Expulsion , almost (.../)

I have SO much more grace than I deserve.  Grace of course is never "deserved"....  That's actually an oxymoron.  We don't deserve to have God Almighty ruling over us, but that's how it is.  We don't deserve to exist.  We don't deserve to be treated with respect, we also don't even deserve the suffering that comes upon us in some cases.  Children who grew up in abusive households can attest to this.  Even an adult doesn't usually deserve the kind of crap kids sometimes put up with.  I, however, deserve that.  I have not been engaging in the conduct that caused the amorites to be spewed from the land, but I have laid eyes upon it numerous times by choice.  I had read Leviticus 18 but I apparently failed to meditate on it and somehow it just got tucked into some incredibly foggy section of my mind.

Granted, even watching a heterosexual married couple's homemade recordings would still be questionable at the very least.  The Bible isn't very specific about what constitutes a violation of Jesus' expounding of Exodus 20:14.  I'm fairly certain I've been guilty of that more times than I can count, not always or exclusively during my demonic internet dabblings.

Hoping I can KEEP all of this in view.  More importantly, I'm hoping my sensitivity to it will increase exponentially and that I can at some point have the affection for Jesus that has been dulled incredibly over the years.

Rev.

 Revelation is a really stirring beautiful display of God's power and preeminence.

It is ultimately a writing of promise; a culmination of the statement that He is working out all things for the well-being of His people and His glory.  It is rather disturbing in the first few chapters of prophecy, when God's wrath is being out poured, unless you assume that all of the Christians are not going to be here when it happens, which I don't see in the text anywhere, but maybe I'm just ignorant.  It will be darkest by far the closer the dawn approaches.  But dawn is approaching.

"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." (Matthew 24:13)

God has been gracious to all of us, and most of us, at least in the US, who haven't had any period in our lives where we were at the hands of some sadistic presence, haven't had to eat the family pet to survive a few more days, and who haven't had to debase themselves for an income, have had it rather easy.  Sure, poverty is by no means any kind of picnic and we don't always feel like going to work, and sometimes we downright hate our jobs, and get unfairly treated because of misunderstandings that could easily be cleared up if both sides tried, but how many of us have been unable to get away from insects?  One thing I dread about the possibility of homelessness is the inescapable presence of spiders.  But God will one day punish ALL of us, all of the world -- for nobody living here is truly innocent -- with an inescapable presence of locusts.  

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14)

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." (Revelation 2:11)

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Peace, in a fallen world

 It's unfortunate that this level of distrust is so pervasive in the gop these days. Both parties play fast and loose with the facts and take credit for stuff they didn't do and blame each other for stuff they had minimal if any involvement in. Neither party is beneficial when their policies are taken to the extreme. Tax cuts are not a bad idea, they're probably beneficial in fact, but even when the federal government is trillions of dollars in debt?? Raising taxes is also not an ideal scenario. But does anybody have a better plan for getting the bills paid? These tariffs that have been implemented have had minimal if any impact on that although they're not a bad idea in themselves... The border should be more secure although I understand why it isn't. Going by the legit means of entry is way too time consuming and confusing for someone that needs to flee their land. People would rather believe it's all orchestrated by some assortment of fantastically evil people than believe that these people are here in search for a better life. I don't think prochoice makes much sense either, but that's only if you acknowledge God as truly sovereign. If you're strictly trying to minimize child abuse and things like that, then of course prochoice makes sense. And God's sovereignty is not as clear cut as a lot of people who have tried to broach the subject seem to think it is. If God truly is sovereign then all sins - including any and every kind of murder imagineable - are subject to Him and He will deal with them however He sees fit. So, it ultimately is a matter of theology and to what value you place on the sheer existence of people. I personally can find holes in the arguments that pro lifers use but that doesn't mean I should just dismiss the gop as a bunch of judgmental busy bodies. That wouldn't be any more fair than the gop dismissing the DNC as a bunch of murderers who relish in every kind of destruction imaginable. Life without God does lead to destruction. It's unfortunate that so many people these days can't or won't see that.

In other news ...

