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simsadventures · 4 years

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Duties: Chapter 2: New Day

Summary: Thor has to go and find an Omega for himself, according to his father. None of the available princesses from the neighbouring kingdoms, however, smell good enough for him. But what if Thor catches a heavenly scent, just outside the castle?

Warnings: a/b/o dynamics, scenting, fluff

Word Count: 2801

A/N: Alpha Thor is back. And the reader appears for the first time. What do we all think about this? Let me know, feedback is gold :) xx

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The morning was filled with people running around the castle, trying to get everything ready for Thor’s travels. Thor didn’t really want to take too many things or counsellors with him because he knew that it was all about the smell, and nobody else but him could decide that. He did have to take someone with him, and despite his father’s light protest, he decided to take his friends: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun.

Odin wished for Thor to take Loki with him because there would be at least one son with some manners. The Allfather hoped to keep the good relations between the kingdom, and knowing Thor and his manners, there were some reserves when it came to letting him go alone. But Thor’s mother vouched for him, and who was Odin to say no to his wife?

Thor insisted on riding horseback, even if it was proper for the heir to the throne to come in a carriage. But Thor only rolled his eyes at the golden carriage and let the thralls put it from his sight. He was the future king of Asgard, not some lady in need. He was a man, an Alpha, and he wouldn’t be caught dead in such monstrosity. His friends agreed with him heartily, and so there was nothing left to do for the thralls than to listen to the prince and get the carriage out of his sight.

When Thor mounted the horse, his father came briskly to his side and caught the reins of his horse.

“I know you believe ’tis but a stupid tradition, but, son, a future king needs his queen, and I hope you will find it in your heart to choose the right one not only for yourself but also for this kingdom.”

Thor frowned slightly. “Do you want me to choose only by my head, father? Do you not wish that I fall in love and am happy with my chosen wife?”

Odin chuckled and let the reins fall out of his hands.

“One day you’ll understand, dear son, that not everything is about you. I hope you make a great alliance by choosing one of the princesses,” he said with a serious look on his face and stepped back to let the horses trod out of the gates.

Thor only bowed to him, his father’s words still playing in his brain. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that it would be for the best if he could choose one of the Omegas from neighbouring kingdoms, but he also wasn’t one to choose just like that. He had his share of pretty faces, but if he was supposed to mate for life, the girl would have to be something else. She would have to be almost a goddess for Thor to make such commitment.

With such thought in mind, Thor bid his horse forward, his friends and a couple of helpers following close behind.

Odin and Frigg were watching it from the main gate, both with different expressions. While Thor’s mother was shedding tears of happiness, that her first-born was finally becoming what he was always supposed to, and she was joyous about all the possibilities love had for Thor, his father’s expression was quite different. More brooding, and less cheerful, fearing the stupidities his son might do in the neighbouring kingdoms.

The first kingdom to visit was Bennegard. Its land was vastly different from that in Asgard, because while most of Asgard were hills and sea, Bennegard had no access to the salty water, and had not one hill. Thor and Loki used to make fun of the country in their classes, where they had to learn about all the kingdoms, past and new one. They would always say that Bennegard was the dullest of places, its people looking like mouses, their land without the joys nature can provide. Bennegard was almost entirely of rocks and rocky planes, one of the few things that actually grew there was a thistle, which to Thor and Loki said a lot.

It took Thor and his company two whole days to travel to the land, and by the time they neared the castle, they wanted to turn and come back to Asgard, which played with colours and odours. Bennegard was just as dull as Thor imagined it, but there was still hope in his heart, that he might find what his father wanted him there, and his hunt would be over.

But when they finally arrived at the local court, Thor realised that he would rather marry one of the thistles than to have anything to do with any of the Omega princesses there.

Thor suffered through every conversation, but he knew better than to let people around him know about his state of mind. He was all smiles and politeness, but inside, he was bored to death.

The oldest daughter of king Jostly was almost as big as Thor, and at first, Thor nearly jumped out of his skin in fear of her. He’s never seen a woman as huge as her, and he’s seen a lot of women in his life, he thought.

“My prince, may I introduce you to my daughter and my heir, princess Johanna? She has just turned 27 years of age, and she is more than ready to take an Alpha, and unite our kingdom,” king Jostly said, in what he probably thought was a cheerful tone, but Thor had to fight himself in staying awake whilst he spoke.

Thor smiled politely at the princess and remembering his father’s words, asked her to dance with him. She snorted, and Thor assumed that was her laugh and it made him roll his eyes even harder. Thor scented Johanna discreetly, trying to see if there was at least something he could be attracted to in her. But no. She just smelled like burned lava stones and tobacco, and that was not something Thor looked for in his mate.

They danced and talked, but Thor could not keep his mind in the conversation. It was when she started listing the types of rocks that could be found around the castle, and she was already at the 18th different type, that Thor excused himself with a smile, and went to find the closest barrel with mead.

The rest of the night went very similarly, and by midnight, Thor was comfortably in one of the guest rooms, snoring happily. He told his company all about the dullness of the place, and how he couldn’t wait to be up and gone and truly praise.

In the morning, he gave his apologies to king Jostly, trying to explain to him that he did not find what he was looking for, only for king Jostly to stop him mid-sentence.

“Do not apologise, my prince! Last night, while you apologised to go to your chambers, my daughter caught the scent of a foreign Alpha from your company, and while I hoped for, let’s say, better connection, considering her age and all, I think I must be happy with what we’ve got.”

Thor raised an eyebrow and wanted to ask more questions, but then the door to the ballroom opened and revealed princess Johanna, and to Thor’s utter surprise, Volstagg, who was smiling like a fool.

“Thor, my friend! Look! I found a suitable Omega for myself! What do you reckon?”

Thor couldn’t even form a suitable response, from all the shock coursing through his veins. He just nodded and tried to form a smile on his face, but he wasn’t sure if it actually made way to his face.

“I am happy for you, my friend! Do you wish to stay here, with your chosen Omega, Vorstagg?”

“If I may, that would be more than wonderful, my prince,” Vorstagg said, not even looking at Thor, but having his nose buried in his Omega’s neck.

Thor shuddered at the sight, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to stand that close to that woman. But he was truly happy for Vorstagg. He was also one of the highest-ranked councilmen in Asgard, so Thor knew this only strengthened the relations between the two lands, and he hoped it would be suitable for his father.

They bid their goodbyes, and Thor and the remaining of his company set to travel to the second kingdom on their plan. Dysgard. Thor was actually looking forward to this visit. He’s always admired Dysgard’s jewels, which was the thing exported most from this land. The hills were even mightier than in Asgard, and the plains were slightly more hostile than those in Thor’s own country.

He always heard the people of Dysgard be just like their land, little proud and unwelcoming, keeping to themselves. Thor wanted to see if it was real or if his father exaggerated like he always did.

Upon their arrival, unlike in Bennegard, no great party awaited them. They were shown into a small crown room, with guards and the king himself. King Zeinard was a stout man with a pointy nose, which looked awfully funny on his round face.

“Crown prince Thor, I hear you want to have a look at the Omegas of this court, and intend to marry some?” King’s voice boomed through the room.

“Yes, your Majesty. I’m looking for a wife, and me and my father, King Odin, thought it would be good to start with our strongest allies. Would that be ok with you, my king?” Thor said, trying not to sound too bitter, and judging by king Zeinard’s face, Thor succeeded, for the king nodded at somebody behind Thor, and that person opened a door behind Thor.

From this door, 5 young Omegas emerged, their heads hung low, looking at the ground.

“Here are two of my daughters, and three daughters of my highest councilmen. Please, take your time in scenting them, and if you like one, you can have her. If not, I would be glad if you could continue on your journey,” Zeinard said in all seriousness, and Thor was in fact glad.

If he didn’t find what he was looking for here, he could get moving without the annoying pleasantries.

So he just curtly nodded at the king and walked towards the women.

He smelled each of them carefully, taking his time to see if he could like any of the scents, but he found himself more than indifferent to all of them.

Thor looked over to the king and smiled sadly.

“I am afraid, my king, that I did not find what I came for here.”

“That is quite alright, my prince. I wish you luck on your journey,” the king said and turned his back on Thor, and slowly rolled out of the hall.

Thor just looked at his friends and rolled his eyes, which made laugh silently, before they all decided to follow the king’s advice and continue on their journey.

The last kingdom they were meant to visit was only a few hours away, and Thor thought it would be great if the could reach it before the night set on the land. He sent a pigeon to Midgard, letting their king know that they were coming a day early, hoping the king would not think they were disrespectful. The last thing Thor needed was for one of the kings sending a message to his father that he didn’t behave properly.

The journey was filled with friendly banter, mostly targeted on the missing Vorstagg and his new bride, but all was in good humour. They were all happy for their friend if only little surprise on his choice.

Before they knew it, they were standing in front of Midgard’s castle’s gates. Thor was internally most excited about Midgard. He has been there many times before, so he knew that the country was pregnant with beauty, both in its population and its nature. He even knew the king, Anthony, with whom Thor fought many of his battles in his youth. Thor knew king Anthony had only one daughter, but rarely ever showed her. All Thor knew was that she was a lot younger than him.

“Thor! Dead friend! I and the queen, we are ecstatic that you could come so soon! Gives us time to talk properly!” Thor heard from somewhere above him, and he looked up, seeing Anthony standing on a balcony right above his head, waving at him.

“Tony! So am I, trust me! May I come up, so that I can refresh slightly before I meet you? I stink like a horse,” Thor hollered, and Tony just smiled and nodded at him.

When all was done, Thor could hear music coming from the big hall, and he smiled, excited to actually enjoy himself, if he didn’t choose one of Tony’s daughters as his Omega, that was.

The hall was littered with people, the whole room shining with light up candles, and expensive decorations were hung around the ceiling to create the allusion of an open roof. Thor always admired Tony’s festivities, and he wasn’t the only one. It was known in all lands that king Anthony’s parties were to look forward to.

“Feeling like yourself again, old friend?” Tony asked with a smile, and Thor instinctively hugged him, just like he did with Loki.

“Yes! Especially because I’m here, in Midgard. You wouldn’t believe how I longed to be here the whole journey, both Bennegard and Dysgard were awfully boring!”

Tony barked out a laugh and patted Thor’s shoulder.

“Oh, I know! Imagine what you will have to undergo in every ally meeting we have!” Tony laughed again, seeing Thor’s slightly horrified face.

“Let’s get the issue off the table quickly, so we can have more fun! Here is my daughter, Morgan. Morgan, my dearest, this is prince Thor,” Tony said and Morgan, who now stood in front of Thor, curtsied slightly. Thor bowed politely and took her hand in his kissing it.

Thor could see she was still just a child, only just presenting and still unsure of what her presentation meant in the world.

She smelled nice, Thor had to admit that, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t do without.

Tony was watching the whole encounter, keeping an eye on Thor’s reaction and praying to, however, was listening that he wouldn’t find his daughter too appealing. Not that Tony didn’t like Thor, but Morgan was still his only child, and he was not ready to let her go just yet. He had to smile because Thor’s pupils didn’t dilate, nor did he look like a lighting stroke him when he smelled her, so Tony took it as a good sign.

“I’m afraid, you are not my mate, princess Morgan, although your beauty is remarkable,” Thor smiled at the young princess who curtsied again and almost ran away from there, back to her mother’s open arms.

“She’s still a pup, you know? I have to tell you, I’m glad you’re not mates. I would hate to fight you were you to hurt my daughter, which is a fate awaiting her mate patiently.”

Thor laughed at his friend, and let the whole mate thing stride out of his mind. He didn’t find anyone, and he knew he had reasoning for his father. So he just let go, and had fun, drank mead, and ate what was served.

It was when he wanted to get another bread that he caught a scent of something sweet. He smelled the bread, and he could tell that the scent was lingering on it. He supposed that the lovely smelling Omega touched the bread before him, and that was why he could still smell it, as faint as it was.

Thor got up from the table and roamed the room, trying to catch the scent that was making him drunk again but without luck. He hung his head between his shoulders, and for the first time was feeling some sort of emotion about not finding his mate.

He went to the table with bread again, still thinking deeply about how that smell made him feel when he smelled it again.

The scent was a combination of a spring breeze, a meadow, and what he thought were raspberries, so sweet and intoxicating, Thor wanted to do nothing more than to smell that for the rest of his life.

He swiftly raised his head, only to be met with the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen. He couldn’t even pinpoint their colour, they were playful and looked just like she smelt. Beautiful.

This was it, Thor thought. This was his mate, whoever this beautiful stranger was. But before he could say a word to her, she scurried away, down the hall only used by the help in the castle. And Thor was dead-set on following her.

/Next Chapter >

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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02/10/2021 DAB Transcript

Exodus 30:11-31:18, Matthew 26:47-68, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 8:27-32

Today is the 10th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you as we continue the journey through another one of our weeks together, hump day here on this, actually this is the first full-blown seven day week of the month of February. So, we’re smack in the middle of it and ready to take the next step, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus, back into the instructions that the Lord is laying out at the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 30 verse 11 through 31 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s…there's stuff we can talk about in every portion, every section of our reading today. So, let’s just touch base on them real quick. So, we are at the mountain of God and God is laying out statutes and ordinances and expectations. He is building a culture. He is weaving a tapestry and that usually begins with a foundation of some type of rule, right, the rule of law, some type of basis so that everybody has an understanding about how this culture conducts itself, because a culture is what, the interaction of people, right, in some sort of way, whether that be commerce or relationship or any other way. Like it's the interaction of people and expectations that one person can have another inside of a society that sort of glues the expectations together. And then we usually as people proceed to live on the margins and find out we can get away with. And that will be the story of the children of Israel just like it's our own story. But right now, God is laying this out and He's being very specific about certain things, very specific. And if certain things aren’t obeyed then the consequences can be dire. And we can read through some of this and go, “why such a dire consequence for mixing up some type of formula of incense that can, you know, like…what's the big deal? Yes, I can see that the recipe would be specific, but why can nobody else make this? Why wouldn't they want to have this holy aroma around them all the time?” There’s reasons for everything. Everything that God is laying out for the people to do or to build or to observe for that matter, certain holidays etc. etc., everything is there to…to serve a purpose. It is a reminder of identity, that they are chosen and set apart and that this is their identity. It is a reminder of who God is, who it is that they have entered into a covenant with, and it is a reminder of where they're going. They’re headed toward a land of promise. So, as we’ve talked about before. We can get into all this and go, “this is so tedious.” But so is our culture friends. It’s tedious, we just happen to know the lay of the land because we grew up in it. There are expectations inside of every culture. We can look at this and go, “this is so tedious” and forget what's obvious right in front of us. Everything these people do is a reminder of either who they are or who God is or where they're going. Everything that they do is order around the same outcome. This puts them on the same page moving in the same direction submitted to the same God. So, if there is an aroma for that than that smell means something specific, and that smell only comes from the tabernacle or the temple. That smell is what you smell when you become aware that you are entering a holy place in the presence of God. So, when you understand it in those terms instead of, “I'm just gonna go order some essential oil from my favorite essential oil”…look…I love this stuff. I love essential oils. I have aromas in the studio all the time, most every day. I love the atmosphere. I love these traditional rituals and I've been to Israel many times. I fact, had Covid not arrived we’d be gearing up to go in just a couple of weeks, but we’ve had to postpone and cancel that because the borders aren't even open. So, but I've been there many times and I’ve have been places where these holy mixtures are mixed together minus one ingredient. Like, even in the tradition today they won't make this outside of the holy place. So, you can kind of get an aroma of what this smells like minus one of the ingredients so that it's not made exactly as specified in the Bible. And we could be these thousands and thousands of years in the future going, “what's the big deal?” But we have to understand that aroma changes atmosphere, does it not? And we’ll talk about this later when we get into the…deeper into the New Testament. Can you not walk into a room and if the cookies are baking that changes…like you just immediately think of something or you walk into a room and there's the scent of pine and it's Christmas time and all of the sudden that brings the spirit of Christmas or any number of things. And…and certain smells can have very very negative triggers for certain people because it reminds them of harm or it reminds them of danger. Aroma around us sets an atmosphere. So, we could understand why this would be an important thing, that this particular aroma doesn't remind anybody of anything but God. We…we can keep going here, but let's just leave it at that because that's the point that we’re observing here, is that everything is intentional for a reason and everything means something.

