how can I keep from singing?

Hallelujah!
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in its maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in dance, make music with tambourine and lyre.
For the LORD takes delight in his people, honors the poor with victory.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, cry out for joy on their couches,
With the praise of God in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands,
To bring retribution on the nations, punishment on the peoples,
To bind their kings in shackles, their nobles in chains of iron,
To execute the judgments decreed for them—such is the glory of all God’s faithful.
Hallelujah!

psalm 145

How Can I Keep From Singing - Audrey Assad - YouTube 

My life flows on in endless song; Above earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn, That hails a new creation;

Thro' all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing;

It finds an echo in my soul—How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comforts die? The Lord my Saviour liveth; 

What tho' the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm, While to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin; I see the blue above it;

And day by day this pathway smooths, Since first I learned to love it,

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his—How can I keep from singing?

How Can I Keep from Singing? - Wikipedia

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Luke 7: 36-50: “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages* and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” 

Luke 7: 36-50 

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Hole, William, 1846-1917 [Public domain]

image by Sharon Tate Soberon

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psalm 51

For the leader. 

A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him 

after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 

I

Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love;
in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions.
Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me. 

Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment.

Behold, I was born in guilt,
in sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, you desire true sincerity;

and secretly you teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

You will let me hear gladness and joy;

the bones you have crushed will rejoice.

II

Turn away your face from my sins;

blot out all my iniquities.
A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God,
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.
Lord, you will open my lips;
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
For you do not desire sacrifice or I would give it;
a burnt offering you would not accept.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.

III

Treat Zion kindly according to your good will;

build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will desire the sacrifices of the just,
burnt offering and whole offerings;
then they will offer up young bulls on your altar. 

image by New Life Church Collingwood

Psalm 51-1 | New Life Church Collingwood | Flickr

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Jesus is the light of the world

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 
john 8:12

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." 
matthew 7: 13-14

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sin

when we adopted our rescue cat nicholas from the shelter, we picked him because he looked like he needed a friend--"grumpy cat". he was in the back of his cage. I touched his blanket. nicholas pulled his blanket back, i.e. "don't touch that". Jenny has been a cat person all of her life. there's no one better to deal with a cat with an attitude than Jenny. 

nicholas is young and rambunctious. he tears around the house, jumps onto furniture, knocks stuff on the floor, etc. we don't discipline nicholas. he's a cat. he doesn't speak our language and we don't speak his. that's not to say that Jenny doesn't talk to nicholas. she tells him not to jump on the table, kitchen counter, etc.--in a "conversational" tone rather than an angry tone. amazingly, nicholas gets it. he seems to understand that tearing around the house, slamming into things, jumping on the table, etc. are no-nos. 

sin is defined as an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. divine law is God's law. how can we know God's law? there's the bible. there's our conscience. but, who really knows God's mind? could it be that God considers some of our actions as "learning experiences" rather than an "immoral act" and/or a "transgression" against His "divine law"? 

sometimes the church "pontificates"--quick to tell us what are immoral acts and transgressions against God's divine law. we know what the bible says about that:
"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
john 8:7

image by Kahunapule Michael Johnson

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1 john 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

image by Scripture As Art

1 John 1:9 | If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just… | Flickr

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abortion

recently I reconnected with an old high school buddy. eventually, the subject of politics came up. I discovered that my old high school buddy is a "dyed in the wool" liberal democrat. 

I'm neither republican nor democrat. I believe that george washington's prediction that political parties could be the undoing of our country has come true. 

hillary clinton said during the 2016 campaign for POTUS that a baby can be killed as long as the baby hasn't exited the birth canal. but for a few inches and a couple of minutes, the child goes from being not protected from murder by law to being protected from murder by law. does this make sense to you? 

I am not an apologist for the catholic church. on the contrary, I believe that had my parents been able to know what was going on in the catholic church during my lifetime, then my siblings and I wouldn't be catholic today. I consider myself Christian--not catholic. 

both my high school buddy and I had daily religion class all through grade school and high school. it's a mystery to me how my old friend, who had the same catholic education that I did, doesn't think that abortion is murder. however, I didn't need the catholic church for me to know that abortion is murder. just a bible, God-given intellect and a conscience. 

from 1970 through 2015, 45,789,558 abortions have been reported to the CDC. (Abortion statistics in the United States - Wikipedia) as of july 1, 2018, california, our most populous state, had an estimated population of 39,557,045. (List of states and territories of the United States by population - Wikipedia) can you imagine more than the entire population of california being killed by abortion?

I don't condemn those women who had abortions. I'm a sinner--a grievous sinner. only God knows what's in our hearts. I do know that our merciful Lord, the spotless Lamb of God, took the just punishment for our sins upon Himself so that we could be worthy to enter the kingdom of God. if we are sorry for our sins and beg for God's forgiveness, then our merciful God will forgive us. 

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can you imagine the joy in heaven?

Jesus ascending to heaven

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John Singleton Copley [Public domain]

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luke 17: 11-19: "your faith has saved you."