 I don't think I posted about this here.  I had to put my cat down Aug 20th.  I've been mostly just going about life like usual, but there's a song by The Smiths that takes on new meaning, at least for me, in light of my cat being put down and the fact that I really just can't say what, if anything, happens to animals when they die.  My pastor noted that a lot of the indifference toward religion these days is due to the manufactured society we're living in.  People at least had no choice but to face the death of the animal they were eating once upon a time ago.  Nowadays, in most consumers minds, food doesn't come from animals, it comes from a store.  Peta type people of course act like it's some new thing they've stumbled upon and I do have to wonder how much less meat I'd be eating if I knew my food.  My pastor observed how some people would not be able to help but observe the fact that something had to die so that we could live and not think there is something wrong.

And in that respect, peta are right.  There is something wrong.  Jesus died so that we could live.  We'd be subject to eternal damnation for all the times we judged and spat on other people!  But Jesus WILLINGLY laid aside paradise for 33 years and suffered unjust scorn and bitter rejections so that we can have the option of having an eternal home, with an eternal father, where everything will be safe.  If on the EXTREMELY slim chance that atheist scientists are right and The Bible is just a bunch of poetic guesswork, I still don't see the point in believing that.  I don't believe I'm just being strung along.  But even if it turned out that I was, it's an encouragement to live a kinder life in pursuit of Christ likeness and in turn do my part to make this world a better place.  No body has a perfect track record in that, but it is possible to keep pushing the envelope, increase in generosity, courtesy, empathy, etc..  (I do believe I could do better at all of those things.)

Anyway....

Before typing this I created an existential/grief playlist.  Figured I'd post it here.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1CNV5sNf1ZOF98QmB21dNx?si=gSXmx3NQT8ORUyH3XzKYdQ&pi=bqzkCtyyQ0Cta

Unsatisfied, now what of it ..

 We are the world, saving each other's lives 

We are thus disappointed.

I have to wonder how much of the increase in kidnappings, mass shootings, and other heinous crimes would have been avoided if people entrusted themselves to God rather than people. This culture at some point let its' guard down. I don't know exactly when it started, but it's gotten worse and man's inclination to rebel against God has been unattended to and thus many kids have been growing up with minimal guidance. People have a false sense of security, instead of pummelling sin into the ground, people give it an inch and it begs for more rope for us to hang ourselves.

Seek Yahweh, The Heavenly Father, of The Resurrected Jesus Christ — while you still have the opportunity to do so. He will give you the power to live uprightly, for the most part, more and more so the more that you seek Him.  

cities of refuge

I emailed this to my inlaw  but i thought this might be some food for thought for other people as well.

----------------------------------

Deut 19:11-13

11 “But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Matt 5:21-22

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 5:21-22 was not meant to impersonalize the act of ACTUALLY KILLING someone.  The death penalty was indeed there for bloodshed.  It was there for other crimes as well, but hating someone was not one of them.  Hatred and anger are often passing emotions.  There was/is the sacrificial system in place for Christians (fka Jews) who fail to be loving and generous all of the time.  The death of Jesus is not primarily a payment for crimes that are so sick they stink up the earth for generations infinity.  His death is for crimes that we ourselves often undermine and overlook, crimes that, collectively, cause far more stench than anything Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy ever did on their own.

I can't find the verse, but it says somewhere in the law of Moses something to the effect of

if he killed his neighbor and did not hate him in his heart, he shall go free.

I think it might have been Deut 19:11-13 but I'm pretty sure there were others, and I'm not finding them at the moment.

If nobody is aware that the killing man had hatred for the victim, then this law can't possibly apply.  There is no indication that the assembly needed to kill or should have killed the hating man prior to the point of killing.  And usually, although exceptions abound, like always, a death does not get inflicted upon someone because of one singular event.  A person who gets to be 9 years old and hasn't learned enough self control for that not to be true of them will probably get a nasty reputation well before they get inducted into adulthood.

You also might notice that the death penalty is there for people that physically murder whereas the disregard for our fellow man as God's image bearers, although it carries consequences, is not treated with the same severity.  That, to me, indicates that God cares far more about us than we might sometimes be tempted to think He does.   Of course, the consequences for a person who intends to spit on the pattern that Jesus set for us and does not reconsider and have some semblance of belief in the provision of God to rescue from that...those consequences are actually much worse than those a person who sheds blood faces.  We can't make ourselves love God, but we do have the power to avoid hardening our hearts and at least be open enough to listen to what people are saying and be sincere in our evaluations.

