Category: Living Daily

On the Way Home

There is an old Roman road leading out of Jerusalem, downward toward some small towns. Some of the stones that originally paved the road still my be seen. It was along that road, two thousand years ago, that two disappointed, perhaps disillusioned, men walked. As they walked home they discussed the events of the day. They reasoned together. They wanted to know the truth. They discussed Yeshua, who’d died before the Passover supper. Was He really the Messiah? Others had asked that question a few years before. What should be done? Was there another that would save Isreal from Roman domination, establish Israel as a nation again. They sought the truth.

They were confused. Yeshua had died. Yet earlier in the day they’d found out that the tomb in which He lay was now empty. Furthermore, angels had declared Him to be alive. Yet they hadn’t seen Him.

I think about these two followers of Yeshua. They’d been with Yeshua for some time. They’d known Him. Yet they were doubting. But even in their confusion, they sought the truth. It gives us great hope, does it not? That even when we have trouble focusing, trouble in holding on to our small faith, that if we truly seek the truth. . .

“Yeshua himself drew near and went with them.”

Surely you’ve read the story found in Luke 24:13-34, The Road to Emmaus. There’s a lot in these few sentences. There are a number of things that have always seemed to stick out to me. One is that Yeshua walked along next to them and they didn’t recognize Him. And he questioned them on what they knew, what they thought, about the day’s events, about the Messiah. Then Yeshua explained things to them.

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v27)

Another point that sticks with me is how they invited this stranger into their home. They made supper. And it wasn’t until Yeshua did something that would be very familiar to them that they realised Who sat there, Who’d walked with them. Who’d talked with them.

“[Yeshua] took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.” (v30)

I’m encouraged by this short story th.}at Luke tells. I hope it is so to y’all.

(I’ve relied upon commentary by Albert Barnes, Barnes’s Notes, for the mindset of the followers as they talked together.)

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing

They collapse and fall

Yesterday I posted Psalm 20 with the title “Some trust in chariots,” v.7. Trust grows, often slowly, as we experience the new life, the regenerate life, in Messiah Yeshua. The psalm is a prayer for combatants. The Pandemic of 2020 has been likened to an invisible war. If it is a war then there are no civilians. There is universal draft. We are all in it.

Like any combatant, we take up the arms we are trained to use. Yet we are more than worldly combatants. As such we have available to us greater arms, greater strength, than others. Trust is one.

“They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright,” v.8. Experience. We see others’ collapse from fear, we feel within us an inner peace, and our soul rises just a little. Each time we allow Spirit to raise us a little more we gain confidence, we gain trust. Little by little we grow in faith until we stand upright.

Our enemy isn’t an invisible plague, though too often our enemy is invisible. Our enemy is, as Apostle Paul explains:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,”
Eph. 6:12.

Trust grows like leaves and flowers in Spring. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes quite rapidly. Experience is the food that feeds the growth.

Let us Stand Upright Together. Let us experience great trust in our Heavenly Father who gave His Son Yeshua for us our eternal lives.

We have no peace in this world, necessarily. We have Peace in our souls in our G-D.

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing

Some trust in chariots. . .

Psalm 20

1 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!


3 May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4 May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
5 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!

6 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.


7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.


8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

9 O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Peace, Prosperity, and the Gospel

Today I listened to a sermon by Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones—The Destruction of the World.

The summary from the MLJ website states:

A Sermon on Matthew 24:3-14
Signs of the End of the Age As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (ESV)

The Christian Gospel : is it relevant today? why the Gospel will never ‘change’ the world; saved from the coming destruction.

In the sermon, Pastor MLJ says that humankind believes philosophers, scientists, and evolutionists and thinks it can build a perfect world. But the humankind is in rebellion to G-D, and has been since the perfect Garden was tainted by wanting to be like G-D.

Pastor MLJ goes on to say that a misunderstanding of the Gospel has even led preachers to think Yeshua meant for us to build a perfect Earth. But the Gospel has been preached for two thousand years and we are at war, we suffer calamities, famine, and plague. Yeshua foretold those things. The Gospel offered eternal salvation to those called by G-D.

