Reading To Hear

Today is Sunday, March 26, 2017. EIGHT more days until Opening Day!

Quote of the Day

“If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues.” ~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Word of the Day

Perpend ~ to reflect on carefully : ponder. Also, to be attentive : reflect.

Question of the Day

What is the “holy see?” (Answer at the end of the blog.)

Today is Purple Day. Besides being a pretty color (C’s favorite color, in fact), it’s a day set aside to increase awareness of epilepsy, ” a condition that affects over 65 million people globally.” Apparently, lavender is the international color for epilepsy, and also symbolizes solitude.

We had a nice day of not doing much of anything yesterday. It’s always good to have a day of rest.

This morning, we are getting ready for our worship gathering at The Exchange. We meet at 10:15 at the Northpark YMCA, at 9100 N. Beach Street in Fort Worth, TX.

I shall now perpend on some scriptures.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Psalm 111:10
that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 83:18
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. 
Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
Psalm 72:18-19
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Psalm 118:22
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! 
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! 
Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 
For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. 
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
Psalm 71:1-6
“Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep me both outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (The Divine Hours)

(From Living the Message)

“The Christian’s interest in Scripture has always been in hearing God speak, not in analyzing moral memos.”

That’s all there is to the reading. One sentence. But what a great sentence it is. I know people who pride themselves on their biblical knowledge. I used to be one of those. But that’s not why I read the scriptures any more. Don’t get me wrong . . . knowledge is good; knowledge is necessary. But it’s not the primary reason for reading the Bible. The primary reason for reading the Bible should always be to hear God speak.

The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
John 14:10B (The Message)

Father, help me listen for your voice when I read your words. Guide me more frequently into the “divine acts” that you have crafted in the words of Jesus, so that I may walk in his steps and do the things he says; that I may walk in his easy yoke. Teach me your ways, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

And for anyone who might stumble upon this blog today, I offer this sincere blessing:

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Grace and peace, friends.

Today’s trivia answer: The Vatican, jurisdiction of the Pope, etc.

More Than A Savior

“If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues.”~~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
(BrainyQuote)

Today’s word of the day, from Dictionary.com, is rupestrine, which means “living or growing on or among rocks.” I would like to think that this also applies to people of whom we say, “Do you live under a rock??”

Today is Absinthe Day. There’s a great deal of mystery surrounding this allegedly hallucinogenic alcoholic beverage. It seems to have been banned for a while, but is legal again. However, I’m not sure it’s quite the same as the drink that famously inspired Earnest Hemingway and Oscar Wilde. I would love to try it sometime, but a bottle costs in the neighborhood of $85. And I don’t think you’re supposed to just drink it straight. I have had some in a “Margarita” at our old favorite Mexican restaurant that closed. It was quite good, and tastes slightly of licorice. In days gone by, people who drank absinthe were said to be “chasing the green fairy.”

Yesterday was a pleasant work day. We got off work on time, which is always nice on a Friday. I picked up dinner at OC Burger (none of us had “burgers”) and brought it home, where we relaxed and watched Tuesday’s episode of The Voice. There were a few good auditions, but no one really remarkable. Except for maybe this girl named Emily Keener who performed a very interesting take on Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

Today, Christi and I are going to the North Texas Irish Festival. This event occurs on the first weekend of March, each year. I look forward to hearing some great Celtic music and sampling some delicious food. I may even buy stuff. Who knows? But not much. We don’t have room for much more stuff around here.

On this date in 1963, the Hula Hoop was patented. You can read the story at History.com.

Today’s birthdays include:

1133–Henry II, King of England
1713–Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury
1836–Charles Goodnight, American cattle rancher
1853–Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator
1887–Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer
1908–Sir Rex Harrison, English actor
1914–Philip Farkas, American horn player/teacher
1920–Virginia Christine, American actress
1922–James Noble, American actor, Benson
1927–Jack Cassidy, American actor, Mary Tyler Moore
1931–Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player
1936–Dean Stockwell, American actor, “Yog Sotthoth!”
1939–Samantha Eggar, English actress
1946–Murray Head, British actor and singer, Anthony’s brother
1948–Elaine Paige, English singer/actress, Cats
1948–Eddy Grant, Guyana-born singer, “Electric Avenue”
1954–Marsha Warfield, American actress, Night Court
1955–Penn Jellette, American comedian/magician
1958–Andy Gibb, English-born Australian singer
1959–David Fury, American TV writer/producer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1969–Paul Blackthorne, British actor, The Dresden Files
1974–Eva Mendes, American actress

Dean Stockwell is an actor that has played many roles, my favorite of which is probably that of Wilbur Whateley in the 1970 movie, The Dunwich Horror. He turns 80 years old today.

Crispus Attucks, David Dunbar Buick, Joseph Stalin, Sergei Prokofiev, Patsy Cline, Michael Jeffery, Jay Silverheels, Yip Harburg, John Belushi, and William Powell are among notable deaths on this date.

Patsy Cline died in a plane crash on this date in 1963.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

(From Praying With the Psalms)

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
Psalm 33:1-5

What is “praise?” Peterson defines it as “talking and singing happily about what God has done.” A very simple, but adequate, definition. It is appropriate language and music for human nature, and “it brings out the best in us even as it celebrates the best in God.”

“‘Let me, God, add my voice to all who praise you.
“Great praises are in the air!”
I recollect your word;
I observe your works;
everything is praiseworthy!
All praise to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!’
(Richard Eberhardt, ‘Great Praises’). Amen.”

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16

(From My Utmost For His Highest)

Today’s reading is “Is he Really Lord?”

if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus Acts 20:24

In the KJV, it is translated “so that I might finish my course with joy.” This prompts Oswald Chambers to briefly discuss the meaning of joy. He calls it “the perfect fulfillment of that for which i was created and regenerated, not the successful doing of a thing.” Isn’t that exactly the opposite of how most of us would define “joy?” But the desire of Paul’s heart, that which would give him joy, was the finishing of the course and ministry given him by Jesus.

This is the thing we look for when we desire to hear our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” when our lives have been completed. In order to do this, however, we must find our “niche” in life. We find this, spiritually, when “we receive our ministry from the Lord.” But in order to receive this, we must spend time in his company; “we must know Him as more than a personal Savior.” (Emphasis mine) This is where many Christians lose out. We get saved. Maybe we read our Bible occasionally, and even might go to church regularly. But if we do not spend time on our own with Christ, we will miss out on some marvelously fulfilling ministry opportunity.

Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” and then answers with, “Feed my sheep.” When we receive a ministry from Christ, we learn that the need is not the call; “the need is the opportunity. The call is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him.” And when this is received, it is okay to “ignore the demands for service along other lines.”

I also believe that this ministry can change, as the seasons of life change. I, personally, have experienced this, as my ministry changed from being a worship leader to being a prayer leader. I would also encourage those who don’t have this realization, yet. Stay in touch with Christ. He will reveal something to you, eventually.

Father, I thank you that you have use for me in your Kingdom. I pray for the discipline and inspiration from the Holy Spirit to accomplish that ministry, to be faithful to it. Lead me in the way that you have for me. Teach me your way, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. Help me to abide in Christ, daily.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace, friends.