We turn into the book of Matthew and we witness the betrayal of Jesus. And I’ve said we’re going into this territory for the first time and we could, “yeah, I know the story of Jesus on the cross and He rises from the dead three days later and it’s a big big deal. And that's the story of Easter and we just move on. Like I've heard this a thousand times.” That's really not the way to approach this though. Let's observe what we’ve seen just today. Judas, Judas is one of the 12 disciples, Je’s one of the inner circle of God on earth. When you put into…some of these terms where you understand…like when you say it most directly it's pretty riveting. Jesus is God made flesh, right, God incarnate, and these 12 people are His inner circle, they’re His disciples on earth. Judas is one of the inner circle of God on earth and he decides to betray Him. And Jesus is fully God and fully human, so He experiences humanity in the same way that we experience humanity. And, so, when one of His closest friends brings a mob of people with clubs and swords and they’re there to arrest Jesus and this friend walks up and puts a soft kiss upon His cheek, that is the kiss of betrayal. Anybody out there ever been betrayed by somebody you loved, right? Or anybody betrayed somebody that loved you? We are right at…at some of the most painful experiences that a human being can experience emotionally. There’s nothing more tearing and cutting and painful and disruptive. There's nothing that tips you upside down and question reality more than betrayal does. The kiss of betrayal by somebody Jesus loved is how He was captured. And then he was led away. Like what we witnessed today was the loss of freedom. God submitted himself to be bound by humanity and taken away captive. And it wasn't just random humanity it was the church leaders it was the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They’re bringing Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas. They're going to hold counsel and make a judgment about the life of Jesus, which is what we see play out today. They're trying to get two witnesses, but they can't really cobble that together. And, so, they just…they just ask Him outright, “are you the son of God, are you the Messiah?” And then Jesus says you have said it, which is basically like saying, “if…if that's what you say. You said it.” And then He goes on to say, “in the future you'll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” They don't fall to their knees and worship at that point. They don't go like, “hang on a second, we need to explore this further” and fall to their knees and…and say, “tell us more” so that they can begin to get an understanding. They tear their robes and cry blasphemy and then declare that He deserves death and then they blindfold Him. And I know we know this, but this is Jesus. Like we’re here for this. We’re here to find out what the big deal was about Jesus. I mean some of us have been following Jesus and following His paths and being in a relationship with Christ for many many years. But then there are others of us who are here, really, truly saying, “I’m not like trying to deny or affirm anything. I just want to know the big fuss is. And, so, we have to enter into this. If we’ve heard the story a thousand times, fine. This is Jesus. This is God made flesh. They are spitting in His face. They’re spitting in His face and smacking Him and asking Him to prophesy who smacked Him. I don't know. Can that sink in? That's where we left…where we left the reading of Matthew today, is that Jesus is being spit upon and smacked around. He’s being ridiculed and made fun of. These people that have been plotting to kill Him are the religious people. And now they believe He’s committing blasphemy and they plan to execute Him. That's where this story is going. The son of God, God made flesh. That's what humanity is doing to God. And it's not just humanity. That's what religious humanity is doing to God as portrayed in the gospel of Matthew. Let's sit with that today and invite the Holy Spirit to bring up the ways in which we do the same thing usually when we don't get our way.

And we turn into the book of Psalms today and can…let…I mean…lets just listen to these words. “I will instruct you.” Let’s take this from God. “I will instruct you and show you the way to go. With my eye on you I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule without understanding that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it won't come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him.” Let's take that as the truth. Let’s live into that and understand that we are seen, and that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is available. The trick really honestly, like the biggest trick we could learn this year is to insert a beat before we react to anything, like one second. If we take one second before we react to anything and in that second become aware of wisdom and become aware that God is present and watching and will show us we could save so much mayhem from like…we could take out…where we would be giving life back to ourselves. Some of the days out in the future of this year won't get ruined if we will listen. We won't go through days of silence with our spouse trying to show who’s more dominant. We won’t be doing this stuff anymore because it doesn't do anything that leads to life.

And, so, then we turn into the Proverbs today and we’re listening to the voice of wisdom. And it is here that She tells us She has been with God from the very get-go. She was with God when humanity was made. We should seek wisdom. She is older than human beings are. She has seen it all. And we should seek her as the Bible tells us as a more valuable thing than any kind of treasure we would go after, that everything flows from her and everything flows to us because of wisdom. And, so, we hear the voice of wisdom as we end our reading today and she's like, “listen to me, those who keep my ways are happy.”

Prayer:

Father, there's…there’s always rich depths in Your word. And they're…they’re rich in that they inform our minds, but they're rich in that they touch our hearts. They begin to transform things in us. They question…they ask the right questions of our lives and they begin to shape us. And, so, we are thankful for all that we have read in the Scriptures today and we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and plant these words, plant these thoughts deep into us as we move and navigate the rest of this week. May we be continually considering the path that we are walking. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. 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:

Good evening DABbers this is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania. Tonight, is February 6th and there were a number of heavy prayer requests tonight and I just want you to know that I'm praying for you. Kingdom secret Daniel with your kids, the sister her and her husband lost their daughter seven years ago this month, the woman whose son took his life in college and for the rest of your family. I just want you to know that we’re praying for you. I'm praying that you'll be strengthened with power in your inner person, that Christ may dwell in your heart that through faith, that you would be rooted and grounded during this time in love. And I just wanted to pray over you. [singing starts] The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power. It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, and it drives all my tears the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power [singing stops].

Hello DAB family this is God's Grace for Japan I just listened to the February 6th broadcast where a brother and his sister called out for prayer for families in crisis. I want to speak as a daughter of two faithful believing parents who were raised in abusive alcoholic households who chose to turn away from the path of the family curse and to believe in Jesus and His design for family. It was not easy for them. I've watched them for decades prayerfully go through crisis after crisis both from the previous generations and sickness disease cancer hatred of God all sorts of things as well as in between me and my siblings I'm afraid the abuse got through my sister abused me for 20 years and I don't think my family even knew how to process that and I'm sure my parents felt like failures that that had gotten in however I can't go into all the details for the past five years God has been redeeming that situation. My sister and I are now reconciled because I rebuked her according to Matthew 18. She fully repented and all of this is because my parents were faithful. They kept praying. I know that our families are in crisis, but God loves family. He redeems family. It takes time. Sometimes it takes decades. Sometimes it takes generations. But as a daughter of faithful parents who did not give up did not stop caring who saw who grandfather who hated God his entire life come to faith on his deathbed because of my parents belief in God's design for family, He said this a good family and because of that he believed in Yeshua before He died. I just want to encourage you parents you brothers’ you sisters keep praying keep being faithful because God will be faithful and will redeem. I love you all. I'm praying for you. God bless.

Hey this is Pike hey this is Ben and we just wanted you guys to pray about our grandma who has COPD. She really needs some prayers. She walks to the spare room and then she walks back and then she's out of breath. She has COPD because she…because she…what was it again? She started smoking when she was six. And we just ask you guys to pray about that and then that you guys will make sure God will heal her. And yeah, she is doing really bad. And yeah, that's all. We just ask you to pray about my grandma and then bye. Bye.

Hey DAB this is beautiful soul in North Carolina. I'm calling after listening to the February 8th episode. I heard a call in from a young man. He didn't give his name or anything, but he spoke about how he just come to faith within the last month and how God has changed him and pulled him from where he used to be to where he is now and how God is giving him a desire to chase after him and find out who he is in his life. He encouraged everyone to just talk to God like He's a person because He is a person and that's all he wants. And I really needed to hear that. And it’s amazing how God can use the babes in Christ to…to…to speak to those who have been in it for a while. I'm literally driving around in my car this morning just taking a drive and trying to get my head focused on God and hearing from Him and listening to Daily Audio Bible. When this young man sent his word of encouragement out, I know it was God that spoke because I needed to hear that this morning because I'm trying desperately to hear from God. So, I just appreciate God using you, young man. Continue to let God use you, continue to chase after Him and…and I'm gonna keep chasing after Him too and having these conversations so I can hear from Him. So, I appreciate that encouragement. God bless you all. God bless you, young man.

Hello this is Alice from Idaho I'm calling in to ask for prayer for my mom and her family right now. She…a few weeks ago she found out that her brother had passed away and a few days ago she found out that her sister had also recently passed away. We haven't been able to visit them 10 years now because we live in China and it's been really tough on all of us not being able to see them and for this sudden news to come as a shock for all of us. I'm asking for prayer also for my grandma my mom's mom. Obviously, this has been really hard on her and I'm praying that her heart will be softened towards the Lord and she will find comfort and peace in Jesus as well as joy and happiness. I'm praying for the same thing for all of my relatives in China. This is definitely one of the most unexpected things and I'm just hoping that they will find God and peace and joy surrounding that. Thank you so much. Bye.

Greetings fellow believers and prayers. This is Paul from Manchester calling. I have…I’ve just listened to the 2nd of February and I heard Jody from Arizona praying, asking for prayer for her family and particularly her granddaughter…her granddaughters. I just wanted to share it really touched my heart and as I started to pray, I heard the words of Psalm 23 came to mind. And I just want to pray that over them with anyone who will pray, that thank you Jesus, that you the Lord are there Shepherd, that in you they have everything that they need, that you let them rest in green meadows and that you lead them by peaceful streams, that you renew their strength and that you guide them along right paths bringing honor to your name, that even when they walk through the dark valley of death they will not be afraid for you are close beside them, your rod and your staff protect and comfort them. You prepare a feast for them in the presence of their enemies. You welcome…you welcome them as a guest anointing their head with oil and their cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue them all the days of their life and they will live in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you, Jesus for this wonderful way that we can connect in prayer together and for your power at work in their lives. And I pray for wisdom and courage and boldness for all parents and grandparents and carers including myself, that we would make excellent decisions for and on behalf of the people that we care for. Yeah, Lord I pray that you would be present in their…in their situation, that they would know your…

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the-howling-wind · 5 years

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Nuzlocke - Ultra Moon (Part 5)

Chapter 8 - This is the end, my only friend

<<Prev - Next>>

As I predicted, my team was desperately unbalanced and in the long run I payed it dearly. For the Electric Trial I had to recruit Cinzia to the team and evolved her in Dugtrio: she wasn’t my first choice, being a rather glass cannon Pokémon, but I had no choice and in the end I breezed through the Trial. It was the rest that screwed me up.

Back in Malie Town I met Guzma, the boss of Team Skull: it was my chance to take him down! The battle was fierce and in the end he got Soma with a Critical Sucker Punch, going over his defenses. As I mourned the fall of my comrade, the scum took the chance and ran away!

I collected my bearing and rushed in Guzma’s pursuit; a bloody battle ensued with a herd of wild Mudbray and I had to trade Cinzia and Ashido’s lives to catch Reinhardt. But I was exhausted and broken by the many, many losses. Never I could be prepared for what fate had planned for me.

An anonymous trainer, nobody important (although he believe he was the Kahuna of Route 12) wiped out my whole team with a Pinsir powered up by two Sword Dance and that outspeeded my whole team.

It was the end.

Chapter 9 - I came up from the bottom and into the top

I really thought about giving up. Many do at this point. But I had still Pokémon in my boxes and, more importantly, I could no let go to waste all the lost lives. I HAD to see it through, with a new team, carrying on an important legacy.

In those months that I trained, I was encouraged by words that Oliver once told me:

I need to believe that no matter what happens in our lives, no matter how much darkness infects us, I need to believe that we can come back from that.

It was hard getting back on my feet, both physically and emotionally. Many had died. Sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it was an inavoidable tragedy. And it was bound to happen, hell as I was training the new team I had losses again.

But now it was my time to take back what my own stupidity and a cruel fate desperately tried to destroy.

In the months of my absence I still kept a line open with the Professor and I learned that Hau stopped the Challenge to protect people and Pokémon from Team Skull... Glad somebody picked up the mantle I left.

I therefore hoped to resume my Challenge without having him biting at my heels. I found Acerola and started the Ghost Trial: Mimikyu proved to be a formidable opponent, my initial plan of swooping in with Judith’s Steel Wing went to hell, as my opponent was stronger thant expected and to make things worse he summoned a Banette that burned and cursed my Pokémon. I swapped in with Ivan, gave him a Defense X; he was cursed as well, but at least that killed Banette. I played the long game with Mimikyu and he called a Jellicent; luckily Ivan had Discharge, so in the end I managed to take them both down.

I found my wat to Aether Tower, where I found Hau and Plumeria; so much for staying under the radar... I jumped into the battle, but once again she went down dragging one of my own with her: Ivan was hit by a Critical Sludge Bomb, leaving him with 1 HP and Poison in his body; his attack against Salazzle was not enough to KO her, so he died, poison burning in his veins.

I later learned that Team Skull stole some Pokémon and retreated to their HQ, Po Town. It was time to pay them a visit.. They owned me three lives.

- - -

Info & Rules

Trainer: Howling Wind

Time: 41:47

Deaths: 23

Rules (I know I seem to be adding them as I go, but most of them I forgot to put there in the first place)

Random Starter

Double Clause

Battle Mode Set

No Exp Share

No Rotom Power Ups

TMs can be re-used, but there can be only one Pokémon that learned the move in the team at one time

No Pokémon Care (at least to the point of getting free crits and resisting the KO)

UltraNecrozma doesn’t count as Nuzlocke Battle (they told me you either over level and trample everything after that or you’re in for a team wipe, so I’m not to keen on these options)

Team:

Cobblepot (Golduck ♂️ Lv 40; Ability: Cloud Nine; Nature: Impish ; Moveset: Water Pulse, Aqua Tail, Psychic, Disable)

Judith (Fearow ♀ Lv 42; Ability: ; Nature: Docile ; Moveset: Drill Peck, Steel Wing, U-Turn, Focus Energy)

Ada (Lurantis ♀ Lv 40; Ability: Leaf Guard; Nature: Jolly; Moveset: Leafblade, X Scissor, Brick Break, Petal Blossom)

Yuri (Absol ♂️ Lv 38; Ability: Super Luck; Nature: Gentle; Moveset: Nightslash, Psycho Cut, Sword Dance, Detect)

Paul (Scraggy ♂️ Lv 33; Ability: Moxie; Nature: Rash ; Moveset: Chip Away, Brick Break, Payback, High Jump Kick)

Pamela (Floette ♀ Lv 36; Ability: Flower Veil; Nature: Bashful; Moveset: Magical Leaf, Grassy Terrain, Petal Blizzard, Wish)

Pokémon Caught:

Route 1 - Dammek (Grubbin ♂️ Lv 4)

Route 1 (Outskirts) - Krillin (Wingull ♂️ Lv 5)

Route 1 (School) - Lupin III (Zorua ♂️ Lv 5)

Hau’oli City - Monoma (Mime Jr ♂️ Lv 6)

Route 2 - N/A (Abra that got away)

Hau’oli Cemetery - Gabriel (Ghastly ♂️ Lv 8)

Sandy Cave - Cobbletpot (Psyduck ♂️ Lv 9)

Verdant Cave - Jiro (Noibat ♀ Lv 8)

Route 3 - Judith (Spearow ♀ Lv 9)

Melemele Meadow - Weiss (Petilil ♀ Lv 10)

Seaward Cave - Platinum (Delibird ♀ Lv 12)

Ten Carat Hill - Raiden (Mawile ♂️ Lv 12)

Ten Carat Hill (Meadow) - Bastion (Carbink Lv 13)

Route 4 - Akande (Pikipek ♂️ Lv 14)

Paniola Ranch - Ivan (Mareep ♂️ Lv 15)

Route 5 - Ada (Fomantis ♀ Lv 14)

Gift - Soma (Eevee ♂️ Lv1)

Brooklet Hill - Gwen (Dewpider ♀ Lv 15)

Route 6 - N/A

Diglett Cave - Cinzia (Diglett ♀ Lv 22)

Route 7 - Buttercup (Wishiwashi ♀ Lv 14)

Wela Volcano Park - Douglas (Fletchling ♂️ Lv 18)

Route 8 - N/A

Lush Jungle - Glimmer (Steenee ♀ Lv 19)

Memorial Hill - Garruk (Phantump ♂️ Lv 23)

Akala Outskirts - Raine (Natu ♀ Lv 22)

Hano Beach - Ashido (Tentacool ♀ Lv 24)

Malie Garden - Natasha (Ariados ♀ Lv 25)

Route 11 - Mako (Komala ♀ Lv 28)

Route 10 - Ribrienne (Raticate ♀ Lv 29)

Mount Hokulani: Elvis (Elgyem ♂️ Lv 28)

Route 12 - Reinhardt (Mudbray ♂️ Lv 32)

Route 13 - Mileena (Bruxish ♀ Lv 32)

Blush Mountain - N/A

Tapu Village - Yuri (Absol ♂️ Lv 32)

Mount Lanakila - Nora (Snorunt ♀ Lv 32)

Route 15 - Kami (Gumshoos ♂️ Lv31)

Route 16 - Paul (Scraggy ♂️ Lv 32)

Ula’Ula Meadow - Pamela (Floette ♀ Lv 36)

Pokémon Dead:

Gabriel (Ghastly, Lv 8->14, Route 2, Pursuit by wild Spearow)

Lupin III (Zorua, Lv 5->16, Route 3, Silver Wind by Ace Trainer’s Butterfly)

Krillin (Wingull, Lv 5->19, Totem Aquarinid)

Bastion (Karbink, Lv 13->21, Tomem Marowak)

Monoma (Mr Mime, Lv 6->24, Totem Marowak)

Raiden (Mawile, Lv 12->29, vs Plumeria)

Douglas (Fletchinder, Lv 18->30, Thunderbolt by Trainer’s Raichu)

Oliver (Dartrix, Lv 5->32, Aurora Beam by Trainer’s Octillery)

Mako (Komala, Lv 28->28, Mirror Move by wild Fearow)

Raine (Natu, Lv 22->24, Pursuit by wild Crabrawler)

Ribrienne (Raticate, Lv 29->30, Critical Slash by Trainer’s Absol)

Elvis (Elygem, Lv 28->31)

Soma (Vaporeon, Lv 1->37, Critical Sucker Punch by Guzma)

Cinzia (Dugtrio, Lv 22->33, Wild Mudbray)

Ashio (Tentacool, Lv 24->24, Wild Mudbray)

Dadmmek (Charjabug, Lv 4->37, double Sword Dance rampage by Trainer’s Pinsir)

Jiro (Noibat, Lv 8->37, double Sword Dance rampage by Trainer’s Pinsir)

Weiss (Petlil, Lv 10->27, double Sword Dance rampage by Trainer’s Pinsir)

Reinhardt (Mudsdale, 32->34, double Sword Dance rampage by Trainer’s Pinsir)

Gwen (Aquarinid, 15->35)

Natasha (Ariados, 25->31)

Akande (Trumbeak, 14->18)

Ivan (Ampharos, 15->41, Critical Sludge Bomb by Puleria’s Salazzle)

#nuzlocke #nuzloke challenge #pokemon nuzlocke #pokemon ultra moon

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agallimaufryofoddments · 5 years

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Chapter 27 of Dead Mount Death Play (DMDP) is out, and...Amazon Kindle actually has it available to purchase? I don’t understand, but I’ll take it.

...Oh, great. Yeah, I’m still reading it, but definitely can already issue a NSFW warning for this chapter, guys (in case you were thinking of reading it in public); Sayo and Misaki have an extended conversation during which Sayo is nude and Misaki is all but.

(I swear Young Gangan must have some sort of fanservice quota it wants its content providers to fill...specifically fanservice showing off naked or scantily-clad women.)

#Dead Mount Death Play #DMDP #Is Narita immune to fanservice? No #has he written scenes where one woman gets handsy with another woman? Yes #has he written extended sex scenes - or in this case long conversations between people in their birthday suits - on the regular? /No/#The unfortunate thing is I think the fanservice is working #since I've seen people bring up Misaki's breasts in JP reviews

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ladyseaheart1668 · 6 years

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Endless Summer Book 4 : Daughter of Vaanu (Chapter 27)

Description: Everyone starts to settle back into routine. But the danger is far from passed.

tagging: @xo-endlessmayhem-xo ; @princesstopgun ; @mysteli

Chapter 27: Spectre of the Hydra

Jake

Every so often, when I'm pulling up to the beach house after a day at work, I'm struck all over again by the grandeur of the place where I'm currently living. There was a time I might have actively rebelled against living in opulent splendor. Having grown up in more modest surroundings myself, the time was such luxury would have felt suffocating. And if Alodia weren't living in this place with me, I think it still would. But her presence could make a damp, moldy cave into a home for me, and it can certainly do as much for a waterfront mansion in California. Besides, there's no denying that it's gonna be an amazing place to raise our kid.

I park the car and make my way around to the front door. I hang up my keys in the foyer and wander into the kitchen to grab a cold glass of water. With temperatures squeaking past eighty degrees Fahrenheit, it's unusually hot today for October, even in southern California. Through the dining room window, I can see Varyyn on the deck, doing some kind of Vaanti tai chi or something. Another advantage to this place is that the property is enclosed enough that Varyyn can actually enjoy the beach for awhile without drawing attention to himself. I fill a glass with tapwater, top it off with a couple cubes from the icemaker in the freezer door, and make my way out into the balmy autumn air. Varyyn pauses when he sees me.

“Good afternoon, Jake. I didn't realize it was so late already.”

“It's almost seven. Either of our spouses home?”

“Yours is. The last I knew, she was resting. Diego called to say he will likely be late tonight.”

I nod in acknowledgment and go up to the bedroom I share with my wife. Alodia isn't in bed when I get there, but I can hear the shower going in the bathroom. I tug off my work clothes and hang them up, lying down on the bed in my boxers to wait for her. She emerges within a few minutes, a bathrobe wrapped around her body, her wet hair hanging loose around her shoulders. She grins when she sees me.

“What, no rose between your teeth?” she quips.

“Oh, you thought this was for your benefit?” I tease back. “I was just waiting for a shower.”

She chuckles, shrugging. “Well, you know you're basically a piece of meat to me.” She makes her way to sit on the edge of the bed and bends to kiss me. “Mmm, you taste like afternoon coffee.”

“You taste like toothpaste. Much more pleasant.” I tug lightly at the edge of her robe, folded over her swollen breasts. “Is this for my benefit?”

“If you tread lightly. They're still tender.”

I withdraw my hand to find hers. “Probably for the best at the moment. I'm guessing I don't smell much better than I taste. I've been sweating in a business suit all day.”

“I was sweating through dance classes most of my day.”

I prop myself up on my elbow, looking at her with concern as I reach out to tuck a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

“Are you sure you should be dancing right now?”

“Relax, Top Gun. I'm mostly marking. Not doing anything River and I can't handle...” She trails off, averting her eyes. Her profile settles into a frown. I sit up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“...You okay, Princess?”

“I...went into the poolhouse earlier...”

I exhale slowly. The poolhouse. Where we've been keeping the trunk we got from the crystal planet. The trunk containing the Andromeda idol.

“...Did you...?”

“No. ...I didn't want to alone. ...It's active, though. It was calling me. It's calmed down now, but...I could feel it.”

“You know it's gonna keep up until you touch it.”

“I know. But as long as I can—ung!” She cuts herself off with a sharp gasp, pitching forward slightly and clutching her belly.

“Alodia!” I launch myself off the bed, kneeling in front of her. “What is it, Princess? Are you okay?”

She raises her head, her eyes wide. “...They moved. ...Jake, our baby moved!” She breaks into a grin, laughing dazedly. “River Skye is alive!”

“...River...?” I let my hand drift to her belly. She smiles a little.

“You may not be able to feel anything yet,” she cautions, even as she opens her robe to place my hand on the swell. I wait for a moment, my hand pressed flat to her belly.

“I...I don't know...I can't tell if I'm feeling River or gas.”

She laughs. “Trust me, I feel River.”

“Hell, Princess, that's good enough for me.” I rise to press my lips to hers. “My beautiful wife. Mother of my child.”

I kiss her again. And I keep kissing her. I want to distract her. I want her to forget about that amber thing in the poolhouse. I know it's ultimately futile. But just for now...just for a little while...

Lila

Five years ago, I woke up in a hospital in Florida. The last thing I could remember was lying on the floor, surrounded by the bodies of Arachnid soldiers. I was satisfied, knowing that I had protected the Selected, that I had covered their escape. I thought I was dead. But there I was, in a hospital bed and a gown with a needle in my hand. On the television set mounted to the corner of the ceiling, I watched Mr. Rourke being led out of a courtroom in handcuffs, shouting about the crystal people coming for us all.

Things were a little bit of a blur when I got out of the hospital. I gave them a false name as a precaution, and it stuck. As far as the Selected knew, Lila Sethi was dead, so that was what everyone else assumed. I made my way to my apartment before they could clear it out and broke in to gather a few personal affects, and that was the last of Lila Sethi. It was easy enough to start again. Sure, there were a few rough months while I scraped some money together, but I know how to get by on the streets. I stole, I begged, I did chores, I even turned a few tricks. And eventually, I found myself working retail in New York for a little over minimum wage. I never seriously considered going back to Rourke International. Now that Aleister and Estela were in charge, I doubt I would have been welcome.

I'm not sure what exactly possessed me to ever visit Mr. Rourke in the hospital. Maybe I just felt sorry for him. I know what it's like to lose everything. Once I believed he could give me back what I had lost. The man I found in that hospital was so different from the one I had known, that I only pitied him more. When I gave him the phone disguised the the hairbrush, one of the things I had managed to recover from my old life, I think I was hoping that having someone friendly to talk to would keep him from losing the last of his humanity. I didn't hear from him for years. Then Alodia came back.

I shouldn't have agreed to observe her. I mean, it was harmless enough at first, but then she discovered she was pregnant. I shouldn't have told him. But I didn't know how to hide it. I don't really know what he's planning. The revival of Project Janus, I guess. But exactly how he'll do that without the Island's Heart or the Endless...

… I think he means to use Alodia. But there isn't any proof that she has any power outside of the island, especially now that the time bubble has been destroyed.

Maybe that's the best I can hope for. That she doesn't have any power left and that Mr. Rourke will realize that before he hurts anyone.

No. Dammit, Lila, don't be stupid. You know that's not good enough. The best you can do now is to get out! Cut him off. Don't answer when he calls. He can't hurt you. He can't hurt you and he doesn't care. Just forget about him. Live your new life, free of his influence.

… My phone is ringing. I know who it will be before I even look at the screen.

“No,” I growl to myself, clapping my hands over my ears and screwing my eyes shut. “Don't answer him. You were free before. You died free! Stay free! This is your second chance!”

The ringing stops, and I open my eyes. My phone has gone dark. Then a missed call notification pops up on the screen. I hesitantly lower my hands from my ears. I realize that I'm trembling. My fingertip leaves streaks on the screen as I hastily delete the notification before I'm tempted to call back.

Block him, Lila. Just block him.

My screen lights up again, my phone trilling a ringtone. In my teenage years, I saw many people who were addicted to drugs. Heroin. Cocaine. Meth. Opiates. I watched their minds and bodies drive them mercilessly towards the next fix, sometimes driving them to death. Some addictions didn't reach the body. But an addiction in the mind could be just as deadly. Pot, pornography, gambling. At fourteen, I was the one to identify my foster-brother's body when his gambling debts landed him in hot water with the wrong people. It's his face in my mind when I tap the green button on my phone.

“...H-hello?”

“Lila, dear. Listen carefully. I have a job for you.”

Kenji

“A Halloween party?”

“Yeah! Seriously, what's with those faces? It's a great idea?”

Mid-morning on a Friday, Grayson and Tahira sit across from me in a booth at the Grand. It's the perfect time for a business meeting. Not even the cleaning staff are here at this hour. I just can't believe that they both look so skeptical.

“It's not that it isn't a great idea,” Tahira says quickly. “It's just...Halloween is a week away. And logistically, that's cutting it kinda close.”

“Hey, you can let me worry about the details. The Grand remains the biggest party scene in Bayside, and we're missing out on huge profits if we don't take advantage of such a big party night.”

“Halloween's on a Tuesday,” Grayson points out. “Most people will be working the next morning.”

“That doesn't stop most people,” I retort. “...But, I can see your point. Maybe we can run the specials all weekend. Half-price drinks, half-price admission for anyone in costume, that sort of thing. Maybe we can get a band or two to play for a few hours each night.”

Tahira nudges Grayson lightly. “...We both know the Hartfeld students like to drive up to Northbridge for Halloween weekend. It's a big money opportunity. And the whole reason for reopening the Grand was to revitalize Bayside. I don't think we can avoid to miss many opportunities.”

Grayson sighs. “...Is this really what you want to be worrying about right now, Tahira?” he asks softly. Tahira and I exchange a glance. Grayson has been welcomed into our confidence, and he fits in so easily that it's sometimes easy to forget that he hasn't lived with the whole double-life thing as long as Tahira and Eva and I have.

“Don't worry about me, Grayson. I've gotten good at balancing Tahira and Dragonness.”

“Right...of course.”

“Listen, Grayson. With everything you're going through, no one's going to expect you to make an appearance.”

“But maybe I should. To show them that I don't intend to let my Dad retake the company. That I don't intend to let him dictate my business decisions, and that I'm still committed to revitalizing Bayside, not bulldozing it.”

“Hey, that's the spirit!” I say encouragingly. “Hey, the way I figure it, with everything we've been through lately, we all deserve a few nights to cut loose. Especially you two.”

Craig

It's been way too long since Zahra and I really had some proper time alone together. And with both of us off for the day on Sunday, we spend Saturday evening plotting the perfect day in. The fact that Sunday is rainy and chilly just makes it better. We stay in bed having sex until at least noon. When we finally leave the bed, we take the blankets with us to curl up on the couch, drink coffee, and play classic video games while we wait for the pizza we ordered. For awhile, there is nothing else in the world but me and Zahra, cuddling under a worn-out comforter while our sprites whale on each other on the screen.

“Oh, you still comin' at me, Player Two? You're about two hits away from dead, you might as well just lie down and accept your fate!”

“Nuh-uh! Power up! Boom! Health bar restored, and now you're at half!”

“What?! Where the hell did you pick that up?!”

“Not my fault you were too distracted to notice when it fell from the sky!”

“Yeah, well screw you! I'm gonna beat you anyway!”

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?”

“'Cause I always do!”

And of course, thirty seconds later, she does, with a massive bolt of lightning. I groan, letting the controller fall into my lap.

“Daaaamn. Gorgeous woman who has sex with me and beats me at video games? I'm so in love with you, Zahra.”

She blushes, which makes me smirk. I always feel a little smug when I can get her to blush. Predictably, she covers it by swatting me.

“Shut up and kiss me already, loser.”

I do as she tells me, then pull back with a grin. “Okay, I'm bored with that game. Let's play Jump Bros Racing instead. Then at least I'll stand half a chance.”

By the time the pizza arrives, the combination of the gray day outside, the lamps inside, and an hour or so staring at the TV screen has my vision all wonky. I blink and rub my eyes, trying to force them to see colors properly again as I stumble to the door. I thank the delivery guy, push the tip into his hand, and go back to the couch, balancing two large pizza boxes on my hands. The smell of cheese, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni reminds me that I haven't eaten all day. My stomach rumbles. Zahra, who picked up her phone while I was getting the pizza, snorts.

“Jesus, Craig. Your stomach growls louder than you fart.”

“But not louder than I burp,” I retort. She snickers and pushes on my head.

“Got a text from Kenji. They're planning a big Halloween weekend bash at the Grand, and he wants my band to play. He's offering $300 since it's short notice, and he'll throw in another $50 if we agree to do two nights.”

“Dope. You gonna do it?”

“Well, obviously, I'll have to talk to everyone, make sure they can all make it, but for that kinda money at the Grand, I think I'd be an idiot not to. ...Only problem is, we haven't really had a rehearsal since...well, since before the Catalyst reunion. Just with the way everything's been so crazy...”

“Yeah...it kinda has been. ...But hey, today is about forgetting all the crazy, right? Let's concentrate on eating this pizza. Then we can marathon Seven Crystals until our eyes bleed.”

“Oh, God, yes!” She tosses her phone aside and dives for the top pizza box, pulling out a hot, gooey slice. She sucks the point into her mouth and chomps down, tearing it off like a wild animal devouring its prey. I can't help grinning.

“Are you aware that you're the sexiest thing on two legs?”

She pokes one leg out from under the blanket and pulls up the leg of her pajama pants. “Two legs that I haven't shaved in two days?”

I pretend to examine the dark, stubbly hairs on her calf. Then I imitate her, poking my own leg out. “I haven't shaved my legs in two years!”

“You shaved your legs two years ago?”

“Uhh...no. I guess not. So, I haven't shaved my legs in...ever. But you can still be my leg-hair buddy, even if you're not as hairy as me.”

She laughs, putting her leg down and taking another bite of pizza. “Eat your pizza, scrublord. I need my Player Two if I'm gonna get through Seven Crystals.”

Estela

Until I'm back in it, I sometimes forget how much chilly air can feel like pain. These past months, I went right from San Trobida to La Huerta to Northbridge and southern California in high summer, and then back to San Trobida. It was still summer when I returned to Northbridge to help my brother investigate Silas Prescott and his machine. Now a true New England autumn has officially crowded out summer. That's the other thing I've learned to dislike about the transition from summer to winter in the northeastern United States. Unlike the change between the tropical and frigid zones on La Huerta, this one comes on gradually, and I end up feel like the proverbial frog in a pot, not recognizing the change until one day I walk outside and my extremities start going numb.

