✝️ DAILY DEVOTIONAL, May 24, 2021

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I have fun walking back and forth in front of a mirror … think about that for a minute.

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Never Even Missed It  
 
By Pastor John Fredericksen

One Sunday, a Christian family of four decided to take two different cars to church. After the service was over, the young boy rode home with his mom while the eight-year-old girl rode with dad. The father and daughter decided to stop at a furniture store to look for a living room set. After a while the dad got in his car and drove home. After a few minutes in the house, the mother asked, “Where’s Emily?” Until that question, the father had not realized that he left the store without his daughter and drove all the way home without her. Despite the solitude in the car, he never missed her until after arriving home. All the way back to the store, the ten-year-old brother, who was very angry with his father, kept asking his dad, “How could you have forgotten my sister?”
 
It is a simple reality that many times the most important things in life are simply forgotten. During the years of Israel’s many kings, a pattern of turning away from the Lord to false gods persisted. But that changed with one king. Once King Josiah ascended the throne, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings 22:2). “And like unto him there was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might” (II Kings 23:25). Josiah became a spiritual reformer, ridding the land of false worship, sinful practices, and leading the nation back to the proper, exclusive worship of Jehovah.
 
This spiritual revival began at the beginning of Josiah’s reign and was built on one primary incident. Josiah instructed trusted people to make needed repairs in Israel’s house of worship, the temple, which had been neglected for many years. In the process of making these repairs, Hilkiah the high priest made an important discovery. He reported back to King Josiah, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (II Kings 22:8). Amazingly, God’s chosen and blessed people, Israel, had been without God’s Word for decades. It had been absent in their times of worship, in their homes, in their conversations, in their work place, and in their lives, AND NOBODY EVEN MISSED IT.
 
Over and over in the Old Testament, the Lord instructed Israel to build their lives around the Scriptures. They were to write portions of it on their door posts, read it daily, diligently teach it to their children, and make it a topic of conversation as they went about their day (Deut. 11:18-20). How could it be that God’s own people could be without God’s Word and not even miss it? No doubt the answer is through a growing neglect of the Scriptures, disinterest in spiritual things, and preoccupation with temporal things, resulting in a cold callousness toward the Lord. It’s a dangerous pattern and a dangerous place to be.
 
Could we today, who know Christ as Savior, come to a place where we have little or none of God’s Word in our lives and never even miss it? Absolutely,and it happens all the time. The same pattern that plagued Israel persists today. We are easily distracted and preoccupied with the temporal distractions of this world. Neglecting time in the Scriptures, or not applying it to our daily lives and conversations, can lead to a growing disinterest in the things of the Lord. It may be easier to see this in someone else’s life than in our own, but this danger is very real for all of us.
 
What should each of us do to avoid this from happening to us? The first thing is to be awakened to our need to make God and His Word preeminent in our lives. Just as Israel was to read it daily, constantly discuss it, and make it the central part of their worship, so it should be for us. This principle is just as needed today as it was for Israel. The Apostle Paul tells us to “hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love” (II Tim. 1:13). God’s Word in our lives is our life line to good spiritual health so “don’t leave home without it” and make it a topic of conversation with family and Christian friends. Finally, don’t neglect the place of worship where God’s Word is rightly divided and where the primary doctrines of grace are recognized to be found in the letters of the Apostle Paul.
 
https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/never-even-missed-it/
 
2 Kings 22:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
 
2 Kings 23:25 ¶ And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
 
2 Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
 
Deuteronomy 11:18 ¶ Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
 
2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
 
1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
 
1 Thessalonians 2:13 ¶ For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Covid vaccines may bring avalanche of neurological disease.

articles.mercola.com

( See also Dr. Stephanie Seneff , PHD , senior research scientist at M.I.T. for over five decades )

Have pleasant Monday, Treepers. Here are some classical guitar duo videos to enjoy . . .

NATIONAL WYOMING DAY

On May 24th, National Wyoming Day recognizes The Equality State.
The 44th state to join the union, Wyoming territory led the nation and the world in granting women the right to vote. In 1869, the Wyoming territorial legislature passed a bill allowing women the right and the governor signed the bill on December 10, 1869. Twenty years later, Wyoming would approve the first state constitution including women’s suffrage. They would be granted statehood in 1870.
In a vast open country where homesteaders had to rely on one another, man or woman, equality had real meaning, true grit. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming became a state.

