#Israel is my home and I will protect it until the day I die | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

laineystein · 3 years

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40 little things I love about Israel (AKA the Israel the media won’t show you):

1. Beach libraries! Bus stop libraries! Colorful, well stocked, pop up libraries everywhere!

2. In Israel, the swings at a playground are spaced in a circle (instead of a line) so children can look at one another. It encourages interaction and community - very Jewish!

3. There were mice/bird issues in Israeli neighborhoods so the government released cats to combat the issue. When they realized it had gotten out of hand, vets started spay/neutering and vaccinating all of the stray cats so they’re all well taken care of.

4. There are flowers everywhere!

5. Beautiful graffiti! A lot of it uses the natural texture/shapes of structures to make art. So colorful!

6. A lot of neighborhood streets are themed. There’s a neighborhood in Ashdod that is named after strong Israeli women - my favorite!

7. The respect for the military. We give to those currently serving, we have holidays for those who have fallen in service, and our rehabilitation centers for those injured in service are top notch.

8. There is art - sculptures, mosaics, paintings - everywhere! We even turn useful things (benches, trash cans) into art. Or exercise equipment…like outside…at the beach. All art.

9. Makhtesh! (Mountains that were washed over with water causing them to collapse into themselves, causing massive crater-like valleys)

10. Trees! Someone is born? Plant a tree. Someone passes? Plant a tree. Just want to plant a tree? Plant a tree.

11. Promenades! Also referred to as “teyelet” in Hebrew. Pedestrians, bikes, flowers, cafes. Not sure where to go? Find the promenade and start walking. You’ll figure it out.

12. Jews are from all over the world - and they bring their food with them to Israel. Moroccan? Italian? Yemeni? Russian? Syrian? Slavic? Polish? German? French? Brazilian? Spanish? We have it ALL.

13. Similarly - Kosher? Pareve? Vegetarian? Vegan? Gluten-free? Israel’s restaurants typically have options for each and/or are very amenable to making changes when they can.

14. Super diverse geography! Mountains? Deserts? Beaches? Forests? Cold weather? Warm weather? YUP.

15. Public transportation is very efficient. You really don’t need a car. It’s also extremely affordable so there’s really no reason *not* to use it.

16. This one will blow your mind: religious tolerance! Does Israel have a lot of Jews? Sure! It also has Muslims, Christians, Atheists, etc. Israel prides itself on being very knowledgeable/aware/respectful of different religions and beliefs and caters toward each in the government, education, military, etc.

17. Museums! So. Many. Museums. Indoor, outdoor, UNDERWATER. All the museums!

18. Free in vitro-fertilization programs! (Healthcare in general is amazing)

19. There will be rosemary and sage that just grow wildly near the road? And you can pick it and cook with it? And we do? Often.

20. Such varied communities of Orthodox Jews. Hasidic Jews are such a small subset in the Orthodox community. They all have different traditions and appearances. It’s really wonderful.

21. Simchat Torah is a party in the streets. Honestly, all Jewish holidays just hit differently in Israel.

22. Salads. Colorful salads! Savory salads! Sweet salads! For those of you who are weary of Salad culture, Israel will change your mind. We eat salads at nearly every meal.

23. We have the best coffee. That’s it. We just do. (Our coffee and cafes are so good that Starbucks doesn’t survive in Israel. Who needs it?)

24. Lemonana. Or lemonade with mint. Just trust me.

25. The Dead Sea. Come see it/experience it before global warming makes it disappear!

26. Prisoners can vote in elections! We even have polling places in prisons to facilitate this. We actually put polling places in many places to ENCOURAGE voting by all Israelis.

27. The siren on Yom HaShoah. How the entire country of Israel comes to a stop no matter what they’re doing.

28. The views. There’s always a mountain you can stand on to see the ocean, the skyline, the desert.

29. There’s always new and old parts to cities and they somehow blend together really well. Israel is full of so much history and the Israeli people continue to build on that without disrespecting the past.

30. Sheirut Leumi AKA an alternative to compulsory military service that allows young Israelis to serve Israel in different ways ie. working at Independence Hall, explaining Israel’s history to tour groups, and any other visitors.

31. So many options to volunteer! Food pantries, hospitals, nursing homes - giving back to the community is a key tenet in Judaism and is common in Israel. (Our bus stops have monetary donation boxes!!)

32. The shuk aka the massive open-air market in Jerusalem. Google it. It’s magical. (There are a lot of shuks throughout Israel but the most well known and largest is in Jerusalem.)

33. Banks are like works of art? They’re architecturally stunning? It’s like being transported back in time. Even newer banks are built in older styles.

34. So many parks and botanical gardens. And they’re all FREE!!!

35. Halva. I could eat pounds of it.

36. The sunsets. Nothing compares.

37. Universities are fun to visit? All are welcome. They often have tours open to the public and they’re designed with that in mind.

38. Our money has braille on it! And we have a theatre that is dedicated entirely to the deaf and blind communities. How cool is that?

39. Light shows. We like to light up buildings and we hold events showcasing lit fountains and other light adorned structures. I don’t know but it’s a big thing.

40. Kosher everything! Kosher glue on stamps! Kosher food fed to animals at the zoo! Kosher McDonalds!

#Israel #Jerusalem #Tel Aviv #Judaism #Jumblr #Ashdod #Israel things #this is everything off the top of my head #trust me when I say that it’s a wonderful country and it has so much to offer #I’m sorry the media has lead you to believe otherwise #Israel is my home and I will protect it until the day I die #so I get I’m a bit biased #but read this and tell me it doesn’t sound magical #my heart my home

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revisitingsundayschool · 3 years

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Genesis 31-36: More Jacob Stories

Jacob and Laban - Genesis 31

Synopsis: Laban was upset with Jacob for taking advantage of him for profit. Jacob was upset with Laban because Laban kept changed the agreement for his wages multiple times. God told Jacob to leave, so he left with his wives and possessions back to Canaan. Before they left, Rachel stole Laban's (her father's) idols without Jacob's knowledge. Laban chased Jacob's family down for 7 days and they finally met in Gilead. God told Laban not to say anything to Jacob, good or bad. Laban didn't follow God's instructions, and complained to Jacob about deceiving him and running away. He also accused Jacob of stealing his idols. Jacob denied stealing the idols, told Laban to search the camp. Jacob said that if someone had the idols in his camp, they'd die. Laban searched the camp. Rachel was hiding the idols under a camel saddle she was sitting on. When Laban got to her, she said that she was on her period, so she couldn't stand up. After Laban finished searching, Jacob told Laban off a bit for how he was treated while working for Laban. Laban and Jacob decided to make a border that neither would cross. They marked it with a heap of rocks and a pillar. Laban said his goodbyes to the family and returned to his home.

I didn't remember such close relatives of Abraham-Isaac-Jacob worshipping gods that weren't God/Jehovah. The Bible points out that Rachel took the idols without Jacob's knowledge, but I have a hard time believing that based on his previous antics. I know I'm questioning the facts of a story that likely didn't happen, but it would seem more in character for him to be the mastermind behind stealing Laban's stuff. I have no sympathy for Jacob complaining about his wages changing under Laban. He tried to claim innocence, but he was super manipulative and attempted to steal Laban's entire flock by making them all give birth to spotted and speckled offspring in Genesis 30. I like to think that Rachel wasn't actually on her period and was just playing into how men are stereotypically grossed out by periods. Also, there wasn't not much payoff of Laban talking to Jacob against God's wishes. Many people have died for much less in the Bible. My thoughts are a bit all over the place with this story, but whatever.

Jacob and Esau Meet Again - Genesis 32:1-21, Genesis 33

Synopsis: Jacob sent messengers to Esau to give him a large gift of donkeys, sheep, goats, and slaves. Jacob was afraid of Esau's wrath (explanation in last week's post), so he split the camp in two. One group would be present when Esau came. If Esau killed that group, the other half would live. Jacob prayed to God for protection from Esau. Later, Esau came with 400 men. But, Esau hugged Jacob and met Jacob's family. Esau tried to refuse Jacob's gift, but finally accepted it after Jacob's insistence. Esau offered to escort them back home, but Jacob said that he needed to go slower due to his livestock. Jacob bought a plot of land from the sons of Hamor the Hivite to set up an altar called El Elohe Israel (translates to "El is the God of Israel" or "mighty is the God of Israel").

Despite Jacob taking so much from Esau, Esau is very receptive to Jacob returning. Before Jacob left for Paddan Aram over twenty years ago, Esau was filled with rage and was ready to kill Jacob over having his blessing stolen. Maybe God pulled some mind-games on Esau to change his heart in an effort to protect Jacob. No matter what, this is just another example of why Esau is a much more sympathetic character than Jacob. One detail in the story is that before Esau approaches the group, Jacob orders the family slaves in front, then Leah, and finally Rachel in the back. Jacob was not even hiding his favoritism and put on display who was the most expendable in his eyes.

Jacob Wrestles God - Genesis 32:22-32

Synopsis: Jacob sent his family across the Jabbok river on their way to meet Esau in the previous story. Then, a man wrestled him all night. The man realized he couldn't beat Jacob, so he touched Jacob's hip to wrench it. The man asked to be let go, but Jacob refused until he blessed Jacob. The man said that Jacob will now be called Israel (likely translates to "he struggles with God") because he beat God in the wrestling match. The Israelites did not eat the tendon in the hip because that's where Jacob was touched by God.

Jacob's opponent in the match is debated. Some interpretations of the story are that Jacob wrestled an angel, but the NIV is fairly explicit that Jacob wrestled God disguised as a man. There are some pretty cool statues/drawings depicting this event in the Bible. In my head before rereading recently, I think I combined this story and Jacob's ladder into a single event. The story is a bit goofy the way a man comes out of no where to wrestle Jacob for a day. At the same time though, it's kinda cool.

Dinah and the Shechemites - Genesis 34

Synopsis: TW for Sexual Assault. If this subject upsets you, skip to the next section. Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite (a ruler in the area) raped Dinah, Jacob's daughter with Leah. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah afterward. Jacob's sons heard about what Shechem did to Dinah, so they told Shechem that Shechem's entire family would need to be circumcised in order for the two groups to intermarry. They agreed and Shechem, Hamor, and all of the men of their city were circumcised. Then, while they were recovering, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, killed all of the men, looted the city, and took the women and children. Jacob was upset that with Simeon and Levi because of how the other Canaanites in the area may respond. But the two sons believed they did the right thing in defending Dinah.

I wish Dinah wasn't used as a plot device in this way. It sucks that women are excluded of most of the Bible. When they are included, many times they are used for sex and having children. Her brothers avenged her, but I'm not a huge fan of this story. I can't believe children are encouraged to read this book sometimes.

Jacob Returns to Bethel - Genesis 35:1-15

Synopsis: God told Jacob to got to Bethel to build an altar. Jacob told his household to get rid of any idols they had and change their clothes before they left for Bethel. When they got to Bethel, God told Jacob that nations would come from him. Jacob built a stone pillar, poured a drink out as an offering, and put oil on it.

Not a whole lot we didn't already know in this story. This is an early reference to "pouring one out for a homie". This isn't a gesture to someone who had died, but it is a symbolic offering.

Death of Isaac and Rachel + Lineages - Genesis 35:16-36:43

Synopsis: Rachel died during the childbirth. As she was dying, she named the son Ben-Oni ("son of my trouble"), but Jacob named him Benjamin ("son of my right hand"). Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, slept with one of Jacob's concubine Bilhah (mother of Dan and Naphtali). Jacob heard about it. Shortly after Jacob returned home, Isaac also died. Then, Genesis 36 goes into Esau's family line and Edomite kings.

They change the name between Jacob and Israel in this story. I'll continue to refer to the man as Jacob to avoid confusion with the nation. Jacob going against his wife's name for his son on her death bed is on brand for him, but the name meaning "son of my trouble" would be a tough one to have. It's ridiculous that Isaac is just now dying. 20 years earlier, he gave Jacob the blessing that was meant for Esau. At that point, it seemed to me like he was so close to death that the blessing couldn't be transferred to Esau after it was clear that Jacob deceived Isaac. Reuben having sex with one of his half-brother's mom is weird. I also updated the family tree. For some simplicity, I did not include Edomite rulers that did not have a hereditary link to Esau or another figure already in the family tree.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or in the Discord. The passage for next Sunday will cover some stories about Joseph (Genesis 37-40).

