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Morning Devotional...

Rebuilding the Temple
Ezra 3:1-13  NLT

     1Now in early autumn,[a] when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled together as one person in Jerusalem. 2Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak with his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family began to rebuild the altar of the God of Israel so they could sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the law of Moses, the man of God. 3Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they immediately began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD. They did this each morning and evening.

    4They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the law of Moses, sacrificing the burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the other annual festivals to the LORD. Freewill offerings were also sacrificed to the LORD by the people. 6Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD. This was also before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD's Temple.

   7Then they hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.

    8The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the LORD's Temple. 9The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.

    10When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD's Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed. 11With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD:

    "He is so good!
       His faithful love for Israel endures forever!"

    Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD's Temple had been laid.

    12Many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders remembered the first Temple, and they wept aloud when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud commotion that could be heard far in the distance.
How do you feel when you're working on a large, important project?[/size][/color]

    Fifty years after its destruction, the Temple was being rebuilt (536 B. C.).  Some of the older people remembered Solomon's Temple and wept because the new Temple would not be as glorious as the first one.
   
    But the beauty of the building is not nearly so important to God as the attitudes of the builders and worshipers.  God cares more about what we are than what we accomplish.  Our world is always changing, and magnificient accomplishments decay and disappear. 

   Do not be concerned if it seems as if your work for God is not so great as what others have done.  Your relationship with him is more important.
The Best of the Bible--365 Must-Read Bible Passages[/i]

I am hoping this is done right this time and there aren't two topics. 

Breakfast with my friends was great this morning.  Now to find a date to have all the girl classmates eat out for lunch.  Then call the girls.

My WeatherBug must have fixed itself...it is 64° now.  What a heat wave!!!

Good morning everyone.  I got up early this morning as I couldn't seem to get enough breath.  Think it was just that I had a bit of head congestion.  I have worked through my e-mail and have a couple of minutes before going to coffee so decided I would drop in a catch up and leave a message.

Janet, that was a very nice thing for you to do.  I simply shudder anytime I learn of someone in their 70s and 80s getting on a ladder.  That is so dangerous and one little slip can have such disastrous consequences.  Ladders are dangerous at any age but especially so for the elderly.  I don't climb on anything higher than a little step stool we have and even their don't feel very secure.

I am happy to be able to say that Pat seems to be feeling a bit better this morning.  She basically stayed in a reclined position almost all day yesterday.  I expect she will do the same today.

This is Calvin Cove day for me so this afternoon will go to the church to play the piano and sing with the older folks. 

Pat S., sure hope you will be feeling better today and was glad to see that you are feeling up to going to work Marilyn.  Al, I hope you were able to sleep a little more last night and improvement continues.

Ruth Ann, you are working too hard and I worry about you.

Hope everyone will have a good day.  Etta Sue, thanks for the devotional.

Thank you Etta Sue for the devotional. I have often thought that I wasnn't acomplishing very much for the Lord. I do realize that a relationship with His is more important.

Larry I am glad to hear that Pat is a little better today. I am feeling better still a lot of congestion in my nose but that will pass.

Pat I certainly am praying for your healing to be very soon.

Suzanne where are You? Haven't seen you here for awhile.

Alma I hope you are doing well.

Janet do not work too hard today.

TTYL

May 19 - Adam and the Animals

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"And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof" (Genesis 2:19).

This event occurred on the sixth day of Creation Week, between the formation of Adam's body and that of Eve (note Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7,22), and there is no reason not to take it literally. Nevertheless, modern theistic evolutionists, including many seminary professors, have found two imaginary problems which they argue prevent taking it literally.

The first quibble finds a "contradiction" with Genesis 1:21-25, which says the animals were all made before Adam—not afterward. This supposed problem vanishes when the text verse is translated as follows: "The Lord God had formed every beast of the field." This is a legitimate—in fact, preferable—translation of the Hebrew original.

The other alleged difficulty is the supposed inability of Adam to name all the animals in one day. But in reality, he only had to give names "to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field" (Genesis 2:20)—that is, those nearby birds, cattle, and other mammals that might be seen as potential candidates to be a "help meet" for Adam. No marine animals, reptiles, insects, or "beasts of the earth" (Genesis 1:24; i.e., living far away from Eden) were brought to him. Furthermore, he did not need to name every species, but only each relevant "kind"—possibly each "family" (i.e., dogs, horses, eagles, etc.).

