It all can be good !!!

What a vacation this has been!!!  Pennsylvania, New York and now New Jersey, all in one trip; WOW!!!  Many things have remained the same, some have changed for the better, others, not so much.  When we went to Valley Falls to visit Linda's family, we made sure to stop by our first home there.  Several years ago it had become run down and that was a downer.  This fall, I am glad to say its being fixed up again and somehow the idea of it being restored is very pleasant indeed.  Just around the corner from our old house used to be a little store called the "Curious Cat".  This picture could have been one from that store and I still remember that unique smell of collectibles as soon as you went through the front door.  Sometimes good things happen, sometimes not.  Here is one such occurrence...

Ruth, Chapter 1

 19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. It happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”

  20 She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  21 I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty; why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”  22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth, Chapter 4

 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son.  14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16 Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. 17 The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi;” and they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

It must have been so hard for Naomi to return home after losing her husband and sons.  Its no wonder she wanted to be called Mara!!!  But God had a plan and what a wonderful plan indeed!!! Eventually her daughter-in-law gave birth to a son; one whose grandson was one of the greatest kings of Israel!!!  God has a way of turning sorrow into joy and adversity into blessing.  I know, I have seen it over and over again in my own life.  GOD IS GOOD...VERY GOOD, INDEED!!!
 

Sept. 28 Psalms 112-114

Sept. 28

Psalms 112-114

Psa 112:1 Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.

Psa 112:2 His seed will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Psa 112:3 Wealth and riches are in his house. His righteousness endures forever.

Psa 112:4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, gracious, merciful, and righteous.

Psa 112:5 It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment.

Psa 112:6 For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.

Psa 112:7 He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh.

Psa 112:8 His heart is established. He will not be afraid in the end when he sees his adversaries.

Psa 112:9 He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.

Psa 112:10 The wicked will see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish.

 

Psa 113:1 Praise Yah! Praise, you servants of Yahweh, praise the name of Yahweh.

Psa 113:2 Blessed be the name of Yahweh, from this time forth and forevermore.

Psa 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, Yahweh's name is to be praised.

Psa 113:4 Yahweh is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens.

Psa 113:5 Who is like Yahweh, our God, who has his seat on high,

Psa 113:6 Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?

Psa 113:7 He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap;

Psa 113:8 that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

Psa 113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home, as a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!

 

Psa 114:1 When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language;

Psa 114:2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

Psa 114:3 The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.

Psa 114:4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.

Psa 114:5 What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?

Psa 114:6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams; you little hills, like lambs?

Psa 114:7 Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Psa 114:8 who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.

Sept. 28 2 Corinthians 8

Sept. 28

2 Corinthians 8

2Co 8:1 Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia;

2Co 8:2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.

2Co 8:3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,

2Co 8:4 begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.

2Co 8:5 This was not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.

2Co 8:6 So we urged Titus, that as he made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace.

2Co 8:7 But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace.

2Co 8:8 I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love.

2Co 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

2Co 8:10 I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing.

2Co 8:11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.

2Co 8:12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have.

2Co 8:13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed,

2Co 8:14 but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality.

2Co 8:15 As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack."

2Co 8:16 But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.

2Co 8:17 For he indeed accepted our exhortation, but being himself very earnest, he went out to you of his own accord.

2Co 8:18 We have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the Good News is known through all the assemblies.

2Co 8:19 Not only so, but who was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness.

2Co 8:20 We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us.

2Co 8:21 Having regard for honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

2Co 8:22 We have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he has in you.

2Co 8:23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ.

2Co 8:24 Therefore show the proof of your love to them in front of the assemblies, and of our boasting on your behalf.

Hebrews, Chapter 4

                      "THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS"

                              Chapter Four

Since many Israelites failed to enter their Canaan rest because of
unbelief, the author says we should fear lest we come short of our
promised rest:  heaven (1-10).  Diligence is also required,  and the
third of six warnings is given:  a warning against disobedience in
view of God’s living and powerful Word (11-13).  A positive motivation
is then given:  our great High Priest, Jesus, who enables us to obtain
mercy and grace as needed (14-16).

POINTS TO PONDER

   *  The Sabbath rest, the Canaan rest, and the heavenly rest

   *  The living and powerful Word of God

   *  The privilege of prayer with Jesus as our High Priest

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - The promised rest - He 4:1-10
   - A warning against disobedience - He 4:11-13
   - Our great High Priest - He 4:14-16

2) Since we have a promise of rest, why should we fear? (1)
   - Lest we come short of it

3) Why did the word fail to profit many Israelites? (2)
   - Because they did not have faith in what they heard

4) What three different "rests" are spoken of in this chapter? (4-10)
   - Sabbath rest (He 4:4), Canaan rest (He 4:8), Heavenly rest (He
     4:9-10)

5) What "rest" remains for us?  What is required of us to enter it?
   (10-11)
   - The heavenly rest; diligence, lest we disobey and fall like many in
     Israel

6) How is the word of God described in this chapter? (12)
   - Living and powerful
   - Sharper than any two-edged sword
   - Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit
   - A discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

7) To whom must we give account? (13)
   - The One who sees all

8) Why should we hold fast our confession? (14-16)
   - We have a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God
   - He sympathizes with our weaknesses, because He was tempted (though
     without sin)
   - We can approach God’s throne boldly, obtain mercy and grace in time
     of need