#genesis #bible #atheist #ex christian #jacob #dinah #esau #laban #shechem #wrestle #hamor

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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05/13/2021 DAB Transcript

1 Samuel 14:1-52, John 7:31-53, Psalm 109: 1-31, Proverbs 15:5-7

Today is the 13th day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today like every day as we come around the Global Campfire together and just find our places and allow the Scriptures to continue speaking out the journey before us. We’re in the book of First Samuel right now in the Old Testament and we have been learning about Israel's first king, Saul. And Saul indeed has a lot to teach us about leadership and about our own motivations and our own fears and all of our Achilles heels. And we will see some of that continue in the story today as we get to know Jonathan, Saul's son, Prince Jonathan. And, so, let's dive in. First Samuel chapter 14.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of first Samuel today we got a situation that Saul has navigated himself into. I guess probably a decade maybe, I don't know how long ago there was this song, it was a very popular song, it was even used in a television commercial, but the…sort of the lines, the payoff lines in the chorus were, “it feels like the only way is the wrong way.” I guess I always remember that song because sometimes it feels like that. It’s just kind of what Saul has navigated himself into - the only way is the wrong way. And, so, what we witnessed today is the first kind of…it's a small one, but it's an actual uprising against the king, a confrontation with the king who is supposed to have the power of life and death in his hand. And now we see that the people aren’t so sure about that, at least those in his army. So, we just read the story. Very briefly, Jonathan the Prince, like the son of the king takes his armor bearer and they go and confront the Philistines and that sets off a chain reaction where the Philistines begin to fight with each other and then the Israelites charge down and they get in the battle and Saul sort of seeing that the enemy is in disarray wants to take advantage of the situation, but trying to appear to be this mighty strong leader, like he commands his army, “nobody eats until we've got our vengeance.” And these guys are in battle. They are in hand-to-hand combat. So, they’re expending a lot of energy and they're losing it quickly, and they cannot continue without eating. And, so, this slows them down. Of course, it was Jonathan, it was Jonathan who started the whole thing. He didn't ever hear the command, “not eat anything.” And, so, he eats the honeycomb and he's refreshed and the whole thing is a little bizarre to Jonathan because he knows like everybody…we have to have energy if we’re going to fight. In the end this comes down to “God won't talk to Saul”, and Saul wants to figure out who disobeyed one of his commands. And, so, as the story goes, it's Jonathan that's identified. That…that's the situation that Saul has gotten himself into where the only way is the wrong way because he's put a curse on anybody who eats. Like he's saying that…that the person who has sinned and disobeyed him is going to die, even if it's in his own family. And, so, now he's in the situation where the Prince of Israel is about to be executed for disobeying his dad, disobeying a command that he never heard, that he didn't even know about until after the fact. So, Jonathan's like, “okay it was me. I did it and I'm ready to die.” Saul, his dad, is like “and die, you will”, basically. “And die, you shall. This is, you know, this is…this is the punishment.” It's pretty staggering, actually. And, so, the people then confront the king and there like, “no. no. this is not right. This is not how this should go because the enemy is in flight from us, and that could only be have…have been done by God. And Jonathan is the one that brought us this victory. So, there's no way we’re gonna execute Jonathan.” And, so, Saul once again then is humiliated before his people. One of the things that he is most sensitive to, like this is his weakness and he's humiliated again. He wants to be a strong leader, but probably more important, he wants to look like a strong leader. And, so, he's plagued by this insecurity. He’s like more concerned with the image of the thing than actually being the king. And that insecurity just about cost him his son. So, we can look at this story and go, “okay. I see it now. I see it.” Shake our head up and down, “yes, I see this now. I see how this is affecting his kingdom and his kingship.” And then we can take our head in disagreement. Like, “no. That…that shouldn't be done.” And then we have to go look in the mirror. How many times, how many situations have we navigated ourselves into where the only way was the wrong way? And, so, the thing we’re trying to navigate away from, right, we’re trying to protect our pride or we’re trying to keep our insecurities hidden but then we get into these situations and then we’re humiliated, and our pride is exposed and our insecurities are exposed and people get hurt and misunderstanding and just all this stuff that starts to unravel, when there was pride and insecurity and then a precipice, a fall. It’s incredibly interesting how much of ourselves we can see in king Saul and how much the story of King Saul invites self-examination and change.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. We invite You into…into everything that’s ever said from the Scriptures. We need You to lead us into all truth. Your…You are the final point of truth. It is You that we seek. It is Your guidance that we seek because we are quote unquote truth from all angles. Everybody thinks that they've got a corner on things when it is You and You alone that can lead us into all truth. And, so, do that please we ask of You in the name of Jesus, lead us into all truth, that we might be continually transformed, that we might be light, that we might be true, that we might be Christlike. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button up at the top or there are a number of numbers that you can call depending on where you are. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Dr. John from Jordan New York. To the young lady that called stating that she was six weeks pregnant and not sure what to do. I heard this on my way back from the hospital just after delivering a baby. And it’s interesting because I’ve had other patients who have been told by other doctors, they can’t get pregnant and then they come to me pregnant. So, yeah, you’re not the first person to be told that and it not be true. God doesn’t make mistakes. This pregnancy is not a mistake and God has a special plan for this child of yours. Whether that’s for you to have the…the child go up for adoption to provide a couple who can’t have children with children…a child or whether it’s for you to raise a child, I’m not sure. That’s something that you’ll figure out with God. But just trust him. Trust him that he will provide a way for you, He will provide everything that you need. And be thankful for this great blessing that you have. So, if you have any questions or just want another ear you can email me [email protected]. And just put in the subject DAB and that will alert me to the sender. All right take care sweetheart. Good luck we love you and God is with you.

Hello Daily Audio Bible my name is Caroleena I’ve been listening for about three years or so thanks to my amazing sister-in-law who shared this with me. But this is my first time calling. Today in the United States we’re celebrating Mother’s Day. And I just want to pray for those who maybe are going through a difficult time and this day is not a day to rejoice, maybe if anyone has lost their mothers or grandmothers and miss them dearly or a maternal figure in their life or maybe your mom is alive but for whatever reason you’re not talking to them or maybe yourself you’ve been trying to become a mom. I was one of those and it was only until God led me to adoption that now I became a mother and my little one is my biggest joy and my biggest gift. So, Father I…I lift everyone who is suffering today, and that this day is not a day of celebration. I ask that your love it’s upon them that you make them feel that they are seen, and loved, and cared for Lord no matter the circumstances. And that whatever miracle they need in their life and that they could also hear voice clearly as to what to do Lord. We love you. We thank you for this day, despite how difficult it is for many. And thank you all our Mom’s who’ve poured so much into our lives.

Good Evening Daily Audio Bible family my name is Reverend Joseph Sackett. I was just very moved by Carissa who called in yesterday about her uncle Joey who struggles with alcoholism. I just want to let you know it struck me because I too have six siblings one of whom passed away. I am 50 years old and for 30 years of my life I was a more or less hopeless variety of alcoholic. I was saved at a young age, but I was very depressed and struggled with alcoholism from about 18 to about 45 years old. However, after finally hitting those rock bottoms and ending up homeless and in jail six years ago I can let you know that there is hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Nobody thought that I would ever stop drinking Charissa, but I am an Uncle Joey. I’ve been called Joey all my life. I’ve got the six siblings and I’ve got the alcohol problem. And God delivered me April 7th, 2016 and in the past six years I’ve become an ordained minister and I pastor in a recovery ministry helping other people. I just had to call him and say, Joey can make it because Joey already did. In Jesus’ name I pray for Joey to be delivered from this alcoholism and I recommend that maybe he tries out something in your community called celebrate recovery. God bless you. Brian y’all are…

This is listener in Maryland, and I have come to the community of Daily Audio Bible to the campfire. I like that analogy because if you are moving through the night and you see the light of a campfire you move towards it and when you…you get to the campfire you…you feel the warmth of the campfire and then the community of the campfire and all of that is very comforting and centering. So, this is a place that I come for comfort and centering. I do it daily usually early in the morning because that’s when I have to put on my full armor of God to make it through the rest of the day. And particularly now with this night that we are moving through, some call it the pandemic or whatever, but we need the light and warmth and destination of a campfire. So, thank you, Brian for providing this platform. Thank the staff that makes it run. And for the rest of us, give, i.e., throw a couple logs on the campfire whenever you can. And as…whatever you can to keep the light in the warmth and community of this campfire going.

Hello and greetings from beautiful Cincinnati Ohio. I’m actually…this is Daniel Johnson Junior by the way. I’m in Northwestern Hamilton County about 25 feet from the Great Miami River. I’m in a park that’s often become a place I’ve come and done a DAB long walk in many years passed. And I’m looking at the Great Miami River. It’s…it’s…it’s much greater and stays than usual. Probably the top of it’s probably traveling along at a good clip probably about 25 - 30 miles an hour. But I'm also struck by just these birds that are singing. Listen to that. God is taking care of these birds. They’re just so joyful and going out and getting their food looking for whatever it is. And I'm struck by like…Gods taken care of me too. In the past years I…there was one year that I actually wrote in the sand alongside this great Miami River first Samuel 4:12 thus far the Lord has helped us. And I took a rock from the side of this this riverbed, and I have…I have it with me today to this day. God's taken care of me. God's taken care of the birds of this air. I don’t know what my job future holds right now but God is taking care of it. And I'm struck by that emotionally today. It is made the 10th. We just got done reading one of the psalms and it was recounting Israel's history and just was another indication for me that the only way to know about Israel's history or our history and to reclaim…to talk about the ways that God has been helping us is to record it. And it's another just call for me to continue journaling. So, hey, from beautiful Cincinnati OH I wish you could be here with me right now. This is so beautiful. But you are because I'm thinking about you guys, all of you. It's Daniel Don Johnson Junior. God, bless you make it a great day.

Hi yes, my name is Dana Smith and it's been a while since I've been on here. I live in Alabama and I just have a prayer request. I work manufacturing and about two weeks ago I had finally had enough of…of being pretty much bullied at work and went to human resources. And anyways it just has been a rough 2 weeks and the men that are doing this, it's just there's a lot that's happened. I know God's in control but if you all could pray that God will soften their hearts and…and turn them away for the way that they're being, but also those that are in management that are in control that know that it's going on will step in. You know, we think as we get older that things like this won't happen, but they do. And, like I said, I know God's in control but I'm struggling because God blessed me with an amazing job, an amazing job. And because I grew up in an abusive home, I have a hard time dealing when people are…especially men…have that domineering way about them. And, so, it makes me hard to stand up for myself. And a lot of people don't understand that and they're like, “manufacturing is a rough job, a cut through job, and blah blah this.” And I'm like, you know what, it doesn't matter where you work at you should never have to put up with bullying. So again, my name is Dana from Alabama. If you all could pray that God's divine…he will divinely intervene and that everything will work out because right now being isolated and being not part of a team, it’s just gotten really bad. And this is…this is my life this is my job. And I just ask for y'all's prayers, that everything will come together in God's will. Thank you all so much.

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theartofimaginaryfriends · 3 years

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A Pretty Drei-dull Holiday (Part 5)

Fic series: Hanukkah Oneshots

Characters: Jewish!Percy x Jewish!Reader, Jewish!Sally, Paul Blofis, Estelle

Premise: The Jackson’s have a tense Hanukkah dinner with Y/N’s family.

Masterlist

taglist: @pjsolympians

Word count: 949

A/N: this fic isn’t ~happy~ but the holidays aren’t always. I’ve been to a couple tense Jewish dinners (different scenario than this, but still) where it was uncomfy. And I recognize that realistically, Sally wouldn’t fight with another parent, but when her son is involved I imagine she could be set off. Three more days and three more fics :) hope you enjoy this one!

For the fifth day: the fifth light is the light of Holiness. Purity of thought, nobility of action make all of life sacred. From the Prophet Isaiah, these words have been taken into Israel's prayer book: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts."

The Jackson's knew the L/N family well enough, but the Hanukkah dinner at their home felt different this year. Percy and Y/N had only recently started dating, and their relationship had added a certain amount of tension with Y/N's parents.

Percy's track record of getting in trouble and being on local news left Y/N's parents uncertain about their relationship. Not once had he been outwardly a threat, but that didn’t stop them from being cautious around the eighteen-year-old. They were especially protective of their children when he was around, and quite frankly weren't happy with their eldest's decision.

They walked out of the elevator that led up to the Penthouse, and followed the sound of latkes being fried, breathing in the delicious aroma. "Sally, how good to see you!"

Mrs L/N embraced her friend, as well as Paul, before giving Percy a tight-lipped smile. "It's good to see you, Mrs L/N."

"You too." she ushered them to the foyer, where Y/N was in a deep discussion with their little sister, Abby, about her most recent hyper fixation. Percy gravitated towards his partner, and gently placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Happy Hanukkah," they smiled up at him and stood up.

"Happy Hanukkah," he smiled back and kissed them. "You look beautiful, as always."

"Thank you," they said, blushing. He took a seat next to them, and after greeting Abby and father, listened to the twelve-year-old continue rambling on. Watching how the siblings interacted caused Percy to feel even more excited about Estelle growing up. The nine-month-old baby could only say a few words, but she was already showing a very strong personality. Seemed as stubborn as her older brother, and he was looking forward to watching her grow up.

As expected the air was tense. Y/N's parents hardly paid attention to Percy, and mostly talked to Sally and Paul. After all, they had a problem with the kid and not the parents. Y/N wanted to protest, but Percy wouldn’t let them. He kept telling them that he can deal with it for an evening, and it was no big deal. Sally, however, noticed the lack of attention on her son and tried to bring up something positive going on in his life any time she saw an opening. "Percy joined the swim team at his school. He's become captain, actually."

"Oh, how nice," Y/N's father replied, glancing over at Percy with slight distaste. He moved on to talk about Y/N's extracurricular, not-so-subtly attempting to one-up their boyfriend. This turned into a 'who has the better kid' competition, making Y/N increasingly more annoyed.

After they had lit the candles and sat down for dinner, the conversation died down. Everyone ate in a tense silence, the latkes and brisket not tasting as good as usual. The bitterness in the air tainted the food, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste in their mouths. "Y/N, why don't you tell Sally and Paul about your most recent art project?"

"Alright, that's it," they sighed, and put their utensils down. "First of all, they already know about it and I told them before I told you. Second of all, I don't understand why you can't see that Percy is a genuinely good guy. Whatever the two of you are so worked up about happened in the past. It's one thing to make this another uncomfortable and passive-aggressive family dinner, but it’s another to try and downplay his accomplishments by bringing up my own. I'm sick of staying silent because Percy and his parents don't deserve it. Come get me when you've apologized. I can't be around you right now."

Y/N got up from the table and disappeared into their room. They flopped onto their bed, and closed their eyes, needing a moment to themself. Not long after, someone opened the door, and joined Y/N on the bed, causing the mortal to open their eyes. "If looks could kill, I would be dead."

"I'm sorry," they grumbled.

"Hey, don't apologize," Percy spoke gently, pushing a stray hair out of their face.

"Did they?"

"Only for your behaviour," he rolled his eyes. "Which started an argument between our parents because my Mom agreed with you."

"Glad to know that I'm still in Sally's good graces," they gave a faint smile. "Still, I wish I didn’t address the elephant in the room until after the dinner was over."

"Everything happens for a reason, right?" Percy smirked, using a phrase Y/N said frequently.

"Yeah, yeah," they sat up and gave their boyfriend a playful glare. Percy lifted his arm, inviting Y/N to cuddle with him, and they sat there in silence while they listened to the voices increasing in volume. As the argument turned into full-on shouting, Abby entered the bedroom.

"Can I join you?" she asked, her voice small. "I don’t want to be out there anymore."

"I have a better idea," Y/N got up and grabbed their wallet. "Why don’t we go out, and get some sufganiyot at the bakery down the street?"

"Yes!" her eyes lit up.

"Mom's terrifying when she's mad, so absolutely." Percy agreed. "If they don’t notice us leaving, I'll text my parents to let them know where we are and that your sister is with us."

The three of them managed to leave the penthouse without the parents noticing, the four of them too busy arguing to even realize Abby left the table. Hopefully, things would die down by the time they got back, but if not it didn't matter. Y/N didn't need their parent's approval to date Percy. They loved him no matter what.

#jewish!percy #percy jackson #percy jackson fic #hanukkah fic #jewish headcanons

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daloo92 · 4 years

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Beirut explosion - What happened?

youtube

This huge explosion shook Beirut, the capital of Lebanon to the core. All of the city was heavily damaged. Shock-waves were felt in all of Lebanon and even in the neighboring country Cyprus (207 km or 128 miles away).

According to Aljazeera news: "Seismologists measured the event, which blew out windows at the city's international airport nine kilometres (more than five miles) away, as the equivalent of a magnitude-3.3 earthquake."

Port Beirut, which is now completely destroyed, is the country's main shipping point in this country that relies majorly on importing food and medicine since the local production is never sufficient. The grain silos that were stored there and contained 3 months worth of wheat were utterly destroyed. The country is facing a very grim future regarding food security.

Amid the most severe economic crisis Lebanon has ever faced, more than 300,000 people have lost their homes, more than 5,000 injured and 137 killed. That is without counting the numerous people that are still missing until today either because they were lost to the sea, trapped under the debris or whose bodies are not yet found...

The Lebanese people are suffering so much, they were already suffering due to the COVID-19 outbreak that exacerbated the country's economic crisis (leading to many people losing their jobs, a 30% unemployment rate, the Lebanese pound losing 60% of its value...) people were barely able to afford their basic necessities, and now this!!! The people cannot take it anymore!!

This corrupt government, which is the reason of the economic crisis, does not even have the decency to take responsibility for what happened! They are not helping the already broken people get back on their feet!! Instead we are relying on help from other countries because those corrupt pieces of s*** do not even have the decency to use the money they stole from people to help them!! Even foreign governments now know that they should not send help to the government or it will evaporate, instead they should send it directly to the people through NGOs. Right now, it's the people who are helping the people and not the government helping the people. We are surviving due to the solidarity between the Lebanese in times of crises and due to the help of other countries.

I am from Lebanon, I live about 3 km away from the epicenter of the explosion. My whole house shook, i thought it was an earthquake, i thought the whole building was gonna crumble on top of our heads (me and my family), i thought then and there that we were all gonna die. But thank God no one was hurt, and that was only due to God protecting us, some of our windows broke, large and sharp glass shards flew inside my brother's room who was having a nap on his bed near the window. My father and sister who were in the kitchen (where the window also broke), found themselves in another room still trying to understand what happened. Brown dust flew into the house from all directions and even entered from the closed windows. The panic, the mix of emotions, the despair, the fear, that immediate moment afterwards when we were trying to understand what happened... Did a building nearby collapse? Was there a gas explosion in the building? Was it a car that exploded in the street? Was someone assassinated?

We never would have imagined that this explosion was so far from our home. That day, on August 4th, a weapon of mass destruction was detonated in the heart of the capital. There are many theories as to what caused it (accident, negligence, attack from Israel...) , there is no way to know the truth since our corrupt government will probably hide it. But one thing is for sure, first we will pick ourselves up, then we will mourn but after that we will have our revenge, the revolution of 17 October will be back, and stronger than ever before.

Everyone please pray for Lebanon, pray for its people, and pray for those people that have already suffered so much.

#pray for beirut #beirut #pray for lebanon #beirut explosion

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araitsume · 4 years

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The Desire of Ages, pp. 779-787: Chapter (81) “The Lord Is Risen”

This chapter is based on Matthew 28:2-4, 11-15.

The night of the first day of the week had worn slowly away. The darkest hour, just before daybreak, had come. Christ was still a prisoner in His narrow tomb. The great stone was in its place; the Roman seal was unbroken; the Roman guards were keeping their watch. And there were unseen watchers. Hosts of evil angels were gathered about the place. Had it been possible, the prince of darkness with his apostate army would have kept forever sealed the tomb that held the Son of God. But a heavenly host surrounded the sepulcher. Angels that excel in strength were guarding the tomb, and waiting to welcome the Prince of life.

“And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven.” Clothed with the panoply of God, this angel left the heavenly courts. The bright beams of God's glory went before him, and illuminated his pathway. “His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.”

Now, priests and rulers, where is the power of your guard? Brave soldiers that have never been afraid of human power are now as captives taken without sword or spear. The face they look upon is not the face of mortal warrior; it is the face of the mightiest of the Lord's host. This messenger is he who fills the position from which Satan fell. It is he who on the hills of Bethlehem proclaimed Christ's birth. The earth trembles at his approach, the hosts of darkness flee, and as he rolls away the stone, heaven seems to come down to the earth. The soldiers see him removing the stone as he would a pebble, and hear him cry, Son of God, come forth; Thy Father calls Thee. They see Jesus come forth from the grave, and hear Him proclaim over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” As He comes forth in majesty and glory, the angel host bow low in adoration before the Redeemer, and welcome Him with songs of praise.

An earthquake marked the hour when Christ laid down His life, and another earthquake witnessed the moment when He took it up in triumph. He who had vanquished death and the grave came forth from the tomb with the tread of a conqueror, amid the reeling of the earth, the flashing of lightning, and the roaring of thunder. When He shall come to the earth again, He will shake “not the earth only, but also heaven.” “The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage.” “The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll;” “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” But “the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Hebrews 12:26; Isaiah 24:20; 34:4; 2 Peter 3:10; Joel 3:16.

At the death of Jesus the soldiers had beheld the earth wrapped in darkness at midday; but at the resurrection they saw the brightness of the angels illuminate the night, and heard the inhabitants of heaven singing with great joy and triumph: Thou hast vanquished Satan and the powers of darkness; Thou hast swallowed up death in victory!

Christ came forth from the tomb glorified, and the Roman guard beheld Him. Their eyes were riveted upon the face of Him whom they had so recently mocked and derided. In this glorified Being they beheld the prisoner whom they had seen in the judgment hall, the one for whom they had plaited a crown of thorns. This was the One who had stood unresisting before Pilate and Herod, His form lacerated by the cruel scourge. This was He who had been nailed to the cross, at whom the priests and rulers, full of self-satisfaction, had wagged their heads, saying, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Matthew 27:42. This was He who had been laid in Joseph's new tomb. The decree of heaven had loosed the captive. Mountains piled upon mountains over His sepulcher could not have prevented Him from coming forth.

At sight of the angels and the glorified Saviour the Roman guard had fainted and become as dead men. When the heavenly train was hidden from their view, they arose to their feet, and as quickly as their trembling limbs could carry them, made their way to the gate of the garden. Staggering like drunken men, they hurried on to the city, telling those whom they met the wonderful news. They were making their way to Pilate, but their report had been carried to the Jewish authorities, and the chief priests and rulers sent for them to be brought first into their presence. A strange appearance those soldiers presented. Trembling with fear, their faces colorless, they bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ. The soldiers told all, just as they had seen it; they had not had time to think or speak anything but the truth. With painful utterance they said, It was the Son of God who was crucified; we have heard an angel proclaiming Him as the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory.

The faces of the priests were as those of the dead. Caiaphas tried to speak. His lips moved, but they uttered no sound. The soldiers were about to leave the council room, when a voice stayed them. Caiaphas had at last found speech. Wait, wait, he said. Tell no one the things you have seen.

A lying report was then given to the soldiers. “Say ye,” said the priests, “His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept.” Here the priests overreached themselves. How could the soldiers say that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept? If they were asleep, how could they know? And if the disciples had been proved guilty of stealing Christ's body, would not the priests have been first to condemn them? Or if the sentinels had slept at the tomb, would not the priests have been foremost in accusing them to Pilate?

The soldiers were horrified at the thought of bringing upon themselves the charge of sleeping at their post. This was an offense punishable with death. Should they bear false witness, deceiving the people, and placing their own lives in peril? Had they not kept their weary watch with sleepless vigilance? How could they stand the trial, even for the sake of money, if they perjured themselves?

In order to silence the testimony they feared, the priests promised to secure the safety of the guard, saying that Pilate would not desire to have such a report circulated any more than they did. The Roman soldiers sold their integrity to the Jews for money. They came in before the priests burdened with a most startling message of truth; they went out with a burden of money, and on their tongues a lying report which had been framed for them by the priests.

Meanwhile the report of Christ's resurrection had been carried to Pilate. Though Pilate was responsible for having given Christ up to die, he had been comparatively unconcerned. While he had condemned the Saviour unwillingly, and with a feeling of pity, he had felt no real compunction until now. In terror he now shut himself within his house, determined to see no one. But the priests made their way into his presence, told the story which they had invented, and urged him to overlook the sentinels’ neglect of duty. Before consenting to this, he himself privately questioned the guard. They, fearing for their own safety, dared not conceal anything, and Pilate drew from them an account of all that had taken place. He did not prosecute the matter further, but from that time there was no peace for him.

When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take up His life again. He claimed the Lord's body, and set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger. When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die.

The priests, in putting Christ to death, had made themselves the tools of Satan. Now they were entirely in his power. They were entangled in a snare from which they saw no escape but in continuing their warfare against Christ. When they heard the report of His resurrection, they feared the wrath of the people. They felt that their own lives were in danger. The only hope for them was to prove Christ an impostor by denying that He had risen. They bribed the soldiers, and secured Pilate's silence. They spread their lying reports far and near. But there were witnesses whom they could not silence. Many had heard of the soldiers’ testimony to Christ's resurrection. And certain of the dead who came forth with Christ appeared to many, and declared that He had risen. Reports were brought to the priests of persons who had seen these risen ones, and heard their testimony. The priests and rulers were in continual dread, lest in walking the streets, or within the privacy of their own homes, they should come face to face with Christ. They felt that there was no safety for them. Bolts and bars were but poor protection against the Son of God. By day and by night that awful scene in the judgment hall, when they had cried, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” was before them. Matthew 27:25. Nevermore would the memory of that scene fade from their minds. Nevermore would peaceful sleep come to their pillows.

When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself. Now was proved the truth of His words, “I lay down My life, that I might take it again.... I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” Now was fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken to the priests and rulers, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 10:17, 18; 2:19.

Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ had proclaimed in triumph, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” These words could be spoken only by the Deity. All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are dependent recipients of the life of God. From the highest seraph to the humblest animate being, all are replenished from the Source of life. Only He who is one with God could say, I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death.

Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14.

As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The earthquake at His death had rent open their graves, and when He arose, they came forth with Him. They were those who had been co-laborers with God, and who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead.

During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler's daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ's resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.

These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth of the words, “Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise.” Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19.

To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. “I am come,” He said, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 10:10; 4:14; John 6:54.

To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. “If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death,” “he shall never taste of death.” To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” John 8:51, 52; Colossians 3:4.