Even with a jacket, scarf, and gloves, I can still feel it nipping at me as I make my way down the sidewalk in the early afternoon sunshine. I wouldn't even be out in it, but I needed a change of scene. I head toward Michelle and Quinn's apartment. I know that Michelle and Sean will both be at work about now, but maybe Quinn has a little time to spare. I could use some company right now besides my mother.

Much to my relief, when I arrive at my destination and press the buzzer, Quinn's voice sounds on the intercom.

“Who is it?”

“Hey, Quinn. It's Estela. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

“Nothing that can't wait. Just a sec, I'll buzz you up.”

I hear the soft buzz and the click of the lock, and yank the door open. Blessed warmth wafts over me as I step inside the lobby. The feeling is returning to my digits by the time I reach Quinn's unit. She's waiting for me with the door propped open. The smell of cinnamon and cloves drifts into the hallway.

“Come on in. I was just making some cider. Want to try some? It's nice and warm, just off the stove.”

“Anything warm sounds heavenly right now,” I reply, slipping off my coat and hanging it in the closet. “Sorry to drop in unexpectedly. I hope I'm not intruding.”

“If you were, I wouldn't have let you in,” she replies, waving a hand dismissively. “Sit down. Take a load off.”

I obey, sitting down at the kitchen table. Murphy immediately jumps up into my lap, cooing. I rub his cool, silky ears around the bases, and he trills with pleasure. Quinn ladles cider into two mugs printed with brightly-colored cartoon characters, and joins me at the table, sitting across from me. I cup the mug between my hands, letting the heat of the cider penetrating the ceramic warm my hands.

“So what brings you my way?”

I sigh. “I needed a change of scene, I suppose. Some space to think in.”

“Perhaps you're also looking for someone to share your thoughts with, since you seem to have sought out company.”

I take a warm, sweet sip from my mug. “Perceptive, aren't you.”

She smiles a little. “I try. So what's on your mind?”

“...Mom is talking about going back to San Trobida. To spend time with my Tio.”

“...How is she going to explain her ressurection to your Tio?”

“She hasn't decided yet. She has promised to leave Alodia out of her explanation. I'm mostly trying to decide whether I want to go back with her.”

She raises an eyebrow. “That's in question?”

“Should it not be? The Catalysts are all here in the States...”

“We've mostly been in the States for the last five years, but you've never felt the need to leave San Trobida for more than a visit or business. Even if you've been forced to delay, as far as I knew, you never questioned eventually going back.”

I snort a little. “You make me sound like the slightly estranged or...independent sister. You know, the one who breezes in a few times a year to give presents and then disappears again.”

She chuckles. “You know I don't mean it like that. We're family, the eleven—the twelve—of us. But we're not in college anymore, not all living in one place. And that's okay. We have lives and families outside of each other, as we should. That's the whole reason Alodia gave herself up, was to give us that. San Trobida has always been your home. It's where your blood family is.”

“Except for my brother. And my nephew.”

“True. Still, it's where the family that raised you is.” She frowns slightly. “And I would have thought you would want to stay with your mother. And your boyfriend must be missing you.”

I am quiet for a long moment. I take another long swallow of cider, and place my mug back on the table.

“...I love my mother. I will always love her. But it's been eleven years. I'm not the same person I was when she died.”

“...Is she not able to accept that?”

“It isn't that exactly,” I reply. “She understands that time has passed and I've grown. The problem is that we don't relate to each other the way we used to. I've gotten so used to living without her, having her back is a shock, even taking out the shock that comes just from the fact that she's alive. She understands that. That is, she grasps the concept. But trying to work with that...figure out who we are to each other now... It's like...when your parents realized that you were really and truly cured. Remember how you were always saying that treating you like a sick person was a habit they had to break? Treating you like a sick person and arguing with each other about it?”

“Yeah. ...They were glad I was healthy, of course. But they'd spent so many years stressing about my health that they couldn't let go of it right away.”

“It's a little like that. ...Of course I want her in my life. But I have to figure out how that works with the person I am now. And I'm not sure living under the same roof is the way to figure that out. And as to my boyfriend...he isn't. Anymore.”

Quinn looks up sharply, startled. “What?! When did this happen?!”

“Right about the time we introduced you to Rochelle.”

“But...that was weeks ago. Why didn't you say anything?”

I shrug, keeping my eyes on my cider mug. “We had other things to concern ourselves with. Besides, I...needed time to process.”

“Are you...okay?”

I shrug. “Well, I'm hardly walking on air, but I'm not bitterly torn up, either. I suppose in the end, we simply didn't have enough in common to sustain the relationship. At first it was intense and passionate, but once that initial thrill wore off...” I sigh. “...Honestly, the fact that there's a large part of my life he'll never understand...that no lover could really understand...”

“No lover except another Catalyst, anyway,” she says softly.

“Right. ...I had hoped him being part of the resistance back in the day might have made that part easier to deal with. Maybe it would with the right person...”

“Sometimes it takes time to find that right person,” Quinn says softly. “Believe me, I know. But hey, that's true for everyone, not just Catalysts. We come with a little more baggage than most...but that would have been true even if we had never gone to that island.”

I smirk a little. “So, you're saying that I'm not so special?”

She laughs, and I know it's because she enjoys my teasing. It took me awhile to learn how to playfully rib my friends the way they had always done with me and each other. But I've gotten the hang of it for the most part.

“I'm saying you're normal, silly.” She reaches across the table and takes my hand. I raise my eyes to meet hers, dark brown on sapphire blue. “Let yourself feel bad as long as you need to. As long as you know underneath it all that it's not the end of the world.”

“Oh, I know that well enough,” I quip ruefully. “We've both lived through the end of the world.”

“Yeah, we have. And you're a strong, beautiful woman with everything going for her. You'll bounce back from this.”

I smile, squeezing her hand. “Thanks, Quinn. You're pretty good at pep talks.”

“Well, I try. Now, how about we get some cupcakes started while we try to talk through your other problem?”

Lila

All right, Lila. This is going to be easy. Just walk right in. If he's awake, hand him the note. If he isn't, just leave it under his hand and walk out.

I have my disguise, a nurse's scrubs and ID badge, bearing my picture, but the name of a nurse on staff here who happens to be off today. It should be easy. I shouldn't be hesitating so much. I never used to have trouble doing exactly what Mr. Rourke asked me to do. Well..hardly any trouble. I believed in him then. I believed in him, and I put aside any scruples because I believed he was doing good for the world. Saving every lost little girl like me. I don't believe in him anymore. So why can't I walk away from him?

The note in the pocket of my scrub pants isn't long, but it feels very heavy. Uncomfortably bulky. The edge of the folded paper pokes into my thigh. I've read it, with permission from Mr. Rouke: “An old friend sends his regards. If you are serious about your goal, you'll need more than the dragonness. We can help each other.”

It's signed with the sigil of the Hydra, and a weird symbol that Mr. Rourke says will alert him that there is more information written in disappearing ink, and that he will need to heat the paper. That will reveal Mr. Rourke's contact information, and possibly more.

It doesn't feel harmless. In fact, it feels like it could be very harmful. But I can't walk away. But I can't walk forward, either.

Do something, Lila! Choose something!

And before I quite realize what's happened, I'm at the door to Silas Prescott's hospital room, where police officers are standing guard. I flash my badge, and they read the name, checking it against the list. The nearest officer gives me a curt nod, and I slip inside.

Silas Prescott is asleep, his heart monitor showing his pulse in a steady blip. Before I can change my mind again, I slip the note out of my pocket and gently lift his hand to place it underneath. He doesn't even stir. He must be sedated.

I turn away from the bed, lingering in the room just long enough to give the impression that I did more than just slip a note under his hand. Then I leave. I have to get out of here. Get out of this place. Get away from Silas Prescott. Get away from Everett Rourke...

But it looks like my escape may be delayed. Because not three yards outside the room, with my eyes on the floor and my mind a million miles away, I run headlong into someone coming in the other direction. A white-coated doctor studying a clipboard. We both recover ourselves, straightening our clothes and mumbling apologies. Then, our eyes meet, and we both freeze.

...I have just run headlong into Michelle Nguyen.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #pixelberry choices #Endless Summer #hero #Diego Ricardo Ortiz Soto #Jake McKenzie #sean gayle #raj bhandarkar #aleister rourke #Craig Hsiao #zahra namazi #michelle nguyen #grace hall #estela montoya #quinn kelly #eva minuet #grayson prescott #kenji katsaros

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dfroza · 3 years

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will we recognize our Creator’s visit to earth

both in ancient times in the birth and life of the Son, and here & now in Spirit and in truth?

will we be open to respond from the heart to His True story of rebirth by coming to “believe...” and be baptized in water and in Light, in heart & body? will we speak of this faith and hope in Love to affirm it through a body of earth and time?

will we treasure the eternal (inside, Anew)?

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 19th chapter of the book of Luke:

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

While he had their attention, and because they were getting close to Jerusalem by this time and expectation was building that God’s kingdom would appear any minute, he told this story:

“There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, ‘Operate with this until I return.’

“But the citizens there hated him. So they sent a commission with a signed petition to oppose his rule: ‘We don’t want this man to rule us.’

“When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.

“The first said, ‘Master, I doubled your money.’

“He said, ‘Good servant! Great work! Because you’ve been trustworthy in this small job, I’m making you governor of ten towns.’

“The second said, ‘Master, I made a fifty percent profit on your money.’

“He said, ‘I’m putting you in charge of five towns.’

“The next servant said, ‘Master, here’s your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don’t suffer fools gladly.’

“He said, ‘You’re right that I don’t suffer fools gladly—and you’ve acted the fool! Why didn’t you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?’

“Then he said to those standing there, ‘Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.’

“They said, ‘But Master, he already has double . . .’

“He said, ‘That’s what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.

“‘As for these enemies of mine who petitioned against my rule, clear them out of here. I don’t want to see their faces around here again.’”

After saying these things, Jesus headed straight up to Jerusalem. When he got near Bethphage and Bethany at the mountain called Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says anything, asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘His Master needs him.’”

The two left and found it just as he said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said, “What are you doing untying the colt?”

They said, “His Master needs him.”

They brought the colt to Jesus. Then, throwing their coats on its back, they helped Jesus get on. As he rode, the people gave him a grand welcome, throwing their coats on the street.

Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed:

Blessed is he who comes,

the king in God’s name!

All’s well in heaven!

Glory in the high places!

Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!”

But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

When the city came into view, he wept over it. “If you had only recognized this day, and everything that was good for you! But now it’s too late. In the days ahead your enemies are going to bring up their heavy artillery and surround you, pressing in from every side. They’ll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit.”

Going into the Temple he began to throw out everyone who had set up shop, selling everything and anything. He said, “It’s written in Scripture,

My house is a house of prayer;

You have turned it into a religious bazaar.”

From then on he taught each day in the Temple. The high priests, religion scholars, and the leaders of the people were trying their best to find a way to get rid of him. But with the people hanging on every word he spoke, they couldn’t come up with anything.

The Book of Luke, Chapter 19 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 27th chapter of the book of Job:

Job continued.

Job: By God—who lives and has deprived me of justice,

the Highest One who has also embittered my soul—

I make this proclamation:

that, while there is life in me,

While the breath of that selfsame God is in my nostrils,

My lips will not let lies escape them,

and my tongue will not form deceit.

So I will never concede that you three are right.

Until the day I die, I will not abandon my integrity just to appease you.

On the contrary, I��ll assert my innocence and never let it go;

my heart will not mock my past or my future.

May my enemy be counted as the wicked

and my adversary as the unjust.

For what hope does he who is sullied and impure have

once God lops him off from life and requires his soul?

Will God listen to his cry

when he is overtaken by distress?

Will he have made the Highest One his pleasure after the fact?

Will he have marked the seasons with his calls to God once it is too late?

Let me show you what I have learned of God’s power.

I assure you I will not cover over the true nature of the Highest One’s ways.

Look, you have all seen it—seen the same things I have seen here.

Why then all this vain nonsense?

Indeed, Zophar, listen closely, for what the wicked of humanity will inherit from God.

This is the heritage the Highest One bequeaths to those who oppress:

If the children of the wicked multiply,

they meet their end at the blade of the sword.

And even if they are fat with surplus,

the descendants of the wicked will be starved for bread.

Those who survive will fall to disease and be buried;

many of their widows will not mourn their deaths.

Though he pile up money as if it were common dirt

and clothing in heaps like mounds of clay,

What he may prepare, the righteous will wear;

the silver he sets aside, the innocent will divide.

He builds his house doomed to impermanence—

like the moth’s cocoon,

like the field watchman’s lean-to that is dismantled after the harvest.

He lies down to sleep a wealthy man,

but never again,

For when he opens his eyes to morning,

all is gone.

Terrors overtake him as if they were floodwaters;

the tempest snatches him away in the dead of night.

Indeed, the sultry east wind lifts him up and away.

He is gone, swept off the place he knew as his own.

It will have blown against him pitilessly,

and he tries to flee from its fast-closing hand.

As a final humiliation, it claps its hands against him as a man would—

sneering, hissing at him as he leaves.

The Book of Job, Chapter 27 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, may 4 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at humility as the path to wholeness in Love:

No one wants to admit that they are needy, broken, weak, and so on, and indeed such a confession is blasphemy to the heart of the proud. The truth, however, is that we are indeed all these things, and Yeshua told us we were blessed if we understood this (Matt. 5:3-6). The is great danger to pretend you are strong and capable of living life on your own terms, since eventually you will be blindsided by the truth about your condition. On the other hand, the confession of our weakness opens the way to God's power, as Yeshua said to Paul in his affliction: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Paul came to see that the various trials and afflictions in his life taught his profound dependence on God: "for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Access to this grace, however, comes at the expense of our pride. We must humbly confess who and what we are, and therefore we must entirely abandon hope in our own strength and virtues. "We are only as sick as the secrets we keep," especially those secrets we keep from ourselves - those self-deceptions and illusions we use to defend ourselves.

Suppose, for instance, that you have the bad habit of complaining and even cursing when you are beset by troubles, and you want to stop doing these behaviors. You may resolve to be more optimistic and grateful, or you may read self-help books -- or even take anger management classes -- but nothing will do you any lasting good until you know "in your bones" that you are powerless to change your heart. That is the first step to being set free. Or suppose that you are habitually unhappy, troubled, anxious, and in pain, yet you want to find inner peace and joy. Again, apart from the miracle of God there is no lasting remedy. You must be honest with yourself and confess the truth of your condition, asking God to do in you what you cannot do for yourself. As Yeshua said: "What is impossible with man is possible with God." So in this way God uses your sins to correct you or bring you to the end of yourself, and in that way awareness of your personal weakness is a blessing from God.

Recall that Yeshua said out of the heart proceed “evil thoughts," or more literally, "evil dialogs" or reasoning within yourself (διαλογισμοι πονηροι). You are tethered to yourself - you cannot escape yourself - yet a divided house cannot stand. Attempting to relate to yourself apart from a relationship with God leads to ongoing despair -- either the despair of being yourself or else the despair of fleeing from yourself -- but either way, to a condition of anxiety derived from not being grounded in the life of God... “Unless a seed of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone...” (John 12:24). Yeshua is the source of all life, and we find nourishment, strength, and the meaning of who we are as we connect with him. By faith we affirm: “I have been crucified with Messiah, and it is no longer ‘I’ who live, but Messiah who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). There is a new self that comes from above, known only in spiritual relationship with the Savior. The miracle of the exchanged life comes as we surrender to the truth of what God does for us (2 Cor. 5:17). That’s the essence of the gospel, “the power of God for salvation for all who believe” (Rom. 1:16). Therefore we do not attempt to crucify ourselves, or labor to reform our lower nature, but we instead accept that we already have been crucified and healed by the mercy and miracle of God. We clothe ourselves in the robes of his righteousness as we celebrate God’s redeeming love for our lives. Only then are we empowered by the Spirit to truly “love the LORD and keep his charge” (Deut. 11:1).

The gate is narrow that leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matt. 7:14). That is part of the offense of the cross, after all - the confession you are lost, in darkness, and in need of salvation. Few receive this truth into their hearts because they want to be in control and refuse to let go; few regard their weakness as a blessing that opens the gate to God's strength. Let the weak say "I am strong" because of what the LORD has done. God’s grace is sufficient, and his strength is perfected in weakness: "So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may reside in me" (2 Cor. 12:9). “I can do all things through the Messiah who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

5.4.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

May 4, 2021

The "Shall Nots" of John's Gospel

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

There are many wonderful promises to the believer listed in the gospel of John. Many of these promises are things that “shall” happen, but let us consider seven of these that teach of things that “shall not” happen to the believer whose trust is in Christ.

