Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father,
Who Art in Heaven,
How Wonderful and Magnificent is Your Most Holy Name!
For You Alone Are Worthy,
You Alone Are Holy,
You Alone Are The Most High!
Thank You For Your Faithfulness,
And providing For Us Even Before We Ask.
Thank You For Your Clear Guidance,
And for Your Beautiful Miracles.

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

Acts 25

Paul's Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.

8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

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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.

"Don't Make A Federal Case Out Of It!"

I used to hear that expression a lot when I was a kid, but never understood exactly what it meant until Civics Class in Junior High. It refers to the System of Justice in the USA, where one can appeal a ruling all the way up to the US Supreme Court. It takes a lot of persistence and perseverance to do such a thing, and, sometimes, the court won't hear the case. Then you're stuck right where you were with a pile of legal fees to pay. Nevertheless, it's better than the legal systems in some other countries. As Citizens, we are given certain legal rights. As Human Beings, we are endowed by Our Creator with Inalienable Rights. Paul knew the difference, and knew when and to whom to make his appeals. Here, we will see how he "escalates" his appeal, something I have had to do on more than one occasion.

For over ten years I bought and sold items, mostly musical instruments that I had restored, on a site that I will not name, but has four letters. (The first letter is "e" and the last letter is "y"). Most of the time, my responses were excellent, and I had a five-star rating as Top Seller. I prided myself on quality items, well-packaged and arriving intact, and fair prices. The last transaction, however, was disastrous. After carefully packaging and shipping a KEYBOARD to somebody in New Mexico, I was hit with a negative rating that sent my ten years of careful work crashing down, my Top Seller Rating destroyed, and my listings all went to the bottom of the pile. The reason he gave for the negative rating was in Spanish: "No bueno, no tapa".

Well, I knew what "No Bueno" Meant, but what the heck was this "No Tapa"? "Tapas" are little appetizers! Of COURSE I didn't include appetizers with the keyboard!

So I appealed the negative rating.

The first thing I did was look up "tapa" in a Spanish dictionary. "Tapa" means "Lid" in Spanish. Evidently appetizers look like little lids, and so got the name. Now it made sense. The keyboard didn't have a LID. But Keyboards DON'T have lids. Pianos have lids, but keyboards don't. Armed with this new information, I figured it would be a simple matter to get my Top Seller Rating back tout d'suite!

Calling customer service involved getting a code number to enter when the telephone prompt asked for it. I dutifully followed the directions and got a voice that sounded like an Asian teenager. I explained carefully what had happened, and she told me that the "Buyer is ALWAYS Right." So I had to keep the black mark. I demanded to speak with a supervisor. She said she would issue a request to "escalate" my appeal, but assured me that her supervisor would agree with HER. Sure enough, that is EXACTLY what happened.

This started a process of phone calls and emails that caused me to eventually quit selling things on e--y. Weeks after the process began, a high mucky-muck from e--y called ME and said that the negative had been removed and my status restored. A quick look at the buyer's history showed that he was doing this to EVERYBODY, and people were refunding his money in order to keep their ratings. I was the first person who had challenged him. But it was too late. I had already made my decision. I discontinued my association with the company and never looked back.

Paul found himself unjustly accused, but it is more than "Top-Rated Seller" status that is threatened. He is fighting for his very life! Every official he appeals to either abdicates their authority out of fear or indifference, and leaves Paul needing to "escalate" to a higher authority.

Eventually this leads him to his appeal to Caesar.

I found out something new today from my Yard-Sale-Eight-Dollar-NIV-Study-Bible that pertains to Today's Reading. Felix was called back to Rome and replaced by Festus in 59-60AD. This helps us to date these events perfectly. The reason Felix was replaced was that he failed to control the riots and terrorism in the Province, particularly the one that was perpetrated by the Egyptian Zealot referenced earlier in this Book. This must have been a big news item, as a soldier mistook Paul for the Egyptian Terrorist, and was stunned to hear him speak Greek, Latin, Aramaic, a goodness knows what else. He was hardly just some Hooligan!

Festus, who replaced Felix, became known for his fairness and efficient administration.

I don't know where Felix ended up, but it probably was even nastier than attempting to govern Judea.

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

Amen

Amen and amen.

My beloved Friends, I’m just too sick to post the Thread this morning (12/18/23). Maybe I’ll feel better later.

I thought I was getting better, but this morning is terrible.

If I feel better later, I’ll do the thread. If not, I will see you tomorrow.

Amen!!