matthew 1: 18-25, Yeshua saves

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus. 

matthew 1: 18-25 

Blest Be The Lord By Dan Schutte - YouTube 

what an incredible gift from our Father Yahweh and His Son Yeshua! Yeshua took the just punishment for our sins upon Himself so that we may have eternal life with our Creator Elohim in heaven! what does Elohim ask for in return for Elohim's incredible gift of eternal life in heaven? 

1. Elohim wants our thanks.
2. Elohim wants us to keep His commandments. 
3. Elohim wants our love.
4. Elohim wants us to love others.
5. Elohim wants us to be sorry for our sins.

not much--all things considered. Innocent Yeshua suffered incredibly in redeeming us from the just punishment for our sins. Yeshua was rejected, betrayed, unjustly tried, sentenced to death, tortured and died a horrible death nailed to a cross. what kind of love is this? love that, as long as we live on this earth, we will never be able to comprehend. 

note: "Yahweh, Yeshua and Elohim are ancient hebrew words. Yahweh (spelled Yod, Hey, Waw, Hey or YHWH) is the Father. Yeshua is the Son. Elohim means Mighty One (most often seen as God)." (from the book FAITH THAT IS HIS: WHEN YOUR BELIEF IS HEAVY, HIS FAITH IS LIGHT, 2019, by Tracy Huey.) 

image by Church Iglesia

Matthew 1-21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou sh… | Flickr

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john 10: 7-21: Yeshua is the gate

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

Again there was a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He is possessed and out of his mind; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one possessed; surely a demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

john 10: 7-21 


Are You Washed in the Blood? - YouTube

image by Church Iglesia

John 10-10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to… | Flickr

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"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." john 14: 15-18

"'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they understood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Matthew 16: 11-12

Italian bishops vote to change translation of the Our Father | Catholic Herald 
Here’s Pope Francis’ big change to the ‘Our Father’ 

what is this really all about? 

image by underminingme

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30228426@N03/2832163100

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one would think, after two thousand years, that the translation would be correct. after all, what could be more important than the prayer that Jesus Himself taught to His followers when they asked Him how they should pray? 

the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) is the current bible used by the catholic church. http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

"... and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one." Matthew 6: 11-22 http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6 

"... and do not subject us to the final test." Luke 11: 4 
http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/11 

in catholic high school (1960-1964) we used the Jerusalem bible. it is not on the current list of approved translations. Approved Translations of the Bible 

"... And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One." Matthew - Chapter 6 - Bible - Catholic Online 

"... And do not put us to the test." Luke - Chapter 11 - Bible - Catholic Online 

wikipedia gives other translations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Prayer both Matthew and Luke in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) say "... lead us not into temptation ...".

"1928 Episcopal BCP (with doxology);[15] Catholic version (without doxology)[16] Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [The 1928 BCP adds: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.]

1662 Anglican BCP[17] Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil: When before the Collect the priest alone recites the prayer, the people here respond: Amen. When after all have communicated the people repeat each petition after the priest, the prayer ends: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen. 

Other English translations are also used. ... All these versions are based on the text in Matthew, rather than Luke, of the prayer given by Jesus:

Matthew 6:9–13 (English Standard Version, ESV) "Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

so, what gives? why would bishops think that it's necessary to tweak the translation of the Lord's prayer after 2,000 years? pride? idle minds? one would think that for at least the last several decades that they would have more important things to do--like ridding the church of sexually abusive priests and bishops that cover it up, vatican bank scandals, etc. or is it deliberate obfuscation?

