Today is Friday, August 17, 2018. Day 22,072.
TWO DAYS until S turns 25!!!!!
50 days until GALVESTON!!
“Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.” ~ Michael Crichton, 1942-2008, The Quotations Page
The word for today is corpocracy, “a society in which corporations have much economic and political power.” I’m just gonna leave that there.
Today is my second day off, this week, one of which was unplanned until my accident on Monday. Since I had already planned to be off today, to begin celebrating S’s big birthday, I made the appointment to drop off my car at 10:00, this morning. They’ll have a rental for me. I’m not sure which car we will take to Mineral Wells tomorrow. We may take C’s. I guess some of that depends on what kind of rental I get. I have no idea how long the repairs will take. That depends on what they uncover when they remove the bumper assembly. Personally, I thought the inspector’s estimate was a bit on the low side. But it is getting fixed at a Lexus dealership, so I have good confidence that it will be done right. And the other party’s insurance is responsible for the whole cost.
C plans to come home at lunch time. Then we will go to lunch at a place of S’s choosing. After that, we have pedicures scheduled for around 2:30 this afternoon. Guys, if you’ve never had a pedicure, you don’t know what you’re missing! Seriously. We may get our grocery order in and picked up this evening, or schedule it for early tomorrow morning, so we can get to Mineral Wells by noon tomorrow. Knowing us, we won’t make it quite by noon, but that can be our goal.
The weekend will be spent at Grandma’s house. We will not, however, be going over the river and through the woods to get there. It’s more like under a train bridge and through some “mountains.” Shut up. We call them mountains. They’re taller than the ground, so they’re mountains. Until you visit Wyoming. Then they’re more like mole hills.
The Red Sox were off last night. The Yankees weren’t though, and they lost to the Rays, so the Sox gain a half game, and are now ahead by 10.5 games! There are forty games left.
The Rangers beat the Angels, 8-6, and they turned a rare triple play. One source said that the type of triple play they pulled off had not been accomplished since 1912. Profar doubled up the runner at third (tagged him) and the runner at second (touched third base), then threw to second for the force at second. Just for good measure, Odor also tagged the runner coming from first. So, technically, they got four outs in the inning, as the runner at first was out twice. The batter was not retired. The Rangers are 54-69, and 21 games out in the AL West. Nineteen out in the Wild Card. 39 games to go.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted
Of David.
Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!
Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace;
may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!
Psalm 144
Hopefully, the only “war” and “battle” that the Lord is training me for is spiritual. I can proclaim, with David, that the Lord is my steadfast love, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, and my refuge. I receive great comfort and encouragement in knowing that God is all of these things to me.
Then, David asks, similar to Psalm 8, who are we, that You, O Lord, even think about us?? The very fact that Almighty God, Creator of the universe, cares at all for us puny, fragile humans, is astounding. We are, indeed, like a breath. When we are children, sixty years seems like forever. Suddenly, we are sixty, or eighty, or a hundred, should we be blessed to live that long, and it seems like fifteen was only yesterday. This all reminds me of a beautiful song by a group called Five for Fighting. The song is called “100 Years.”
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah.
May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.
Psalm 20
This is a great Psalm to pray for people you know and love, for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Dare we even pray such prayers for our enemies? Especially verse 5, “May we shout for joy over your salvation!” Take a moment and pray this Psalm for someone you know.
Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Psalm 96:1
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 34:1
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 62:8
These all look like positive statements, and, to a degree, they are. But consider, for a moment, applying them to times in your life when things don’t quite go the way you planned. Maybe you have a disturbed child who has attempted (or perhaps even succeeded) suicide. Maybe you have lost a close loved one sooner than expected. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you’ve gotten a frightening diagnosis. Can you say these things in those cases? We should be able to, because of all of the truths already proclaimed about the Lord. We should be able to “bless the LORD at all times.” ALL times. We’ve all heard the statement that has become a bit of a cliche: God is good, all the time.
We can trust in him at all times. ALL times. It is in the troubling times that we have to work harder to remember our faith, and to remember that our God is sovereign over everything. And everything that happens to us in this life is temporary. Maybe that’s the best thing for us to remember. No matter what it is, “this, too, shall pass.” Even if it is the dreaded cancer! It WILL pass, because there will come a day when this earthly life is over and we cross over into whatever comes next.
If we are walking in God’s Kingdom today, we have nothing to fear. We do fear, because we don’t trust perfectly. But, truthfully, we have nothing to fear. As Dallas Willard once said, because of our Father, “This world is a perfectly safe place for us to be.” Some would look at that statement and decide that he was out of his mind. No, he wasn’t. He had a bigger faith than anyone I have ever seen. He knew/knows God, our Father, and trust Him fully.
It’s a sort of decision. I will decide to bless the Lord at ALL times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Even when I’m standing on the side of the road next to a sixteen year old kid who has just rear-ended me. Even when my father dies from some strange, rare disease. Even when my daughter has autism and we don’t know what the future holds for any of us. I will trust in Him at all times. I will pour out my heart before Him. He IS my refuge.
Father, I praise You that I am able to say these things. I know that, from day to day, minute to minute, I don’t always reflect these statements. But my joy is in You, and I always come back to this place. I may stray from the path, but You and Your Spirit always nudge me (sometimes more of a shove) back to the center of the path. I will trust in You at all times. I will bless Your name at all times. Your praises shall continually be in my mouth. I will sing a new song to You! You are my refuge, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 