounts, some of those things were rough, there was light on the other side of the cloud.  Good reminder for us as well.

Ezekiel 41

1	Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.
2	And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.
3	Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.
4	So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
5	After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
6	And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house.
7	And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.
8	I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
9	The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within.
10	And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
11	And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
12	Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
13	So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long;
14	Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits.
15	And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
16	The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered;
17	To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
18	And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
19	So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.
20	From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.
21	The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.
22	The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.
23	And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24	And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door.
25	And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
26	And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.

Ezekiel 42

1	Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north.
2	Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.
3	Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.
4	And before the chambers was a walk to ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north.
5	Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.
6	For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.
7	And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits.
8	For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.
9	And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court.
10	The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building.
11	And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.
12	And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.
13	Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.
14	When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.
15	Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.
16	He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
17	He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
18	He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.
19	He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
20	He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.

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The New Testament reading is the first chapter in the 2nd Epistle of Peter.

II Peter 1

1	Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2	Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3	According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4	Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5	And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6	And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7	And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8	For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9	But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10	Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11	For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
12	Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
13	Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14	Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
15	Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
16	For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17	For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18	And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
19	We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20	Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21	For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 11 July 2014

Dear Wife is sick again, has been all day.  She had an appointment for Physical Therapy for this afternoon, but called to cancel.  Doing a little bit better as the day has progressed, bus is laying in the recliner beside me now, somewhat out of it.
I had a doctor appointment myself this morning.  All went well.  He gave the go-ahead to cut back on the BP monitoring, which is easy enough I guess.  And told me to go ahead with the refills on two of my prescriptions which are about to run out.  God is good.
Stopped by the gas station on the way home.  Had to -- the gauge was an eyelash above the red mark that says EMPTY.  Thought it would be a good idea to avoid being stranded alongside the road.  Put $20 in, which was about half our remaining funds.  But it makes it likely we'll make it until the retirement check hits Wednesday.  Got home to find we'd gotten a sewer bill, finally.  First one since we moved in back in October.  Can't complain about the amount, it comes to around $145, which works out to $17/month.  Not bad, but it would have been better to have been coming on a more frequent basis.  Around here, systems are not exactly world class, to steal on over-used term.  Water bill, for example, only comes out bi-monthly.  Neither the water nor the sewer bills can be paid in person.  And the employees are those who were deemed either too stupid or too rude to work for the DMV office, if that tells you anything.
The county fair is this week.  Dear Wife has been wanting to go, terribly.  We'd gone to one in one of our infrequent trips here, about four years ago.  Other than that, it was last seen around 1990-1991.  So she wants to go, and we may try in the morning.  Money is, as said above, pretty tight though we do get a senior citizen discount now.  And she's been mostly sick for over a week.  As of this minute, the idea is that we'll go in the morning, beating the heat and crowds, see the animals and a few 4-H exhibits, and come home before noon.  Best I can do.  We'll eat ahead of time so the inability to waste our substance in riotous living, a.k.a. eating fair food, won't be such an issue.  But we'll see what morning brings.

Continue to hear from the border.  We've received clandestine information that the rate of highly virulent deadly diseases there is FAR worse than publicly admitted, including drug-resistant tuberculosis.  I can remember living in a town that still had an old - unused - TB sanitarium in it.  Would hate to see those days return, but it could happen.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the Psalms.

Psalm 4 

1	Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2	O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
3	But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4	Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5	Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6	There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7	Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8	I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalm 5 

1	Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
2	Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
3	My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4	For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5	The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6	Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
7	But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8	Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9	For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10	Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11	But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12	For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

Psalm 6 

1	O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2	Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
3	My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?
4	Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.
5	For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6	I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
7	Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8	Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9	The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
10	Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

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The New Testament reading is verses 16-40 of Acts 16.

Acts 16:16-40

16	And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17	The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18	And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
19	And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20	And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21	And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22	And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23	And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24	Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25	And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26	And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27	And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28	But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29	Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30	And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31	And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32	And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33	And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34	And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
35	And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
36	And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
37	But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
38	And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.
39	And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
40	And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.