The voice that cried from the cross, “It is finished,” was heard among the dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the dead in Christ shall arise. At the Saviour's resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Him, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Headlines

World refugee numbers rise (Foreign Policy) A new report by the United Nations refugee agency found that the number of refugees worldwide increased by 9 million in 2019, adding to a total of roughly 80 million people. Only 107,000 refugees were resettled in third countries, with Canada receiving the most with 31,100. The United States received the second highest number with 27,500 resettled in 2019.

Migrant farmworkers die in Canada, and Mexico wants answers (Washington Post) Each summer for the past five years, Aaron has traveled from his home in Mexico to Canada as one of the tens of thousands of temporary foreign workers who seed, tend and harvest the crops that keep the country fed. This year’s journey was unique. Flights were limited. There were temperature screenings and questionnaires before he took off and after he landed. On arriving in British Columbia this month, he was checked into a hotel for a 14-day quarantine. But in this year of the coronavirus, the precautions have not kept all of Canada’s migrant farmworkers safe. At least 600 have contracted covid-19, and at least two, both Mexicans, have died. Mexico, which provides nearly half of Canada’s migrant farmworkers, has become so concerned that officials said this week they’re hitting the “pause button” on plans to send up to 5,000 more to Canada until they’re satisfied the conditions that led to the deaths will be rectified—threatening a labor crunch for Canada’s already squeezed agricultural sector. The pandemic has highlighted Canada’s dependence on the 60,000 temporary foreign workers who arrive each year from countries such as Mexico and Jamaica as part of a federal government program, and without whom hundreds of thousands of tons of blueberries, asparagus stalks and grapes would wither on the vine.

DACA lives on (NYT) When this country started hearing a decade ago about Dreamers—people who came to the United States as small children without legal permission—many of them were in their teens or early 20s. These Dreamers are now full adults, with careers and families, and many have spent years anxiously wondering whether they would be thrown out of the only country they’ve really known. Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, which barred President Trump from deporting the Dreamers anytime soon, came as a tremendous relief to them. “It feels amazing,” Vanessa Pumar, 31, an immigration lawyer who came from Venezuela at age 11, said. “I have been holding my breath. It feels like I can finally breathe.” Roberto G. Gonzales, a Harvard professor who has been studying DACA since it went into effect in 2012, calls it “the most successful immigration policy in recent decades.” Gonzales explains: “Within a year, DACA beneficiaries were already taking giant steps. They found new jobs. They increased their earnings. They acquired driver’s licenses. And they began to build credit through opening bank accounts and obtaining credit cards.”

AP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans support police protests (AP) Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality, a majority of Americans say they approve of recent protests around the country. Many think they’ll bring positive change. And despite the headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in cities nationwide, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds a majority of Americans think law enforcement officers have generally responded to the protests appropriately. Somewhat fewer say the officers used excessive force. The findings follow weeks of peaceful protests and unrest in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died pleading for air on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes. A dramatic change in public opinion on race and policing has followed, with more Americans today than five years ago calling police violence a very serious problem that unequally targets black Americans.

Atlanta police call out sick over charges in fatal shooting (AP) Atlanta police officers called out sick to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing. Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department had sufficient staff to protect the city. It’s not clear how many officers called out. “Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned,” Bryant said of the officers. “But we are there to assure them that we will continue to move forward and get through this.”

Beware the trampoline (NYT) Sales of outdoor equipment has surged as families try to keep their children entertained while on lockdown. But that has led to a spike in injuries from bikes, scooters, and especially trampolines. Some E.R. doctors have begun referring to trampolines as “orthopedic fracture machines.” Many injuries occur when multiple children, especially a mix of older and younger ones, are jumping on a trampoline at the same time. That’s what happened to the daughter of our colleague Adam Pasick, who broke her tibia on a trampoline on Wednesday. Stay safe out there, kids!

Missing in Mexico (Foreign Policy) Families of people thought to have gone missing amid Mexico’s drug war surrounded a motorcade carrying President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the state of Veracruz on Monday demanding he do more to bring their loved ones home. Some 61,000 people are estimated to be missing in the country, and relatives fear that austerity measures, which could see a 75 percent budget cut to a government agency that provides funding and support to families of the disappeared, will only make matters worse. While coronavirus-related lockdowns have stalled search efforts, gang violence and disappearances have continued.

France and Turkey spar over ship incident (Foreign Policy) Tensions between France and Turkey rose after French Defense Minister Florence Parly said a Turkish ship refused to identify itself and its mission after an approach by a French vessel on a NATO mission to check on suspected weapons smuggling to Libya. Turkish sailors donned bulletproof vests and took up positions behind light weaponry during the incident, according to Parly. “This act was extremely aggressive and cannot be one of an ally facing another ally who is doing its work under NATO command,” Parly said. Turkey called France’s claims “baseless.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that NATO is investigating the incident “to bring full clarity into what happened.”

Anger Surges in India Over Deadly Border Brawl With China (NYT) An Indian government minister has called for Chinese restaurants to be closed. Other Indian officials have suddenly put contracts to Chinese companies under review. And crowds of men are now smashing Chinese-made televisions in the street. A wave of anti-Chinese anger is cresting across India as the nation struggles to absorb the loss of 20 Indian soldiers beaten to death this week by Chinese troops in a high-altitude brawl along India’s disputed border with China. And the tensions are hardly easing. Sonam Joldan, a teacher in the Ladakh region near the India-China border, reported on Thursday seeing a line of 100 Indian Army trucks heading toward the front line, wending its way up the Himalayan mountains “like a caravan of ants.”

China charges Canadians with espionage (Foreign Policy) Chinese prosecutors announced today that they have charged two Canadians in Chinese detention with espionage. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been held by Chinese authorities since 2018 in what is seen as a reciprocal move by Beijing after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, by Canadian police. Meng is currently under house arrest in Vancouver while fighting a Canadian court battle to halt her extradition to the United States.

Singapore opens gyms, dining out as China outbreak steadies (AP) Singaporeans can wine and dine at restaurants, work out at the gym and socialize with no more than five people at a time as of Friday, when the city-state removed most of its pandemic lockdown restrictions. Getting back to business in Singapore came as China declared a fresh outbreak in Beijing under control after confirming 25 new cases among some 360,000 people tested. That was up by just four from a day earlier. Singapore’s malls, gyms, massage parlors, parks and other public facilities reopened their doors with strict social distancing and other precautions.

Palestinians fear displacement from an annexed Jordan Valley (AP) For generations, the people of Fasayil herded animals on the desert bluffs and palm-shaded lowlands of the Jordan Valley. Today, nearly every man in the Palestinian village works for Jewish settlers in the sprawling modern farms to the north and south. The grazing lands to the west and east, leading down to the banks of the biblical Jordan River, have been swallowed up by the settlements or fenced off by the Israeli military. So instead of leading sheep out to pasture, the men rise before dawn to work in the settlements for around $3 an hour—or they move away. “Everyone here works in the settlements, there’s nothing else,” said Iyad Taamra, a member of the village council who runs a small grocery store. “If you have some money you go somewhere else where there is a future.” Palestinians fear communities across the Jordan Valley will meet a similar fate if Israel proceeds with its plans to annex the territory, which accounts for around a quarter of the occupied West Bank and was once seen as the breadbasket of a future Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the valley and all of Israel’s far-flung West Bank settlements, in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and has been rejected by the Palestinians. The process could begin as soon as July 1.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince uses travel restrictions to consolidate power (Washington Post) The formal term in Arabic is mana’a al-safar, or “travel bans.” But the practical effect of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policy of restricting journeys abroad by what appear to be thousands of Saudis is to intimidate those he regards as political threats. “This is hostage-taking as a tool of governing,” argued Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi cardiologist who lives in Toronto. Two of his younger siblings, Omar and Sarah, now both in their early 20s, were banned from travel in June 2017 shortly after MBS, as he’s known, became crown prince. MBS wanted leverage against their father, a former Saudi intelligence official named Saad Aljabri, hoping to force him home to face corruption allegations that Khalid says are false. An investigation shows that this practice of restricting foreign travel is much broader than generally recognized and is part of a larger system of organized repression in the kingdom. MBS has used these tools to consolidate power as he moves toward what some U.S. officials believe may be an attempt, perhaps this year, to seize the full powers of government from his ailing father, King Salman. The total number of Saudis who are subject to travel restrictions, according to Saudi and U.S. analysts, probably runs into the thousands. Those who are banned don’t usually know about their status until they go to the airport or try to cross a border post, where they’re stopped and told that exit is forbidden on order of the state security organization, which operates through the royal court. No formal, written explanation is typically given.

Zimbabwe on the brink (Foreign Policy) Three female opposition activists in Zimbabwe have been forced to remain in prison following a bail hearing on Monday as they face charges of fabricating allegations of being abducted, tortured, and humiliated by police. The charges against the women are widely thought to be politically motivated, while the U.N. called on the authorities to “urgently prosecute and punish the perpetrators of this outrageous crime.” The case against the women, one of whom, Joana Mamombe, is a member of Parliament, comes at a tense time in the country as inflation has risen to 785 percent. The price of bread and sugar has surged by 30 percent over the past week, evoking memories of the hyperinflation seen in 2008 that rendered the country’s currency worthless. Economic crisis and rising public anger have led to mounting speculation that a coup could be in the works. The national security council of Zimbabwe dismissed the rumors in a press conference last week, saying they were being fueled by allies of the late Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.

#headlines #news

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dfroza · 3 years

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the True Day of Atonement

that unveiled (A new covenant of grace) in Light of the eternal Son

to truly turn the page from the past (tense)

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 9th chapter of the book of Hebrews:

Even that first covenant had rules and regulations about how to worship and how to set up an earthly sanctuary for God. In the Book of Exodus, we read how the first tent was set aside for worship—we call it the holy place—how inside it they placed an oil lamp, a table, and the bread that was consecrated to God. Behind a second dividing curtain, there was another tent which is called the most holy place. In there they placed the golden incense altar and the golden ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the golden urn that contained manna (the miraculous food God gave our ancestors in the desert), Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant that Moses brought down from the mountain. Above the ark were the golden images of heavenly beings of glory who shadowed the mercy seat.

I cannot go into any greater detail about this now. When all is prepared as it is supposed to be, the priests go back and forth daily into the first tent to carry out the duties described in the law. But once a year, the high priest goes alone into that second tent, the most holy place, with blood to offer for himself and the unwitting errors of the people. As long as that first tent is standing, the Holy Spirit shows us, the way into the most holy place has not yet been revealed to us. That first tent symbolizes the present time, when gifts and sacrifices can be offered; but it can’t change the heart and conscience of the worshiper. These gifts and sacrifices deal only with regulations for the body—food and drink and various kinds of ritual cleansings necessary until the time comes to make things truly right.

When the Anointed One arrived as High Priest of the good things that are to come, He entered through a greater and more perfect sanctuary that was not part of the earthly creation or made by human hands. He entered once for all time into the most holy place—entering, not with the blood of goats or calves or some other prescribed animal, but offering His own blood and thus obtaining redemption for us for all time. Think about it: if the blood of bulls or of goats, or the sprinkling of ashes from a heifer, restores the defiled to bodily cleanliness and wholeness; then how much more powerful is the blood of the Anointed One, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice to God, purifying your conscience from the dead things of the world to the service of the living God?

This is why Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant: through His death, He delivered us from the sins that we had built up under the first covenant, and His death has made it possible for all who are called to receive God’s promised inheritance. For whenever there is a testament—a will—the death of the one who made it must be confirmed because a will takes effect only at the death of its maker; it has no validity as long as the maker is still alive. Even the first testament—the first covenant—required blood to be put into action. When Moses had given all the laws of God to the people, he took the blood of calves and of goats, water, hyssop, and scarlet wool; and he sprinkled the scroll and all the people, telling them, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for us.” In the same way, he also sprinkled blood upon the sanctuary and upon the vessels used in worship. Under the law, it’s almost the case that everything is purified in connection with blood; without the shedding of blood, sin cannot be forgiven.

Since what was given in the old covenant was the earthly sketch of the heavenly reality, this was sufficient to cleanse the earthly sanctuary; but in heaven, a more perfect sacrifice was needed. The Anointed One did not enter into handcrafted sacred spaces—imperfect copies of heavenly originals—but into heaven itself, where He stands in the presence of God on our behalf. There He does not offer Himself over and over as a sacrifice (as the high priest on earth does when he enters the most holy place each year with blood other than his own) because that would require His repeated suffering since the beginning of the world. No, He has appeared once now, at the end of the age, to put away sin forever by offering Himself as a sacrifice.

Just as mortals are appointed to die once and then to experience a judgment, so the Anointed One, our Liberating King, was offered once in death to bear the sins of many and will appear a second time, not to deal again with sin, but to rescue those who eagerly await His return.

The Book of Hebrews, Chapter 9 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 49th chapter of the book of Jeremiah that continues with decrees of Judgment:

Now concerning the Ammonites. This is what the Eternal has to say:

Eternal One: Does Israel have no sons?

Is there no one to inherit the land I gave her?

Is that why Ammon’s god, Malcam, has taken the land of Gad?

Why would his people be living in her cities?

I, the Eternal, tell you the days are coming

when you will hear the shout of war raised against Rabbah, Ammon’s capital.

