New Year's Day ===== Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 01 January, 2014

Happy New Year.  I hope the day has found everyone to be in good order.  Have  been scanning the various news sources, seeing the accounts of the bad effects of the use of beverage alcohol and/or "recreational pharmaceuticals".  Lots of wrecks, lots of fights, lots of drunk driving arrests.  And, probably, some behaviors less publicized that will create lucrative opportunities for divorce lawyers and the like.  Have seen considerable of all the above, all too often up close.  There are some memories I could do without.
And yet,
And yet, we begin the annual trek through the Bible with the four words that have often helped to remind me that it ain't over yet.

In the beginning, GOD!

and if we keep that in mind, other matters can take a more correct importance.
The same Lord who invented light, who invented gravity, who spoke the entire seen universe into being with a word, knows me by name, knew me a million years before I was born, knows the count of the hairs on my head and all my sins and failures.  And loves me in spite of all of that, and has a plan for my life.  That is worth quite a lot.


one note:  for th last several years, this site has been a King James version only.  I want to try, for a bit at least, the use of the ESV.  I may or may not try using both for purposes of comparison.  I am not a hard-core KJV-only person, though am more comfortable with it than some.  yet I often use a New King James in my own study.  Be honest:  when was the last time you were in a conversation  and used the phrase, "he waxed wroth"?  Probably it's been a while.  Such a usage may have been ordinary in 1607 or around then, but the English language has changed a bit since then.  And since English in any form did not exist at all at the time of the Patriarchs or of Jesus' time here, it's largely an academic exercise. 
=================================

So, this morning, we begin at the beginning of it all.  Genesis 1 and 2.

Genesis 1

1	In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2	The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3	And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4	And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
5	God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6	And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7	And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
8	And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9	And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
10	God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11	And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.
12	The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13	And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14	And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
15	“and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
16	And God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars.
17	And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18	to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19	And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20	And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
21	So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22	And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23	And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24	And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds–livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25	And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26	Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27	So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28	And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29	And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
30	“And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31	And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2

1	Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2	And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
3	So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
4	These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5	When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up–for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
6	and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground–
7	then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
8	And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9	And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10	A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
11	The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12	And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
13	The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush.
14	And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15	The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
16	And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17	“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18	Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
19	Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20	The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
21	So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22	And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23	Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
24	Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25	And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

==  =============

The New Testament reading is chapter 1 of hte Gospel of Matthew.  Another sort of beginning.

Matthew 1

1	The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2	Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3	and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
4	and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5	and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
6	and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
7	and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa,
8	and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
9	and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10	and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah,
11	and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12	And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13	and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,
14	and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
15	and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
16	and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17	So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
18	Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19	And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20	But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21	“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22	All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23	“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
24	When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25	but knew her not until she had given birth to her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus.

New Year's Eve ==== Tuesday, 31 December 2013

A good morrow to all to whom these presents come: greetings
In less than 24 hours, Lord willing, we shall enter into the year of our Lord of 2014.  There have been many times that I did not expect to see this day, or tomorrow if it comes.  The Lord has evidently had other plans.  I thank Him for that and for every new day.
The last few months have beena time of inward reflection as we have undergone some fairly large changes in our life.  An early retirement, a major relocation, new surroundings, new situations, new issues and contacts and challenges.  There is a purpose to all of this, I am convinced.  Don't know what it is, yet, but He's always proved faithful so we shall hang on.
So we are, like many others, looking back and looking forward.  Back at all that has gone before, some of which we are only beginning to understand, and forward into an uncertain future but still with hopes and plans and goals.  Good to do this, keeps us from simply drifting along without purpose.
We have been reading the news.  We see that in the town we just left, there have been three more deaths from homicide in the last few days, and two more from an adjacent town (Selma, Alabama) just today.  And the year is not yet over, they are at 49 homicides now and based on past performance around the drunken parties of the holiday, may well attain or even surpass the 50 mark.  Not something to boast of, surely, and with pain and loss for many.  That number includes, by the way, those who did not die but who were nonetheless wounded in some of the exchanges - I believe that the episode the other night in which two died also had six others hauled off in ambulances with wounds of varying severity.  This is not a good thing. 
And in this area to which we've moved, there have been somewhat less murders, but Dear Wife and I have both been in the position of having to "pick up pieces of people" from the pavement after people get liquored up and go out to practice their drunk driving.  Heavy drinking seems to be a cultural imperative in these parts.  My one brother's current wife refuses to allow us in their house because we don't drink, and that very idea offends her greatly.  Multiply that attitude by a hundred thousand domiciles or so and you begin to understand the issue.  So tonight we expect to see a lot of wrecks, a bunch of arrests for drunk driving, and a lot of business for the drunk tanks.  And probably some action for the divorce lawyers and judges on Thursday and Friday mornings.
This is fun?

We have no intention of venturing off the property tonight.  None.  Dear Wife is -- thank You Lord! -- starting to feel a bit better after having been mostly horizontal since the afternoon of Christmas Day.  But we are not into drunken revelry and are staying in, or so we plan.

====
We end the year's passage through the Old Testament with the book of Malachi.  Seems to fit.

