The New (Jewish / Israeli) Covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (KJV)
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Yirimyahu 31:30-33

When I was young, even up to my middle sixties, stress seemed to focus me, and allow me to do what I needed to do without fuss, though it did cost me a lot of energy to swim in stressful situations. Many of the situations were interior, but there were also demanding times from the external world as well. We all see this aspect of reality within ourselves I am sure, and many experiences this deeper than others.

It probably has to do with my aging body, as well as with my brain/mind connection. I think that is why I am so much more in touch with anxiety. When younger I had no idea that I could even get really anxious, since I always seemed to move towards what was not pleasant, and needed assertiveness. Now stress can scatter me, and bring on a deep disquiet that I can feel in my chest area. It has the feeling of a rolled-up ball of barbwire. I forces me to slow down, and it has helped me in my prayer life. I have learned that much of my inner anger flows from this apprehension. It is a fear that things will fall apart. Rooted in my past experiences when very young. I am thankful for this, for perhaps we all need a goad in our lives to push us forward. Sloth is something that can numb me, but when in the midst of that I feel more dead than alive.

While anxiety is for me the most unpleasant of inner experiences, I am still thankful that I am more in touch with it. Yet, I know that all that I know about myself is just the tip of a very large iceberg. So as I age I am more at peace with not knowing or understanding, but just try to get through the day without causing damage to others. I do not always succeed, but grace lifts me up and I continue.

I can see grace at work as I age. It leads me deeper into truth, some of these truths are not pleasant at all. Our inner worlds can be beautiful, but also harsh, and even at times have a nightmarish quality to them. There is a reason I believe that people love the horror genre in movies, as well as novels. It gives us a safe place to observe what we have within us.

When on a path that seeks God, He will bring truth to us. It can be a painful time, but also one that is very fruitful. We seem to grow when we struggle, and yes suffer. I wish it was different, but we have to work within the system given to us.

For me ‘Trust’ is the key. When I feel shaky within, as I get older, I find that it is being in the presence of God that brings peace, and even integration. Again, I do not know how it works, but Trust again is the switch that allows this to happen. Trust in God, can be one of the freest actions we can make. It comes from deep within, far below the agitation, and pain that is often our lot.

Drugs and addictions of all sorts only slow this process down, but eventually, it must all be faced. Prayer and a loving relationship with God can allow us to do that. Psalm 91, as well as Psalms 23, and 139 can be helpful in times of inner turmoil. A slow prayer reading of these prayers can focus us and deepen our rootedness in Christ Jesus.

Our humanity is not to be feared. Allowing ourselves to sink would be a very serious and at times fatal mistake. Our lives are serious business. Our culture wants us to ignore that, and just have a good time and be entertained. Being jaded can be its own hell. Facing our inner struggles, chaos, and pain, leads to inner joy and peace, though I trek through the desert can be a long one. No matter what we choose, the trek may be very long indeed.-Br.MD

2 Peter 1:1-2 ESV


What would be a faith of equal standing with the apostles? Well, first of all I want to define “equal standing.” And this is what I found: “If two things are equal or if one thing is equal to another, they are the same size, number, standard, or value” (Collins Dictionary). So, this would be about having a faith that is the same as the apostles’ faith, that is of the same standard and value as their faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

So, to find out what that is, we have to read the Scriptures, and we must read what Paul and Peter and John and James, etc. described as their faith and/or the faith that we are all to have. And we need to read the words of Jesus, too, for he described the kind of faith we are to have in him, and then his apostles taught and lived those truths, though not necessarily in all the same words as what Jesus said, unless they were quoting him.

So, Paul taught that coming to faith in Jesus Christ means we die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and that it means walking in obedience to our Lord, in righteousness and holiness, and not in sin. For if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death, but if obedience is what we obey, it will lead to righteousness and sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God. For by the Spirit we must be putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

And John wrote that if we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk in darkness (sin, wickedness), we lie. And if we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), we lie. And if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness is not what we practice, then we are not of God, and we are not born of God, but we are of the devil. For no one who abides in God, and God in them, makes a practice of sinning.

And Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to (try to save) our old lives of living in sin and for the flesh, we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our lives, i.e. if we die with Christ to sin that we may live to him and to his righteousness, then we have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23]

2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV


Okay, so the “us” here, as we apply it to our lives today, must coincide with “To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” We are to be those who are walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh, and who by the Spirit are in the practice of putting to death the deeds of the flesh so that we can walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

And we are those who are walking in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, for whom righteousness, godliness, and holiness are what we practice, and sin is not our practice. For Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he died to put our sins to death with him so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin, but so we would be slaves of God and of his righteousness.

[Romans 8:1-14; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24; Titus 2:11-14]

Our Lord has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. In other words, the faith that is required of us for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and so it comes from God, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing. And we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ. So we can’t, of our own accord, decide to believe in Jesus.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44]

But then we have to take hold of that faith, and walk by it, in the power and strength and wisdom of God via obedience to his commands, and via willingly dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness – all in his strength and power and not of our own flesh. For, according to the Scriptures, faith = obedience, and disobedience = unbelief. So, faith and obedience are inseparable. And you can see this in the context of Hebrews chapter 11, which is regarded as the faith chapter of the Bible.

[1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 11]

And so when it says here “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire,” please understand that if you continue living in sin, making sin your practice, that you don’t have these precious and very great promises. For all of God’s promises to us are conditional upon us doing what he says to do.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Jesus is All the World to Me

By Will Thompson, 1904

Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall.
When I am sad, to Him I go,
No other one can cheer me so;
When I am sad, He makes me glad,
He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me,
My Friend in trials sore;
I go to Him for blessings, and
He gives them o’er and o’er.
He sends the sunshine and the rain,
He sends the harvest’s golden grain;
Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain,
He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me,
And true to Him I’ll be;
Oh, how could I this Friend deny,
When He’s so true to me?
Following Him I know I’m right,
He watches o’er me day and night;
Following Him by day and night,
He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me,
I want no better Friend;
I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when
Life’s fleeting days shall end.
Beautiful life with such a Friend,
Beautiful life that has no end;
Eternal life, eternal joy,
He’s my Friend.

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Art depicts the Devil as a slimy-scorched-bright-red angry-looking creature with horns. The 1995 movie “The Usual Suspects” borrows this memorable line: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Maybe. But the Devil is a narcissist, a Red Supremacist. He wants to displace God with himself, and he also wants us to do the same.

The angels are pure spirits created with free will. Led by Lucifer, some angels rebelled and rejected God’s supremacy. St. Michael the Archangel—of lesser dignity—led his junior varsity of angels to cast the rebellious varsity angels into hell. Michael’s name is a taunt: “Who is like God?” Indeed.

Burning with envy, the Devil continues his dirty work with Adam and Eve. God created man—male and female—to live in Paradise according to man’s nature as embodied spirits. The tree of life sustains their bliss in Paradise. God presents the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The tree is His first covenant, honoring man’s freedom.

In the perfect glory of Paradise, Adam and Eve’s obsession with knowing evil displaced their obedience and worship of God. The Devil won another round, at least for a time. Violating the first covenant brings self-destructive knowledge of evil and slavery to sin: shame, blame, suffering, and death.

Continued below.

Video Talk

Now, I am not really going to write anything here on this one much at all. I just felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to make a video where I share a little bit about me and my background and who I am and where I am from, and a little bit about my family, just so that those who view these videos have a little more idea of who I am and where I am coming from. So there will be no synopsis on this one.

If you want to hear it, you can watch the video. Some of you who have been following me for some time may not feel the need, but those who are following me on YouTube are new to me because I have not been doing the videos that long.

Anyway, that is all I have to say on this subject in writing other than to thank all of you who are reading these devotions and/or who are watching the videos. This is what my Lord called me to do, and so this is why I do what I do, for the glory and praise of God, and in his power and strength and wisdom.

And I will tell you the same thing I told those who will watch this video. If you ever have questions of me, feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer. Also, if you have any Scriptures or topics you would like me to cover, I will pray about it, and if the Lord wants me to do that, I will, for everything goes through him, for if he is not in it, it is pointless.

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 52:13 - 53:12

Psalm 22:16 (KJV)
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Tehillim 22:


A sympathetic English translation renders it:
Psalm 22:16 (LEB)
16 Because dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has encircled me. Like the lion they are at my hands and my feet.