On that day it will be reduced to a pile of ruins,

and the villages surrounding the city will be burned.

Then Israel will take back what was taken from her.

Weep, O Heshbon, for the town of Ai is destroyed!

Cry out, O citizens of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth and mourn your losses.

Run back and forth inside your city walls

Because your so-called god, Malcam, will be carried into exile

along with his priests and officials.

You boast of your abundant valleys, you faithless daughter,

but they are fading away.

You trusted in your own wealth and thought,

“Who could ever attack me?”

Watch! I will surround you with terror.

I, the Eternal Lord, Commander of heavenly armies, declare this.

You will be driven out of the land in single file,

with no one to keep your exiles together.

But after this, there will come a day

when I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.

So says the Eternal.

Here now is the oracle concerning Edom, the descendants of Esau, spoken by the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

Eternal One: What happened to the wise men of Teman?

Has their insight failed them?

Has their wisdom merely vanished into thin air?

You who live in Dedan,

run and hide deep in the caves,

For I will bring a disaster on Esau’s descendants

when I come to punish him.

When workers harvest the grapes,

do they not leave some on the vine for those who are poor?

Even when thieves enter your home in the middle of the night,

do they not destroy and steal only what they need?

But I will treat Esau’s descendants differently:

I will strip them bare, exposing their secret places—no place to hide.

Their children, their families, and even their neighbors will die,

and this nation will be no more.

Leave your orphans to Me, for I will protect them.

Leave your widows as well, for they can trust Me.

This is what I, the Eternal, have to say: “If the innocent must drink of this cup of wrath, why do you think you should escape punishment? You will not escape, for you will surely drink from this cup! I swear by My own name, the Eternal, that Bozrah, Edom’s capital, will become a wasteland, an object of horror, of scorn and cursing; Edom’s towns will forever lie in ruins.”

I have heard a message from the Eternal.

An envoy was sent to the nations to say,

“Assemble your troops to attack Edom!

Rise up, and prepare for battle!”

Eternal One (to Edom): Look! I will humiliate you among the nations,

make you small and insignificant, despised by all.

The terror you inspire in others

and your ingrained arrogance have deceived you!

You think you are safe in your mountain hideaways;

you hold the high ground above your enemies.

You may build your fortress as high as an eagle’s nest,

but I can still bring you down from there.

Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by and see what I have done will shudder and gasp at all of his wounds. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and all their neighbors were destroyed, never to rise again, I, the Eternal One, declare that no one will live there; no one will dare to make Edom their home. Like a lion that suddenly emerges from the dense undergrowth beside the Jordan to attack a flock feeding in the lush pasture, so in an instant I will arrive and chase the people of Edom from their land. Then I will put in place a leader of My choosing. For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?

That is why you must hear the plan that the Eternal has for Edom, and what He intends to do to those who live in the city of Teman.

Eternal One: The little ones will be dragged away from the flock.

All will scatter when their pasture is left desolate.

The sound of Edom’s fall will cause the earth to shake.

Their anguished cry will echo to the Red Sea.

Look, an eagle is rising, spreading its wings!

Soon it will swoop down and attack Bozrah.

On that day, the heart of Edom’s warriors

will be like the heart of a woman in labor—helpless and vulnerable.

Here now is an oracle concerning Damascus.

Eternal One: The towns of Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,

for they have heard bad news: doom is coming!

They are distressed, troubled, and unsettled like the swirling sea.

Damascus is weak and helpless; she has turned and run away.

Panic grips her heart;

Torment and pain have grabbed her

like a woman giving birth.

Citizens of Damascus: Why is this glorious city—this city that gives us so much joy—not already deserted?

Eternal One: Her young men will fall in the streets,

and her warriors will fall silent on that day.

So says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

Eternal One: I will set fire to the walls of Damascus,

a fire that will spread and burn up the palaces of Ben-hadad.

Here is an oracle from the Eternal concerning Kedar and the nomadic tribes of Arabia known as the kingdoms of Hazor, all defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Eternal One: Rise up and attack Kedar.

Destroy the tribes of the east.

They will take away their tents and their flocks,

their curtains, their camels, and all their possessions.

They will shout to one another,

“Terror is everywhere we turn!”

Run away quickly while there is time!

Hide deep in the earth, people of Hazor.

For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has schemed against you.

He has a plan for your defeat.

So I tell you to rise up and attack this complacent nation,

which assumes it is secure—

A nation without walls or gates

that lives alone in the desert.

Their camels and livestock will be the spoils of war.

I will scatter to the wind these people who cut the corners of their hair

And surround them with disaster on every side,

so I, the Eternal, declare.

Hazor will become a haunt for jackals,

a place of desolation for all time.

Certainly no one will live there ever again.

No one will make it his home.

Here is an oracle concerning Elam. The word of the Eternal came to the prophet Jeremiah early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has to say:

Eternal One: I will break the bows of Elam’s archers—the very best of their military might. I will bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven to blow against Elam. I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where her exiles will not go. I will shatter Elam right in front of her enemies, before those who want her dead. I will bring disaster upon these people, for My violent anger burns against them. I will pursue them in war until they are no more. I will destroy her wicked king and officials and set the king I want on the throne over Elam. But even so, in the latter times, the day will come when I will restore the fortunes of Elam.

So says the Eternal.

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 49 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, October 1 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about seeking:

We naturally seek life on our own terms, yet this mercifully leads to disappointment, sorrow, and loss. God calls us to change our direction and turn to him because he knows that what we really need is only found in relationship with him.... Since the blessing is found by connecting with him, he calls us away from the vanity of our idols to know him as our ultimate concern, our highest good, our deepest love...

Like walking upon a plank that stretches out before the fathomless sea, teshuvah is an abandonment of yourself to God's care - the surrender of all that you are - the good as well as the bad, in trust of his personal love for you. It is not about reforming your character or becoming a "good" person; indeed, it is really not about you at all. Turning to God means losing sight of yourself altogether by being caught up in the glory of the Divine life itself.

Of course life is a messy business for us. We are weak. We are tempted, and we regularly fail. We are filled with ambivalence; we contradict ourselves; we struggle; we falter, we sin. At times we may even feel lost and inconsolably alone. But faith is a gift from heaven - the gift of God's presence, and as such the miracle attests that "God is with us," even in our times of darkness, in moments of sadness, heartache, confusion, anger, and fear. Where is God in our sorrows, our losses, our nightmares? He is with us. Despite the blindness of our hearts, the Spirit of God whispers: "I am with you." Yea, God never leaves us; he never forsakes us. He cares. His heart spans "the breadth and length and height and depth" of all that we are, expressed in his eviscerated groans for our deliverance, in drops of blood sweat out in his passion, in the forsakenness and utmost anguish of the cross... Faith believes and then sees.

God is with us, yet in the busyness of the everyday we lose sight of him. We forget. We go dark. We go into exile. And then in "the mercy of our misery" we sense the call of his heart: "Come unto me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest..." We slow down and again seek his "hidden" Presence, remembering his greatness and turning our thoughts back to what is ultimately real... What we thought was so big -- the dramas of this world -- suddenly seems small and insignificant. We remember the LORD our God; we revisit what matters most of all. And as we do so, the Spirit of God begins to flow within us as we reconnect with our true identity as God's beloved child. We come back to the open arms our Savior. He is alive; Jesus is real; we belong to him and he will lead us into the depths of his love forever and ever... Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

9.30.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

October 1, 2021

Unshakable Things

“And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:27)

In this present evil world, there are many pressures that would tend to shake our faith and tempt us to compromise. Paul would exhort persecuted believers “that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled” by such things, but rather to “stand fast” in the truths God has taught them (2 Thessalonians 2:2, 15).

The “hope set before us:...we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Hebrews 6:18-19). The “word” to which our text refers is from Haggai 2:6-7: “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come,” who will establish “a kingdom which cannot be moved” (Hebrews 12:28).

Note God’s amazing promise: “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke,...but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6). Similarly, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).

The earth may crumble, and even our bodies may return to dust, but God’s Word endures, and so do His righteousness and His kingdom and His great salvation! If our hope is in Him and His Word alone, and if we are seeking to do His gracious will, then our faith and our destiny can never be shaken. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isaiah 66:22). HMM

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updcbc · 6 years

Text

August 5, 2018 - “The Delight of Forgiveness” Psalm 32

Click KEEP READING to read the full sermon.

Introduction

It grieves our hearts every time we hear of a great man of God—or anyone amongst us—had fallen into sin and reaps the grave consequences of his downfall. Oh, may we have the sobriety not to point fingers upon others and condemn them of their own wrongdoing! Should we not be gripped with trembling fear if only we realize how deceitful our hearts are and how sinful our nature is and how inclined we are to commit sin and make a deliberate wrong choice for our self destruction?

David began with a humble beginning as an unknown shepherd in Bethlehem. And the LORD anointed him as king when he dethroned Saul whom he rejected because he defied his word. God protected David from King Saul who used his might to kill him. When Saul died, David was confronted with a bloody civil war until he unified the southern and northern territories of Israel. King David conquered Jerusalem and made it as the center of his kingdom. His kingdom was firmly established when he subdued the neighboring nations who were enemies of the Hebrew people (2 Sam. 8:1-13). What was the secret of his triumphant rule? “And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him” (2 Sam. 5:10). And how did he rule as a king? “David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people” (2 Sam. 8:15).

The staggering downfall of David started when he failed to safeguard his moral conviction. When his throne was established he began to crumble within. In the spring when kings go off to war, instead of leading his army in the battlefield he stayed behind in the comfort of his palace. His past overwhelming triumph over his enemies made him believe that he could simply entrust the battle in the hands of his mighty warriors and assured himself of victory. Such confidence caused him to be idle. Instead of interceding for his warriors he gave himself an untimely treat from bloody warfare. In his idleness he became vulnerable into temptation. Unfortunately, under his direct command as a king, he committed adultery with Bathsheba. To cover up his adultery on Bathsheba, he plotted the murder of her husband Uriah who was one of his loyal mighty warriors. Then he took Bathsheba as his wife.

David concealed his grievous sins for almost a year as he continued to govern over his people with a nagging conscience of having destroyed a sacred marriage with cold-blooded hands. God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David the king. And Nathan spoke to David in a parable.

“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” (2 Sam. 12:1b-4)

King David was outraged.

“David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing without pity.’” (2 Sam. 12:5-6)

Nathan confronted David, “You are the man!” (v. 12:7a). And the prophet declared the message of God to the king.

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own…Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” (vv. 12:7b-12)

King David came to his own senses. “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD” (v. 13a). And Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die” (vv. 13b-14). The judgment of King David for the rich man was applied to himself. Four times over he paid off for his sin in taking the wife of Uriah. First, David’s child with Bathsheba died. Second, his daughter Tamar was raped by his half-brother Amnon—and she became a desolate woman for life. Third, Amnon was murdered by Absalom the brother of Tamar. And fourth, Absalom was put to death when he led a civil war against his own father.

It was on this historical background that King David had composed two psalms, 51 and 32; the former focused on the gravity of sin and latter on the grace of forgiveness. Psalm 32 speaks about the reassuring beatitude (vv. 1-5) and the transforming power of forgiveness (vv. 6-11).

In the eyes of God, our life story is like a documented book. Every page of our book of life records our obvious deeds and unveils our secret thoughts and motives. When we look closely into our personal lives, there may be pages we desire to tear down and snap from our book of life. These are the pages in our lives when we commit the shameful and disgraceful deeds. Given the choice, King David could have had torn apart 2 Samuel chapter 11 from the Holy Scriptures for it recorded the darkest moment in his life. Yet, if that portion in the Bible is taken out, we could hardly appreciate Psalms 51 and 32. Likewise, if we will tear a page that contains the dark sides in our journey—we cannot have a complete picture of our own book of life. Moreover, we could hardly treasure the forgiveness of God for our sinfulness. In the darkest moments of our lives the grace of God shines the brightest.

A. The Beatitude of Forgiveness (32:1-5)

King David was good as dead. In the Law of Moses, anyone who is guilty of adultery and murder must be stoned to death. Under the great mercy of God his servant king was spared from death. Nathan declared to David, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die” (2 Sam. 12:13b). Led by the Spirit of the Lord, David offered a song of gratitude declaring the grace and forgiveness of God.

1. The Joy in Forgiveness

For God to forgive a sinner is the greatest joy on this fallen world.

“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (32:1-2)

David was called a man after God’s own heart. Not because he was sinless. Neither he was better than the rest of us. He committed the unimaginable detestable sins against God and his fellowmen by abusing his authority and power as a king. He could hardly imagine how in one glance he had been overcome with a lust over a very beautiful woman that led to a staggering disaster in his home and nation. He was called a man after God’s own heart because in his grievous sinfulness he cherished the forgiveness of God and resolved to make things right without any shadow of deceit. And the LORD knows his heart.

The Hebrew thought of blessedness conveys the highest good bestowed by the gracious God upon an unworthy sinner. This dispels the idea of superficial and temporary form of happiness. Rather, it speaks of the fulfilling and lasting joy which God gives to a sinful and restless soul. This heavenly blessing can withstand every form of pain on earth.