Teaching of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ said, “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” (4:14).

Similarly, “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (6:35).

Furthermore, He taught, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (8:12). Our deepest needs are met in Him.

Having once believed, we are placed into His family, and He promises, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (10:28). In Him, we are utterly secure. Why? “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (5:24).

Consequently, we have no fear of death. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (11:25-26).

As the familiar verse in our text tells us, if we only believe “that he gave his only begotten Son,” we shall “not perish, but have everlasting life.” JDM

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queenofthedramedies · 4 years

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In Veritas: Ch. 27

Hello, my lovely readers. Elijah solves one of several mysteries in this fic. On with the show…

Chapter 27: That Could be Problematic

Standing stiffly in front of the building he'd worked in for years, Elijah Mikaelson felt irritated. Many a dinner Elijah endured before he quit his job with his father. Hearing Mikael's remarks about Niklaus drove Elijah further and further away. "He's not my responsibility," Mikael once snapped at Esther, tossing a plate through the kitchen after one of the wonderful dinners. Mikael had not known that Niklaus had just entered the room for a glass of water. Elijah had followed his younger brother. He did not know why. He just had a feeling. "He's not mine anyhow!" Mikael ended and then turned to see ten-year-old Niklaus run out of the room. Elijah had simply stared at his father before following his little brother.

Years' worth of tantrums and arguments and disagreements followed. Mikael and Niklaus' relationship became more strained and more hostile. And Elijah always placed himself in the middle. His mother stood aside and did not seem to want to play a role in the drama. Having an affair because she was lonely and being punished by watching her son's misery seemed to be the extent of Esther Mikaelson's ability to cope. Elijah did not blame his mother. He blamed his Father. And walking away from his legacy as the one who Mikael intended to hand the firm over to—when Mikael finally retired or stopped walking the earth, whichever came first—felt like justice to Elijah.

Right now, Elijah felt his fist clenching. He'd made an appointment to interview his Father about Old Gerard's death, but his Father insisted the meeting take place at the firm. Mikael Mikaelson liked to have things his way.

Peering at the large M & G at the top of the building, Elijah pondered the reasoning his Father used for not removing the G. Why not make it Mikaelson alone? Isn't that what he'd always secretly desired? A firm of his own. Still. The G stayed which made Elijah wonder if Mikael was leaving room for Marcel to go free and take over his father's position, becoming the G in the M & G, or if Mikael suspected someone else would be taking that position. But who? With old Gerard gone and his only other child also dead; who could the G stand for? Another puzzle for another time.

Forcing his feet to carry him inside the familiar building, Elijah walked past the front desk. "Good morning, Mr. Mikaelson!" Cami O'Connell called with a cheerful wave.

"Good morning," Elijah called back. He headed for the bank of elevators when it dawned on him to move back. "Cami, may I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot." Cami offered Elijah a smile as she pushed a button to put a call on hold.

"Would you mind having a cup of coffee with me this afternoon? I'd like to pick your brain about the puzzle I'm trying to work through." Elijah knew that Cami liked to do the New York's Times Crossword and Rebekah said she'd kicked several junior partners' asses during a Charity Charades game.

"Sounds like fun. Count me in." Cami said. Her eyes flicked to the mounting lights popping up where people wanted her attention. "Sorry. Business as usual."

Elijah nodded and went to the elevators. Part of him wished Hayley would appear. However, the doors slid open: no Hayley. Sighing, Elijah strode onto the elevator. Turning, he pushed the button for the top floor and then adjusted his tie. It felt like he might be choked by it. Or maybe meeting with his father was giving him anxiety.

The doors opened and Elijah was greeted by his father's assistant. "Ms. Rashid," Elijah greeted her coolly as he stepped off the elevator and made his way over to stand before her desk. "My Father should be expecting me."

"Certainly, Mr. Mikaelson." Her dark eyes slid over him and Elijah could tell she was sizing him up. Somehow that made sense given who she worked for. Mikael liked to surround himself with people who were discerning. Again, Elijah wondered why he chose Old Gerard for a partner. Old Gerard had so many habits and personality traits that made him a horrible choice for Mikael.

While Elijah's mind wandered, Ava had picked up the phone. "He's here," she said quietly. Nothing Elijah could hear in response. A quick nod from Ava before she slid out from behind the desk and made her way to Mikael's door. She opened it and stood aside. "He's waiting," she said.

Elijah rolled his eyes at the dramatics and adjusted his tie, again. Entering the office, Elijah found very little had changed. Same desk. Same chairs. Same lack of family photos on the desk. His Father's thousands of dollars' worth of suit and tie. That look on his father's face which made lesser men quiver before him.

Thank you for reading, liking, reblogging and following. 😊

-J

#elijah mikaelson #hayley marshall #haylijah #miklael miklaelson #cami o'connell #davina claire #rebekah mikaelson #to fanfiction

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terryblount · 5 years

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Battlefield 5 Update 5.0 releases later today, full patch notes revealed

DICE has detailed a new patch that will come out for Battlefield 5 later today. According to the release notes, Update 5.0 will bring some balance tweaks, will have some UI fixes, and will implement general audio improvements.

This patch will add War in the Pacific. However, this new Chapter wil begin on October 31st (and not when this patch will come out). War in the Pacific adds two new maps, new factions, new weapons, new vehicles and more.

Furthermore, this update will bring some PC-specific tweaks and fixes. For instance, it will allow players to enable the new in-game weapon inspect feature directly by pressing the “I” button. It will also make sliding a separate action that can be assigned to any key.

As always, Origin will download this patch once it becomes available later today. Below you can also find its complete changelog.

Battlefield 5 Update 5.0 Release Notes

War in The Pacific – Starting October 31

Two New Maps – Pacific Storm and Iwo Jima.

Four New Weapons at launch – M1 Garand, Type 99 Arisaka, Type 100, and the M1919A6.

Deploying across the Tides of War, you’ll get your hands on the M3 Grease Gun, Nambu Type 2A, Type 97 LMG, and M1918 A2.

As Chapter Rewards, the Jungle Carbine and the Type 94 and Model 27 sidearms are also available for you to earn and unlock during War in The Pacific

New Factions: US and Japan.

New Battle Pickups: Katana and M2 Flamethrower.

New Vehicles: M4 Sherman tank, Type 97, the LVT and the Ka-Mi Light Amphibious Tanks, the Dinghy, LCPV, MB Jeep and Type 95 transport vehicle.

New Planes – the F4U Corsair (Fighter and Bomber variants), and the Japaneze Zero (fighter and bomber variants).

New Reinforcements – New Rocket Barrage Tanks – The Sherman Calliope, and the HaChi.

What’s Changed?

Weapons

Players are now able to inspect their primary and secondary weapons directly while playing. Simply hold down the commorose button, and press the reload button to take a look.

Fixed an issue that caused the smoke grenade’s visual effect to flicker.

Fixed an issue that would cause players to sometimes use their primary weapons as syringes during the revive animation.

RSC – Fixed an issue that would result in a visual problem when reloading the weapons with some specific soldier skins.

M1928A1 – The weapons shadow no longer looks like it has a fore-grip.

Fixed an uncommon bug which made it look like soldiers used an ammo pouch to gain health back, or used a health pouch to gain ammo.

Fixed a bug that would cause the grenade launcher on the Tromboncino to be unusable if the weapon was dropped and then picked back up.

Flaregun Radius and TTL re-balance: Flares last longer in general, and vehicle flares cover larger areas.

Fixed a bug that would enable the Panzerbüchse 39 to fire multiple times in a row.

Fixed a bug with the ricochet tracer visual effect which made it look like it was going in the opposite direction of its original trajectory.

Fixed an issue where healing rates could stack between self-heal pouch and medical crate (only the highest rate will now apply).

Increased medical crate aura regeneration rate to 16HP/s from 12HP/s as a result of healing rates no longer stacking.

Improved detection of fire damage against soldiers. This will reduce situations where players can take fire damage while not being visibly close enough from the fire.

Increased incendiary grenade radius to 4.5m from 4m to better match the effect.

Increased the Incendiary grenade damage duration to 7s from 6.5s to better match the effect.

Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the health and ammo crates to be deployed below the ground when deployed whilst prone.

Balance Changes

We have increased the rate of fire of the Model 8 because of its inferior reload, and its magazine when compared to the RSC.

Increased rate of fire from 180 to 200 and from 200 to 225 with the Trigger Job specialization.

The Suomi saw another small adjustment recoil adjustment to better position it against the M1928A1:

Reduced vertical recoil from 0.72 to 0.69.

Reduced recoil pattern slightly.

The Lewis Gun has been made a bit less accurate in sustained fire to separate it more from the Bren:

Increased horizontal recoil from 0.45 to 0.48.

Fixed an issue that often made all fully automatic, and burst fire weapons much less accurate and predictable than intended when burst-firing.

Since the M1935 PG had been heavily affected by this, its horizontal recoil has been increased to offset the drastic increase of accuracy when bursting.

Increased horizontal recoil from 0.3 to 0.375 and from 0.225 to 0.3 when using the Ported Barrel specialization on the M1935 PG.

Additional Changes:

Improved the visibility of aperture sights against all backgrounds.

Improved the MP28 front sight, it is now thinner and easier to aim with.

We have increased the rate of fire of the Model 8 because of its inferior reload, and its magazine when compared to the RSC.

Increased rate of fire from 180 to 200 and from 200 to 225 with the Trigger Job specialization.

The Suomi saw another small adjustment recoil adjustment to better position it against the M1928A1:

Reduced vertical recoil from 0.72 to 0.69.

Reduced recoil pattern slightly.

The Lewis Gun has been made a bit less accurate in sustained fire to separate it more from the Bren:

Increased horizontal recoil from 0.45 to 0.48.

Fixed an issue that often made all fully automatic, and burst fire weapons much less accurate and predictable than intended when burst-firing.

Since the M1935 PG had been heavily affected by this, its horizontal recoil has been increased to offset the drastic increase of accuracy when bursting.

Increased horizontal recoil from 0.3 to 0.375 and from 0.225 to 0.3 when using the Ported Barrel specialization on the M1935 PG.

Additional Changes:

Improved the visibility of aperture sights against all backgrounds.

Improved the MP28 front sight, it is now thinner and easier to aim with.

Soldier

Fixed an issue that would cause players to slowly glide across the terrain whilst waiting to start a round.

Fixed an issue that would cause players to be seen playing the swimming animations whilst on the ground.

Fixed an issue where players could often be seen with low animation quality in high density areas.

Fixed an issue where it would sometimes be possible to collide with soldiers that are dead.

Soldier collision is now disabled as soon as the player dies, this means it will now be possible to move through players faster which will prevent cases where you can get blocked by a soldier you just killed.

Improvements to the bleed out state that should decrease the chance of players getting stuck in a bleed out state.

Fixed an issue that caused the soldier to clip with the camera when opening a door while switching weapons.

Fixed an issue that would cause an infinite death state if a player was roadkilled right after being revived.

Fixed a bug that would not trigger the temporary slow down penalty after using the bayonet charge.

Fixed an issue where players would be able to jump whilst charging.

Holding down the melee button no longer blocks the sprint and jump input.

Improved the vaulting animation when players are using the Revolver.

Fixed an issue where a soldier would sometimes get blocked whilst vaulting over medium sized obstacles.

Players are no longer blocked from throwing health and ammo pouches while at the same time firing a weapon at full auto. The firing will now correctly pause to throw a pouch.

Improvements to players that die while using a parachute – the sound will no longer cutoff if the player redeploys while parachuting, and we have removed the body falling sound effect if the player is in the air.

Improved soldier ragdoll behavior to decrease the risk of them getting the “hanging from the hips” bug.

Fixed an issue where soldiers could get stuck against collision with hard-edged assets, like for example the edge of a bridge railing.

Fixed an issue that would cause the revived players to be in T pose when the reviver cancels the revive animation.

Fixed an animation bug that could sometimes cause certain soldiers to be seen moving around in T pose.

Fixed an exploit that would allow medics to endlessly throw medical pouches at each other.

Fixed a bug that allowed players to deploy the bipod on shallow water.

Improved activation consistency of the sliding functionality.

Added support to choose between press or double-tap to activate sliding (default is double-tap).

Increased Sliding cool down to 2s from 1.5s.

Fixed an issue where soldiers teleport to an old position when exiting a vehicle.

Fixed an issue where a soldier could vault through ceilings above stairs on Operation Underground.

Players in shallow water can be revived now.

Players can no longer get revived while in mid-air, which would cause players to end up under the terrain in some rare cases.

Vehicles

JU-88 bottom gunner now properly shows hitmarkers when doing damage.

Fixed a rare bug that would cause players to spawn into the world without a plane, after they had selected a plane from the deploy screen to spawn into.

Fixed a graphical bug that could occur if players sat in the top gunner seat in the Sturmgeschutz IV tank while firing it.

The Churchill MK VII top gunner turret no longer looks broken if the player uses the cover function from certain directions.

Improved the animation from third person when a player switches seats in an airplane.

Mounted and Coaxial Machine Guns have had a significant redesign. These weapons how have a converging accuracy model, with an initial period of inaccuracy that improves with shooting until the weapon is fully accurate. The accuracy potential of all these machine guns is higher now than it was previously, but only after firing a few rounds. Overheat has also been adjusted to balance with this new technique, allowing for more forgiving instances of overheat, especially when firing in long, suppressive bursts. Additionally, the velocity of rounds fired from the machine guns have been increased, making hitting targets of opportunity and moving targets easier, however the damage of these weapons has been reduced at long range, to prevent overly effective instances of sniping with the MG. You should now find MGs easier to use and hit targets once they are zeroed in, but targets at long range will have more time to react before they are killed outright.

Reduced the rate of fire for bomb loads of 4 or more. The high rate of fire of these bomb loads allowed a player to drop all their bombs effectively in one area, negating accuracy and making the choice between different bomb types poor. In general, there is a longer delay between bomb drops but bombs generally have more effective blast radius, especially against infantry.

Increased the default turret speeds and adjusted the acceleration and deceleration curves to be more responsive.

Reduced the impact of disabled turrets on the speed of the turret.

Improved the accuracy of the bomb sight in both First and Third person cameras. The biggest improvement is in the First Person View.

Holding the fire button while dropping multiple bombs will now update the target position for each bomb dropped.

Refactored Ammo Counts for vehicles with unlimited magazines so they show the ammo count instead of the total ammo. This fixes stationary AT guns showing 0 ammo when they actually have unlimited ammo.

Reduced the overheat and adjusted the explosive damage of the AA for consistent hit damage against bombers and fighters. Players should now get consistent damage against all aircraft types, and AA can now destroy an aircraft flying directly at the AA without overheating. Aircraft will need to be crafty and dodge and evade the more stationary AA, rather than simply absorbing the damage as they could do previously.

Increased shockwave time so that planes have a larger chance to escape the shockwave of low dropped bombs.

Fixed an exploit that would cause the Bleinheim passenger guns to not overheat.

Fixed a visual bug with the Mosquito 6PDR guns reload.

Improved the Kubelwagens steering animation and touched up the handling.

Maps and Modes

Arras – Squad Conquest – Ammo crate near capture point A is no longer rotated backwards.

Arras – Breakthrough – Fixed some spawn points that were placed out of the combat area.

Al-Sundan – The teams no longer have swapped reinforcement vehicles.

Al-Sundan – Windows on certain buildings are now vaultable.

Al-Sundan -Fixed many issues that would allow players to look through the geometry of certain rocks or even clip into them.

Al-Sundan – Breakthrough – Fixed an issue that would cause issues with spawning reinforcement vehicles in sectors 3 and 4.

Al-Sundan – Added collision to the crates located at Capture point C.

Devastation – Players can no longer get stuck near the bookcase at Flag C by falling behind it from above.

Devastation – More fixes for an issue that in some cases enables players to see through the geometry when certain walls have been destroyed near the altar area.

Devastation – Fixed the Health resupply station near Flag E which was missing it’s interaction prompt.

Fjell 652 – Squad Conquest – Fixed an exploit that would allow players to get on top of a mountain.

Hamada – Removed an AA that was placed under the ground which would cause a phenomenon on the deploy screen which made it look like a turret icon floating across the map. The same issue was also fixed on Rotterdam.

Hamada – Improved the terrain on the side of the cliffs close to Flag F that could look a bit corrupt while flying in an airplane.

Marita – Fixed an exploit that would allow players to get on top of the mountain at the edge of the map.

Marita – Fixed an issue with the mountain wall near the bridge which players could get into.

Marita – Conquest – Improved the spawn points which in some cases would cause players to spawn too far away from the flags.

Marita – Certain tree branches no longer stop bullets.