"'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they understood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Matthew 16: 11-12

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Lord%27s_Prayer_(Le_Pater_Noster)_-_James_Tissot.jpg

James Tissot [Public domain]

 

divine praises

Blessed be God—Elohim--one God—three Persons.
Blessed be Elohim's holy name.
Blessed be Yahweh--God the Father.
Blessed be Yahweh's Holy Name.
Blessed be Yahweh's creation--everything that exists, ever existed or will exist--all of Yahweh's creation is good—including humans.
Blessed be Yahweh's sovereignty, His supremacy, His majesty.
Blessed be Yahweh's wisdom, justice, mercy and love—all of which work together completely and perfectly in a way that we cannot comprehend.
Blessed be Yahweh's only Son--Yeshua.
Blessed be Yeshua's holy name.
Blessed be Yeshua's conception—by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Myriam--the Blessed Virgin Mary.  
Blessed be Yeshua's holy birth—in a stable, in Bethlehem.
Blessed be Yeshua's private life in the home of Myriam and Joseph, during which He grew in wisdom and strength.
Blessed be Yeshua's public life during which He performed miracles, taught and proclaimed the kingdom of God.
Blessed be Yeshua's horrible passion and death during which the innocent Lamb of God redeemed us from the just punishment for our sins.
Blessed be Yeshua's glorious resurrection.
Blessed be Yeshua's glorious ascension—He sits at the right hand of the Father and judges the living and the dead.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, third Person in the Trinity.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit’s holy name.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit conceiving Yeshua in the womb of the Myriam--Blessed Virgin Mary.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit at Yeshua's birth—in a stable, in Bethlehem.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit during Yeshua's private life, during which Yeshua grew in wisdom and strength in the home of Myriam and Joseph.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit during Jesus’ public life—particularly at Yeshua's baptism in the jordon river at the beginning of His public ministry and Yeshua's transfiguration with Moses and Elijah at mount tabor towards the end of His public ministry.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit descending upon the disciples, giving them grace, courage and strength to spread Yeshua's gospel to the ends of the earth, as Yeshua commanded them to do.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit’s promise to be with the faithful until the end of time.
Blessed be Myriam, mother of Jesus.
Blessed be her holy name.
Blessed be Myriam’s Immaculate Conception in the womb of St. Anne, her mother.
Blessed be Myriam's holy birth.
Blessed be Myriam’s complete and perfect devotion and obedience to God at the annunciation when she learned that she would be the mother of the Messiah, despite not knowing how this would come to be, or the sorrows that she would suffer because of her yes.
Blessed be Myriam’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth during their pregnancies.
Blessed be Myriam’s great prayer, the Magnificat. “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Blessed be Myriam giving birth to Yeshua—in a stable, in Bethlehem.
Blessed Myriam’s and Joseph’s complete and perfect devotion and obedience to God as they presented their firstborn male son Yeshua at the temple for circumcision--according to Hebrew custom and law.
Blessed be Myriam during Yeshua's private life—she fed Him, she clothed Him, she took care of Him when He was sick, she taught Him, she prayed with Him—as He grew in wisdom and strength.
Blessed be Myriam’s complete and perfect devotion and obedience to God during Yeshua's public life. 
Blessed be Myriam in her sorrow during Yeshua's horrible passion and death when Yeshua was rejected, betrayed, falsely accused, falsely tried, falsely sentenced to die, tortured and died nailed to a cross. Only Myriam and John of Yeshua's closest followers stood at the foot of the cross while Yeshua suffered and died.
Blessed be Myriam’s glorious assumption into heaven.
Blessed be Myriam’s glorious coronation as queen of heaven and earth.
Blessed be St. Joseph.
Blessed be his holy name.
Blessed Joseph’s complete and perfect devotion and obedience to God during Yeshua's private life—he provided shelter for Him, he fed Him, he clothed Him, he taught Him, and he prayed with Him as Jesus grew in wisdom and strength.
Blessed be Joseph’s complete and perfect devotion and obedience to God as he took Myriam into his home as his wife, took Yeshua and Myriam to Egypt when Herod was trying to kill Yeshua and brought Myriam and Yeshua back to Galilee when God told him that it was safe for him to do so.
Blessed be Joseph during Yeshua's private life--he provided shelter, food and clothing for Yeshua. he taught Him. he prayed with Him. he loved Him--as Yeshua grew in wisdom and in strength.
blessed be God in all his angels and saints.
Amen. 