Forgiveness is never cheap. Sin is our greatest burden and our most grievous offense against the holy God. A sinner who is not forgiven of his sin is wretched and restless. It cost the blood of Jesus Christ shed at the cross to forgive us completely of all our sins. In Christ alone can we be forgiven and found rest for our souls. The angelic host rejoices over a repentant sinner who is forgiven of his sin. Here on earth, to be forgiven of our sin is our greatest delight. And we cherish this redemptive joy throughout all eternity.

2. The Grief of Guilt

King David who covered up his adultery with murder led him to conceal his grievous sins for almost a year. On the outside he wore a mask. On the inside he was unspeakably miserable.

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah” (32:3-4)

The Hebrew word “Selah,” as used by David, is a musical term that would mean an interlude—a pause in the singing while the orchestra continues or the equivalent of the present form of the word “Amen.” King David internalized his song of prayer to God and invites the singers to reflect upon its revealing truth.

When we conceal our sin, we may escape the judgment of man but never the nagging cry of our conscience. Cain tried to disregard his gnawing guilt by burying his own brother to cover up his murder from his own parents Adam and Eve. His evil heart was bare before the eyes of the LORD. Yet Cain chose to defy God and justified his sin. From the ground, the outcry of the innocent blood of Abel tortured Cain. Under the righteous judgment of God, Cain became a restless wanderer for life.

Likewise, King David imprisoned himself in agonizing torture when he concealed his sin. He made a great fool of himself when he sat on his throne to govern in truth, justice and righteousness—when he himself was a fugitive of the law as a guilty adulterer and a murderer! This irreconcilable double standard of administering justice was tearing him down apart every day. Ah! To anyone of us who seems to be innocent yet bear a guilty conscience, we only make fool of ourselves for we can smile on the outside but we are screaming in the inside. Inside our private room we could hardly see our face with dignity before a mirror!

3. The Forgiveness in Repentance

God sent Nathan to confront David. And King David humbled himself before Nathan and he trembled before the LORD.

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah” (32:5)

Nathan cornered David, “You are the man.” And God rebuked him, “Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?” King David confessed, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan declared, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” This piercing lesson was driven home in the heart of David. Though forgiven, he braced himself to painstakingly bear the devastating consequences of his sin. “Selah”—ponder on this thing.

There is a great difference between a wise and a fool. “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you” (Prov. 9:8). Nathan had his own fear to rebuke the ruler of the land. In obedience to God he firmly yet gently confronted the king. And David humbled himself before Nathan and the LORD.

When God sends someone to confront us of our sin, may we choose the path of David to humble ourselves and make things right with God and to anyone whom we have wronged. And even if we are forgiven, we ought to bear the heartbreaking consequences of our sin.

B. The Transformation in Forgiveness (32:6-11)

When God forgives our sins he gives us a clearer vision of his holiness and the depravity of our hearts. Divine forgiveness is the grace of God at work in our lives to transform us in our inner being. Having been forgiven we become serious not to let sin rule over our lives. And God alone can give us victory as we wrestle with our sinful nature. In the beatitude of forgiveness, King David invites us to yield our all to God.

1. Godliness

We are forgiven to pursue godliness.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” (32:6-7)

Godliness is to enthrone God into our hearts for him to rule over our lives. Every thought, word and deed revolves around God and aligns in accord to his will. At the center of our being, God becomes our haven of rest. Without godliness it is impossible for us to have a rightful connection with God. The Lord discerns every motive of the heart. If we offer our prayers to him from a pure heart, we can find him and experience the wonder of his presence. God as our home we are safe and secure. He is our hiding place. He safeguards us from any trouble and surrounds us with songs of deliverance. Pause and reflect on this truth.

When Nathan declared that God had forgiven his sin and spared him from death, it did not mean that he will be free from troubles. He braced himself to bear the inconceivable painful consequences of his sin. The LORD made this clear to him, “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.” He did a wicked thing privately in the sight of God. And God will discipline him in utter disgrace in the sight of his own countrymen. In his sin he destroyed the home of Uriah and Bathsheba. As a consequence of his sin, his own household was broken at the cost of her four beloved children. Moreover, because of his sin, it led to the breaking down of his kingdom at the verge of civil war.

In all his indescribable heartaches he did not complain under the painful disciplinary measures of God. Instead, he humbled himself and yielded his all to him. His destiny as a king was in the hands of God. For him to be restored to his kingdom or not, God alone owned the final word. In godliness he pleaded for divine mercy. And the LORD God became his ultimate hiding place who protected him from all his inconceivable troubles and surrounded him with soothing songs of deliverance.

When we defy God and disobey his word, we make a great trouble to our own selves. And when God forgives our sins, he takes away the disgrace from us as we bear the heartbreaking consequences of our sins. Do we have the right to complain when we go through the painful disciplines of God to purge our soul from sin? We groan in silence.

2. Obedience

We are forgiven to bend our will in obedience.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” (32:8-9)

King David admonished his own people from his personal experience. For almost a year he covered up his sin. As a king he sat on his throne to administer justice over his people while he himself secretly trampled the law under his feet. God sent Nathan to confront him through a wise parable. And David came to his own senses and demolished all his defenses. God forgave him yet he must learn his lessons well the hardest way. In grief and tears he learned what it meant to obey from the heart.

God knows how to bend our will so we can learn to obey him. God can send a Nathan to rebuke us. He can take things that are precious to us. And he can allow adversities, infirmities and disasters into our lives. They are painful indeed. Yet, they are channels of his love and mercy to redeem and restore us. So we cherish the disciplines of grace.

3. Righteousness

And we are forgiven to be right with God.

“Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (32:10-11)

The wicked suffer for their sin but defy God to their own self-destruction. The righteous suffer for their sin yet delight in God for their well-being. David suffered much for his sins but proved himself to be a man after God’s own heart. He became a righteous father and king.

Conclusion

Forgiveness is a redemptive joy to an unworthy sinner. We pierce our hearts with grief when we conceal our sins from God. In confession of our sins we can find rest for our souls. Forgiveness is freedom but never a license to sinfulness. Instead, we yield to God to transform our lives as we enthrone him into our hearts, obey his decrees and live in righteousness. Blessed are those who are forgiven and live in holiness. How do we treasure the forgiveness of God into our lives?

Is there any sin we need to make right with God? David committed adultery and murder. We can be guilty of adultery in our lust and of murder in our bitterness. In our hypocrisy, we can be clean on the outside but rotten inside. This should not be.

Could we really bear the misery of concealing our sin? David covered up his sin for almost a year and he was miserable every day. Guilt is the greatest burden of the human heart. If we suppress the cry of our guilty conscience we wallow in grief and do much damage to our souls. This should not be.

When God confronts us of our sin do we yield our all to him? David trembled before God when Nathan confronted him, “You are the man.” Yes, we can be that man or woman with a hidden sin. When God points to our sin, we can choose to defy him and his word. This should not be.

And do we have the right to complain when we bear the consequences of our sin? David agonized in submission when he suffered much for his sin at the cost of his four beloved children! Why do we raise our fists against God when he disciplines us for our good? This should not be.

Is there a page in our book of life we desire to tear it off? Let it be there and have it covered with the blood of Christ to reveal the grace and glory of God.

#sermon #sermons #updcbc #dcbc #psalm #psalms #forgiveness

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tanjamikaelson · 6 years

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LOVE FOR ETERNITY - PART 1

MASTERLIST

PART 1: | I’M THE STORM..SO WAIT! |

・ • ・ • ・

I’m already there, Wherever there is you, I will be there too.

・ • ・ • ・

Natali swung her car door open and stepped out into the sunshine. She turned her head and her eyes landed on the sing above the entrance door “Mystic Grill”. She smiled and walked towards the door. When she entered Grill she instantly scanned her surroundings and there wasn’t a lot of people.

- She made her way towards the end of the bar, “A glass of wine” Natali said to bartender.

The bartender gave her a small smile that she ignored and poured her a glass of red wine. She drank sips of her wine and her eyes spotted two people at the other end of the bar, that were well-known to her.

- Natali approached them saying casually, “You look exactly like her.”

- The two of them looked at the girl who just came out of nowhere, “And who are you?” Damon asked, curious.

- “Damon Salvatore. It’s nice to see you again.” Natali replied sarcastically, not caring about his question.

- Damon narrowed his eyes at her. He was confused of how does she knows him, when he has no idea who she is, “I don’t remember we ever meet.”

- Natali smiled, “It doesn’t really matter. I heard that Klaus can’t make his hybrids. That’s because you should be dead.” she slowly pointed her finger at Elena, who swallowed the lump in her throat.

And that’s when both of them realized she is nothing good if she knows Klaus and everything about his curse.

- Damon protectively stood in front of her, Natali could see that the expression on his face became more angry as he demanded, “Tell us who you are and why are you here.”

- Natali chuckled under her breath as she glared at him, “Oh, you’re afraid I’m going to hurt her and you want to protect her. How sweet.” she remarked in a flat tone.

- “Who are you?” Damon repeated, louder this time.

- Natali’s face became more serious, giving Damon a death glare, “I’m your worst nightmare” she simply informed him, just before she snapped his neck with just a flinch of her wrist.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

“Cause darling, she is nightmare dressed like a daydream.”

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

Elena’s eyes grow wide when she saw what Natali did. In that moment she thought that the best thing she can do is to escape, but she could only make a few steps before Natali tightly grabbed her hand.

- “No, no, no. You’re coming with me.” Natali informed her and zoomed out of Mystic Grill, leaving just a gush of wind behind them.

When they came to the apartment where Natali was staying she pushed Elena onto the couch. Elena looked at her surroundings in panic.

- “Who are you? How do you know Klaus?” Elena questioned, the words came out from her mouth pretty quickly.

- I’ve meet Klaus thousand years ago; Natali answered, ignoring the first question. She didn’t think that Elena was worth enough to know who she is.

- Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise that Natali was just as old as Klaus, “What are you a witch or a vampire?”

- “I’m both.” Natali said proudly, slightly smiling at Elena.

- “So you’re working with Klaus?” Elena questioned.

- Natali made a few steps towards Elena while saying, “Actually Klaus and I hate each other, so no, I’m not working with him..”

- “Why do you need me then?” Elena interrupted her.

- “You didn’t let me finish.” Natali says harshly, “I’m gonna work with him only if it benefits me. Since he keeps my beloved boyfriend daggered in the box, I’ll trade you for him.”

- Elena became increasingly worried, “No. He will kill me.” she protested in panic.

- “He won’t.” Natali simply replied.

- “He will. I should be dead. That’s why he can’t ma-,” Elena began saying.

- Natali raised her hand to stop Elena from talking, “Yeah, yeah. I’m familiar with all of that.” she paused for a brief moment, before continuing, “But I think he just needs your blood. I’m going to tell him my theory and he can do whatever he wants with you, as long as he gives me what I want back.”

- “And when are you going to hand me over to him?” Elena questioned.

- Natali sighed in annoyance. “You’re full of a lot of questions. I got a tip that he’ll be back in the town soon, so we’re gonna be here until he comes back.”

- “My friend is a witch, she will find me.” Elena said confidently, she knew that they are already looking for her.

- Natali laughs at Elena’s ignorance, “Bennett witch. I know. But do you really think she can find you? I’m more powerful than her.” Elena remained silent, realizing that, that could be true and Natali continued, “And don’t try to run. There is a boundary spell so you can’t go out.” then she noticed that Elena was holding her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She grabbed her hands forcefully and pulled them out, revealing a phone in one of her hands. She took the phone from Elena’s hand and smashed it against the floor, “You won’t be needing that either.”

- “I, I think Bonnie warned us about you.” Elena muttered in a shaky voice, “She came into my house like she is in some kind of trance and said “she’s coming”, then she collapsed to the ground.”

- Natali starts laughing, “Why is that funny?” Elena questioned raising her eyebrow.

- Natali glanced at Elena, “If you could just see the look on your face.. Oh God, it was such a precious moment.”

- “You did that? Why?” Elena asked.

- “Call it boredom.” Natali simply answered, finishing their conversation.

She went to take a quick shower while Elena was still in her living room, with no way to run away or to call her friends.

When Natali turned off the water she could hear Elena yelling through the window for help, but no one seemed to notice her. Natali rolled her eyes and took her time to step out of the shower, she put on her bathrobe and came back to the living room.

- “You’re wasting your voice.” Natali informed Elena of her presence, “I may have put a spell so no one can hear anything that we talk here, that includes your yelling, no matter how loud you’re.”

Elena pressed her lips together in annoyance and turned to look at Natali, then sat back on the couch.

- Natali smirks at her, “Doppelganger, I have a feeling you underestimate my powers.”

- “I don’t know you. Maybe everything you say is a lie.” Elena told her, trying to hide that she was afraid.

- Natali slightly shrugged, “True. But I don’t have a reason to lie. And if you and your friends keep on underestimating me, it will end badly, for all of you.” she warned her, with a firm, frightening voice.

- “How do you know Katherine?” Elena questioned again.

- Natali sighs, “Does your questions ever end?” she asked annoyed and Elena didn’t answered her anything, thinking that if she speaks again she will be dead.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

[JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: 1492.]