Narvik – Breakthrough – Fixes for Vehicle Reinforcement Spawns that were out of the combat area.

Narvik – Fixed an issue with a backdrop artillery effect which would look like a streak of fire moving quickly across the entire map.

Narvik – Breakthrough – Fixed the floating resupply station in the last sector.

Panzerstorm – Fixed some issues with tank spawns being blocked which would result in “The deploy point you selected is no longer available”.

Provence – The window on the church is now vaultable.

Provence – Players can no longer get stuck between the two window shutters near Capture point B.

Rotterdam – Fixed an issue that made it not possible to call in the Squad reinforcement tank.

Rotterdam – Players can no longer get stuck between the supply stations near “Boompjes”.

Rotterdam – Added out of combat area on top of buildings that were being exploited.

Operation Underground – Performance optimizations to improve the overall frame rate.

Operation Underground – Fixed flickering texture issue in a corner of a room near B flag on Conquest.

Operation Underground – Players will no longer be able to fire smoke grenades right through solid walls of some buildings.

Operation Underground – Fixed a bug that would cause players to get under certain metal shelves and then not being able to get out.

Operation Underground – Fixed a small bump in the terrain near a specific tunnel, which could cause players to not properly peak out from it’s corner.

Operation Underground – Fixed a bug related to destroying lights in the ceiling, but the destroyed lamp would still emit light.

Operation Underground – Fixed an issue that would cause the V1 / JB-2 sound to get stuck and not stop playing.

Operation Underground – Players will no longer drown in shallow water when the Subway gets flooded.

Operation Underground – Player destroying the wooden train wagon with explosives will no longer result in floating planks.

Operation Underground – Improved the pile of rubble that overlooks the C point, players will no longer be able to clip through it and hide in it.

Operation Underground – Fixed the odd black texture on the ground near the “Trinkhalle” at Capture point C.

Operation Underground – Fixed some floating objects that would linger after a wall was destroyed.

Operation Underground – Removed a fire effect that was incorrectly placed on the ceiling in the subway.

Operation Underground – Removed some invisible fires close to the C flag that would suddenly light players on fire when proning.

Operation Underground – Tweaked ambient fires in the rubble to cause damage to players in a more predictable way based upon the fires radius.

Operation Underground – Improved smoke from atmospheric fires to not clip through the wall and emerge on the floor above.

Operation Underground – The Sandbag fortification near C can now be built from both sides.

Operation Underground – Brightened up dark areas of ticket hall and changed exposure settings so that players can look outside, while inside the ticket hall.

Operation Underground – Fixed issues that would enable players to get outside of the intended playable area.

Operation Underground – Fixed the terrain close to the entry of the Subway stations that allowed players to look into the void outside of the map.

Operation Underground – Fixed an issue with the background airplanes that in some cases could fly too close to the deploy camera.

Operation Underground – Players can no longer get stuck in the rubble close to a building near the edge of the map by Capture point A..

Breakthrough Mode – Announcer voice over now announces when an objective has been captured.

Combined Arms – Bridgehead Mission – The enemies are no longer inside the extraction zone while the players are getting ready.

Combined Arms – Improved the AI aiming while they are using a vehicles weapon or stationary turrets.

Grand Operations – The announcer voice no longer overlaps two voice overs when the end of round transition occurs.

Fixed an issue that would in some rare cases cause blocky looking trees in the main playable area.

Spectator Mode

Improved behavior of airplanes to not make it so that they don’t stutter while being spectated in third person mode.

Spectating a player that is out of bounds no longer causes the OOB overlay to stick for the spectator.

Added an “Enable character lighting” toggle to the post process tab that allows Spectators to disable the character visibility filters to help give player models a more cinematic look.

Changed the depth of field focus, near and far distance sliders in the camera tab to allow for smaller adjustments. Larger adjustments can be made by holding the button down for more than a second (these smaller depth of field adjustments are not currently available in 3rd person director mode).

Fixed an instance of crashing that would occur in some cases when using Spectator Mode on Operation Underground.

General Audio Improvements

Tweaked the stereo output configuration to deliver a more balanced and readable downmix from the native surround mix, with increased low frequency response and improved clarity for sounds behind and outside of the player’s visual perspective.

Tweaks to how vehicle, explosion and weapon audio attenuates over distance with the aim of delivering higher consistency and a tighter, clearer mix.

Increased directionality in close to mid-range weapon audio.

Normalized distance delay on loud sounds like weapons and explosions, with more physically believable behavior. In most cases this equates to a shorter delay.

Tweaked the content of close, super-sonic bullet-pass bys for assault rifles to be clearer and consistent when compared with other weapon types.

Tweaked the processing of first person weapon audio to deliver a more ‘snappy’ (stronger initial transient) and ‘punchy’ (pre compression of the weapon audio prior to the master output) sound.

Fixed cases where the final mix was corrupted or distorted, due to performance fluctuations.

Smoothed the transitions from gameplay to deploy screen, and vice versa.

Third Person Movement (Footsteps) improvements, including;

Rebuilt and streamlined the logic and mixing behaviors from the ground up for improved stability, consistency and readability.

Third person footsteps are, on average, louder.

Reduced the volume difference between slow, regular and sprinting speeds.

Reduced the volume difference between material types.

Reduced the effect that obstruction had on footstep volume.

Increased the mix difference between friendly and enemy footsteps in terms of volume, sense of weight and distance drop-off.

Enemies footsteps now have a higher priority in the mix and are now able to reduce other lower or distant sounds, in order to cut through the general combat soundscape more often.

Fixed instances of missing triggers for various movement based sounds. ‘Stutter stepping’ will more consistently cause triggers.

All non-footstep movement sounds such as vaulting, climbing, wall impacts, jumping, stance changes, crawling, equipment and weapon add movement are not down-prioritized for performance reasons anymore and play as a consistent package together with the footsteps now.

UI & Others

Updated “FX AMOUNT” Video option to “HIGH FIDELITY OBJECTS AMOUNT” as this was previously very misleading. The option’s description has also been updated to better represent the impact of this setting.

Friendly revivers (medics or squad members) no longer disappear from the nearby revivers list if they are already reviving someone.

Fixed some inconsistencies with seeing spotted vehicles, stationeries and gadget.

Fixed a bug that caused spotted soldiers seen from airplanes to not show a spotted icon.

Assignments – Fixed an issue with the written requirement of the Madsen Mastery II assignment.

Assignments – Fixed the text for the Selbstlader 1906 Mastery Assignment I which was incorrect.

Players will no longer get kicked out of the customization screen when the pre-round ends and the round starts.

Company – The Sturmjäger headgear now renders properly in “My Company”

End of Round – Added the missing Panzerbüchse 39 icon.

Special Assignments are now ordered in the same way as previously.

Improved the fetching of end of round reports, decreasing the chance of getting the “Could not fetch your report” error.

Fixed an issue related to some LS/26 and P08 Pistol Carbine assignments where some players would experience that they were not possible to complete.

Fixed an issue in the backend where the Ace Squad stat was not tracking properly.

M1A1 Carbine is now written in capital letters in the English version of the game.

Fixed an issue where all the players on the scoreboard would show as Rank 0 during Pre-Round.

Fixed an issue that would cause the camera to point at the wrong location for the real time background in the main menu screens making it appear as if the graphics were corrupted for a few seconds.

The hint system will no longer prompt players to use self-heal while they are in a vehicle.

Greetings to Tomoya_Marble, Thank you for all your help!

Fixed an issue with text overlapping if players open the specialization menu and then went into the server information menu.

Players no longer disappear from the EOR best squad screen if the player disconnects when this screen gets initiated.

Fixed several visual issues on the end of round screen not showing the assignment rewards properly for the Breda M1935 PG.

Melee weapons are now correctly sorted by rarity on the Replace Melee screen.

Server Browser – Fixed a bug that would not display any servers if players has selected a map and then pressed toggle all twice.

On the deploy screen the vehicle icons now focus on vehicles that have not been used, instead of equally focusing on not used vehicles, and previously used vehicles which could cause vehicle icons to overlap Combined Arms – The best squad end of round screen has been added back in this mode if the mission is a success.

The Combat Roles can once again be changed in the menu while already playing on a server.

When changing the FOV in video options, the horizontal FOV will now update in real time when moving the FOV slider.

Repair icons no longer show over a long distance after the player has initiated a repair, and then stopped and moved away from the object that needs a repair.

The airplanes weapons inventory is now shown after deploying into an airplane, without the player having to use or switch between weapons.

Improved the killcam which previously would sometimes not show the killer.

Fixed a bug that would make the bayonet icon show if a player got revived, without having the bayonet equipped on their weapon.

Order of Trasimene medal is now tracking progression with the correct criteria.

Fixed a rare bug that would cause players to be unable to rejoin a server, if they had gotten idle kicked from it.

Player count and flag icons have been removed during TDM while in pre-round.

If a Squad member gets promoted to Squad Leader all of the players in the Squad now get a notification of the promotion.

The Madsen MG no longer has a bullet sticking out of its stock in the armory.

Fixed a bug that showed health or resupply world icons when the player is in a man down, dead or in the parrot camera state.

Did you know that there is a Swedish dish called “Flying Jacob” that was invented in 1976 which consists of Chicken, Cream, Chili Sauce, Bananas, Roasted Peanuts and Bacon. It’s good, try it.

The Karabin 1938M Mastery IV assignment has been fixed.

Added the missing Madsen MG dogtags.

The Fire Axe is now centered in the “Your Company” screen when viewed.

Fortification improvements:

Building speed significantly increased.

We fixed a bug that made it impossible to rebuild fortifications destroyed by collapsing buildings.

Already built fortifications no longer block building of unbuilt fortifications. For example, lying prone on a dirt mound cover fortification and then fail to build the sandbag wall on top of it.

You are no longer able to build objects through walls and other static objects.

The fortification UI in the middle of the screen will no longer show at very long distances, it will now only show when you are actually in range to build.

Fixed an issue that now allows unbuilt fortifications to be visible again on the mini-map.

Improvements to the Fortification system which reduces the possibility of building fortifications that are out of sight or behind a wall.

PC Specific Improvements

Combined Arms – The in-game chat now works in this mode.

Fixed an issue that would make screenshots taken with the console command screenshot.render 1 look over-saturated with HDR enabled.

Players can also enable the new in-game weapon inspect feature directly by pressing the “I” button (can also be changed in key bindings).

Decoupled sliding from the crouch key bindings, sliding is now its own action that can be assigned to any key (X by default on PC).

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pastorcowboy · 5 years

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Resurrection (A new Beginning)

Matthew series: Resurrection

Matthew 28 (A new beginning)

In Matthew 27, we have a small mention of an earthquake and a curtain being torn in two. You would think that would have been a pretty big deal. It also says for three hours darkness covered the land. That seemed like a pretty big deal too. History is an odd thing. We have so little information on the culture of the Romans. Archeology plays such a big part of discovering the past. In reality we know very little about history. From the Titanic to Hitler we have very little understanding of what happened in the end. How did the Titanic really sink? Did Hitler die?

Books have been written explaining both the Titanic and Hitler. We have the events but we also have a mystery. Why is their nothing written on the earthquake and darkness? There is so little written on the death of Jesus too. Some 1st century scholars have touched on the death of Jesus and the life of Rome. It seems some epic historical events got little coverage at the time. In Matthew 28, we have another earthquake. We also have another historical event. Jesus rose from the dead. Part of chapter 28 is the authorities rescuing the event from history. Guards are payed off. Rumors are circulated. What really happed to Jesus, Hitler and the Titanic? History seems ignorant of the real story.

I bring up Hitler and the Titanic because we know the story. We have heard the rumors. Jesus death and resurrection are a story over 2000 years later. History has not been kind to it. Was Jesus God? Did he rise from the dead? Was he even real? How do we prove the Titanic did indeed hit an iceberg? Eye witness accounts. What I find interesting is the earthquake. The whole earth shook when Jesus died and it shook when he rose from the dead. Your thoughts on resurrection?

Matthew 27:51 “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split “

Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it”

Exodus 19:18 “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.”

The tale of the Mary’s. Did you notice that the women came to the tomb first? Jesus had repeated over and over that he would rise in three days. Even Mary Magdalen said that we would be resurrected after the death of her brother. She knew. They all knew. Yet, who believed? The women did. The other Gospels mention more women. Actually, there are more details in the other Gospels. Why did Matthew mention so little? Who is the other Mary? It does not seem to be Jesus mother. It could be Mary the mother of the Zebedee brothers. She was present at the cross.

The guards probably thought they had the stupidest job. Guard a tomb. Do you know how many tombs there are in that area? Thousands and thousands. This is not a plush grave yard. It’s a carved-out hole in the wall of sand stone. The stone cave was probably not that big. Who owned the wall? It’s said in chapter 27 that Joseph of Arimathea donated his own new tomb.

Finally, we have the Sadducees. It’s fascinating. This is a group of Bible scholars. They were political and law writers. They did not believe in resurrection. You could notice that they disappear after Matthew 22. Jesus, from that point forward, talks about rising from the dead. The religious rulers that came to Pilate asking to guard the tomb were the chief priest and Pharisees. They did believe in resurrection. Ironically, they also wanted Jesus to stay dead. This whole chapter has a theme of belief. What do you really believe?

Matthew 27:62 “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.”

Matthew 28:13 “telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ "

Acts 7:52 “Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him."

The poor guards. Like I said, they had a dumb job. Who guards the dead? They stood at the foot of the cross, watching men die. Let’s say just for fun that they were there at the cross. It says the centurion witnessed the whole thing and said “surely this was God’s son.” Fast forward to the tomb. There is another earthquake and angels appear. It says the guards shook and became like dead men. Imagine the rocks being split and the dead rising from nearby graves. You might faint too.

It’s interesting that Judas was given money from the religious to give up Jesus. The guards are given money by the religious to be quiet. Jesus said he could call on angels to save himself but he refused. Angels appear and roll away the stone. For the most part the disciples are nowhere to be found. The women are at the cross and the grave. The one person having the most trouble with attitude and Jesus was Mary Magdalene. Yet, she is found near Jesus the whole time through his death. I think she may have believed more than all of them.

Matthew 27:56 “Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.”

Matthew 28: “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”

Read Matthew 27 again. Read Matthew 28. There is so much more being played out between the death and resurrection of Jesus. Two sides of the cross. Check out 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

1. Let’s talk about Galilee. Jesus was Born in Bethlehem but moved to Nazareth. I always pictured those places in the same place. They are not that close. They are about 70 miles apart. Remember that’s on foot in those days. Jesus told the disciples while in galilee that he would die and rise again. Jesus told the women after his resurrection to tell the disciples to go to galilee like he told them. Told them what? All that he taught them from that place. They knew things we don’t read in scripture.

Jesus sent the disciples to a mountain in Galilee to wait for him. What mountain? Oh, there is a ton of speculation on this one. I have always thought that the sermon on the Mountain was at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Tradition places it on Mt. Eremos in Galilee. That would fit a place to send the disciples because galilee was Jesus stomping grounds. (caution) however, Jesus baptism is right near the Dead sea. It’s not that far from Jerusalem, Bethlehem or the Mount of Olives. Placing Jesus in a certain place because it fits is just speculation. We should avoid that.

I feel one of the reasons Jesus sent the disciples back to Galilee is for safety. Remember the religious rulers were hunting believers down and that is how we are introduced to Paul in Acts. Many roads in this area were not that friendly. It’s possible the disciples were afraid to leave for home. Remember that Joseph of Arimathea donated his tomb. That is near Jerusalem too. Plus, the women had to run and tell the disciples that Jesus was missing in the tomb. They did not run 70 miles. What this means to me is that we need to just read it. Putting this mountain here and those disciples there is all rabbit trails that take our eyes off the real story of Jesus resurrection.

Matthew 28:8 “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

John 20:19 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!””

2. I just think there is something to the angels being clothed in white. I think there is something about the title Angel of the Lord. Some people call many of these incidences in the Old Testament, to be what they call, the pre-incarnate Jesus. Basically, Jesus in a different form other than his heavenly or earthy body. I am not so sure. In the New Testament, Jesus appears to many. Not once is he called the Angel of the Lord. Of the many appearances of this heavenly creature, there is sometimes a bright light, white clothes, or nothing descriptive at all. Often, they say something like “fear not.” Angels were said to look terrifying.

Matthew goes out of his way to mention them in white. Why? I feel it’s a staple or calling card. In the transfiguration, Jesus is turned to bright white. Read Daniel 7 and we see the Ancient of days clothed in white. In Revelation we have Jesus sitting on the great white throne of judgment. White is the good guy. White is holy and clean. I feel white is also a signature of heaven. There will be transparent pearl gates and gold streets. Plus, in heaven, there is no sun because the Glory of the Lord will shine. Moses met God and became too bright to look at. Brightness, light, and white are a sign of God’s presence.

