What hath God wrought?

On May 24, 1844, the line was officially opened as Morse sent the famous words "What hath God wrought" from the Supreme Court chamber in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to the B&O's Mount Clare Station in Baltimore.

Inquiring for Insight

As I inquired for insight the word came "Pretending to be mad".

Filioque

Now is see both views.  Today's 'random' includes John 15:26-27.

²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Meditation of my heart

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

What do we do?

What do we do?

Believe
John 6:29
Ask
Luke 11:9-13

Let Him guide
John 16:13

and let His light shine
John 13:35

“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Mark 4

with the answer in

Isaiah 8

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

The delayed prayer request

Last night at men's group there was no specific prayer request that came to mind when it was mine turn to speak.

The prayer request comes through in this morning's 'random' -

Psalm 143



Here is the NT also.

Crying out

Its all about Him

Moses spoke of him

Deut 18:15-22

and His praise is unending

Rev 4:11

When I complain

Jeremiah
12 Righteous are you, O Lord,
    when I complain to you;
    yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
² You plant them, and they take root;
    they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.

^{Hebrews 8:10} For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
    and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.

What Does the Lord Require?

What Does the Lord Require?

⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6

Whose Son Is the Christ?

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^{Mark 12:35} And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,    until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

Light and darkness

Isaiah 45
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
 I call you by your name,
    I name you, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶ that people may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
    I make well-being and create calamity,
    I am the Lord, who does all these things.


Revelation 18
⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and God has remembered her iniquities.

Incredibly Connected

⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. ¹⁰ Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, ¹² and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

Direction

Zechariah 13

1 On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

2 Peter 2

False Prophets and Teachers

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

An Interesting Juxtaposition

Today's random had several things that stood out to me.

• 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. ³ And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there.

King David had moved the Ark of the Covenant, but left the tent behind.  First time that detail has registered.

The New Testament reading was the Hebrews "By Faith" chapter,  one that I dearly love.  Solomon is not mentioned in that list.  Makes sense, but it is the first time that detail has registered.

Believing because of miracles

1 Kings 17

Elijah Raises the Widow's Son

• ¹⁷ After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” ¹⁹ And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.” ²² And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. ²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” ²⁴ And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Luke 5

• Jesus Calls the First Disciples

  5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ² and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Between the agony and the ecstasy.

It is in between the cross and the Resurrection.  Random for today is Psalm 32 and Revelation 12.

• 32 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
      whose sin is covered.
  ² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
      and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
  ³ For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
      through my groaning all day long.
  ⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
      my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
  ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to you,
      and I did not cover my iniquity;
  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
      and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
  ⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly
      offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
  surely in the rush of great waters,
      they shall not reach him.
  ⁷ You are a hiding place for me;
      you preserve me from trouble;
      you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
  
• ^{Rev 12:11} And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

The end of March

The greatest commandment

Got a favorite today so I am sharing -

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Psalm 43 is a favorite also.

What you think and what you say.

Paul walked in grace in Athens. 

• ^{Act 17:16}  Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

but this is what he said -

• ^{Acts 17:22} So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, being ⁾Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸ for
  “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
  as even some of your own poets have said,
  “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
  ²⁹ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

That I may walk with You

¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

If not, believe because of the miracles.

With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
 with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.


“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Inquire of the Lord

Micah 4

¹¹ Now many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
¹² But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
Mark 9

⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

When your hour comes

Love God with all your heart.

Ezra 8

John 13

Call to Ministry

Show me your ways

Sometimes in the thick of battle we look down at ourselves and go "oh no!".  Then the Lord comes to our rescue, we look up at Him  "oh yes!".  Below are links to today's 'random' OT and NT chapters and some excerpts.

• 73 Truly God is good to Israel,
      to those who are pure in heart.
  ² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
      my steps had nearly slipped.
  ³ For I was envious of the arrogant
      when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
• ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The ins and outs of Babylon

There is a famine and Isaac heads into the land of the Philistines,  which is sort of a Babylon.

In Revelation 18 we read
 ⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
   “Come out of her, my people,
   lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
   and God has remembered her iniquities.

Reminded me of a book I read recently.

Every decision is from the Lord

Gave the 'random' a wholehearted button push with the belief that every decision is from the Lord.

Can you see the confirmation?

Comments to the FB post comments added post FB posting, if you know what I mean:

This is a test, if it were a real comment your name will be added instead of this test comment comment.

Meditations of my heart

Proverbs of the day  :    Proverbs 1
Psalm of the day:  Five times the month plus the day modulo 150 = Psalm 11

Random for today: -

Razzle dazzle love

Connecting the old and the new through the sequence   1 . 13,  and we are loving it.

Perhaps we can figure this one out.  In heaven, how many aborted babies divided by how many barren women.   Be my guess that they are each going to have ten to twenty children apiece - but with no trouble attached!  Their children, their joy, will be fully grown.  Talk about heaven.

Many threads

It has been said that this life is like a tapestry viewed from beneath,  and that when our journey is complete we will see the other side.  Many threads coming together for God's glory.

We studied Glory at Monday night's men's group.   Thread one - we shared the first reference to glory in my ESV concordance - Exodus 24:16.   Exodus 24 was my 'random' for this morning.  Time to blog again.

Thread two - sitting with brother Bill who was the impetus for starting this blog.

Thread three -  the group was studying the chapters of John that are surrounding the last supper.

Thread four -  with a full reading for Exodus 24 - there is a picture of the Lord having supper with his followers in heaven.  Wow!

There are more threads,  but right now I'm just taking in the glory!  

Joanna might claim that my posts are cryptic -  and she'd be right!   Studying the first blog post it took me a while to realize that I was pointing out that

1 Timothy 4:4

is the reason we can claim that bacon is acceptable as food.  (and don't forget Acts 10:15 and Acts 15:20).  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Signs

Today's 'Random' is a sign.  Call it a Burma Shave day.  Can you see it?  What are the odds?

Courageous

The answer to the question net or gross.

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

double chill bumps

Posted this one of FB -  double chill bumps:

Do you have eyes to see?

The yokes on us

Have you ever seen a double yoke?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2028&version=ESV

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%206&version=ESV

Today's random was all about yokes.

Ambassadors For Christ

 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Happy New Year

 God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present help in trouble.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.