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

“They enjoy the night, the darkness. Night is their favorite time of a day. It’s when they slake their thirst.”

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

Kol and Natali were in a hunting mood for what is seems like hours, but just for the humans they were hunting. For the two of them it was like they slaughtered the entire village in just a few seconds.

Natali saw a man who was trying to run away from them and she used vampire speed to catch him,

- She tilted her head to the side, “You’re the last one.” she informed the man, as his eyes widened fearfully.

- “P-please, let me live.” He begged.

- “How could I let you live, when you saw what I’m?” Natali questioned him and she didn’t wait for an answer. She allowed her vampire face to come out and sank her fangs into his neck. In deep pulls, she drained all off his blood and dropped his body down onto the ground, licking her lips and tasting the last drop of blood.

- “Are you quite done, darling?” Kol asked approaching behind her. His clothes was soaked with blood of their victims.

- Natali spun around to face him, “Dead. Every last one of them.” she says with a smirk forming on her lips.

- “Then we can head back home.” Kol stated with a smile as he took her by her hand and they’ve flashed back home.

When they walked into their mansion, their maid was just walking by the doors. She saw them all bloody and she knew very well what they are, but she was compelled to keep quite and do as she was told to.

- “Miss Natali, y-you got two letters.” The maid spoke n a shaky voice, holding two letters in her hand.

- “From who?” Natali questioned, sternly.

- “It doesn’t say from wh-.” The maid began saying, but Natali interrupted her as she grabbed the letters from her hand.

Kol and Natali both looked at the red stamp on the letters that had imprinted a letter “M” on it, which means Mikaelson.

- Kol rolled his eyes, already guessing what his siblings want, “Give me that, so I can burn it.”

- “No.” Natali protested holding a letter away from Kol’s reach, “They didn’t contacted us for years, I’m interested in what they want now.”

She opened the first letter and before she started reading she looked at the bottom to see how wrote it, “Klaus.” she says to Kol, who had angry look on his face after hearing his brothers name. Last time they saw Klaus he wanted to kill Natali and now he probably wants something from her.

- “What does that bastard wants?” Kol questioned walking impatient through the room.

- “He want’s me to break his curse, that keeps him-” Natali was cut off but Kol, “Yeah, I know the story. You’re not helping him. No way in hell.”

- “I can bet this one is from Elijah.” Natali stated, before she opened the other letter and she was right. After reading it till the end she informed Kol of what Elijah wrote, “And Elijah want’s me to make some potion so that the girl Klaus wants to sacrifice doesn’t die.”

- Kol quickly glanced up at her, “I think she needs to die in order for curse to be broken.” he remarked, with a sly smirk added to his face.

- “What genius idea did you just got?” Natali asked, looking at his intensively and waiting for his answer.

- Kol loved how she always knew when he has an idea, and he explained, “We’re gonna help Elijah.. so that Klaus doesn’t succeed in breaking the curse.”

- Natali let out a chuckle, “I didn’t think it would be this easy for you to say how you want to help your brother.”

- “Well only if it will destroy Klaus’ plans.” Kol stated firmly, his eyes sparkled mischievously.

- “But in that case do I help Klaus too or he is going to need to find another witch?” Natali questioned, not knowing if Kol changed his mind about that part.

- “We’ll think about that part on our way there, darling.” Kol told her.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

[ENGLAND: 1492.]

When they arrived in front of the mansion were Mikaelson’s were living, Rebekah and Elijah waited for them in front of the mansion. Kol stepped out of the carriage first and held his hand out for Natali to take. Emerging from the carriage, Natali’s eyes first landed on Rebekah, who was smiling at her.

- The two of them hugged each other, “I hope I’ll have more chance to meet you this time.” Rebekah told her, happy that she saw her again.

- “That only depends on how Klaus behaves.” Natali replied as ahe pulled away from her.

- “Hello, Elijah.” Kol greeted his older brother.

- “I’m glad you two responded to my invitation.” Elijah says, softly smiling and glaring between the two.

- “Klaus invited us too.” Natali informed him and by the look on his face, she realized that he didn’t know about that.

- “So Niklaus wants you to break his curse?” Elijah questioned, even if he already knew the answer.

Before Kol or Natali could answer him anything, they saw Klaus coming out of the mansion with a wide smile on his lips, like he was actually happy to see them.

- “Brother.” Klaus says to Kol, spreading his arms on each side, showing with his gesture that they’re welcomed at his mansion, “I’m glad you make it.”

- “Can’t say the same.” Kol simply replied, not wanting to fake a smile or anything like Klaus obviously did.

- Klaus grinned, his gaze landing in Natali, “And you brought you girlfriend. Fantastic.”

- “She was the one you called to come here.” Kol reminded him, slightly annoyed.

- “Yes, she was. Wasn’t she?” Klaus says smugly.

He was more than satisfied that they’ve actually came, thinking that he is finally going to break his curse that keeps him of being an Original hybrid. The only creature with the abilities of a werewolf and a vampire.

- Natali rolled her eyes and turned to Rebekah, “Will you show me our room?”

- “Yes. Follow me.” Rebekah said with a nod and the two of them walked up the steps, that lead i to the mansion.

KOL’S P.O.V:

Kol’s gaze followed Natali until she didn’t entered the mansion. Sometimes he just couldn’t look away, no matter what.

- Few seconds later he looked back at the two of his brothers, “So Nik.. if you try to hurt her again..” he warned him.

- Klaus huffed, feeling a little offended by Kol’s words, “Relax, little brother. I won’t.” Klaus assured him, knowing that if he does something like trying to kill her again, Natali will never help him.

- Kol find his assurance hard to believe in, so raised his eyebrow, “I don’t believe you.”

- “Well you don’t need to believe me.” Klaus told him, already thinking of the ways how he could blame them, “And you two should be the ones who behave, we don’t want to lure our father here.”

- Kol smiled, his eyes flashed up challengingly as he glared at his brother, “Then you shouldn’t have asked us to come.”

- “You know I have a weapon that can put you down.” Klaus says as he took a threatening step towards him.

- But Kol didn’t felt afraid of his words, he just stood in one place not caring to take a step back, “Dagger threats? Already? I didn’t even kill anyone.. yet.” he says with a determined look on his face, before a cheeky smirk appeared on his face.

- Klaus wasn’t pleased with what Kol was saying, “I just warned you, so you know that you need to be the one who behaves.”

- “You’re the one who needs to behave.” Kol demanded in a harsh voice. He was sick of Klaus trying to control him and being able to do so with just a dagger that can put him down. Ever since Klaus got the daggers in his possession their older brother Finn was locked up in the box and frankly Kol didn’t wanted to end up like him, but he also didn’t wanted to listen to Klaus, that was just one tiny problem. But if Klaus is smart enough he wont do anything to him as long as Natali wants to break his curse.

NATALI’S P.O.V:

Rebekah lead her up the stairs to her and Kol’s room and while she was walking there she used vampire hearing to listen about what Kol and Klaus were bickering about.

- “So does my brother treat you right?” Rebekah questioned, turning her head around to glance at Natali who was behind her. But Natali didn’t hear her, she was focused on Kol and Klaus, “Hey, is anyone there?” Rebekah snapped her finger in front of Natali’s face.

- Natali finally turned her attention towards her, “Oh, I’m sorry. What did you say?”

- Rebekah gave her a small smiled, before she repeated her question, “I asked you does my brother treat you right?”

- “I wouldn’t be with him if he doesn’t.” Natali simply replied, like that was an obvious answer. She entered the room just after Rebekah and looked at her surroundings.

- “Right.” Rebekah nodded in understandment, “Elijah said to tell you that we’re going to have a family dinner today.”

- “Oh, great. Then I’m going to take a bath now.” Natali told her.

- “Okay, I’ll leave you.” Rebekah replied and leaved the room.

Natali was lying stretched out in the bathtub, her head resting against the tiles of the wall and she held the toes of her foots under the water, just when Kol came into the bathroom, knowing that she was already there.

- After closing the door Kol walked towards her, “So..” He paused for a moment, taking her in, “You couldn’t wait for me?” he questioned her, looking at her naked body in the bathtub. The vision of her body was slightly distorted through the water.

- Natali chuckled, “I didn’t know how long are you going to talk with your brothers.”

- “If you called me for a bath, I would finish talking with them sooner.” Kol told her as he sat down on the edge of a bathtub opposite side to her.

- “I’m sure you would.” Natali says, her eyes lit up as she moved herself towards him.

Kol watched as the half of her body raised from the water, her skin was wet and slick. Her nipples stiffened due to being exposed to the cooler air. She held her hand towards im and placing it onto his neck she pulled him into a kiss.

After they broke the kiss, she laid back, against his liking. He longed to pull her from the water and lick every drop from her skin. Kol glared intensely at her, before he lifted one of her shapely legs out of the water and washed it gently with a sponge, admiring how she’s perfectly shaped. She watched him as he did it and like usual goosebumps rose onto her skin.

- Natali tilted her head, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth, “Did you heard that we are having a dinner soon with your siblings?”

- “Yes.” Kol replied as his eyes wandered the length of her body, before meeting her eyes, “I’ve been informed.”

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

It was time for a dinner. The two of them dressed up nice and went to the dining room. Besides Mikaelsons there was one more girl sitting at the table. She rose up as did Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah, when Kol and Natali entered the dining room.

- Elijah took girls hand, leading her in front of Natali and Kol, “This is Katerina.” he introduced her.

Natali slightly narrowed her eyes at her, realizing that she is probably the girl that Klaus wants to sacrifice and she obviously has no idea about that.

- Then she smiled at the girl, reaching her hand out, “I’m Natali de Roux.”

- Katerina returned a smile and shaks her hand, before turning her attention towards Kol who took hand in his, “Kol Mikaelson.” he says proudly and kisses the top of her hand. Katerina smiled at him as well and when they were introduced to each other, they’ve took their places at the table. Klaus was sitting at the head of the table, while Rebekah, Kol and Natali sat on the one side across from Elijah and Katerina.

Few moments later Klaus gestured with his hand for servants to bring them drinks. Two servants came within seconds, one walked over to Elijah and Katerina with a bottle of wine in his hands and the other walked towards Klaus and poured him a wine first, then to the rest of them.

- “Our oldest wine.” Elijah stated as he took a bottle from servant’s hand and poured it into Katerina’s glass.

- Kol took a sip from his glass, “This is not a wine.” he remarked slightly confused, and being pretty sure that he tasted blood.

- “Kol.” Elijah warned him gesturing with his eyes at Katerina, so that she doesn’t see. Natali let out a chuckle because the two of them thought she knows what they are, but apparently she doesn’t. At least not yet.

- “Kol, this is one great wine.” Natali tells him placing her glass back onto the table and giving him a smile. He slightly rolled his eyes and Natali turned her attention to Katerina, “So where are you from Katerina?”

- “I came here from Bulgaria.” Katerina answered.

- “България е приятно място.” Natali told her with clean Bulgarian accent.

- “You speak Bulgarian?” Katerina asked surprised, thinking that Natali was maybe from there just like she was.

- “A little. Kol and I spent some time there.” Natali replied to her question.

- Katerina smiled and Rebekah spoke glancing at her brother and Natali. “So you two are traveling a lot?”

- “Yes.” Natali replied quickly, looking at Rebekah, “Discovering new cultures, if you know what I mean by that.”

- “I do.” Rebekah says with a smile.

- “Too bad you can’t leave Nik’s side.” Kol mocked her glancing down at his glass, before taking a sip of his wine - better say blood.

- “Who says that?” Rebekah questioned and quirked an eyebrow at him.

- “Nik, obviously, and you’re obeying his orders.” Kol says in a flat tone of voice.

- Natali quickly decided to turn the subject back to Katerina, wanting to know more about her and also not wanting for Kol to start a fight before this all even started, “And how old is Katerina?”

- “Eighteen.” Katerina replied as she took a sip of her wine.

- “Young. Too young.” Natali muttered as she looked over at Klaus, who gave her narrowed eyes. He wasn’t so happy with her remark.

Katerina seemed slightly confused, she didn’t understand why would Natali said a comment like that, but she decided to ignore it and keep on eating and drinking.

- “When are you two planning to join the family?” Elijah suddenly asked, making the both of them to look towards his direction.

- “Never. That’s fine by me.” Kol answered, turning his gaze away from his brother.

- “Don’t be like that Kol.” Rebekah told him in a soft voice, not wanting to sound like she is demanding of him to not act like that.

- “I’m just telling the truth. Would you rather I lied?” Kol snapped a question at his younger sister.

- “No.” Rebekah told him briefly, “But I would like if you two stay more.”

- Elijah nodded, agreeing with his sister, “You two are always welcome here. This is yours home as much as it is ours.”

- “Klaus why are you so quiet?” Natali asked, as she turned her head towards him.

- “He is trying to behave himself.” Kol answered, before Klaus could say anything, so instead he just grinned at the two of them and decided to remain silent.

- “That’s probably a good idea.” Natali stated, returning him a smile.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

FEW DAYS LATER:

Rebekah and Natali were sitting in Rebekah’s bedroom and talking about their lives and the places where they’ve been, when they’ve heard someone knocking at the door.

- “Come in.” Rebekah says.

- It was Elijah. He walked into the room and looked at the two of them; I was looking for you Natali.

- “Something about potion, I suppose.” Natali guessed, it was almost time for the full moon and for Klaus’ curse to be broken.

- “Yes.” Elijah answered with a nod, “Did you make it?”

- “I did. It’s in my bedroom.” Natali told him as she stood up and the two of them headed towards the bedroom.

Kol’s and hers bedroom was in the same hallway as Rebekah’s, but it was at the end of it. When they entered the room, Elijah closed the door behind him and Natali walked towards the table. She opened a drawer, then took the potion she made for Katerina and handed it over to Elijah a moment later.

- “Are you sure this will work?” Elijah asked holding the potion in his hands, studying it with his eyes.

- “Yes.” Natali replied confidently, “I tried it. And it’s without expiration date.”

- “Niklaus will want this to be done tomorrow, it’s a full moon.” Elijah informed her.

- “I know. Just give her to drink this before the sacrifice and everything will be fine.” Natali says, knowing that the only thing that won’t be fine is Klaus’ being able to break his curse.

A few seconds later, they’ve heard a sound coming from the hallway, like someone hit something outside of the room.

- “What was that?” Natali asked alarmed, hoping that it wasn’t Klaus since he isn’t suppose to know about the potion.

Elijah looked at her, before he walked out of the room and looked around but nobody was there. Then they saw that the door of Katerina’s room were half open and Elijah guessed that she heard them talking.

- “Niklaus cannot know about this.” Elijah demanded and Natali nodded.

- Know about what, brother? Klaus questioned as he was approaching them from behind.

- “It’s nothing.” Natali to him with a shake of her head, but he didn’t believed her.

- Klaus raised his eyebrow, “Then why I cannot know about that “nothing” thing?”

They’ve glared at each other, thinking of what they could tell Klaus, if they lie it would need to be a very good lie and they were running out of time knowing that Klaus becomes impatient quickly, especially when someone isn’t answering to his question.

- Suddenly one of Klaus’ guards came rushing towards them, “That girl Katherina, escaped. Someone seen her in the woods.”

- “What?” Klaus exclaimed, then gave them an angry look, “You two were talking about that, didn’t you? If she is not found, you’re both dead.” he warned them and walked away.

After Elijah left following after his brother, Natali rushed downstairs to find Kol. And when she did, she saw that he was feeding on one of the servants girls.

- “Kol.” Natali called for him, with worry voice.

- When Kol heard her voice he immediately stopped feeding on the girl and looked at Natali, “What’s wrong, darling?”

- “Katherine escaped.” Natali told him as quickly as she could.

- “So what?” Kol questioned shaking his head in confusion, “Wasn’t that a good thing?” he thought.

- “Klaus said how he will kill me if she’s not found.” Natali informed him.

- Kol dropped girl’s body onto the floor and gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw tightening noticeably, “He won’t even get a chance to try.”

After that Kol grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the room where they were, he compelled some of the servants to pack their things and bring them to their carriage, as fast as they can. Not wanting to risk anything, he decided that their vacation with his family is over.

Just as they were about to sit in the carriage, Klaus flashed out of the forest that was behind them.

- He pointed finger at them, “Where do you two think you’re going?’ he roared, with anger in his eyes.

Then again he used his vampire speed and appeared right in front of them, quickly snapping Kol’s neck before locking his fingers around Natali’s throat, “You told Katerina what is about to happen to her and let her run away? Didn’t you? he spoke through his teeth.

- “Leave her alone, Niklaus.” Elijah demanded, zooming towards his brother and grabbing his arm that was holding Natali a little above the ground. That caused Klaus to drop her onto the ground, “Natali didn’t said anything to Katerina, she heard us talking.” Elijah informed his brother.

- “The reason Katerina ran away still includes her. I can’t let her live.” Klaus growled, the vein in his neck was throbbing with anger and the sides of his jaw were clenched.

- “She agreed to help you break the curse after you tried to kill her years ago, and now you want to kill her again for something she is not guilty of.” Elijah spoke, trying to persuade Klaus to do the right thing and let them go. And he couldn’t think that he wasn’t happy that Katherina escaped, maybe she will actually manage to save herself from Klaus.

- Klaus looked back at Natali, she expected him to have another argument on top of his tongue, ready to leap out, but instead he said reluctantly, “Fine. But you two better run before I change my mind.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

MASTERLIST

Here it is - the first part. Tell me what you guys think, leave a comment or send me a message, I would really appreciate that! ❤

Tags: @mikaelsonsmagic

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

Text

05/26/2020 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 9:1-11:27, John 15:1-27, Psalms 119:49-64, Proverbs 16:1-3

Today is May 26th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue through this final full week of this 5th month of the year. It is wonderful to be around the Global Campfire together and just know no matter what's happening we are not alone. We are in this together. We always have been and here we are now together, allowing God's word to come into our lives for today. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and continuing our journey through second Samuel. David, this little shepherd boy who became famous for killing a giant and then had to run for his life and grow up really fast and sort of live as a national hero, unwittingly, and has…has arisen to become the king of all Israel. And, so, we’re kind of moving through a patch where we’re…we’re understanding his reign. He is now the full-blown king of Israel. So, today, second Samuel chapters 9, 10, and 11.

Commentary:

Okay. So, Jesus is having a really moving, very profound conversation with His friends and this is obviously before He moves into His time of suffering. And, so, it's a very, very intimate conversation that's happening. And what He's telling them is that that they need to abide in Him, to remain in Him, to stay in it. And the example that He uses is of a vine and branches. So, we can of a vine, we can think of a tree, we can think of branches that come out from that tree and we can say that we, you know, we know like if you go to cut the branch off the tree the branch is gonna die because it is disconnected from its source of life. And, so, Jesus is saying, “remain, endure, abide, stay where you are. Don't disconnect from your source of life.” And I’ve been watching the trees. I watch trees a lot as the seasons go by. And, you know, we came out of winter and everything looks like it's dormant, right? There’s…the trees are there, but there's no life. It seems as if there is no life there. And yet then springtime comes and the season changes and life springs forth and then the season changes and its in full bloom. Like, life is a seasonal thing. And sometimes we can be in like a winter season and feel dormant and feel dead and fuel stuck and just like try to figure out a way to get away, like just become a part of a different tree, just get out of here even though that will disconnect us from our very source of life and we will die. If we would abide, if we would remain, the seasons will change, new life will come. This is often that we don't see things…I mean like the seasons are in front of us in nature. The seasons of life are before us, but we rarely ever pay attention. And, so, things can be like we can be having a difficult season and decide we don’t want to have anything to do with the tree anymore. Like, we want to just go find something else even though if we would abide, if we would remain, if we would wait the seasons change. It’s just that so often we’re kind of sold this concept that we should be in complete overwhelming sense of harvest and blessing at all times. Like it should always be that way for us. We should just walk around with gold falling…falling out of the sky, like everything should work right for us. When that's really not the nature of things. And we can be like, “yeah but I'm a child of God and the most-high God owns the cattle on a thousand hills” and all of these things are true, but if we’re…if we want to understand life on earth then we have to look at God in the flesh. Like, we have to look at the example that God gave for us in human form in the person Jesus and see how He lived and then set our expectations accordingly. And in our reading today He was telling them, “if they hate me, they'll hate you too. Like, basically if you wanna bring light into the darkness, then this is so noble, and the harvest is ripe, and so ready, and I will be with you in it all. Like, you are intertwining yourself with God. Like the vine is God and you are the branches. Like, you have this chance to be a part of something really cosmically monumentally important, but it won’t be easy.” This is like sometimes when so…so often…and man…I have to like wave both hands over my head…like…I’m the chief…like me…me…me. When things aren’t going so well it’s so easy to go like, “what's happening What have I done wrong? What's going on? Why are you mad? Like where are you? Where have you gone?” When these are the very, very times to abide, right? Like to be rooted and to be still and to wait for the season to change.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that and we take it to heart. It's so beautiful…it's so beautiful, the kindness, the compassion, the instruction, the love that it is in today's reading. And, so, as we personalize it, as we take it on board into our own lives, we invite Your Holy Spirit. And may we abide, may we rest in You, may we stay connected, may we remain in You and You in us today. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Maria a missionary in Mexico. I’m out here in the barn so you might hear a lot of animal noises. Man, there’s so many people I want to call…shout out to. Was it, Jane that did the focus fix on Christ until still? Thank you. That was beautiful. God’s Smile and her hubby Peter. Wow, what a blessing you guys are. You always make me smile. I can feel your love God’s Smile. Michaela from Gloucester, I love it that you praying for the people who are Muslims, during Ramadan. Thank you. Stephanie from Banglador, Joanne from Happy Valley, Lady of Victory and Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Rosie in Oklahoma thank you. Rachel and Ben from Pennsylvania. Merinotha from Georgia. There’s Denise, airport missionary. So many people. I could just go on and on. Thank you. I think about you, I pray with you and pray for you. I want to lift up right now the people who are the unreached people groups. Another lady prays for them. Thank you. With voice of the modern prayer request. That is why were in Mexico. I never thought I’d come as a missionary to Mexico because I’ve always had a heart to reach people who never had a chance to hear the gospel. And this COVID is really hard on some of those unreached people groups who might even live in the city, but they don’t really speak the language, Spanish very well. They speak their indigenous languages. And, of course, this COVID is hitting them hard. The schools are saying, “teach your kids to read, teach you kids math.” While they’re literate, a lot of those parents. Their kids are in school, but they don’t know how to teach their kids. So, please be praying for us as missionaries here in Mexico reaching the indigenous people groups of Mexico. And pray for wisdom, pray for the people groups in Mexico, that they would come to know the Lord Jesus. Thanks guys. Bye.

Hi this is Rachel from Pennsylvania. Dear Lord, I want to lift up Ben who ran away. I pray that he will be safe and that You will bring him home and that You will address whatever it is that is making him want to run away from home. I pray that he will grow up to be a strong man in You Lord. I also want to pray for Rachel and Emily for their protection and healing and for the woman in Ohio who is church planting. I thank You for her and her desire to start a church. And I also want to pray for her sister’s salvation Lord. You know what is holding her back from You and I just pray that You will soften her heart and change her and…and bring her to You. I also want to pray for Joe in Pennsylvania and his family as they have a family member who’s transitioning from this life to the next. Lord please give them peace and comfort and I pray that You will be with Joe’s Father and that he will not suffer and that he will be with You in heaven. I also want to lift up the lady who has 100-year-old house. I pray for…for her. Please give her direction and show her what You have next to her Lord. Bless her and make sure that all her needs are met. I pray that You will help with the sale of the house and bring some…

Hi this is Arizona Steve. I’m just calling in today for the first time ever and asking you all for prayers my wife Nancy. She’s having surgery today because she broke her femur and is going to have a partial hip replacement. She’s been struggling over the last 30 years with rheumatoid arthritis, multiple surgeries for joint replacements, and a lot of pain and suffering. Anyway, I just ask you for prayers for a successful surgery and healing, so she’ll be able to come home. Thank you all. I love this…I love this podcast. I listen every day. And that’s all.

Thank you thank you everybody. It’s Lisa from San Jose and I’m calling to thank you for your words of encouragement and your prayers over me during this time. It’s been like a week and half since my husband passed and I…I’m going through the emotional roller coaster part of it all. I’ve got a lot of work to do. And yet I feel like I have to take time to breath. I just bless the Lord I bless the Lord for his mercy. Thank you, Lord for taking Craig in such a peaceful way. And thank you everybody for holding me up in praying for me. Thank you, God’s Smile for reading that chapter in Revelation. And that…there’s been many you who’ve prayed for me. Thank you. God’s been answering my prayers holding me up letting me know that Craig is in heaven with Him. He’s dancing a jig right now. Anyway, friends and family are surrounding me, supporting me in so many ways. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just bless the Lord. Thank you, family. Okay family. I’ll let you know how it’s going a little bit later but keep the prayers coming they’re keeping me together. Lisa from San Jose.

This is Tired but Trusting in Texas but I’m changing my name to Trusting in God in Texas because even though I’m still tired…I apologize that my voice is always like this from my sinus problems…and even though I’m still tired I trust is in God and God alone and I’m trusting Him to strengthen me for all the work He’s called me to do to take care of these children and that even some adults with these disabilities. Will you pray for our clinic, pray for us, pray for me and my husband to be able to keep on going and do what God has called us to do. But I’m also calling in today to pray for Chris a lay pastor from New York who now lives in Washington with his wife’s family and his new baby. And he’s had his church fall apart and he’s losing faith. I’m just praying God that you will help him be faithful and that you will help him to remember that you are a God and that you have him and that you will keep him as the apple of your eye. Zechariah 2 verse 8 - for thus says the Lord of hosts, he sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you for, he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. Please help him Lord Psalm 17 verse 8 - keep me as the apple of your eye. Please just help him Lord to cry out to you to cast all his cares upon you. First Peter 5:6 and 7 - For you are the one who holds his hand. Psalm 18 verse 6 - you hear his prayer. Thank you, God Almighty in Jesus’ name.

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