Finally, his divinely created mental abilities were not yet limited by the disease of sin, so that he could appropriately name each kind much more rapidly than we could do. Thus, no sincere Bible student should be tempted to doubt Genesis by any such "difficulties" as these. HMM

Thanks Larry, for your wishes.  I did sleep somewhat better.  Thanks be to our Father.  I've lost 11 or 12 pounds now on this diuretic.  First weight I've been able to lose in a long time.  The PT person says I'll have these wraps off next week, to be replaced by compression stockings.  That'll be a welcome change. 

I can see some blue sky and some clouds this morning.  Don't know which will win today.

It has been lightening and thundering here since daylight.  Sometimes a virtual downpour.  I did get a couple of letters out to the mailbox carrying my umbrella and then decided I had better hurry back in since there was lightening. 

Al, I remember my Mother and her legs swelling so much that blisters formed.  Then a kind nurse would come in and pull a pillow out from under a leg and burst open the blisters.  Not really kind.  Sometimes her legs were dripping wet from tiny holes in the blisters.  But, bless her heart, she never complained once.  He ankles got as big as her thighs and never once did she complain.  But also, by then she was completely bedridden and couldn't get up to walk.  I feel for you with those compression stockings.  They are so hard to get on.  Ivalou and I would work and work and get them on Mom and then the next thing we knew, they had rolled down.  That was worse.  She could never wear them all day because of them rolling.

I have a Home Security System and I forgot it was on.  I opened the front door for Kitty TV and the alarm went off.  Soon the phone rang asking me if everything was okay.  What is the password?  What is my name?  And again, if everything was okay.  I told her at least I felt good to know that my money every month was working.  Good to know that Guardian does have someone to answer when the alarm goes off. 

And I have noticed my Tulip Poplar Tree is blooming.  When the sun shines again I will get pictures if I can find a bloom fairly low to the ground.  The tree is 30-40 feet tall and the blooms are more abundant near the top.  Beautiful yellowish-lime green huge blooms. 

Looks like a great day to curl up with a good book.

It's a lovely day here in SW Kansas, but we would welcome some rain, if any of you wants to share yours.

Darrel has gone to work with Curtis again today.  He is installing an underground sprinkler system at the courthouse in their town, and needed some help, so Gandpa told him that he would work cheap.    He came home late last night, after 7:00, really worn out and sunburned, but felt okay this morning, so he went back to help again.  Curtis put in a bid for the job and was really thrilled to win the bid.  Like all college students, he is perpetually short of money, so this should help him out, at least for a while.  He is going to Air Force camp somewhere for three weeks, beginning in late June, for a shadowing program.  I haven't seen him since he got home, talked to him last night, though, and he said he wants to come up, so I'm looking forward to seeing him.

I have to polish the floor where Darrel grouted the tile, then seal the grout, so he can set the stool again.  We really miss being able to use that bathroom!  So we will get it put back together.

Today they are having a birthday party for all the May birthdays at the care home, so I will go to that for Mom.  Her birthday is on the 29th.  We are having a family birthday party for her that day, too.

Etta Sue, don't you love the Old Testament?  It is so interesting to read.  I find that human nature has changed not one whit since those days!  This is the first time I have ever been ahead on my reading the Bible through in a year, but I have been enjoying it so much, I just read on ahead. 

Larry, give Pat my best wishes for her to be up and about again soon.  And hope you feel strong and well today, too.

Marilyn, glad you are feeling enough better to go back to work.

Pat, how are you doing today?

Ruth Ann, how are you?  I agree that you work much too hard, and hope that will soon change.  Not that you lose your job, but just that you won't be required to work such long hours.  And that retirement will be beckoning you soon as well.

I have several errands to do later, better make myself a list so I don't miss any of them!

I have been thinking about how much I would like to retire and just do a few private pay jobs now and then. Or maybe just keep 1 of the County jobs. My work isn't hard, but it is time consuming. There are so many things  would like to do and don't have the time to do or to go the places I would like to go even locally. I sure do hope I can get the Subsidized housing soon.  Ok that's enough of my thought for today.

I have to make a couple of calls before I leave this morning so I will be back later on.


TTYL

Just a quick note.  I called my Great-Aunt, and will be taking her out for a little bit later this afternoon, and perhaps have dinner out with her.

It's a beautiful sunny day here, I hope it lasts through the weekend as we must open the trailer up for the summer, and it won't be pleasant if it is raining.

