Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem(9/17/22)[Prayer]

The Holy Scriptures | 9/17/22 | left that other site

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Matthew 3

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[a]

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

_______________________________________________________

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father in Heaven,

Sanctified is Your Most Holy Name!

You Are Holy, Righteous and Just,

And Glorious in Majesty!

You Alone Are Worthy of Worship

For Your Alone Are The One True God.

Perfect in All Your Ways

Almighty and Omnipresent,

You Are The GREAT I AM,

The Rock of Ages,

The Ancient of Days.

You Know the Beginning from the End,

And the End From the Beginning,

Because You ARE The Beginning and the End,

The Aleph~Tav,

The Alpha and the Omega,

And Nothing Escapes Your Notice.




Let all that has been Concealed
Be Revealed.

Father, We Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem,
According To Your Will and Promise.
We Pray That You Will Forgive The Sins
of Our Own Nation,
and Lead us all to Godly Repentance.
Create in Us Clean Hearts, Oh LORD,
and Renew a Right Spirit Within Us.

This we Pray Together,
As We Await Your Messiah,
Blessed Be He,
To Set Up His Kingdom,
And Make All Things Right.

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Matthew 3

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[a]

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

_______________________________________________________

Sorry I am late today, but I overslept a bit. Last Night I attended a concert at the Bosten Garden that has been on my "Bucket List" for 55 YEARS, so I have a good excuse for sleeping in. Two of my sisters and I had emptied our pockets and obtained tickets to see Eric Clapton. The venue, which is the home of the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins, is enormous, and is located in the heart of Boston's North End. The North End has 18th Century Buildings crowded together with brick and cobblestone streets that are so narrow that one can reach outside the car and open someone'e front door. It is a huge Tourist Attraction, and the weather last night was magnificent. Needless to say, the Traffic was EPIC.

After over an hour in traffic, the GPS brought us to the wrong parking garage. My sister, who had graciously offered to drive us, told the attendant, "I don't want to park here. How do I get out?"

"You're KEEDING ME! You haff to back out!

And so that's what we did. We finally found the right garage and easily found our seats. We greatly enjoyed the first set, which was Jimmy Vaughn (Stevie Ray's brother) who did good-time Texas Swing and Rock'n'Roll, and then, the stage went dark and the roadies changed the instruments. I couldn't help but note that these were good, old-fashioned, honest musical instruments, a decent-sized drum kit, a single Yamaha electric piano, a stand-up bass as well as an electric one, and a Hammond B3 Organ with a Leslie Sound Cabinet. There were no fancy towers of keyboards, synthesizers, stage props, lasers, pyrotechnics, or anything else...just the band set-up and some nice lighting.

When the band walked out onto the stage, the audience roared with approval. They picked up their instruments and played a quiet, simple, heartfelt rendition of "God Save The Queen", in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, who is still lying in state in Eric's home country. Then the band launched into what was nearly two hours of non-stop music. It was as if Eric ripped out his very soul with those fingers of his, and served it all to us on a golden platter. Seriously...I was in tears during one of his songs, it affected me so much.

Eric Clapton is 77 years old and has had his ups and downs. He has struggled with addictions, is losing his hearing, and has suffered from arthritis and peripheral neuropathy in his hands. But he keeps soldiering on. But something happened a little over a year ago that nearly destroyed his gift. As a Senior Citizen, he was mandated to take the Covid Vaccine. He was given the AZ vaccine, which was approved for use in the UK, but not here in the US. It caused him to lose feeling in both of his hands, and he did not get it back for over two weeks. Those two weeks were perhaps the worst of his life.

Now, we Senior Citizens have held our tongues most of our lives, but now, we have a right to be cranky sometimes. I know I am less shy to speak my mind now that I am 70 than I was even ten years ago. And so, Eric spoke up against the Vaccine Mandates.

Well, you wouldn't believe the criticism he received from the whole Entertinment complex. The only people who stood by him were Van Morisson and Rodger Daltry of THE WHO (The band, not the World Health Organization). Van actually wrote a number of songs decrying "Cancel Culture" and Eric recorded one of them which included a stock line from thr R & B lyrical repertoire:

"Are You A Free Man,
Or Are You A Slave?"

This bit of political incorrectness caused Robert Cray, a fine guitarist who was booked with the USA Tour, to cancel his association with Eric and loudly resign from the Tour. The management quickly replaced Cray, who gave up a shot at being in what might be Eric's last tour of the USA, and one for the History Books. That's called "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face". It is also called being a "Self-Righteous Pharisee."

And that, my friends, brings us to Today's reading from Matthew's Gospel.

The Pharisees were allowed by the Roman Empire to practice their Religion, as long as it didn't interfere with the Powers-That-Be. The Religion consisted of zealously keeping the Law of Moses, which was a lot more than the Ten Commandments. There are actually over 600 commandments (also called "Mitzvahs") in the Torah, but even that wasn't enough. Many more laws were added to the Torah, mostly to prevent accidentally breaking the original Ten. And so, there grew an increasing code of hygiene, health regulations, food and drink, dining practices, washing rituals, etc, to prevent this from happening. Naturally, upon hearing that there was a shaggy prophet out preaching in the Jordan River, the Pharisees had to investigate.

And so, we have this confrontation. John wasn't doing anything against the law, but he was stirring things up. John would even speak up against Herod later on in our story, and would end up losing his head.

Both the UK and the USA have Constitutions, and we both have Legislative Bodies that keep adding to them. Sometimes the new "added" laws go against the spirit of the Original Constitution. And Mandates would fall in that category.

Sometimes, when we speak up about Truth, we risk losing something. But the Triumph in the end is worth it.

Weeping may endure for a night...but there are no "Tears in Heaven".

Come and Pray For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[etabeta]

My prayers always. God bless.

[redryder_90]

Amen

How wonderful to see and hear him play his guitar!

[NEWwoman]

Wow!

What a memorable night! Great story about Eric Clapton and vaccines.

Speaking of Constitution, Happy Constitution Day, September 17, 1787.

And a favorite Constitution speech from Star Trek that only Captain Kirk could give: https://youtu.be/3bYkNptOJns

Joining in prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem and for our beloved America.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Etabeta, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, redryder_90, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Ah...the “sacred words”.

LOVE Star Trek TOS.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, NEWwoman, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[DarthVader]

Amen !!! <><

Psalm 12

To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

1 Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;
our lips are our own—who is our master?’

5 ‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;
‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’
6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will protect us;
you will guard us from this generation for ever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among humankind.

[TianaHighrider]

Amen and Thank you!

Also very happy for your concert with Eric Clapton (and Jimmy Vaughn). Would have loved to have been there with you. Really glad you were able to go. And prayers up for Clapton, You, and all.

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, DarthVader, For Your Prayers and Awesome Psalm For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, TianaHighrider, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[Hiskid]

Amen

[Silentgypsy]

Amen and thank you.

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Hiskid, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Silentgypsy, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS