Today is Saturday, July 28, 2018. Day 22,052.
22 days until S turns 25!
“There are two kinds of light–the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.” ~ James Thurber, 1894-1961, The Quotations Page
The word for today is hypnopedia, “sleep learning.” It is the idea that people can learn while they sleep.
C is on her way to Denton, again. She had planned to take our dining room table and chairs up there in a rented pickup, but that just didn’t work out the way she planned. Instead, she’s going car shopping with R, who is thinking about trading in her current vehicle (paid off) for a “new” used car. C really enjoys this sort of thing, and it will be good “therapy” for her, so that she doesn’t think she wasted her Saturday. She is the kind of person who always needs to feel some kind of accomplishment on weekends. I am exactly the opposite of that. I prefer to do as much nothing as possible on weekends. We balance each other out pretty well.
I will be practicing a little bit later, probably after I go pick up our Click List and some lunch for S and me. I need to play through the songs for tomorrow, and then, perhaps, wrestle with my technology a bit more to see if I can get something recorded. My “teacher” is out of town on vacation, so he is not available this weekend.
The Red Sox pulled off a tenth inning walk off win, last night, beating the Twins 4-3, on a Mookie Betts home run. This puts their record at 72-33, remaining five games up in the AL East.
The Rangers beat the Astros 11-2. I’ll give you a few minutes to process that. I’ll even repeat it. The Rangers (43-62) beat the Astros (67-38, tied with the Yankees for second best in all of baseball), 11-2. This reminds me so much of the Rangers of the seventies. They couldn’t beat the teams they should beat, but would go nuts on the best teams, beating them with similar scores. Gallardo got the win, who has been their best pitcher, since they got him back, earlier this season. I’ve always liked him.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side— let Israel now say—
if it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 124
We have to be careful, in reading Psalms such as this one, to remember who wrote it and of whom it speaks. One key is in verse 1, “let Israel now say.” Israel is the only nation in history who could ever say, accurately, “The Lord is on our side.” There seem to be some people in the USA who believe that the Lord is on “our side.” That is a false statement. Just as it is false to say that the USA is a Christian nation. I have said this before in this blog, and will, most likely, say it again. There is no such thing as a “Christian nation.” If you think there is, you are just wrong. Only people can be “Christian.” Now, if you are a part of the family of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, no matter what nation you are from, then, yes, God is on our side. But I think it is more accurate to say that we are on God’s side, because I believe God is on God’s side.
I do believe that we can confidently proclaim verse 8, though, if we are part of the family of Christ-followers. “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”
(From The Finishing Touch, Charles Swindoll)
For the weekend reading, we are redirected back to yesterday’s topic, the incomprehensibility of God.
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8
What a great question is asked in verse 4! “What is man that you are mindful of him?” I have asked that about myself, numerous times. God, why do You even care about me?? You are so . . . “big” is not enough. Infinite. How can one be “so infinite?” Infinite needs no modifiers. It is impossible to be “very” infinite. One is either infinite or not. God is. I am not. Therefore, I cannot fathom how He could care so much for me.
“In a world consumed with thoughts of itself, filled with people impressed with each other, having disconnected with the only One worthy of praise, it’s time we return to Theology 101 and sit silently in His presence. It’s time we catch a fresh glimpse of Him who, alone, is awesome–yea, incomprehensible. He is our infinite, inexhaustible God. Any serious study of Him takes us from an unconscious to conscious awareness of our ignorance.
“The One we worship defies human analysis.”
Father, help me to get to a place where I can sit silently in Your presence for a while. I still haven’t managed to find that place, yet. Sure, I can have silence in this room, but there are still too many distractions, because, hey, I’m on the Internet while I do this. Facebook is open in one tab, my email is open in another. So, I may have audio silence, but not media silence. Show me a place where I can be solitary and silent before You for a while. I need this. Give me that fresh glimpse of Your awesomeness. I also pray for Your Church, that we may drift away from the world’s disconnectedness and habit of being impressed with itself. I am nothing before You! Who am I that You care for me, that You are mindful of me! I am Your child, and one who desires to follow Your Son more closely.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalm 33:22
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 