13 years alive

 
We're still at church, but thanks be to God for this anniversary.

102923

 

HAPPY CEMETERY SUNDAY I ACCIDENTALLY FASTED FOR 20 HOURS 😂

12PM SUPERFAST BK PREP

Homily = "our neighbor is the person most in need of our love"
Like Father Elston, he emphasized that LOVE DOESN'T ENABLE EVIL; IT OFFERS THE ONLY WAY OUT OF IT.

FINALLY EATING AT 330PM 😂
The eggs were SO FROZEN but that means they now have the BEST TEXTURE

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KVOTD = "Heaven is all about worship. This truth reminds us of the bigger reality, and of what our life is truly about... [Revelation] challenges us to daily play our part in God's grand plan & story. We are called to worship God, and we have a role in advancing God's Kingdom here on earth... we must live in a way that reflects His Love & Truth."
"We cannot fully understand heaven, but we can trust that it will be worth the wait."
I'm laughing though; he referenced the lightning, lamps, & crystal sea, BUT NOT THE LIVING CREATURES COVERED IN EYES, haha. Come on man, Halloween is Tuesday, if we're gonna worship ALL of God we can't ignore the polycephalic angels. They exist for God's Glory too!

BTW I was inspired to read some of Revelation 1, but the TPT translation... and oh my heart the COMMENTARY.
I kid you not it NEEDS ITS OWN FOCUSED ENTRY. The TPT usually does, honestly-- it is a blessed sword right between the ribs.

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Matthew Henry Commentary continues, verse 44!

FIRST I finally had the common sense to look up the GREEK of "He that believeth on Me," and the word is "εἰς"... which does NOT mean "on" BUT it DOES mean THIS =
"to or into (indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, purpose, result); properly, into (unto) – literally, "motion into which"; implying penetration ("unto," "union") to a particular purpose or result... of a place entered, or of entrance into a place, into; and a. it stands before nouns designating an open place, a hollow thing, or one in which an object can be hidden."
HOWEVER??? "If the surface only of the place entered is touched or occupied, εἰς may (often) be rendered on, upon, to mark the limit reached, or where one sets foot."
SO GEEZ WOW APPARENTLY BELIEVE "ON" ISN'T THE BEST TRANSLATION in the big picture??? I mean, yes, faith might begin by "touching the surface only," and indeed rightly so, in context, without the Holy Spirit poured out, and as a check against pride... BUT our faith MUST become "believing INTO Him," NOT just "on Him." We mustn't just "set foot" in faith & stand there complacent; we must MOVE FORWARDS, move beyond the surface, literally INTO Christ, into His Person, His Heart... and we can only do this by first letting Christ move into our open hearts, emptied of the self & the world, where His Word can now "be hidden" as the Psalmist prays, and where He can begin to enter into union with us... for the very purpose of enabling us to return the action. IT'S RELATIONSHIP, remember! Union is MUTUAL! Christ's Heart is ALREADY open to us, speared upon the Cross! Christ's Body is ALREADY a place where we can be hidden from evil, hidden in His hollowed-out Wounds! The Crucified Christ IS the Place & the Time where the Purpose of everything is brought to its ultimate Result, which is everything being "drawn unto Himself"-- the gravity of grace calling all Creation to finally "reach & enter that Point" upon which the very cosmos turns.
Lastly, I keep skipping the word "penetration" from the the knee-jerk scandal of such a term. And yet, what does the etymology say?
"to pierce into or through"... "to put or get into, enter into; cause to go into." This is related to penitus: "within, inmost, interior," penetralis: "penetrating; innermost;" penus: "innermost part of a temple, store of food," penarius "used for storing food;" Penates: "household gods." ALL are from penus/penoris "food, provisions," ... from PIE *penos "food" (source also of Lithuanian penėti "to feed")... "The semantic appurtenance to 'feed' is explained... as 'what one feeds with' ('food') > 'the place one feeds at' > 'interior, home'.""
...WELL.
Do you let His Word get into you? Do you put it into yourself? Do you let Him enter into your personal space? Does your faith cause you to go into His? Just how deeply DOES your faith pierce, into yourself AND into Christ? Is Christ the innermost part of YOUR Temple? Is Christ the God of YOUR household? Is Christ YOUR source of food & provisions? Whatever you eat, whatever you worship, wherever you live, these are your basic necessities, they are all linked, they affect the innermost parts of your body, your soul, your mind. Does your faith in Christ pierce through to these innermost aspects of your life? Does it pierce into, "εἰς," in union with Him, in moving towards Him, as a place to enter & be entered by, to hide in & keep hidden in your innermost, in your home of homes, in your hungry heart? And do we fix our eyes yet on the Cross & the Eucharist in ALL these aspects-- the ultimate union, the true food, the place of our rebirth, the hidden realities, the Source & Summit? Do we have faith INTO all of it?