Malachi 1

1	The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2	I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
3	And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
4	Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
5	And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.
6	A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7	Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
8	And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
9	And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
10	Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11	For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
12	But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
13	Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
14	But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the LORD a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

Malachi 2

1	And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2	If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3	Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
4	And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
5	My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
6	The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
7	For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8	But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
9	Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
10	Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11	Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
12	The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.
13	And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
14	Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
15	And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
16	For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
17	Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Malachi 3

1	Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2	But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3	And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4	Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5	And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
6	For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7	Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8	Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9	Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10	Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11	And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12	And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
13	Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
14	Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
15	And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16	Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
17	And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18	Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Malachi 4

1	For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2	But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3	And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
4	Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5	Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6	And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse

======

The final reading in the New Testament is the final chapter in the Revelation.  The end of all things and the beginning of eternity.  This was, you recall, revealed to John while on the island of Patmos.  He was shown what was to come.  The work has intrigued believers for going on two thousand years now.  Periodically, someone proclaims that they know the exact date.  One of them died just a few days ago, proven wrong as have the others.  I do not know the date of the Lord's coming.  But I have believed my whole life that I will live to see it.  I believe that today.  I could be wrong, and make no claims for reliable revelation.  But I still believe it.

Revelation 22

1	And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2	In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3	And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4	And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5	And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
6	And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
7	Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
8	And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
9	Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
10	And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11	He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12	And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13	I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14	Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15	For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16	I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17	And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18	For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19	And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20	He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Today's Radings and Stuff -- Monday, 30 December 2013

we really are getting down to the end aren't we?  Just two more days left in the year.
It hasn't been my every dream come true, but that's pretty standard, unfortunately.  A lot of wasted opportunities, wasted time, wasted thoughts, wasted everything. 

We have moved for what we hope is the very last time.  (But I said that the last five or six times we moved as well.    In just my adult life, I have now lived in, I believe 20 places since around 1975.  The seven years -- late 2006 to late 2013 -- were the longest periods in one place ever.  Five years in Arkansas.  Two years in our second time in Tennessee, three years in one house in our first tour in Tennessee.  And several years when as a truly impoverished single guy in Ohio living in what was a converted janitor's closet.  Other than that, a long series of one-year stays in apartments and rent houses.  Makes one feel like a nomad -- if one thinks the lifestyle is voluntary - or as a vagabond - if not.  Or in my case, a mix of both. 
Sometimes I know how Abraham must have felt, going from place to place not knowing where he was going.  Of course, Abraham is described as a righteous man, and I don't fit that one.  Unfortunately.

So we are going into the new year with some hopes, some fears, some uncertainty, some dreams and goals as well.  And belief that the Lord has a purpose for all this and that that purpose will be revealed soon.

Dear Wife is still in bad shape.  The combination of semi-chronic sinus infections, borderline COPD, and several busted teeth combine to put her in less-than-great shape and in a lot of pain.  And we have NO options available but pain pills and trying to tough it out.  I've got three busted teeth myself, fortunately in not too much pain.  And my overall health isn't too bad, so I can try to take care of her as best as I know how.  Obamacare, that atrocity upon the nation, has hurt us badly.  As well as millions of others.  Not a big fan of the Democrap party or either "progressives" or liberals or whatever this weeks nom de guerre is.

Supposed to be a good bit colder today than the last two days were.  Yesterday had us in the mid 40's.  Today's high is supposed to be in the low 20's with the low around 10.  And the same for the next week or three or so.  Not quite what we'd become accustomed to in Lower Alabama.

==================================

The Old Testament reading for the day is chapters 13 and 14 Zechariah, completing it.

Zechariah 13

1	In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2	And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3	And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4	And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5	But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6	And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
7	Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8	And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9	And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Zechariah 14

1	Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2	For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3	Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4	And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5	And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6	And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7	But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8	And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9	And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10	All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
11	And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12	And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13	And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
14	And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15	And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16	And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17	And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18	And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19	This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20	In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21	Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 21 form the Revelation.  Getting to the end of things.

Revelation 21

1	And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2	And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3	And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4	And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5	And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6	And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7	He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8	But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
9	And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10	And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11	Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12	And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13	On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14	And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15	And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16	And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17	And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18	And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19	And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20	The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21	And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22	And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23	And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24	And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
25	And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
26	And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
27	And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 29 December 2013

last Sunday of the year.  Dear Wife was feeling a little bit better last night, we will see in a short while if she is up to an out-of-the-house trip to a Sunday service today.  We shall see.  Would be nice: after so many years as a Bible teacher and other duties as an ordained deacon, I miss being in the presence of other believers joining in the worship of the Lord.  He foresaw this, so perhaps we are waiting to a purpose.
We were up into the mid-40's yesterday, I actually got some work done to make our little hovel a teeny bit more winter-worthy.  Not all the way there by any means, in large part due to lack of funds to buy need materials, but a whole lot better than we had been upon arrival.  A LOT better.  Bit by bit we're getting some things accomplished.

The Old Testament reading for the morning is chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Zechariah.

Zechariah 10

1	Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2	For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3	Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4	Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
5	And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6	And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7	And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8	I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
9	And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
10	I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
11	And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
12	And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Zechariah 11

1	Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
2	Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
3	There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
4	Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
5	Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
6	For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
7	And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
8	Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
9	Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.
10	And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
11	And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12	And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13	And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
14	Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15	And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
16	For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
17	Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Zechariah 12

1	The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2	Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3	And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4	In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5	And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
6	In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
7	The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
8	In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
9	And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10	And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11	In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12	And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
13	The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
14	All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 20 of the Revelation.  The Great White Throne.

Revelation 20

1	And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2	And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3	And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4	And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5	But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6	Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7	And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8	And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9	And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10	And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11	And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12	And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13	And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14	And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15	And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.