Blast from the past…..

I was lucky enough to grow up during the age of Rock & Roll. Got to quite a few concerts.
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Steve Miller Band
Edgar Winter
Jethro Tull
Pink Floyd
Aerosmith
Marshal Tucker
Lynyrd Skynrd
and quite a few others. Missed Led Zeppelin. Well actually they missed me when they screwed us at their Indy concert and refused to play. That is except the drummer John Bonham who came out and gave an epic hour long drum solo for us. I don’t know how he walked off the stage when he was done.

I still listen to them all. Here is one of my favorites: Teenage Wasteland lyrics – Bing video

Blast from the past…..

THE DELIGHT OF DESPAIR
 
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” Rev. i. 17
 
It may be that like the apostle John you know Jesus Christ intimately, when suddenly He appears with no familiar characteristic at all, and the only thing you can do is to fall at His feet as dead. There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awfulness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair; if you are ever to be raised up, it must be by the hand of God.
 
“He laid His right hand upon me.” In the midst of the awfulness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. The right hand not of restraint nor of correction nor of chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it is ineffable peace and comfort, the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms,” full of sustaining and comfort and strength. When once His touch comes, nothing at all can cast you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, and to say – “Fear not.” His tenderness is ineffably sweet. Do I know Him like that?
 
Watch some of the things that strike despair. There is despair in which there is no delight, no horizon, no hope of anything brighter; but the delight of despair comes when I know that “in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” I delight to know that there is that in me which must fall prostrate before God when He manifests Himself, and if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I get to the limit of the possible.
 
Oswald Chambers
May 24th Devotional

https://twitter.com/FeliksJD_/status/1396597243910762496

Amazing View!
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Verse of the Day for Monday, May 24, 2021

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“And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:” 

Exodus 33:22 (KJV)

PRAYING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD

Father God, I now follow your command to put on the full armor of God, because my battle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the unseen world.

I first pray on the Belt of Truth that it may be buckled around my waist, may I be centered and encircled by your truth dear Lord. Hem me inside all that is true and right, and may I be protected and held up by the truth of your living word, in my Lord Jesus name.

I pray on the Breastplate of righteousness, please protect my vital organs and my inner man, cover my integrity, my spirit, and my soul. Guard my heart for it is the wellspring of life, please strengthen and guard the most vulnerable places in my life with that which is right, good, and noble that I might not receive a fatal blow from the enemy, in my Lord Jesus name.

I pray on the Gospel Shoes of Peace. I choose to stand in the shoes of your good news, and on the firm foundation of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the solid eternal rock. All other ground is sinking sand, I pray that I will not slip or fall, but that my feet would be firmly fitted on your lordship, my Lord Jesus. I choose to stand on you, so that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus, the eternal Rock of Ages. I receive your holy peace now my Lord, from the sole of my feet to the crown of my head, in my Lord Jesus name.

I pray the Shield of Faith into my hand now. As I take up the shield of faith, I ask that you might extinguish every dart and arrow, that is launched from the enemy to take me down spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and every attempt of the enemy to destroy my joy. I ask that my faith in you would make it flame out. Extinguish every flaming arrow that would come against me, my life, my family, my home, or my ministry. May my faith always be out in front of me like a shield. Give me the courage to “faith my fears” by choosing to walk by faith and not by sight, in my Lord Jesus name.

I pray on the Helmet of Salvation, that you might protect my mind from the thoughts that can lead me astray. I choose to take every thought captive, and arrest all intentioned ideas and motives that would harm others, or distract me from your holy will for me. I submit every captured thought to the Lordship of my Lord Jesus Christ, and ask that you would imprison those thoughts that are not of you my Lord. Transform my mind and renew my thinking that I may think God thoughts, and have a sober mind that is focused on your glory. Please protect me from being double minded that I may allow my mind, I reject to live an earthly life, because I choose to live a holy one, governed by you My Lord Jesus, the prince of peace, please have my mind to be saturated with the holy mind of Christ, in my Lord Jesus name.

Finally, I take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the holy word of God, I pray this powerful offensive weapon into my hand, and ask that your holy word would be fitting for every encounter I face. As the enemy gets close to me, please give me the insight, wisdom, and skill to wield the word of God to drive away the enemy, in my Lord Jesus name.

