Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father in Heaven,
 Hallowed be Your Holy Name!
 You Are Holy, Righteous and Just,
 And Glorious in Majesty!
 How we Love to Worship You,
 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.
 Slow to Anger and Abounding in Tender Mercies!

 
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

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Matthew 3

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

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As you all know by now, I teach music. One of the hardest things is to get the kids to practice daily. I try all kinds of motivations: sports analogies, stickers, stars, and other "rewards" for them to keep track of their practice sessions. I stress to the parents how important it is, and how they will be shelling out money for nothing if the kids don't practice. Most of all, I emphasive to the kids that if they practice faithfully, they WILL improve and become awesome musicians.

But none of this would be any good if I didn't practice what I preach. Every day, after doing this Thread, I give the dog a treat and have her lie down, and then I practice the piano. I go through a whole book of exercises, a bunch of scales, and then a couple of songs. Sometimes I will sight-read something new (I REALLY need to practice that!), and try to do different songs each time, ranging from "Fur Elise" to "Riders of the Storm". It doesn't matter as long as I get in an hour. I keep a notebook handy to keep track of my sessions. If I miss a day, I note that too. I am honest with myself.

Mozart wrote a lovely little Sonata in the key of C called "Sonata Facile". That means "Easy Sonata". Most of the time, a student will look at the notes with all the scales and runs and say:

Easy for WHO? He was Mozart. Easy for HIM. Easy for him to say "Sonata Facile! It's NOT that Easy!"

In the Book of Hebrews, the Author describes Jesus as a "Great High Priest". In the Ancient Hebrew Priesthood, the Sons of Aaron had to first make atonement for themselves before they could make atonement for the People. The Torah contains the elaborate rituals that were necessary to cleanse the very human High Priest, to make him eligible to approach God on behalf of the Nation. All have sinned, and the High Priest was no exception.

The Mystery of The Incarnation gives us Jesus, Who is Fully God and Fully Man (not half-and-half). This is one of those things that has caused controversy in the Church for 2000 years, because our finite minds can't grasp it. That's why it's called a "Mystery". Since Jesus was without sin, He is eligible to offer Atonement for all of us.

Of course, the human reaction to this would be:

"That's easy for Him to say! If He is sinless, he doesn't know what it's like to be tempted!"

The Truth is, Jesus went through all the temptations we face, and yet did not sin. He went through this so that He could truly experience what we all go through. That is the difference between Sympathy and Empathy. Sympathy is when you feel sorry for someone. Empathy is when you feel sorry WITH someone. There is a big difference.

Jesus did not need to submit to John's Baptism, because it was a Baptism of Repentence, and He had nothing to repent of. John knew this and protested, but Jesus said to go ahead with the Baptism "to fulfill righteousness". This was the Inauguration of Jesus's Ministry, but He still had to prepare by allowing Himself to go through the Temptations we all face. These will be grouped into three categories, which we will discuss tomorrow: The World, The Flesh, and The Devil.

Now, it's time for me to practice. I don't make my students do anything I don't do myself.

Come and Pray 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