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

luke 17: 11-19 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Healing_of_Ten_Lepers_(Gu%C3%A9rison_de_dix_l%C3%A9preux)_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg  

James Tissot [Public domain] 

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revelation 19: 11-16: "King of kings and Lord of lords"

Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness. His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name inscribed that no one knows except himself. He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty. He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” 

revelation 19: 11-16

image by Rex Morache

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Battle Hymn Of The Republic with Lyrics - YouTube

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letter to God

what if, after we die, we have to write a letter to God entitled "what I learned during my life"? kind of like the letter that college applicants write when they apply for admission. 

here's my draft:

Dear God,

I learned many things during my life. 

in the beginning my "world" was small--me, my mom, my dad, my older sister, close relatives (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins). my parents fed me, clothed me, changed my soiled diapers. they loved me. 

it wasn't long before I learned about "free will". I realized that I could be good or I could be bad (later my mom told me that it's called the "terrible twos"). I learned that my sisters and brother have "free will" too. 

when I began school my "world" grew. I learned that my classmates and friends have "free will". I learned that the older that I got, the harder it was for me to "be good". too often I chose to "be bad".

in school I learned about our planet, the sun, other planets in our solar system, other stars, other galaxies, the universe, and many other things. I learned more about You. I learned that You made everything that exists, ever existed, or will exist. I learned that You made me and that You want me to "be good" so that I can live with You forever in heaven. 

after college I learned that being a good person is probably the most difficult thing that many of us will ever try to do. sometimes I was a good husband and sometimes I wasn't. sometimes I was a good example for my children and at other times I wasn't. sometimes I was a good friend, employee, coworker, Christian, child of God, and at other times I wasn't. the older that I got, the more that I realized how difficult it is for me to "be good" at work and at home. many times I fail to "be good". 

in my later years I "relearned" what I should have "known" since before grade school. that there's hope for those who, like me, have chosen to "be bad". that You sent Your only Son to take the just punishment for my sins upon Himself, and die a horrible death, so that I could live forever with You in heaven.

I'm sorry, God, for having chosen so many times to "be bad". thank You for loving me anyway. 

RIDING TO SOMERSET | Seth Werkheiser | Flickr

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Enchufla Con Clave [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

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God's sovereignty and majesty, our lack of faith and hardened hearts, God's love

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 141

Reading 1        HAB 1:2-3; 2:2-4
How long, O LORD? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.


Responsorial Psalm        PS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.


Reading 2        2 TM 1:6-8, 13-14
Beloved:
I remind you, to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me,
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit
that dwells within us.

Alleluia       1 PT 1:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of the Lord remains forever.
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel       LK 17:5-10
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/100619.cfm

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Nockels, Hymn with Lyrics, Contemporary) - YouTube  

Let All Things Now Living (Michael Card) - MVL - roncobb1 - YouTube 

Luke 17:10 | Sapphire Dream Photography | Flickr

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Jesus rescued me

I prefer extemporaneous prayer. Many times it begins unintentionally with a thought, a memory, sunrise, sunset, flower, mountains, ocean, etc. it then progresses to reflection, insight, and finally, prayer. 

I met Jenny in Jan. 1964. we were married in Nov. 1966. Jenny has had cats all of her life. when we lived in SC from 2004 to 2012 Jenny volunteered at a no-kill animal shelter.

The couple who found Mocha alone at the savannah national wildlife refuge brought him to the shelter where Jenny volunteered. the vet said that it appeared that declawed Mocha had been at the wildlife refuge with the resident alligators for about a week. after a week at the vet's, Jenny agreed to "foster" Mocha (in our case, "foster" means "adopt").

reflection:
Do animals experience fear? desperation? that death is near? I believe that they do. Can you imagine Mocha's fear and desperation during the week that he was on his own at the wildlife refuge?

insight: 
Jesus rescued us. like Mocha, our situation is desperate until Jesus comes along and rescues us. 

prayer: 
Jesus, thank You for rescuing me from my desperate situation--from guilt, fear, and the just punishment that I deserve for my sins. thank You for making it possible for me to live on with You forever in heaven. I pray this in Your Holy Name. Amen.

Mocha

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Jesus was crushed for our sins--now He wants us to forgive.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Death_of_Jesus_(La_mort_de_J%C3%A9sus)_-_James_Tissot.jpg

James Tissot [Public domain] 

"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  
luke 23: 34

“This is how you are to pray: 

Our Father in heaven, 

hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, 

your will be done,
on earth as in heaven. 

Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, 

as we forgive our debtors; 

and do not subject us to the final test, 

but deliver us from the evil one. 

If you forgive others their transgressions, 

your heavenly Father will forgive you. 

But if you do not forgive others, 

neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." 

matthew 6: 9-15

POWERFUL: Botham Jean's Brother Forgives, Offers Christ, and Embraces Police Officer Who Killed His Brother | CBN News 

Jesus was crushed, taking upon Himself the just punishment for our sins. 

now Jesus wants us to forgive others and ourselves. 

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