Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Oh LORD,
 Our God,
 How Excellent is Your Holy Name!
 You Are The Almighty,
 The Rock of Ages,
 The Ancient of Days,
 The Great I AM,
 The King of the Universe,
 The Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer of Worlds!
 The Aleph ~ Tav,
 The Alpha and Omega,
 The Beginning and the End
 Our Provider,
 Our Banner,
 Our Healer,
 Our Righteousness,
 Our All Sufficient And Wonderful All In All!

 
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

1 posted on 12/09/2022 5:36:11 AM PST by left that other site

To: Alamo-Girl; 4Godsoloved..Hegave; albie; alicewonders; alnick; AmericanMade1776; Ann de IL; ...

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Matthew 17

The Temple Tax

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

_______________________________________________________

  New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Three Tax Stories:

1. Many years ago, I worked as a Service Representative for the Telephone Company. Part of my job was handling the accounts. At the time there was a "Communications Tax" on every phone bill of about 7%. It wasn't much, but it was enough to infuriate people. Then some activists spread a rumor that the tax was going directly to fund the Bombing of Cambodia. (Well, sure, it WAS a Federal Tax, so maybe it did, or maybe it went to the National Park System...Who Knew?)

The easiest person to call and yell at in protest was the usually female Service Rep at the Phone Company who had been trained to NEVER raise her voice to a customer, not discuss politics, and was usually under observation by a supervisor. And so, nearly every day I would get at least one or two calls from some angry pseudo-intellectual liberal, lambasting me for the War in Vietnam.

It was pretty much an open secret that Telephone Service could not be terminated for unpaid taxes. And so, the protesters would pay, every month, their entire phone bill less the Tax. The tax would pile up as an unpaid balance, and the account would land on my desk for me to call the customer and collect the bill.

I would look at the statement in horror. I knew that the unpaid balance was all Federal Tax, and that I had no leverage, such as a threat to disconnect service, to collect that huge balance. The uncollected balance was then calculated into my "performance rating". So I would grit my teeth, and call the customer, only to be subjected to a vituperative polemical, political tirade. Since I was not allowed to argue with a customer, it put me in a terrible position. I certainly wasn't in favor of taxes, but it wasn't my fault. Did I ever mention how much I hated that job? Oh...and I was only 19 at the time.

That Phone Company doesn't exist anymore, but I'm still here. And there is a Communication Tax on my Internet bill, so times haven't changed much.

2. A lot of my musician friends do local gigs in restaurants for a small fee that is much less than what they would get if they did "General Business" (ie: Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs). Unlike in General Business, though, my friends are able to put out a Tip Jar. Then, if they do a good job, and the customers like their music, they are able to pick up a few extra bucks. Tipping the Musician is somewhat of a ritual, and is often accompanied by special requests, musical challenges, and lots of fun and interaction. It's also quite charming when a Dad gives his toddler a dollar and the child runs up and puts it in the jar.

Some musicians have a poster with a bar-code on it, so that people can tip them electronically. This is good if the customer doesn't have any cash on them, and goes directly into the musician's account from the customer's Smart Phone. But...AHA! The government found out about this and will now be issuing 1099's from Venmo and PayPal. After all, we don't want that Toddler's Dollar to escape being TAXED! (sigh).

3. The third story is about the opening song on the Beatles 1966 Album Revolver. It was written by George Harrison with some lyrical assistance from John Lennon. The song was written when the Beatles were being taxed at over 90% of their income. While this is totally outrageous, it did give us an awesome song!

The Tax that Jesus pays in this Gospel Story is not the Roman Tax that oppressed the People. It was not the Tax that the Publicans were collecting for the Roman Empire, along with their outrageous surcharge skimmed off the top. This was the Temple Tax, and was decreed in the Torah. It was the same for everybody, rich or poor, and was not affected by social status or income. It was, in fact, a tax that was paid in tribute to God, and before Him, all People are equal.

Jesus once again clues Peter into His True Identity by making the analogy of the family. In doing this, He was hinting to Peter that He was the Son of God, and shouldn't have to pay the Temple Tax. Nevertheless, this was still just between Peter and Jesus, so Jesus pays the Tax, but in a crazy, miraculous, manner. He has Peter cast out for a fish (which is what he does for a living anyway) and finds the money in the mouth of the fish. Thus, by using his skills as a fisherman, Peter comes up with the money, but the money was actually from Jesus.

I can only imagine how astonished the Tax Collector must have been at this novel method of Internal Revenue, finding money INSIDE a fish.

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

2 posted on 12/09/2022 6:41:47 AM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

To: left that other site

More interesting stories, left that other site

Before long, tax season is coming....

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

3 posted on 12/09/2022 9:38:06 AM PST by NEWwoman (God Bless America)

To: left that other site

4 posted on 12/09/2022 10:00:13 AM PST by redryder_90

To: left that other site

Blessings and prayers up ❤

5 posted on 12/09/2022 10:18:34 AM PST by TianaHighrider (God moved David to STAND UP to Goliath ❣)

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

6 posted on 12/09/2022 11:05:58 AM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

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

7 posted on 12/09/2022 11:11:10 AM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

To: TianaHighrider

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

8 posted on 12/09/2022 11:12:13 AM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

To: left that other site

Adding my late prayers. God bless.

9 posted on 12/09/2022 1:35:51 PM PST by etabeta

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

10 posted on 12/09/2022 2:37:31 PM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

To: left that other site

11 posted on 12/09/2022 2:48:59 PM PST by Hiskid (Jesus is Lord)

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

12 posted on 12/09/2022 5:50:12 PM PST by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794