Tag: Christians

Morning Reading: Isaiah 35.1-10 MSG

Isaiah 35.1-10 MSG

israel_mountain_flowers-500x310Wilderness and desert will sing joyously, the badlands will celebrate and flower — Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom, a symphony of song and color.

Mountain glories of Lebanon — a gift. Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon — gifts. God’s resplendent glory, fully on display. God awesome, God majestic.

Energize the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees. Tell fearful souls, “Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on his way to put things right and redress all wrongs. He’s on his way! He’ll save you!”

Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song. Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness, streams flow in the desert. Hot sands will become a cool oasis, thirsty ground a splashing fountain. Even lowly jackals will have water to drink, and barren grasslands flourish richly.

Israel_Golden GateThere will be a highway called the Holy Road. No one rude or rebellious is permitted on this road. It’s for God’s people exclusively — impossible to get lost on this road. Not even fools can get lost on it. No lions on this road, no dangerous wild animals — Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.

Only the redeemed will walk on it. The people God has ransomed will come back on this road. They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion, unfading halos of joy encircling their heads, Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.

Advent Song: “Mary did you know?” – Kathy Mattea

Henry Ossawa Tanner - The Annunciation, oil on canvas, 57 x 71.25 in., Philadelphia Museum of Art
Henry Ossawa Tanner – The Annunciation, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Mary, Did You Know – Kathy Mattea

Mary did you know that your baby boy would some day walk on water
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you

Please click on audio file – “Mary, Did You Know” – Kathy Mattea

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod
And when your kiss your little baby, then you’ve kissed the face of God

Mary did you know? Mary did you know

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am

Morning Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1.10-12 NLT – live a worthy life

2 Thessalonians 1.10-12 NLT

"The Last Judgment" by Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The work took four years to complete and was done between 1536 and 1541.
“The Last Judgment” by Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The work took four years to complete and was done between 1536 and 1541.
“When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people — praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him.

This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Update: Egyptian Army issues ultimatum- “Get off the streets! “

Peanut Gallery: I’m still betting on Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to prevail in Egypt. The Army’s entrance on the scene just reinforces my position.

In a deft political maneuver, Morsi reversed his earlier position opposing the military and has now left the power and privileges of the Egyptian military pretty much in tact in the new constitution. So… you can see where this is going. The Egyptian military is going with the Morsi flow – forget “power to the people.“ It’s not going to happen.

Take notes folks… you’re watching “Islamic Democracy“ in action.
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Egyptian army clears protesters from presidential palace after deadly clashes Published December 05, 2012 – Associated Press

Egyptian Army deploy near the presidential palace to secure the site of overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. The Egyptian army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace in Cairo following clashes between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi that left several people dead and hundreds wounded. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Egyptian Army deploy near the presidential palace to secure the site of overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. The Egyptian army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace in Cairo following clashes between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi that left several people dead and hundreds wounded. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
CAIRO – The Egyptian army deployed tanks and gave both supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi a deadline to leave the area outside the presidential palace Thursday following fierce street battles that left five people dead and more than 600 injured in the worst outbreak of violence between the two sides since the Islamist leader’s election.

The intensity of the overnight violence, with Morsi’s Islamist backers and largely secular protesters lobbing firebombs and rocks at each other, signaled a possible turning point in the 2-week-old crisis over the president’s assumption of near-absolute powers and the hurried adoption of a draft constitution.

Morsi, meanwhile, seemed determined to press forward with plans for a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum to pass the new charter.

Opposition activists defiantly called for another protest outside the palace later Thursday, raising the specter of more bloodshed as neither side showed willingness to back down.
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Watch Fox News video on Morsi Power Grab.
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But the army’s Republican Guard, an elite unit assigned to protect the president and his palaces, gave protesters on both sides until 3 p.m. to clear the vicinity, according to an official statement. The statement also announced a ban on protests outside any of the nation’s presidential palaces.

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