But the Septuagint (translated 280 years before Christ):

Psalm 21:17 (LXX)
17 ὅτι ἐκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοί, συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων περιέσχον με, ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας.

LXX Interlinear:


Also the Dead Sea Scrolls (from about the 2nd Century BCE) confirm what the LXX and KJV (and other English translations) indicate that Psalm 22:16 is correctly translated they have digged (pierced) my hands and feet.

The truth----lying in the bottom of a dumpster that was almost empty. it was a bunch of KJV bibles . actually priceless.

I live in the United States, and I would say I am doing well financially. I have a Home that is paid off, same with a car, no debt. I am making around $90,000 a year, and my career has the potential to make up to $250,000 a year after 5 years, with a maximum salary of $500,000 a year.

I am inheriting wealth as well, 3 million dollars' worth of assets.

Is this enough money to start a non-profit? What does the United States need the most?

I have been interested in helping out to stop crime, Help provide mental health services, and services to help those that have substance abuse disorders.
Maybe there is something else I should shift my focus on., I don't know.

Is this enough money to start a non-profit? Should I start planning now as I progress through my career. I work in Commerical Real Estate, and I know how to manage, as well as plan out projects financially. With these skills what can I do? I have gone to college for Business administration and Management, as well as Finance.

So far I have helped volunteer at a soup kitchen, I believe there is so much more I can do.

I'm sure that helping people out more often as a volunteer is what God would want me to do, rather than focusing on increasing my wealth only. Am I in the position?

Only got one decent answer, no need to continue with question.

Does anyone else find that strange.

The man is suffering from depression and instead of his family rallying around him and visiting - they leave.

from her own twitter account:

A few years ago, I was writing poetry and a man mentioned liturgical music. We had a thread for liturgical music. I have some songs from that period which I am not certain are original as I was using Psalms as the inspiration:
This song is either inspired by or quoted from Psalms.

There is a tree beside the rivers of water

Abide in the shelter of the Lord
Rest in the shade of the tree
Beside the rivers of water
Angels will watch over thee

Rejoice in the presence of the Lord
The One Who taught us to pray
Praise Him, the Lord we adore
Trust Him to show us the way

Accept the mercy of the Lord
Stand with the heavenly band
Don't wait alone outside the door
Reach out and take His Hand
Step into the promised land

Abide in the shelter of the Lord
Rest in the shade of the tree
Beside the rivers of water
Angels will watch over thee

I thought it was worth posting.

Something interesting- years ago I decided to drive up to Cornell University, the elite lvy-league school, to check it out, I was interested. Many colleges have an extremely evil presence on campus, however while I was at Cornell I did not sense anything, it is very strong academically. I was just up there walking around and I went inside the engineering building, I was in the lobby. Instantly I saw several men in while robes standing there in the lobby! It came to me that they were there to help the students!

So my son brought his girlfriend over to meet the family. We had family dinner with her. He didn't tell her that for our family, dinner is a big deal. I set the candles and get soft background music to create a relaxing environment for my wife and daughter. I think she had environment shock. She almost cried right there over her chicken savicci. He told us later that her family can be a little on the drunk side and she goes to church for safety. And she feels like our family is from like a Hallmark movie.

Fast forward a few weeks. She feels a lot safer to show her personality at our house and asks to choose the jazz. And fits right in with the rest of the family. And asks if it's okay to "Drag your son to church?".

We feel pretty good as parents to see the way they treat each other, and I am thankful that they are dating. We share our faith and have board game nights. I thought I wasn't ready for this stage. And I don't know what the future holds. But this, this is a pretty good thing.

This weekend we are making homemade pizzas, and playing forbidden island, and maybe some Mad lib stories. Happy parents.

It looks like Rupert colluded with Jared to pass on information about President Biden's campaign.

Hi my real name is Kev, I have been a Christian since June of 1994. I have been married for 19 years, and we've got a son and a daughter.

I am here looking to learn and study, and want to visit with Y'all. Look forward to chatting!

“Our state is at war with our family,” [Rabbi Daniel] Bogard said. “It’s not an exaggeration that we are up at night talking about when and how far we might have to flee.”