  Praise be to Jesus that although the stench of our sins is indeed far more than any elite Hollywood Hills air freshener can cover over, Jesus Christ has paid for it, and not only that but He has given us a hope for a future so bright we'd need shades just to be near it, and a peace that endures through whatever dust and decay we experience in the meantime.

Yeah right 🙄

https://a.co/d/02Ttj4LH

Like you can learn how to do-be Batman just by reading a book.  Thankfully it's written in a more tongue-in-cheek fashion.  For the Batman fan who almost has everything (and there really is a whole lot of everything...  )

 I once had a loving CITYY CAT®, that had two previous owners.  Its' most recent prior owner wanted it back  and so I relinquished my caregiving and all the delights that had with it.

My mom bought a brand new one from the store.  She must have had to go into debt to pay for it.  They aren't cheap.

I was hesitant about opening it.  It just didn't seem right.  I knew it wasn't a real cat, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to it.  

After a few days, it occurred to me, as far as I knew, it might die in the packaging, not having any food... the whole thing made no sense to me.  I shouldn't have assumed I could just open it whenever.

My mom gave a word of caution before I proceeded to opening the package. "She might not be as clingy as Sophie was.  They had to tone them down some because people were complaining about them being too clingy and some even returned them to the manufacturer."

I nodded. I took a moment to try to prepare myself mentally, and then pushed the activation button per the outside instructions. I unsealed the box and opened it, and then proceeded to untangle her from the intricacies of the packaging.

Arise, give thanks to The Lord.  Remember what great things He has done.

"my heart is steadfast"

 I like Michael W. Smith's WORSHIP album.  It's very beautiful and celebratory feeling, while also being reverent and dependent.
The opening snippet from the Psalms always had been a sticking point.  "My heart is steadfast"  If anybody's heart is not steadfast, it's mine.  I got to thinking tho -- a baseline.  I think it's more or less normal for people to have spiritual highs and lows, but what's the least amount of faith I've demonstrated since I was given God's salvation?  Not nearly as much as I need to always want to listen to MWS WORSHIP album.  Sometimes I just don't want to read The Bible and I altooften find myself feeling downcast over (what I perceive to be) God's dealings with man.  Regarding that, I think the book of Job, as much information as it gives us about the heavenly realm, God still does not, in that or any other writing, tell man why He has The Devil roaming through the earth.  And He didn't tell Job why He caused Job's suffering.  My pastor posits that the explanation for God allowing Job to go through that suffering is that "He wouldn't have had that encounter with God if it hadn't been for that."  That explanation is difficult to grasp.  At first it makes not a lick of sense...I can see it maybe making sense tho.  Jesus did say something to the effect "I came to save people who need saving, not people who are already perfect."  Of course, nobody's perfect, but there are people who got a good handle on sin, they're worshipping God with a fair amount of zeal, no major blemishes in their lives.  So...I guess you could say God gave Job a problem so He could fix it and have a logical reason to come down to give Job a hug, so to speak.  I mean, you don't normally hug someone who is already happy, unless you're greeting them, but even then, why would you greet someone and be that happy to see them if you're already good and content with whatever you're doing?  I'm sure there's a way to pick all that apart and tear it up too...I'm not good with relationships in general, so I'm certainly not an authority on any of that anyway, and even if I was, there's so much between the marrow, so to speak, we just don't understand enough about ourselves to really even begin to rightly understand God's dealings with us.  He, however, does know. " "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."

Noo ! Not another one.... a sleepless night? NO!

 Second time this month got zero sleep.
I missed volunteering at the food bank.  Finally crashed right around the time my ride was supposed to be arriving.  I gave her a heads up like at 2am.  I only got like 4 hours of sleep anyway tho.  So I'm still behind.  And I didn't get very much sleep the night before either :/

I seem to be making slight headway in my sanctification....maybe.  I still need to read some of God's word this day.  I really don't know of any better strategy of keeping Satanic impulses at bay.