Here is my last thought on this. Moses had to wear a veil to hide the light. There was a curtain hiding the inner chamber to God in the temple. When Jesus died the curtain was torn in two. We now see angels in bright white. A glimpse of heaven? A sign that heaven is here. Matthew begins making a case for the savior. The Jews knew that one day they would be taken to heaven. Matthew is finishing his Gospel by picturing heaven in the real world. We are free of death. Free to shine the light on a hill.

Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Judges 8:16 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Daniel 7:9 “As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.”

3. Why Sunday? The common Jewish week was from Sunday to Saturday. The Sabbath day went from Friday at 6pm till Saturday at 6 pm. Even when I was in Egypt recently, they do most of their day at night. They eat, gather, and rest. Muslims worship Friday. Jews Worship Saturday. Christians worship Sunday. The reason is simple. The religious rulers had Jesus crucified Friday at the end of the Pentecost week. Nobody worked from 6 pm on. It was a good time to get it done. The crowds were going home. It says in Matthew 28 that after the Sabbath the first day was dawning. Sunday!

Realize that the Jewish custom was to sacrifice a lamb for the sabbath Pentecost meal. They prepared everything before Friday at 6pm. Jesus is the last sacrifice. Ironic, coincidental, convenient? Many things God does is symbolic like a rainbow. Holiness is white. The ark was a seat of judgment like the great white throne. Jesus said “it is finished.” His time, day, week, ministry, sacrifice, and intention for creation was done. This first Sunday after, everything changed.

It’s the first day. In the beginning God created. On the first day Jesus rose from the dead. It’s a new beginning. The Sabbath was over. Ironically Jesus was criticized over and over for breaking the sabbath. Yet, after his resurrection we find him cooking fish while the disciples worked. When he raised Lazarus from the dead, he told them to feed him. The symbolism in Matthews Gospel is amazing.

Matthew 28:7 “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.””

John 20:30 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.”

4. Revelation 9 is a doozy. It describes a portion of the judgments of God on humankind. Read it and then realize in verses 20-21 they refused to repent. Ask yourself “what would it take to believe in God?” Matthew 28:17 is a doozy too. Three years with Jesus. All the words, miracles, and time spent with Jesus and they still did not get it. What would it take?

Jesus died. He is gone for three days. What are you doing after three days when someone has died? You move on. The disciples are back in Galilee. How long had it been? It was more than three days since the cross. It says in Acts 1 that Jesus appeared for 40 days. It’s Moses like. It’s symbolic and significant. The number 40 is Jewish. However long, Matthew points out that seeing Jesus after his death had doubters still. What would it take to believe?

The ending of Matthew is a doozy too. It’s called the great commission. There is more than that. Jesus mentions the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost clearly. There are still doubters on that. He mentions the end of the age. That means the end of times and there are still doubters. I feel that Matthew is ending his Gospel with a warning. Some will still doubt. Is it so hard to believe? Even after all the prophesies, miracles, and resurrection from the dead? It all pointed to the Christ as Jesus yet still some doubted.

Matthew 28:17 “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted”

Revelation 9:20-21 “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

What it means?

I can’t end this study properly. Matthew is so much more than I said it was. All I know is that I see prophesy. I see the teaching of Jesus. The Bible has pointed to this place. The resurrection. I am haunted by people taking the Bible verses out of context. Matthew has themes and an intentional point to make. Over and over he points out belief and doubt. That’s why he wrote a case for the Christ. He believes it was Jesus.

If you notice, Matthew does not expand the death and resurrection like the other Gospels do. He is to the point. It’s almost cold. Yet Matthew is only telling us what the prophesy said. He would be born, die, and raised from the dead. He is not glorifying heaven. He is not glorifying the man named Jesus. He is not glorifying the disciples, church, or Christianity. Matthew is pointing out that the radiant Christ of God is king over church, death, and creation.

Matthew wrote this Gospel to glorify the Christ. He said he came from God. He was anointed by God. Matthew then has Jesus as the victor of death and sin standing before his disciples. Verse 18 repeats that Jesus has all the authority in heaven and on earth. The kingdom is here and Jesus is the king. Then the king gives only one command “go and tell.” Moses last speech is really big. Jesus (the new Moses) needed only one verse “go and tell.” Matthew got it right because Christianity did go forth and changed the world. Many were saved by the Christ Jesus. It was a reckless plan. Yet, the prophets predicted it. God orchestrated it. He promised it in a covenant with Abraham and David. God took ownership of getting it done. So here we are, now, it’s up to you. What will you do with the Christianity Matthew wrote about?

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

#resurrection #bible #matthew #jesus #new #begin

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johnchiarello · 7 years

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Sunday sermon

SUNDAY SERMON- [Verses from New Christian Harvest- Rock City- Mass]

Isaiah 54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;Isaiah 54:3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Sunday sermon- https://youtu.be/_WsxrWOtaYI

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/8-6-17-sunday-sermon.zip

https://ccoutreach87.com/8-6-17-sunday-sermon/

Bob- Albert- George- Jill https://youtu.be/ZrTJy69dGuM

[Hear Bob’s testimony- this verse would fit Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.]

ON VIDEO-

.Ancient of days

.Mount of transfiguration

.Not a fable

.Apostle Allen speaks

.God’s perfect discipline

.Judges 19- review

.Levite took a bride from Judah [type of God’s unfaithful people]

.She plays the harlot- and yet he seeks her- and gets her back

.But the law [Levite] cannot save her

.She is then brutally raped- and dies

.The Levite finds her dead- cuts her into 12 pieces [yes- tough story]

he then sends the 12 pieces put to the families of Israel

.Why?

.All the law [Levite] can do is reveal sin [the 12 pieces] but it could not save from the penalty of sin [which is death]

.See?

NEW- I never like to rush- but will try and do a quick re-cap.

Today I was going to go to Church Unlimited- but the car wouldn’t start- no problem- I jumped on the motorcycle and went to Rock City Church.

After the service I figured I would just do the teaching walking around the area where Rock City is located [in The Bluff].

I figured I would run into my friends on the street- and it might make it hard to simply teach.

Sure enough you see a few of them on the video.

After I taught- I went to the park to see some of the guys- and on the way back- my friend Don [the pier friend] was waving me down- his truck broke down and I gave him a ride on the bike to the auto shop- he did a quick fix on the truck [broken tie rod] and I followed him home.

So- just got back to the house [as I write] and will cover some of the verses from Rock City- the Mass- and New Christian Harvest [the feeding ministry Dave Watters does on Saturday].

In Daniel we read about the coming kingdom-

Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

In Matthew we see a glimpse of the kingdom on the mount-

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,Matthew 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

The apostle Peter recounts this experience in his letter-

2Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2Peter 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2Peter 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

Yes- Jesus is the king who ushered in the New Covenant- not one of law- but grace.

In Judges 19 we read the strange account of the Levite who married a woman from Judah-

Judges 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem judah.

The Levite is a type of the law- the concubine a type of God’s people- who yes- have been unfaithful-

Judges 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem judah, and was there four whole months.

In the story the wife dies a brutal death [the law- Levite- cannot give life- or save the bride from the wages of sin- which is death]

Judges 19:25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

Judges 19:26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

Judges 19:27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.

After the wife is killed- the Levite cuts her up into 12 pieces and sends her to the other tribes-

Judges 19:29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.

Judges 19:30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

Huh?

Yes- the law [Symbolized by the Levite] can only expose sin- and in this act- the Levite revealed the evil deed done by those who killed her-

Romans 3:20

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Jesus is the Son who came from the tribe of Judah- not the priests from the law- but a tribe that priests under the law did not come from-

New Living Translation What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. Heb. 7:14

This shows us that there is a change of both priesthood and covenant-

Hebrews 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Meaning we are now under the New Covenant of grace- which can indeed bring life.

The glory of this new covenant exceeds that of the old-

2Corinthians 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

2Corinthians 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

2Corinthians 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

2Corinthians 3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

2Corinthians 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

The glory the disciples saw on Jesus at the Mount of transfiguration was the glory of the New Covenant- that brings us into the presence of God.

2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We have this glory on us- as priests under Jesus- who is our high priest-

1Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Revelation 1:6

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Yes- Jesus was the one who prevailed to open the book.

In the days of Daniel the vision was sealed up-

King James Bible But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

But in the day when the Son came

The vision [book] was opened-

Revelation 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Revelation 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

Revelation 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

Revelation 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Revelation 5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

We are today in this glorious kingdom of Christ-

There will be a future day when it comes to it’s ultimate fulfillment-

But he is now seated at the right hand of the Throne-

New International Version After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

And to all who access this grace- we too reign with him-

even now-

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb. 4

PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relates in some way to today’s post- Sunday Sermon]

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/14/mark-9/

https://ccoutreach87.com/judges-ruth-video-links-included/

http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/hebrews-commentary-copyright-2007-john.html

http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/genesis-1389-this-is-large-work-i-have_23.html

http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/galatians-links.html

(794)JUDGES 19- We have another strange story. There is this Levite who has a concubine [servant-wife]. She plays ‘the harlot’ on him and goes back home to Judah. The Levite goes to get her. He shows up at her dad’s house and the father welcomes him [Judah- Israel loved the law- Levite]. The Levite informs him that he came to take back his wife and the dad won’t let him go! He keeps holding on and for a few days convinces him to ‘just stay for one more night’ [Israel’s mindset in the first century. They tried to hold on to the law past it’s time]. The Levite leaves and on his way back to Ephraim they need a place to spend the night. They show up at Gibeah, where the Benjamites dwell. As they are on the street all day, no one offers to take them in. This younger generation forgot all the ‘elementary’ teachings of the Law of Moses [Hebrews 5]. An old man who was from Ephraim was living there. He sees the Levite and his wife and servants on the street. He asks what’s up and the old man offers to take the Levite in. He says ‘don’t worry about the cost, I will cover it’ [The Good Samaritan]. At night the men of the city knock on the old mans door and want the Levite to come out ‘and play’ [The sin of Sodom!] the old man offers the men the women instead of the man. They take the wife of the Levite and abuse her all night long. She shows up at the door in the morning and is dead. The Levite takes her dead body home and cuts it into 12 pieces and sends them to Israel as a witness. This drastic symbol shocks the nation. There are lots of spiritual points that could be made. The law [Levite] was welcomed for a time [Galatians 4] but when it’s time t let it go don’t keep holding on. The old man in Gibeah practiced the art of hospitality to strangers/aliens that was contained in the original precepts from Moses. The younger generation forgot the true principles of their law. Paul will argue over and over again from the law to persuade Israel to come to Messiah. They forgot the basic truths of their own law and this made it harder to show them that Jesus was the fulfillment of their law. Of course the old man taking in the Levite is like the story of the Good Samaritan who took care of his neighbor at his own expense. Paul told the Corinthians that he would ‘spend and be spent’ for them. And the drastic act of the Levite cutting up the wife and sending her body parts to Israel shows the utter terror of the law. The law ultimately demands justice, it shows no mercy. Israel might have had an affinity for the law, but if you keep it around too long it can really ruin the party! [The New Covenant is one of joy and peace in the Spirit. We are at Jesus ‘wedding party’ if you will].

VERSES- Here are the verses I either taught- or quoted on today’s video- Sunday Sermon

1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

1Timothy 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

1Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Hebrews 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

Hebrews 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Daniel 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Daniel 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Daniel 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

2Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2Peter 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2Peter 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

2Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

2Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

2Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

Matthew 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Matthew 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Matthew 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Matthew 17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

Matthew 17:7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

Matthew 17:8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

Matthew 17:9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

Judges 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.

Judges 19:3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

Judges 19:4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

Judges 19:5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.

Judges 19:6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

Judges 19:7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.

Judges 19:8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.

Judges 19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.

Judges 19:10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.

Judges 19:11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.

Judges 19:12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

Judges 19:13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.

Judges 19:14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.

Judges 19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

Judges 19:16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

Judges 19:17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?

Judges 19:18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.

Judges 19:19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing.

Judges 19:20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

Judges 19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.

Judges 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

Judges 19:23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.

Judges 19:24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.

Judges 19:26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

Judges 19:28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Isaiah 54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

Isaiah 54:3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Isaiah 54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

Isaiah 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Isaiah 54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

Isaiah 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

Isaiah 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Isaiah 54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

Isaiah 54:11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Isaiah 54:12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Isaiah 54:14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

Isaiah 54:15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

Isaiah 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Lectionary: 614

Reading 1

DN 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him. The court was convened and the books were opened. As the visions during the night continued, I saw: One like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 97:1-2, 5-6, 9

R. (1a and 9a) The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory. R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth, exalted far above all gods. R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.

Reading 2

2 PT 1:16-19

Beloved: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, "This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Alleluia

MT 17:5C

R. Alleluia, alleluia. This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

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dailyaudiobible · 7 years

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02/10/2017 DAB Transcript

Exodus 30:11-31:18 ~ Matthew 26:47-68 ~ Psalm 32:1-11 ~ Proverbs 8:27-32

Today is the 10th day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and I am thrilled that we can come together here at the end of a week. This is not exactly the end of the week. That is tomorrow but it's the end of the work week and I'm glad that we can get together for the rhythm that we’ve established in our lives to take a step forward each day and feast on the word of God. So we’ll go back out with Moses and the people of Israel as God continues to give instructions for what this new people is supposed to look and act like. We’re reading from The Voice Translation this week. Exodus chapter 30, verse 11 through 31, verse 18.

Commentary

It's only been a couple of months since I was last in the land of the Bible and walking the path that we’re reading of today with Jesus. And these places still exist—the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where Jesus cried out to the Father in anguish and the place where he was arrested in our reading today. There is a valley between the Garden of Gethsemane and where the high priest's quarters would have been because Gethsemane is on the Mount of Olives. The Kidron Valley runs between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount and that entire area of the City of David. So Jesus would have been bound and walked the path back across the Kidron Valley into Caiaphas’ quarters where all this is going down. You can imagine the disciples all running off into the trees, all hiding, all staying on the periphery. They’re not exactly sure what is happening. Jesus has told them what is going to happen, but they have this worldview that Jesus is the Messiah and somehow the way that this ends is that he takes over. So they are on the periphery of all this. Peter is in the courtyard outside as this trial of sorts is taking place.

If you don’t just read the story and say yeah, I’ve heard this a thousand times, if you put yourself in the story, become one of the disciples, put yourself in these places, not only can you enter into the story, but you find yourself in the story. Where would you be? Because we read these stories and we can think easily ‘I would have come in with a sword and shield and rescued Jesus and died if I must,’ but they all said that. They all said that and they had been walking with Jesus all the years of his ministry.

Peter is in the courtyard of Caiaphas’ quarters. Not a big place. I mean, you can imagine these things in your mind and picture this courtyard at a distance, but it's not. They are close. Peter was not too far away from Jesus, maybe within ear shot because Jesus ended up in storage rooms and cisterns that were pits for holding the supplies and storing the people that they needed to bring in for questioning and such. They are not far away from each other, but they are very far away from each other. Jesus is now a captive. His freedom has been taken. There is not really any going back from here. So you can only imagine the things that were going through his mind after being accused of blasphemy, sentenced to death under Mosaic Law, thrown into a pit to be stored until the proper arrangements could be made, because the Jewish people couldn’t just go stone Jesus or kill him some other way. I mean, they could by riot, but that would bring more trouble upon them. The Romans would be brutal in stamping it down. So they had to get the Romans to cooperate if it was going to be a public, humiliating execution, one that would send a signal to anyone else thinking of believing in this man, Jesus, or having plans of their own similar. Galileans were known to be insurrectionists.

Then there is Jesus just down in a pit, thinking about what is coming. Sometimes when we think about Jesus’ suffering, we think about the crucifixion, that he had to endure that, and it is grisly and really impossible to imagine, but he endured a lot more than that. He is already suffering, carrying the weight of all of the lies and misrepresentations and mischaracterizations, all of the upheaval of the world around him, one that he came to rescue, one that was rejecting him outright. Can you imagine? Can you imagine that the creation that he had set in motion he was about to submit himself to and allow this creation to kill him dead by torture?