All of which had brought the family to this fateful moment three years later. As Bogard and his now 9-year-old son piled into the family minivan at dawn for one of their regular four-hour round trips to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City to share their story with lawmakers, the rabbi worried what might lie ahead. Bills “to protect children,” as some Republicans described their measures restricting gender-affirming health care and limiting how schools treat gender identity, have become this year’s rallying cry in this state and elsewhere.

On their recent trip to the state capitol, the Bogards joined the families of two other faith leaders also intent on stopping measures they say would wreak havoc on their children’s lives.

The measures that frighten families like the Bogards the most would classify efforts to support children and teens seeking medical treatment to help them transition to their preferred gender as child abuse. The legislation would carry criminal penalties for providers and possibly parents, although such treatments are supported by the country’s major medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology.

The three faith leaders say religious liberty is at the core of the debate over transgender rights.

Harris Dault said her [Mennonite] congregation has also been loving and supportive toward her child, but other “people claim their Christian faith is behind a lot of these bills, and that’s been hard to grapple with.”

“It is our holy obligation to nurture and nourish each sacred human being, in all our diverse expressions and experiences of gender,” the Central Conference of American Rabbis said in a resolution.

--

Over the years, [Bongard] had come to believe the best — and possibly only — hope for heading off aggressive anti-trans bills is to humanize the children and their families to help lawmakers understand they are scarcely different from their own — which is why he had allowed both his sons to go with him to tell lawmakers about their lives, despite the online vitriol and even death threats they have gotten in the past.

[O]n previous trips, some lawmakers and staff had asked the children about their genitals, unapologetically used the wrong pronouns and offered to help them if they ever felt they needed protection from their parents.

--

State Rep. Michael Davis (R), ... also proclaims his Christian faith. He tweeted recently that his “religious views oppose allowing transgenders to place their nonbiological sex onto their birth certificates.”

“Laws allowing the practice creates an undue burden on my faith, violating the free exercise clause,” he wrote.

It's hard for me to imagine how he will only be free to worship if other people are prevented from exercising their own liberties. I think his ability to swing his religious arms should stay away from other people's kids.

Luckily, it's an easy thing to clean.

You likely already know a lot about how to safely cook your food. From ensuring meats are cooked to the right temperature to washing your veggies, there’s a lot you can do to avoid food contamination. However, according to a new study, there’s one area in your kitchen you likely didn’t realize could be festering with germs.

In a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Food Protection, researchers led by Donald Schaffner, a professor in the Department of Food Science at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Science, shared the results of their study that measured the “prevalence and degree of cross-contamination across a variety of kitchen surfaces during a consumer meal preparation event.” And the place the researchers found to have the highest amount of cross-contamination is…your spice jars.

Yes, it’s not your counters, sink, or cutting board, but your spice jars that may be harboring the most bacteria in your kitchen. To come to this conclusion, the team asked 371 participants to prepare a meal consisting of turkey patties (which contained the bacteriophage MS2, which is not harmful to humans, as a tracer organism) and a ready-to-eat lettuce salad.

Continued below.

Gog is a mountain tribe north of Assyria, and Magog is an area in eastern Turkey. In the book of Revelation, we read:

Rev 20:7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea.9 They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The war of Gog and Magog is described in detail in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

My question is: What is being described in these passages? How is it interpreted in different traditions?

I am unsure if I Believe in god and one thing I’ve always wanted is to have an experience seeing/hearing/feeling god how can I connect with god. I’m also extremely lonely and would like to speak with god and hear him answer instead of just praying to him and getting nothing in return to

With the start of Lent, you may be getting ready to give up meat on Fridays until Easter. While this may not sound complicated, it can be a challenge for busy families if you're not prepared with some crowd-pleasing meat-free recipes. Don't fret, though—just bookmark this collection of hearty lent-friendly meals that are so good, you'll want to cook them year-round.

1 of 20
Creamy Corn and Seafood Chowder

Continued below.

My wife has an important appointment tomorrow afternoon. Pray that I can take her there. We have blizzard conditions.

I would first start out and say I'm a working man with a good career and other outside hobbies such as sports.

I do a lot of gaming too when I have the time. Sometimes 2 hours a day.

I have heard it said by some Christians that video games are sinful.

What exactly do we mean here, the game or the kinds of games?

And if it is a sin where do we draw the line? Chess is also a game.

feeling quite down please may I ask for a prayer