Hi, Sue!  Good to see your lovely smile today!  Is that your travel trailer you are talking about?  I need to get ours cleaned up for family reunion trip soon, too!

On the subject of older people and ladders---that's the reason I told Darrel I would rather burn the dome down than have us trying to finish the shingling on its roof!  If you can imagine, a round ball, third tier off the ground, two people into their 60s----NO WAY!!  I would rather us both have our health and to heck with the dome!

My friend Oscar, who fell from the ladder----his wife had already called their grandson to do the little job.  She told him NOT to try to do it; she had an errand to do, and when she came back, he had fallen.  He just cannot seem to give up thinking he can still do what he has always done.  Now his whole arm is swollen and purple, he is in a sling, and he already had broken a finger on his other hand.  It is swollen and bent, looks just awful.  He is really getting depressed, which is a real concern, too.  Oh, my!  Getting old is not for sissies!

I got the tile polished and the grout sealed, my last load of laundry is in the machine, and I have had my shower!  Moving right along...............

Wow Janet, you've been a busy beaver today.

Well, HELLO THERE, Pat!!!   

May 19   
Preaching: A Hireling; No True Shepherd
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you
through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 
--2 Timothy 1:6-7
It is doubtful whether we can be Christian in anything unless we
are Christian in everything. To obey Christ in one or two or ten
instances and then in fear of consequences to back away and refuse
to obey in another is to cloud our life with the suspicion that we
are only fair-weather followers and not true believers at all. To
obey when it costs us nothing and refuse when the results are
costly is to convict ourselves of moral trifling and gross
insincerity....
Again, the pastor when facing his congregation on Sunday morning,
dare not think of the effect his sermon may have on his job, his
salary or his future relation to the church. Let him but worry
about tomorrow and he becomes a hireling and no true shepherd of
the sheep. No man is a good preacher who is not willing to lay
his future on the line every time he expounds the Word. He must
let his job and his reputation ride on each and every sermon or
he has no right to think that he stands in the prophetic
tradition.  The Size of the Soul, 146-147.
"That's a scary thought, Father, but I recognize that it's the
only way to be true to my calling. Give me grace to follow,
Lord--especially when it really does cost me something. Amen."
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Well, I think all my errands and running around are done!  I hope so, anyway!  The Care Home has different churches that sponsor the birthdays, and this month it was the Freewill Baptist church.  They brought cookies and punch, gave each birthday person a nice gift---soft throws for the ladies, a small flashlight and a magnifying glass for the men---played the piano and sang for the residents.  It was nice.  There were four birthdays this month--52 years, 72 years, 89 years and 92 years old.  Quite a spread in ages!  I was the only "outside guest" there, but Mom was thrilled that I came, so that makes it worth it.

I will be right back with something amusing to read, have to go to my email and find it. 

"Globalization"

Question: What is the truest definition
of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

  Answer: An English princess

with an Egyptian boyfriend

crashes in a French tunnel,

driving a German car

with a Dutch engine,

driven by a Belgian who was drunk

on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you
change the spelling)

followed closely by Italian Paparazzi,

on Japanese motorcycles;

treated by an American doctor,

using Brazilian medicines.


This is sent to you by an American,

using Bill Gates's technology,

and you're probably reading this on your computer,

that use Taiwanese chips,

and a Korean monitor,

assembled by Bangladesh workers

in a Singapore plant,

transported by Indian lorry-drivers,

hijacked by Indonesians,

unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,

and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....

That, my friends, is Globalization.


   

And, I just had chorizo sausage with scrambled eggs and salsa for dinner! So, I think I've also added to the globalization with the spanish sausage and salsa. 

Y'all have a good evening.

Ruth Ann

Hi Janet!


Thanks, folks, for welcoming all our new folks.  I will get the welcome letters out asap.

I was lying on my bed singing this and then thought, "Let's sing it together"

Yes, Janet it is our travel trailer that we are going to.  We found a low cost home for it last summer, a summer trailer campground about an hour and a half from home.  We can still pull it out if we want to take a longer road trip, but for now, are content to be able to go up and get away for weekends.

I didn't get much accomplished today to get ready to go away but had a very satisfying day.  I called my Great-Aunt and took her to WalMart, and we both purchased some plants.  Then went to a local restaurant for dinner, and topped it off with a Dairy Queen for dessert.  Then I came home and got my plants in the ground.  I hope they survive.

Night everyone!

Time to lock the door...  Click Here