"Now observe how our Lord Jesus delivered this parting word: he cried out. Doth not wisdom cry (Proverbs 8:1), cry without (Proverbs 1:20)?"
I have to pause here because of those references.
I and humbled to confess that my own understanding of "wisdom" is apparently BIBLICALLY FALSE. Those verses are ENLIGHTENING, both to the truth AND TO CHRIST.
What, exactly, DOES Wisdom shout? Pithy quotes? Inspiring insights? No, she LAYS DOWN THE LAW. "“Fools, how long will you love being ignorant? How long will you make fun of wisdom? How long will you hate knowledge?" She CONFRONTS THEM DIRECTLY ABOUT THEIR IGNORANT SINS. But then she says this= "‭I wanted to tell you everything I knew and give you all my knowledge, but you didn’t listen to my advice and teaching. I tried to help, but you refused to listen. I offered my hand, but you turned away from me... ‭Fools will call for me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me. That is because they hated knowledge. They refused to fear and respect the Lord. They ignored my advice and refused to be corrected. They filled their lives with what they wanted. They went their own way, so they will get what they deserve. Fools die because they refuse to follow wisdom. They are content to follow their foolish ways, and that will destroy them. But those who listen to me will live in safety and comfort. They will have nothing to fear.”
I'm pasting ALL of that so you can SEE HOW IT IS LITERALLY EVERYTHING JESUS CHRIST HAS BEEN SAYING IN JOHN'S GOSPEL!!!
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"The raising of his voice and crying intimate, 1. His boldness in speaking. Though they had not courage openly to profess faith in his doctrine, he had courage openly to publish it; if they were ashamed of it, He was not, but set His face as a flint. 2. His earnestness in speaking. He cried as one that was serious and importunate, and in good earnest in what he said, and was willing to impart to them, not only the gospel of God, but even his own soul. 3. It denotes his desire that all might take notice of it. This being the last time of the publication of his gospel by himself in person, he makes proclamation, "Whoever will hear me, let them come now." Now what is the conclusion of the whole matter, this closing summary of all Christ's discourses? It is much like that of Moses (Deuteronomy 30:15): See, I have set before you life and death." 
First: the simple yet huge statement that Jesus was never ashamed to say what He said. He never hesitated, never watered-down, never sugar-coated, never took back a single word. Why? Because everything He said was ABSOLUTE TRUTH FROM GOD, and it was ORDERED FOR SALVATION. There was nothing to be ashamed of! He spoke wisely, rightly, humbly, truly, with authority & knowledge & prudence, with mission & love, with pure motives & holy ends.
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Second: that criterion of truly earnest preaching of the Gospel, in that Christ spoke not just words, but His own Soul! I don't think we realize that about HOW He preached His Gospel. His Words were also spoken entirely of & from His Heart. He WANTED us to hear and believe, and that "wanting" was the same as His thirst from the Cross.
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Third: LIFE AND DEATH. The parallel is striking. Moses spoke those words after he tells Israel to "keep & obey the terms of their Covenant" with God, following His Laws, and explained what would happen if Israel did so, and what would happen if they refused to... and then he says THIS=
"‭For this commandment which I command you this day is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off... But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your mind and in your heart, so that you can do it."
And isn't THAT a powerful foreshadowing of Christ the Word, in the Gospel and Eucharist and Spirit?