Holy God we praise thy name - YouTube

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isaiah 53

Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye,
no beauty to draw us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by men,
a man of suffering, knowing pain,
Like one from whom you turn your face,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our pain that he bore,
our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted, 

But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
by his wounds we were healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way;
But the LORD laid upon him 

the guilt of us all. 

Though harshly treated, he submitted
and did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb led to slaughter
or a sheep silent before shearers,
he did not open his mouth. 

Seized and condemned, he was taken away.
Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
struck for the sins of his people.

He was given a grave among the wicked,
a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong,
nor was deceit found in his mouth. 

But it was the LORD’s will to crush him with pain.
By making his life as a reparation offering, 

he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,
and the LORD’s will shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his anguish he shall see the light;
because of his knowledge he shall be content;
My servant, the just one, shall justify the many,
their iniquity he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the many,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because he surrendered himself to death,
was counted among the transgressors,
Bore the sins of many,
and interceded for the transgressors. 

Isaiah 53 

"The traditional view is that all 66 chapters of the book of Isaiah were written by one man, Isaiah, possibly in two periods between 740 BCE and c. 686 BCE, separated by approximately 15 years..." Isaiah - Wikipedia 

Isaiah 53:2-5 | WC Ferrell | Flickr

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serenity prayer

mister bijou: Serenity Prayer 

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serenity prayer - Google Search

Serenity Prayer - Wikipedia 

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Where charity and love are, God is there.

Ubi Caritas - YouTube 

image by Sharon Tate Soberon

"Charity ~ The Love of God in us" | "Charity ~ The Love of G… | Flickr

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books

retirement can be a wonderful time... to explore... to learn... all of the things that I wanted to do when I was younger, but couldn't because I didn't have enough money or time. I had/have a family and responsibilities that go with it--full time student, full time husband, full time father, full time job, friends, sports, TV, etc. add sleeping and eating and a seemingly unending list of things to do, and there just wasn't enough time.

now there's time--to explore and to learn. my daughter gave me an amazon fire e-reader for christmas (Previous Generation (7th) Fire 7 - Amazon Official Site - 7" Tablet). it's taken me a few months to "learn the ropes". I enrolled in kindle unlimited (How to use Kindle Unlimited: 1 million ebooks for $9.99 a month - Business Insider). I now have a virtually unlimited number of books to read... here are some that I recommend:

1.  the bible (#1 christian book).
2. The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together: Jared C. Wilson: 9780801018954: Amazon.com: Books 
3. Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You - Kindle edition by John Burke, Don Piper. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
4. Faith That Is His: When your belief is heavy, His faith is light. - Kindle edition by Tracy Huey. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. 
5. Increase Your Faith: 75 Powerful Teachings of Jesus Christ for Your Spiritual Growth (Book 1 of 4) - Kindle edition by Raj K Ashok. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
6. Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life - Kindle edition by Eric Greitens. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. 
7. Amazon.com: Leonardo and Gabriel eBook: Tim Tigner: Kindle Store 
8. A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century - Kindle edition by Paul Kengor. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

I intend to add books to this list in the future.

image by Tito & Eva Marie Balangue

76: Daily Inspirational Bible Verse | Psalm 130:5 ----------… | Flickr

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what the bible says about abortion

"God knows the preborn child. "You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret" (Psalm 139:13,15). God also helps and calls the preborn child. "You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God" (Psalm 22:10-11). "God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace" (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15).

Scripture repeatedly condemns the killing of the innocent.

This flows from everything that has been seen so far. God’s own finger writes in stone the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17) and Christ reaffirms it (Matthew 19:18 - notice that He mentions this commandment first). The Book of Revelation affirms that (unrepentant) murderers cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (Revelation 22:15).

The killing of children is especially condemned by God through the prophets. In the land God gave his people to occupy, foreign nations had the custom of sacrificing some of their children in fire. God told His people that they were not to share in this sin. They did, however, as Psalm 106 relates: "They mingled with the nations and learned their works…They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshed" (Psalm 106:35, 37-38)." 
https://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/4376-the-bibles-teaching-against-abortion


Alabama abortion ban law 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:March_for_Life,_Washington,_D.C._(2013).JPG

Miss.Monica.Elizabeth [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

we are all God's children.