This is what sacrificial, unconditional love looks like and we can just go through our days just oblivious to it. We’ve never not known it. It is done, it's ours, so we can treat it with less gravity than it deserves, but we gather here today because of the moments that we’re reading about in the scriptures now. This is how we got here and it is costly and compelling, especially if you love Jesus. If you’ve given your heart, if you’ve fallen in love with the Savior, then you can’t read back into the story with indifference. You have to go there and understand that he loved you first. He died for you in advance. Our denials and betrayals, things we see playing out in the disciples’ lives, they play out in our own lives and you have to wonder, is it worth it? Really? What are we running from? What are we hiding from? What more do we want than the true love of the Savior? What is more valuable than that? We can say nothing. Of course, absolutely nothing, but the Bible being the mirror that it is, forces us to look at that question. What are the distracting things in my life that make me just forget this even happened and take it for granted? We can start digging up idols in our lives pretty quick that way, so may we invite the Holy Spirit into this moment, the first time we come across the passion narrative, the last moments of Jesus’ life, and give it the gravity and the weight that it deserves. This is how you have attained eternal life. It is certainly worth paying attention to. But what is stealing that eternal life and that intimate relationship with the Savior? Those things become the idols of our lives that we give our hearts in worship to.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we come into your presence inviting you into that. As we move through this story, Jesus, we are unspeakably grateful because it has been brought to mind, but we just live with this freedom that you have given us. We’ve never not known it. All of our lives, from the day that we were born it was in the world. It was available. So yes, we know the alternative. We’ve run our own race. We’ve crashed our own car. We’ve destroyed our own lives in different ways. We walk with the limp and the bruises and the scars of the choices that we’ve made, but we still very easily make them. We still go after whatever promise is the fastest path to whatever pleasure it is we’re looking for without paying attention to the fact that this cost something. You came and, in advance of our even being here, loved us and died for us. So we invite you, Holy Spirit, to begin to reveal in our hearts and actions and thoughts and motives and our will the things that we have prioritized in front of this sobering reality that our salvation came at a cost and our mission in this world is to bring your kingdom and to restore things to how they were supposed to be for us. Help us, God, because it is everywhere. Our cultures are built upon these distractions where products become pleasure and pleasure becomes purchasable life and it is all an illusion. Help us, Lord, because we run from void to void trying to fill it and there is only one way and it is intimacy with you. So Jesus, we love you. Your sacrifice, although we know the details, is really beyond what we can comprehend, but we can be grateful because the difference that you have made is irreversible in this world and in our lives unless we consciously choose to betray and turn our backs on you, to be another Judas. That is not who we want to be. So come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It's home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here so check it out. Resources, events, the More Gathering for Women is coming up. It's almost Valentine's Day. I can’t believe that, but it is almost Valentine's Day. Guys, this would be the ultimate Valentine's Day gift for your spouse or the one that you love. Send her away for a couple of days in a couple of months and give her space to just be with this Jesus that we’re talking about, this one who loved us before we were ever here and loved us enough to die. We never get the space. We never make the space to just be in that story and be in that kind of intimate love. We never get the time to say the things that need to be said. We never take the time to hear the things that need to be heard. But the More Gathering is like that. It is a beautiful time to unplug and be with God and it’s remarkable, the things that Jesus says to each individual woman in her own story, in her own station in life. It's not that God is not willing to speak. It is that we’re not willing to slow down and listen and this is just a prepared time to slow down and listen and orient life correctly and move properly in a good healthy direction. So, yeah, it's a great Valentine's Day gift and if you don’t have anybody to give it to you, give it to yourself. Jesus can give it to you. So you can check it out. All the details, all of the particulars, all of the questions that you might have like how do I get there, how does it work, all of that stuff is at www.DailyAudioBible.com. Just look for the More Gathering. You’ll find it and you’ll find also everything you want to know. So check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. There is a link. It is on the home page. And if you find Daily Audio Bible to be life-giving, then thank you for being life-giving so that we can continue our journey together. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, If you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi Daily Audio Bible community. This is Janice from the UK, in midland. I’ve rung before. I’ve been listening for a couple years. This is my second full year now and I'm loving it. It blesses me. As I was listening to the prayer requests the other night and praying along with each one of those, it struck me that this Prayer Wall is like a Mexican wave going around the world. When you think about it, there are people all across the world listening to the Daily Audio Bible whatever time of day it might be for them. They are all praying at this time. It's like this huge wave that goes around the earth and as Brian records the next day, that one comes __________ over and there is a next wave coming across. That really blessed me and I hope that really blesses the people who are ringing with actual prayer requests as well. Keep going people. We do pray for you, even if you don’t hear from us. We’re praying for you. Thank you.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is your brother Regid, formally calling from Iraq, now in Nairobi, Kenya. I really need your prayers. First, for Brian, so sorry for the loss of your mom. I'm happy that I heard what you said how it went through a process. It is really helpful. But I need your prayers. I’ve been jobless now for 10 months and it is getting very difficult, unbearable with the family and I pray that you guys would join with me and pray that God would open a door for me to get __________ or a job for me to provide for my family. Thank you so much for your support. I pray with you always. I listen. I cry with you. And please join me. Let's ask God to open a door because it has taken too long and it is quite difficult. Life is getting harder. I can’t pay the school fees for the children. I can’t provide. It's hard. May God bless you. I love you. Bye-bye. God bless.

Hi, my name is Kristin and I'm calling for Amanda who has been separated from her husband for seven months. I encourage you to read Isaiah 40:20-31. I have that on my computer at work and I read that every day multiple times. My husband and I were separated for 14 months. I don’t know your situation, but it was a very unhealthy relationship for me. He was very verbally abusive to me. But anyway, I wanted to go ahead and give you encouragement to continue to pray even if you don’t see anything. God is always working. It took 14 months for me and my husband to get back together and it has been amazing. He has been so much more open to everything. He went to church with me. He has prayed with me. Just keep praying and pressing into God and seeing what God wants you to do, even if you don’t want to, even if you have a lot of resentment towards him. It doesn’t matter. Pray for him because even though we don’t see it, God is always working. I would also encourage you to write down everything that he said to you, any emotion or resentment that you have against him. Write it all down and pray over it every day. It works. I don’t have any resentment towards my husband anymore and I had a lot. I filled up a front and back page and probably could have filled up another couple pages with stuff, but God has helped me and he will help you and he will help your situation.

Hello and good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family. It's a two for one Jay from New Jersey special. Okay, so I'm reaching out to my Daily Audio Bible family to get you guys to pray for my family members. I have a lot of brothers and sisters and some of them are believers. Some of them are not believers, but the long story short of it is many of them are carnal Christians, meaning they believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior but they are living in unconfessed, unrepentant sin. As a result, they are living in situations that are just deplorable. My one brother is being exploited by his biological mother. We were all adopted together, and she is exploiting him for all of his money. He has a learning disability so he can be easily exploited. But long story short, he was going to kill himself today if it were not for him posting that on Facebook and another member calling me to contact him, so let's pray for him and the rest of my family. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we lift up my brothers and sisters and the brothers and sisters of all the Daily Audio Bible family members. Father, we ask that you will manifest yourself to them in a way that only you know how. Father, give them the opportunity that you gave us to see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, we ask that any situation that they are in it will be an opportunity for you to be glorified. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen. Thanks Daily Audio Bible family. I love you. Have a great evening.

Good night, Daily Audio Bible listeners. This is Katie. I'm calling from Minnesota and it is February 7th. Well, it would seem that I can’t get, I believe his name Kevin who was recently diagnosed with bipolar and starting life all over, off my mind. I just want you to know, Kevin, that I have been praying for you nonstop, constantly and first I want to say it is so good that you have been diagnosed so that you are able to get treatment. And I want to say to you also that I know starting over is difficult. I’ve done that twice in my life in two different countries and I’ve never liked either of them, but what I’ve learned in it all is that if God has brought you to it, he will bring you through it, and so I want you to just trust and believe that. God has it all laid out for you. You just need to step out in faith. Trust and believe that he has you covered because he does. He will not leave you anywhere that he will not take you through and I am absolutely certain about that. Also to the young lady, I think I’ve heard you call a second time. You’re from somewhere in Michigan and you are driving a bus, a school bus, and you’re not certain about where your life is taking you and are seeking direction because you are not happy with your job at the moment. You are seeking a job that has a better salary, something to that effect. And I just wanted to say to you remember to pray for yourself as well. Continue to pray to God. He will provide you with directives. I’ve been at that place in my life before and trust me when I tell you that God turned up and he directed me and showed me where I need to go and I know for a fact that he will show you where you need to go. I have been praying for you since the first time you called the program to ask for prayers and I continue to pray for you. I just want to say guys, just remember to pray for me on February 16 as I take my board exam and just thanks to everyone and know that I pray constantly for every single person that calls in because I do this every day.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. This is Loralee in Boynton Beach. After much wrestling with the Lord and trying to leave a place of employment that the Lord clearly said ‘this is where I want you, submit to me, I will take care of your needs,’ I have repented and I work for an Orthodox Jewish assisted living community and I have some Jewish widows in their 90s that are coming to me and want to reason in the temple about Jesus and the Old Testament and I have to say what an honor it is and I need these names lifted up as a start: Rosalie, Elaine, Naomi and Janet. Please, Lord, I pray that you would open their eyes. Have the Holy Spirit move as we open your word. Your word has the power because it is Jesus from beginning to end. You see the end from the beginning, Genesis to Revelation. Help me. Like Paul and Moses, I feel the burden of closed eyes, but only you can open the eyes of the blind, Lord, so this is the scripture. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I may win more of them. To the Jews, I became a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as under the law though not being myself under the law that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I…

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dfroza · 4 years

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the truth of Love cannot be chained.

and guarding the treasure of spiritual truth matters, to be sure.

A point that Paul makes in his Letter of 2nd Timothy from Today’s reading of chapter #2

[Grace to Overcome]

Timothy, my dear son, live your life empowered by God’s free-flowing grace, which is your true strength, found in the anointing of Jesus and your union with him! And all that you’ve learned from me, confirmed by the integrity of my life, pass on to faithful leaders who are competent to teach the congregations the same revelation.

Overcome every form of evil as a victorious soldier of Jesus the Anointed One. For every soldier called to active duty must divorce himself from the distractions of this world so that he may fully satisfy the one who chose him.

An athlete who doesn’t play by the rules will never receive the trophy, so remain faithful to God!

The farmer who labors to produce a crop should be the first one to be fed from its harvest.

Carefully consider all that I’ve taught you, and may our Lord inspire you with wisdom and revelation in everything you say and do. But make Jesus, the Anointed One, your focus in life and ministry. For he came to earth as the descendant of David and rose from the dead, according to the revelation of the gospel that God has given me. This is the reason I am persecuted and imprisoned by evildoers, enduring the suffering of these chains—but the Word of God can never be chained! I endure all these hardships for the benefit of the chosen ones in Christ so that they may also discover the overcoming life that is in Jesus Christ, and experience a glory that lasts forever!

You can trust these words:

If we were joined with him in his death, then we are joined with him in his life! If we are joined with him in his sufferings, then we will reign together with him in his triumph. But if we disregard him, then he will also disregard us. But even if we are faithless, he will still be full of faith, for he never wavers in his faithfulness to us!

Be committed to teach the believers all these things when you are with them in the presence of the Lord. Instruct them to never be drawn into meaningless arguments, or tear each other down with useless words that only harm others.

Always be eager to present yourself before God as a perfect and mature minister, without shame, as one who correctly explains the Word of Truth.

[Avoid False Teachings]

And avoid empty chatter and worthless words, for they simply add to the irreverence of those who converse in that manner. For the words of Hymenaeus and Philetus are like gangrene, they have already spread their poison to many. They are lost to the truth and teach gross error when they teach that the resurrection of the dead has already passed. They are guilty of subverting the faith of some believers.

But the firm foundation of God has written upon it these two inscriptions: “The Lord God recognizes those who are truly his!” and, “Everyone who worships the name of the Lord Jesus must forsake wickedness!”

[Be a Pure Container of Christ]

In a palace you find many kinds of containers and tableware for many different uses. Some are beautifully inlaid with gold or silver, but some are made of wood or earthenware; some of them are used for banquets and special occasions, and some for everyday use. But you, Timothy, must not see your life and ministry this way. Your life and ministry must not be disgraced, for you are to be a pure container of Christ and dedicated to the honorable purposes of your Master, prepared for every good work that he gives you to do.

Run as fast as you can from all the ambitions and lusts of youth; and chase after all that is pure. Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit. And live in peace with all those who worship our Lord Jesus with pure hearts.

Stay away from all the foolish arguments of the immature, for these disputes will only generate more conflict. For a true servant of our Lord Jesus will not be argumentative but gentle toward all and skilled in helping others see the truth, having great patience toward the immature. Then with meekness you’ll be able to carefully enlighten those who argue with you so they can see God’s gracious gift of repentance and be brought to the truth. This will cause them to rediscover themselves and escape from the snare of Satan who caught them in his trap so that they would carry out his purposes.

The Letter of 2nd Timothy, Chapter 2 (The Passion Translation)

with Today’s paired chapter of Exodus 28 describing the attire of the ancient Hebraic priesthood:

[The Vestments]

“Get your brother Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites to serve me as priests: Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar. Make sacred vestments for your brother Aaron to symbolize glory and beauty. Consult with the skilled craftsmen, those whom I have gifted in this work, and arrange for them to make Aaron’s vestments, to set him apart as holy, to act as priest for me. These are the articles of clothing they are to make: Breastpiece, Ephod, robe, woven tunic, turban, sash. They are making holy vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons as they work as priests for me. They will need gold; blue, purple, and scarlet material; and fine linen.

[The Ephod]

“Have the Ephod made from gold; blue, purple, and scarlet material; and fine twisted linen by a skilled craftsman. Give it two shoulder pieces at two of the corners so it can be fastened. The decorated band on it is to be just like it and of one piece with it: made of gold; blue, purple, and scarlet material; and of fine twisted linen. Next take two onyx stones and engrave the names of the sons of Israel on them in the order of their birth, six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a jeweler engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in settings of filigreed gold. Fasten the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the Ephod—they are memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will wear these names on his shoulders as a memorial before God. Make the settings of gold filigree. Make two chains of pure gold and braid them like cords, then attach the corded chains to the settings.

[The Breastpiece]

“Now make a Breastpiece of Judgment, using skilled craftsmen, the same as with the Ephod. Use gold; blue, purple, and scarlet material; and fine twisted linen. Make it nine inches square and folded double. Mount four rows of precious gemstones on it.

First row: carnelian, topaz, emerald.

Second row: ruby, sapphire, crystal.

Third row: jacinth, agate, amethyst.

Fourth row: beryl, onyx, jasper.

“Set them in gold filigree. The twelve stones correspond to the names of the Israelites, with twelve names engraved, one on each, as on a seal for the twelve tribes.

“Then make braided chains of pure gold for the Breastpiece, like cords. Make two rings of gold for the Breastpiece and fasten them to the two ends. Fasten the two golden cords to the rings at the ends of the Breastpiece. Then fasten the other ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the Ephod in front. Then make two rings of gold and fasten them to the two ends of the Breastpiece on its inside edge facing the Ephod. Then make two more rings of gold and fasten them in the front of the Ephod to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces, near the seam above the decorated band. Fasten the Breastpiece in place by running a cord of blue through its rings to the rings of the Ephod so that it rests secure on the decorated band of the Ephod and won’t come loose.

“Aaron will regularly carry the names of the sons of Israel on the Breastpiece of Judgment over his heart as he enters the Sanctuary into the presence of God for remembrance. Place the Urim and Thummim in the Breastpiece of Judgment. They will be over Aaron’s heart when he enters the presence of God. In this way Aaron will regularly carry the Breastpiece of Judgment into the presence of God.

[The Robe]

“Make the robe for the Ephod entirely of blue, with an opening for the head at the center and a hem on the edge so that it won’t tear. For the edge of the skirts make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material all around and alternate them with bells of gold—gold bell and pomegranate, gold bell and pomegranate—all around the hem of the robe. Aaron has to wear it when he does his priestly work. The bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place and comes into the presence of God, and again when he comes out so that he won’t die.

[The Turban, Tunic, Underwear]

“Make a plate of pure gold. Engrave on it as on a seal: ‘Holy to God.’ Tie it with a blue cord to the front of the turban. It is to rest there on Aaron’s forehead. He’ll take on any guilt involved in the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate, no matter what they bring. It will always be on Aaron’s forehead so that the offerings will be acceptable before God.

“Weave the tunic of fine linen. Make the turban of fine linen. The sash will be the work of an embroiderer. Make tunics, sashes, and hats for Aaron’s sons to express glory and beauty. Dress your brother Aaron and his sons in them. Anoint, ordain, and consecrate them to serve me as priests.

“Make linen underwear to cover their nakedness from waist to thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear it whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the Altar to minister in the Holy Place so that they won’t incur guilt and die. This is a permanent rule for Aaron and all his priest-descendants.”

The Book of Exodus, Chapter 28 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, April 14 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

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