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"By believing in Christ we are brought into an honourable acquaintance with God: "He that believes on Me, and so sees Me, believes on Him that sent Me, and so sees Him"... He that sees Me  (which is the same with believing in Him, for faith is the eye of the soul) sees Him that sent Me; in getting an acquaintance with Christ, we come to the knowledge of God, for God makes Himself known in the Face of Christ, Who is the express image of His Person. All that have a believing sight of Christ are led by Him to the knowledge of God, Whom Christ has revealed to us by His Word and Spirit... [thus] our faith does not terminate in Christ, but through Christ it is carried out to the Father that sent Him, to Whom we come as our end, by Christ as our Way."
I'm emphasizing this for "faith is the eye of the soul," and "he that believes in Me SO sees Me"; "seeing is the SAME AS believing." This is no new-age magical-thinking blather. This is SCRIPTURE. God is literally telling us that TO SEE HIM, we must BELIEVE IN CHRIST. It all feels endearingly like a Moebius strip. To believe in Christ, we must believe that He is from God, that He IS God, and when we do, we are able to SEE the Truth of Him AND God the Father THROUGH Him. I won't overcomplicate it with my own babble. But, what amazes me is the "getting an acquaintance with Christ." We must get to know His Face. That devotion has always been mysterious to me, yet I am always drawn powerfully to it. The very basic truth of it is staggering: God became a human being, and this IS His Face. That's ineffable.
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"Observe the comfort of Christians: They do not abide in darkness. They do not continue in that dark condition in which they were by nature; they are now light in the Lord. They were without any true comfort, or joy, or hope, but they do not continue in that condition; for light is now sown for them. Whatever darkness of affliction, disquietment, or fear, they may afterwards be in, provision is made that they may not long abide in it, and they are delivered from that darkness which is perpetual, and which abideth forever-- that utter darkness where there is not the least gleam of light nor hope of it."
This is, seriously, such a deep comfort to see written down. I struggle to accept that this IS real for me, too, as a Christian.
"Light is sown for me." I didn't do it; I couldn't-- God did. He planted these dazzling & deathless seeds, lit these blooming & ever-blazing lanterns. I have been GIVEN comfort & joy & hope, not as abstract concepts or vague aspirations, but IN A PERSON, in Christ Jesus, Who IS Light and Who has made me light in calling me to Himself-- into Himself, remembering our Greek lesson earlier. And now that I am so changed, it doesn't matter what darkness I may encounter or struggle through, because "it can't put out a single candle," not even a smoking flax, if Christ is the spark within it. Light banishes darkness by its very Presence, however small that point of Presence may appear. "Though I walk through the dark valley," my Shepherd is the Sun, and I fear no evil.
...That is why that tiny description of hell is so horrifying. Why is it hell? Because there is no hope of light. Oh, we can absolutely experience "hell on earth," when we lose the Light by sin, or when we have never known the Light to begin with... but as long as we live in this world, we have hope. Inexplicable, incredible, perhaps, but nevertheless, hope persists. Even in our darkest days, we CAN find a light somewhere. In disasters, we "look for the helpers," and we will find them. In tragedies, we will always find comfort & relief offered, even unexpectedly. Hope thrives. God has lit a flame of love in the soul of every man. Therefore earth can never be hell. But... if we keep smothering that spark, even trying to do so to others-- then when we die, that light in us that we so rejected will be blown out, and we will be cast into "utter darkness" because we can never rekindle that flame. There IS no hope there, in hell. There is NO comfort, NO consolation, NO relief or rest or happiness or love. All of those things are in Christ alone, and if you refuse His Light now, you'll have it justly removed from you forever. THAT is hell.