God loves all of his children. 

God wants us to love all God's children.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” 

 Matthew 22: 36-40 

imagine heaven

Amazon.com: Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (9780801015267): John Burke, Don Piper: Gateway 

"Jesus's youngest disciple, John, had a vision of Heaven recorded in Revelation. Brad is describing the great wall and the beauty surrounding the City that John wrote about: 'And [the angel] carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem....It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates....The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of special stone....The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp' (Revelation 21:10-12, 19, 23)."

"I used to think the descriptions in Revelation were purely metaphorical. While I still think much is symbolic, when so many NDErs (even blind ones) describe the same supernatural beauty John described, you have to wonder! If it's true, imagine how awesome, how intriguing beautiful, how much like earth Heaven will feel, and yet so much more alive, all of it vibrant, colorful, infused with the very light and life of God permeating everything."
Imagine Death, chapter 8 

Brad Burrows, blind since birth, experienced his near-death experience (NDE) at age eight.

engineer, pastor and author John Burke combines research into near-death experiences with quotes from the bible to imagine heaven. it's a book well worth reading. 

1 Corinthians 2:9 - Mike Evans | But, as it is written, “Wha… | Flickr

here

"why am I here?" good question. but, before one can tackle this question, there's another, even more basic, question: "where's here?"

"here" is the universe--HUGE, complex and VERY, VERY old. here's what we know:
The Universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy.Wikipedia

Mass (ordinary matter): At least 10 to the 53rd power kilograms
Age (within Lambda-CDM model): 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years
Main contents: Ordinary (baryonic) matter (4.9%); Dark matter (26.8%); Dark energy (68.3%)
Diameter: Unknown. Diameter of the observable universe: 8.8×1026 m (28.5 Gpc or 93 Gly)
Shape: Flat with only a 0.4% margin of error
Estimated size: The observable Universe is, of course, much larger. According to current thinking it is about 93 billion light years in diameter. 

WOW! 

• "Mass (ordinary matter): At least 10 to the 53rd power kilograms". 1 kilogram = 2.20462262185 pounds. that would be about 2,204,622,621,850,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds. planet earth's mass (in kilograms) is 5.9736 times 10 to the 24th power. so, the universe's mass is about 167,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times planet earth's mass. WOW!
• 13,799,000,000 years old. WOW!

I could go on... but, what's the point? the universe's size and age are immensely difficult--if not, impossible--to grasp. which leads us to the question: "where did the universe come from?" the short answer is that we don't know. 

a popular theory is the "BIG BANG". What Is the Big Bang Theory? | Space all of the matter and energy in the universe, contained in an incredibly small space, exploded 13,799,000,000 years ago into the expanding universe that we know today. WOW!

however the universe came to be, we know that it's magnificent--which leads us back to the question "why are we here?" 

all of us know that, in our world, something doesn't come from nothing. we know that, within the universe, it takes matter or energy to create matter or energy. the short answer to the question "why are we here?" is that we're here because we were born. for most of us, an egg from a woman was fertilized by a sperm from a man and, about 9 months later, we were born.

anthropologists say that between 5,000,000 and 7,000,000 years ago, apelike creatures in Africa began to walk on two legs. it's commonly believed that recorded history began about 5,000 years ago. for everything that happened before 5,000 years ago, we don't have a written record of what happened. needless to say, it's a LONG time between 5,000 years ago and 13,799,000,000 years ago! (it wasn't until the invention of the printing press, believed to be sometime in the 1440s--about 580 years ago--that written records began to proliferate.) 

some of the oldest written records are the dead sea scrolls--which contain most of the books of the Hebrew Bible. the dead sea scrolls date from 408 BC to 300 A.D.--the oldest being about 2,400 years old. the Hebrew Bible definitively states that God created the universe and God created us. 

does anyone have a better explanation?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA-HS201427a-HubbleUltraDeepField2014-20140603.jpg

NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI) [Public domain]