May the enemy and his team flee from me, upon hearing the word of God spoken by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit. Give me the sword of the spirit to cut through the wiles of the devil, so that I may discern the schemes of the enemy when he is near.

With all kinds of prayers, supplication, and intercession I pray to you my Lord God as the one who fights my battles. Now that I’m in your holy powerful armor, I walk away covered and ready to face my day as you go before me, and please protect me in the midst of the spiritual warfare in this unseen world, in my Lord Jesus name.

Thank you my Lord, for the spiritual weapons of armor and prayer that you have given me. It is written no weapon formed against me shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses me.

Thank you Father God, my Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that I am more than a conqueror in my Lord Jesus. I pray all of this in the mighty name of my Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.

. . . but deliver us from the Evil One.

The Jesus Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

The 50th Psalm Septuagint (Psalm 51 KJV).

Prayer of Saint Ioannikios the Great of Bithynia (+ 846)

My hope is the Father, my refuge the Son, my protection the Holy Spirit. O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee.

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Monday of the Fourth Week of Pascha

The Dye is cast.

My husband got the Pfizer jab a couple of weeks ago. Not me. I’ve been seeing increasing numbers of articles about the side effects and “shedding.” No point in passing them on to him at this point. Also no point in me reading them. My adult kids also decided to get a vaccine. So there is not a damned thing to be done.

Funny that we spent the past 15 months masking, social distancing, closing businesses, quarantining, washing, sanitizing, To stay safe from the “pandemic,” only to find out that the “cure” may be more deadly.

The Dye is cast. Now we wait and see.

“98% of American Churches are Goats”

Yikes! Can’t say I disagree with what the good pastor is saying. Yes we are in tribulation right now. Some will see it some will not. The ones who are the hard core skeptics are expecting and are waiting for brimstone as being proof. Remember “thief in the night? Some will not understand some will, and the Churches are about me, which is why I am done with them.

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan. Incredibly, he turns 80 today.

The Dylan catalogue of songs is universal and is the most covered music of our times. If you are so inclined to take a journey into Dylan, tune in today to WUMB (public radio station out of Boston). In celebration, WUMB is programming an all day dive into the music of Dylan – playing Dylan and those that cover Dylan.

https://www.wumb.org/home/index.php

Enjoy.

The left is the home of modern-day, and past, racism. Shakespeare offered his own take in The Merchant of Venice, and not only in the Shylock scenes. https://abardseyeview.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1763&action=edit

Saints Cyril (+ 869)
and Methodios (+ 885), Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles

They were brothers from Salonica. They were missionaries among the Khazars and the Slavic peoples. After preaching the Holy Gospel among the Slavs, they returned to the Imperial City of Constantinople and compiled a Slavuc alphabet of 38 letters and they translated service books from Greek into Slavonic. The brothers also labored in Moravia. After their deaths, their disciples continued the work among the Slavs in the south and in Macedonia.

They are commemorated today, May 11th on the traditional Calendar of the Orthodox Christian Church and May 24th on the civil or commercial calendar.

Interesting.

lilbirdee12’s prayer:

Our Heavenly Father, Your children come to you tonight to ask for healing and peace throughout our country so that we may return to being One Nation Under God. Guide us to be leaders in Your Kingdom, spreading Your Love and Salvation to all. Forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil.

Lord, we ask for a blanket of protection over all our troops and law enforcement who serve to defend and protect us. Bless our representatives with the strength and wisdom they need to achieve the path You have chosen for us.

Please place Your Guardian Angels of Protection around Donald Trump and his family as they seek to lead America back to You. Also, we pray for Angels to protect and support our Sundance as he works for justice and peace. 

Grant us patience, Lord, as the evil ones try to anger us and cause us to fall.
Spread blessings over Israel and Netanyahu.

We humbly ask that You please comfort those who are grieving and in pain.
Thank you Father, for Your Love and the gift of Life.

In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Squatters in the White House are leaking to traditional leftyuniparty media that Xiden will meet Putin shortly. What is left of Lenin has more life. https://112.international/politics/biden-putin-to-most-likely-meet-in-geneva-61632.html

✝️ Lord, thank You for the day. Amen.