Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem(2/7/23)[Prayer]

The Holy Scriptures | 2/7/23 | left that other site

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Mark 2
Jesus Questioned About Fasting

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

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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.

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven,
Magnified and Sanctified is Your Most Holy and Wonderful Name!
How Awesome You Are,
and How Glorious!
You Alone Are Worthy to Be Praised,
For You Alone Are My Strength And My Song,
My Rock and My Redeemer!
You Are The One True God,
And Know The End From The Beginning
and the Beginning From The End,
Because You ARE The Aleph~Tav,
The Alpha and the Omega,
The Beginning and The End of All Things.

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

[DarthVader]

Amen !!! <><

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say,
‘Where is their God?’

3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.

9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.

12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both small and great.

14 May the Lord give you increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Mark 2
Jesus Questioned About Fasting

18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

_______________________________________________________

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.

1. The Quilt Show: I had read somewhere that Amish Quilts were the best in the World. Some exceptionally talented Amish Ladies had achieved what was considered the ULTIMATE..."Twenty Stitches to The Inch". This was what separated Amish Quilts from the rest of them, the tiny stitches that formed designs and puffed up the quilt, connecting the layers of fabric and batting. It was a goal I worked so hard to achieve, but, try as I might, I could only fit Twelve Stitches to the Inch. I could NOT make them any smaller. I showed my work to Cathy, a Professional Quilter.

"I can't believe this!" she exclaimed. "You have TWENTY-FOUR Stitches to the Inch!"

She went on to explain that the stitches are counted from BOTH Sides of the quilt, and that would make the actual figure double what I had thought. She then arranged for me to exhibit my quilts in a very exclusive showing in Connecticut, where designers would come up from New York City and buy my quilts. I stayed at Cathy's sister's house in the next town, so I didn't even have to get a hotel room for the three-day exhibit. I was thrilled.

I set up my exhibit and put up a discreet little sign:

"TWENTY-FOUR STITCHES TO THE INCH".

The first day went well, and I sold some quilts. The second day, there were several Amish Women, in full garb, examining my quilts and arguing among themselves. Then one woman, who had been designated the spokesperson, began castigating me and berating me for advertising that I quilted BETTER than the Amish. This was THEIR "Territory" and I had no right to invade it. I was outnumbered and I agreed to remove the sign and let my quilts stand on their own merits. Right after the sign came down, a customer from Paris purchased my best quilt for $1000.00. I don't quilt anymore due to my eyesight, but it was fun while it lasted.

2. The Recital: One of my Voice Students was chosen to perform in Recital at a her Mom's "Gym" which was actually a "Yoga Studio/ New Age Healing Center/ Workout Space/ Whatever" kind of place. It was to be a catered affair in a Hotel Ballroom, so I didn't have to go to the "gym" to hear her. I always support my students when they get gigs, so I went. There was an beautiful buffet,(vegetarian, of course) and everybody was dressed in formal attire. This was quite a feather in my cap that I was the Teacher of the Headliner.

The Emcee, a beautiful slender woman in a glittery gown, opened with a prayer. It started out OK, addressing The Creator, and Jesus, and The Holy Spirit, but then she went on to include Buddha, Lao-Tse, Mohamed, and their current Swami. I was about to get up and leave, but then there was an "Amen" from the crowd and my student got up to sing. I enjoyed her performance but left promptly afterward, without even sampling the "tofu delight" on the buffet table. I found myself needing to repent of not leaving sooner.

The Parable of the Patches and the Wineskins is both easily understood, but also deep with many layers. The Disciples were eating and drinking with Jesus, yet the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting. This could have been because John was in Prison at the time., and his disciples were fasting and praying for his release. They may have even been fasting for The Day of Atonement. If that were the case, then Jesus was really going against the grain by eating. In any case, the disciples were puzzled and asked a relevant question. If they were supposed to be "Religious", why weren't they fasting?

Before getting into the Patches and Wineskins, Jesus used the example of a Wedding Feast. This is not the only time a Wedding is used as a metaphor. Prior to the Wedding, when the Bridegroom isn't present, there may be fasting. But once the Bridegroom has arrived, it is time for a Feast. Like John's disciples, the Disciples of Jesus would soon experience a time when their Bridegroom would be taken away from them. Then, it will be an appropriate time to fast

The next two metaphors, that of the Wineskins and Patches, are warnings against Syncretism. That is the practice of taking an old religion, slapping some new patches on it to make it palatable to current tastes, and saying it's "OK".

The "Patch" part of the Parable is the easiest one to understand in our modern age, as we no longer put new wine into vessels made of goatskin.

Fabric was expensive and hard to come by in the days of Jesus. That's because it had to be made from scratch. Shearing the sheep (or harvesting the flax) was followed by washing, bleaching, dying, spinning the thread, weaving, and finally, making the garment itself. After all that work, a garment would be worn for years and endure many washings. And so, it would shrink, and wear out, and eventually need patches. If the patches were brand new cloth, and had not been pre-shrunk, the first washing would pull all the stitches out and make the tear worse than before.

Wineskins were similar. A cleaned and scraped goatskin was perfect for storing new wine. Since yeasts were present in the skins of the wine, fermentation would begin as soon as the grapes were crushed, forming alcohol and carbon dioxide. Stored in stretchable leather, this process would stretch out the wineskin like a balloon. The only problem was that the wineskin could only be used once for this process, because it would be fully expanded and have no more elasticity. Another infusion of New Wine would burst the skins and ruin both the wine and its container.

Syncretism is nothing new. Rome was filled with temples to foreign gods and goddesses that fit neatly into the Roman Pantheon. Greek gods got Roman names, Egyptian cults sprang up and joined the party, and other gods from the far flung Empire fit neatly into the crowd of deities. In the Jewish world, this was happening too, as folklore and political zealotry added new customs and practices to the Law.

Like the "New Age Prayer", religion wants to be an "Equal-Opportunity Employer". It adds Jesus to a Pantheon of "Ascended Masters" and "Wise Teachers" in an attempt to diminish His Glory. But it doeesn't work. It becomes an Oxymoron.

St. Paul wrote of this many times, because, even in the early days of the Church, people were forever trying to sew the New Patch of Jesus onto the old garment of "Religion". But, Jesus is NOT a "Patch". He is the All-in-All, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. His New Wine needs a New Wineskin.

We are New Creatures in Christ, and there is no other Name by which we are saved.

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

[etabeta]

Very informative. Thank you, ML.

Joining in prayer. God bless.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, DarthVader, For Your Prayers and Wonderful Psalm of Praise 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, 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

[NEWwoman]

Amen, left that other site

Add to Syncretism, Paul’s experience on Mars Hill, when he preached about the Unknown God.

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

[redryder_90]

Amen

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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

[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

[Jeanbl]

AMEN and AMEN! Thank you. Joining in prayer, praying for the Peace of Jerusalem, the Salvation of all Israel, for our prodigals and lost family and friends.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Jeanbl, 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