Will there ever be peace and prosperity? Yes. Yeshua will return. And will bring judgement and peace; judgement will be for those in rebellion, peace for those who’ve overcome the world, been born again into a new person in Yeshua Messiah.

With this plague that has come, let us look only to our Master, our King, our Savior—Yeshua. Philosophy won’t save us. Science won’t save us. Evolution won’t save us. Yeshua is The Way, The Truth, The Life.

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing

Crosses on Lawns. . . Looks like KKK is active reports Newsweek

According to this article in the Christian Post, Faith Over Fear, Newsweek reported comments by twitter users referring to a picture a person posted of a lite cross in his yard as being a KKK-style burning cross.

Today’s media is filled with poorly educated “reporters,” in my opinion. So That Figures.

But worse, the first comment on the CP article made by one Frances Bookheim said,

“It looks like the KKK is alive and well.”

Really! Do people simply not read before responding?

Anyway, if you don’t read the article on the CP, it’s about folks planting crosses in their yards as part of a campaign of Faith Over Fear. . . which is the headline of the CP article.

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing

Do Not Keep Silent

My uncle, Ivor, was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales. Tenby is a walled city. I am told the English built it for a place to live, and walled it to keep the fierce Celts out. It still has walls, and several gates that are just wide enough to allow cars and small trucks to come and go.

Another walled city, more widely known, is Jerusalem. In Biblical times, it was sealed off hoping to prevent intrusion. The Old City of Jerusalem still has walls. The walls have come down. The walls have been rebuilt. More than once.

Many of the Psalms tell us that G-D is our refuge, our shelter. The walls we erect to protect us work only if we abide in G-D, if He is our G-D. It doesn’t take long for our walls to be vulnerable if we refuse to put G-D first.

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads.

Here Asapf cries for G-D’s assistance when a multi-nation force is about to come against Israel. When the army went out to fight against the foe, it found G-D had already been there, had taken care of the enemy.

When I think about our modern enemies, and our modern walls we erect, I immediately think of the distractions offered by the”world” to keep me from G-D,  and the walls I create around my heart to keep the “world” out. The wall around my heart can be too solid, and it hardens me. It can be too porous and let’s the in the World’s virus. The Spirit of our L-RD balances my heart’s walls when I look to Him. And to Him alone.

Irish Blessing
(Found on Pinterest at
http://www.catholicprayercards.org/catalog/item/4235164/8619893.htm)

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Between the Seasons

My wife, a northerner originally and unaccustomed to the South, often complained that Georgia doesn’t have the four seasons she likes. We do have four seasons; they are just not well defined. Some years if you blinked you’d miss the transition between Winter and Summer, and between Summer and Winter, for instance. This year its one of those between-the-season times that’s lingered a bit. So it’s warmish days and cool nights.

In the morning we can work in the yard without being either too hot or too cold. Just Right! Like Goldie Locks. In the afternoon we can sit on the deck, in full sun, and feel comfortable, wearing light shirts. We can roll up our sleeves and generate a bit of vitamin “D.” Between the seasons is great, here in Georgia.

However, this morning I awoke and the house wasn’t warm enough to heat, but still a bit chilly.

“Oh, I really hate to admit it. I’m very bothered that I think this way.

“I think—gasp!—I’d actually enjoy a nice warm robe,” I said. “Arg!”

I thought about it for a moment.

“And maybe in the evening I’d wear a cardigan.”

Perhaps it’s my old age suddenly swooping down upon me. Perhaps it’s simply because CostCo allowed me into the store during its senior-only hours. I wasn’t asked for an ID, either. Ok, despite my declaration that my hair remains its golden blonde, I suppose it’s grey (buy only greyish).

Often my dad had worn a cardigan in the evening and early in the morning. I just never thought of myself as a cardigan person.

I guess as old age approaches, one begins to feel the chill. The Bible says so for at least one person.

“Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.” (1 Kings 1:1)

Have a Great Weekend! Let us together rejoice in the L-RD; Let us together praise His Holy Name!

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing