#earth scar my dearly beloved and cherished

[mimefish]

From the desert to the valley, his bases and alliances, Scar has always been the earth, wreathed in flowers and undeniably human.

In Third Life, Grian, the sun, swears loyalty to him, and together, they settle in the scorched desert. They build their monopoly atop a mountain, a sandcastle despite all the sand slipping through their fingers. Scar dies in a ring of cactus to his first ally, and his body is wreathed in lilacs and poppies, and the sun steps off the edge of the mountain and sets over the desert.

In Last Life, Scar is alone, but finds his purpose, finds solace, in crystals. Charms plucked straight from the ground, enchanted to aid whoever wields them. He builds atop another mountain, this one decidedly magical, but nonetheless, dies in the wrong place, at the wrong time, after stumbling across an old foe. The stars shine on.

In Double Life, Scar is drawn to a past ally. The sun finds him among new companions in a grove of bamboo and proves to him that they are, again, together, irrefutably and without room for protest. The gravity of their bond doesn't stop the sun's attempts to escape it, however, but Scar shrouds himself in a sanctuary of bamboo. He plants a safe haven. The roots of the bamboo take hold and keep his pandas safe for as long as it can, but Scar dies outside of it. The safety the bamboo promised was not enough to combat the rules of the game, but the moon wins by breaking them.

In Limited Life, he finds a family on a new mountain. The Clockers keep careful track of time spent in their dysfunctional relationships, and Scar builds the foundations of a clocktower on the entertainment rock, stone and cobble bricks to protect them. It doesn't work. He dies at the base of the mountain, betrayed by his first true ally, stabbed in the back and out of time. He never even saw it coming. A final betrayal wins the series.

And in Secret Life.

In Secret Life, Scar adorns himself with sunflowers, settling in a valley of plants and fortifying it with dark walls to protect the flowers within. He greets the moon in sunflower fields with the name of a past life, startling her. Despite the warmth of the sunflowers, however, he is isolated, and the server's assigned villain. He reacts by shifting from the flowers pointing to the sun to the lilacs and poppies that once decorated a different alliance, one with the sun himself, embroidered into a black shawl, one usually suited to a funeral, one that cloaks him in past memories. And when the moon embraces him into her orbit, he follows. Scar joins the Mounders, if temporarily, the group dedicated to their silly hills and dirt bases, and when they fall apart, the moon remains with him. Throughout it all, the moon stays, reflecting the sun's light, and when she dies, knocked down to earth, to a ravine by the valley of sunflowers, Scar lives. He keeps living, and he finally succeeds.

Scar wins, mountain after mountain, rock after rock, crystals and mounds and sand and cacti and flowers and bamboo and plants. Inhospitable biomes turn to growth. The plants enwreath him, and guide Scar to victory. From the barren desert sand to the flowers that herald the sun, Scar grows. And finally, he reaps what he sows.

#secret life spoilers #secret life #trafficblr #life series #life series smp #life series spoilers #grian #pearlescentmoon #secret life smp #goodtimeswithscar #mcytblr #mcyt #earth scar my dearly beloved and cherished #there's so much more i could say oh my god #elfy talks

[fevie168]

Monday (June 5):"They will respect my beloved Son"

Gospel reading: Mark 12:1-12

1 And he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 2 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' 7 But those tenants said to one another, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture: `The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; 11 this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" 12 And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away.

Meditation: What does Jesus' parable about an absentee landlord and his tenants say to us? The hills of Galilee were lined with numerous vineyards, and it was quite normal for the owners to let out their estates to tenants. Many did it for the sole purpose of collecting rent. Why did Jesus' story about wicked tenants cause offense to the scribes and Pharisees? It contained both a prophetic message and a warning. Isaiah had spoken of the house of Israel as "the vineyard of the Lord" (Isaiah 5:7). Jesus' listeners would likely understand this parable as referring to God's dealing with a stubborn and rebellious people.

Jesus faithfully does his Father's will even in the face of severe opposition This parable speaks to us today as well. It richly conveys some important truths about God and the way he deals with his people. First, it tells us of God's generosity and trust. The vineyard is well equipped with everything the tenants need. The owner went away and left the vineyard in the hands of the tenants. God, likewise trusts us enough to give us freedom to run life as we choose. This parable also tells us of God's patience and justice. Not once, but many times he forgives the tenants their debts. But while the tenants take advantage of the owner's patience, his judgment and justice prevail in the end. Jesus foretold both his death and his ultimate triumph. He knew he would be rejected and be killed, but he also knew that would not be the end. After rejection would come glory - the glory of resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father.

If we trust in the Lord our labor is not in vain How do we share in this glory? By submitting to Jesus' kingly rule in our lives. Jesus promises that we will bear much fruit (certainly the fruit of peace, righteousness, and joy, and much more besides) if we abide in him (see John 15:1-11). The Lord also entrusts his gifts to each of us and he gives us work to do in his vineyard - the body of Christ. He promises that our labor will not be in vain if we persevere with faith to the end (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). We can expect trials and even persecution. But in the end we will see triumph. Do you labor for the Lord with joyful hope and with confidence in his triumph?

"Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have given us; for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend, and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, for your own sake!" (Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester, 13th century)

Psalm 91:1-2,14-16

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, 2 will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust." 14 Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers

:

Christ's wounds bring healing and life

, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"The vineyard prefigures us, because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal Vine, appear above the earth, bordering the lowly ground. They now grow ripe with budding flowers. They now are clothed with dense greenery and take on a gentle yoke

[see Matthew 11:30

] when they worship with mature branches as if with the twigs of the vine. The Father Almighty truly is the Vinedresser, and Christ is the Vine. We, not vine sprouts, are pruned by the sickle of the eternal cultivator if we do not bear fruit in Christ.

[see John 15:1-2]

The people of Christ then is correctly named a vineyard, either because the sign of the cross is woven on its forehead

[see Ezekiel 9:4,6]

or its fruit is gathered in the last season of the year. It may also be called a vineyard because there is equal measurement in the church of God for rich and poor, humble and powerful, servants and masters. There is no difference in the church, as in all the rows of the vineyard.

[see Colossians 3:25]

As the vine clings to trees, so the body is joined to the soul and the soul to the body. When the vine clings, it is raised up. When it is pruned, it is not diminished, but it increases. The people of God is stripped when it is bound, uplifted when it is humbled, crowned when it is cut back. The tender shoot cut from an old tree is grafted onto the progeny of another root. When the scars of the old shoot are cut away, the people of God likewise grow into the wood of the cross. It is as if they are cherished in the arms of a pious parent. The Holy Spirit comes as if cast down into the deep ditches of the earth and poured into this prison of the body. With the flow of saving water, the Holy Spirit washes away whatever is filthy and raises the posture of our members to heavenly discipline.

(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.30.21)

[ar3volut1on]

If tomorrow was the day of the rapture, would you be left behind?  I fear many would; many claim to be Christians on Sunday but live like the world the rest of the week, many deny Christ and reject God outright, many are just so wrapped up in themselves to even care.  But one day they will, one day the true church will be gone, millions will have disappeared and the world will be in chaos.  My heart aches when thinking of it, I know there are some I love and care for who live for themselves who probably will still be here come the following day, some who will be left behind.  It doesn’t have to be that way though.  It’s so easy to ensure that your among the raptured saints, that you are saved, spared from the wrath to come that will then begin to be poured out upon the earth and all who are left on it.

God’s escape plan from hell, is also His escape plan from wrath – Jesus!  It’s that simple and for us prideful, stubborn humans that hard.  Jesus is always the answer yet we so often fail to realize it.  Right now I want to tell you about Him, about my King, my Lord, my Savior.  But in order to do that you have to face some harsh, ugly truths about yourselves, it won’t be fun but like a life-saving surgery it is necessary.  Ready or not, here we go.

You are a sinner, we all are actually, every single child born of man since Adam ate the fruit in the garden all those years ago is a sin filled being.  Just look around you at the state of the world to see the evidence of this.  We hate on a scale that is mind boggling and what we hate we try to destroy.  Whether it is the unborn babies slaughtered each day by the millions, ripped limb by limb from the womb which should be the safest place for them save in the arms of God; or the precious child past a certain age is delivered all but the head into this world when a pair of sharp scissors pierce it’s tender flesh at the base of the neck and severe it’s spinal cord before the head is pulled free from it’s mother’s body.  It’s own mother who is supposed to love, cherish, and protect her child just brutally murdered it instead.  Or what about when we decide that we as certain type of person decide we are better than another, that we have more right to life and it’s sustaining resources than another person, one in someway different from us, maybe they have more or less melanin in their skin than us, maybe we are more intelligent in our own eyes than they are, maybe we think we are superior in some way to all these other people, so we decide they are worth less than those like us.  We decide that they have less rights to the resources of this world, to the things we want and need to live, suddenly in our eyes their worthless, a drain on precious resources and as selfish men we make the decision that they’ve got to go.  So we kill them, those we deem parasites, leaches on society.  Never happen you say, I beg to differ.  Ask the millions of ethnic groups enslaved or slaughtered throughout history.  Ask a Jew about the atrocities of the Holocaust and Hitler, a Russian about Lenin or worse yet Stalin, ask a Native American, ask a christian in a muslim country, ask one of the millions of aborted babies around the world each day.  We humans have gotten very good at killing one another for made up reasons as if one life is more important, more valuable than another.

Nothing could be farther than the truth though, we’ve been buying the devils lie that we are better than others for far too long now.  Satan hates us, he has spent the last 6 millennia trying to destroy us by trying to make us destroy one another.  But that’s never been God’s plan.  See God loves each of us as dearly; so dearly that in spite of our wicked, depraved nature he did something absolutely amazing for us, to save us from our wicked ways.  God sent us His only Son, Jesus the Christ to die for us.

See God is a holy, perfect God.  Everything He created was perfect in fact but when Adam and Eve listened to the deceiver Satan’s lies and ate of the fruit God warned them off sin entered the world, the whole creation God’s perfect work became fallen, cursed.  Now it groans under that curse,growing increasingly weak, sick, depraved with each passing year.  When this fall happened Adam and Eve found out the hard way the consequences of sin – death.  Sin separates us from God, separates us from life eventually.  So God had to provide a solution for this, so we as men could be restored and reconciled to Him, our Creator, our Maker. That solution was to send His Son to become man, and to take our place in the punishment and payment for our rebellion, for our sin.

Jesus was God’s Son, but He was also God – hard to grasp I know; I kinda get it better when I think of how I am a daughter, wife and mother all three of which are very distinct parts of me, almost like separate beings but they are all still me.  It’s the same with God only more so, where my different roles are all stuck in one body He isn’t bound by our mortal physical bounds and He can be Father, Son and Spirit in one mind but three beings.  And that little gem of truth is the glorious part of God that enabled Him to come to earth as fully man; albeit not born of man and his corrupted seed but by a woman, a virgin, thereby not being bound under the curse of sin.  As a man he was born and lived just as we do with one big exception, He never sinned.  Instead Jesus was a perfect example for how we should strive to live.  And when they time came He willingly paid the price for our sin by dying for us.  When Jesus was crucified on the cross His precious blood was poured out as the covering for sin.  When we believe this, believe in Jesus as God’s only Son who died for us.  That His shed blood, pure and true, washes away all our filthy sins, then we are saved.

Saved from the consequences of our sin, saved from death.  It’s as if we were a criminal (after all God made all true laws, they’re called the 10 Commandments, and we have all broken them) standing before a judge (a perfect, holy, righteous judge God) about to have sentence passed for our crimes.  DEATH, that’s the just sentence handed down, the consequences for our rebellion against God.  We must die and be forever separated from the one who created us, who loves us.  But as we are about to be taken away to pay our debt, to have our just punishment carried out a man speaks from the back, “I’ve paid this debt, Father.  See my blood, it covers their sins.” And that easily we are forgiven, our sin erased, forgotten by God, we free to live.  Live fully for the first time knowing that our sins are forgiven, that we are right with God our Father, we are secure in the Son and filled with the Spirit to lead and guide us until the day we are called home to heaven.  In that day our broken, mortal, sin scarred bodies will be shed and our souls freed to await the resurrection when we receive the bodies that God created us to have before the fall, before the curse and it’s effects.

That’s the final part of God’s redemptive plan, the resurrection.  One day our bodies will die but not forever.  Just as Jesus rose, resurrected, glorified, alive on the third day after he was crucified we too will one day rise alive and glorified.  That is hope people and that is love, that while we were yet wicked, sin-filled, lying, cheating, rebels Jesus saw past that and paid our debt saying “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Now that you know how to be saved let me go back to my opening statement about the rapture and being left behind.  See one day God is going to judge man for his rebellion, for rejecting Him and his precious Son sent to save man from death.  When that judgement begins to be poured out upon the earth it’s going to be bad, real bad, so bad in fact that if God didn’t shorten those days no life would be left on earth.  This period of judgement is known as Jacob’s Trouble or Daniel’s 70th week and encompasses a total of 7 years, divided at the halfway point by an act known as the Abomination of Desolation committed by the world leader often referred to as the Antichrist, this kicks things into overdrive and marks the beginning of the Great Tribulation when judgement is passed and wrath as punishment poured out.  This time period of 3 1/2 years is like every natural and man made catastrophe and war ever on steroids condensed into a few years.  It’s bad and the loss of life during it is staggering.  But there is good, no great news if you are a believer and follower of Christ BEFORE this period starts; you don’t have to go through it.  Nope, you are spared from wrath, not appointed to it.  Instead the body of true believers, Christ followers washed in the blood, the church will be called up to be with Christ in heaven where He ascended to be with His Father 40 days after His resurrection.  We will be in heaven with our Father, and with our Savior! Our story is glorious just as the story of those left on earth is tragic, I have talked about it in numerous posts but tonight let’s just let my previous statement say it all.  And let me pray that my plea here tonight has touched your heart for Jesus, that you realize your sin, your guilt, and your punishment, repent of those sins and turn from them.  Then cry out to the Savior and ask Him to save you, wash you clean in the power of His shed blood.  Then go and live for Him, follow Him, share the good news that fills you as you look up for our redemption from this world draweth nigh.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless, keep and strengthen you as you continue to:

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

knowing that you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. Philippians 4:13

No One Left Behind If tomorrow was the day of the rapture, would you be left behind?  I fear many would; many claim to be Christians on Sunday but live like the world the rest of the week, many deny Christ and reject God outright, many are just so wrapped up in themselves to even care. 

#faith #God #hope #Jesus Christ #king #lost #love #prayer #Salvation #Spirit #truth

[apostleshop]

Daily Reading and Meditation

Great News has been shared on https://apostleshop.com/daily-reading-and-meditation-96/

Daily Reading and Meditation

Daily Reading and Meditation Monday (June 4): “They will respect my beloved Son”

Gospel reading: Mark 12:1-12

1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 2 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, `They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture: `The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away.

Meditation: What does Jesus’ parable about an absentee landlord and his tenants say to us? The hills of Galilee were lined with numerous vineyards, and it was quite normal for the owners to let out their estates to tenants. Many did it for the sole purpose of collecting rent. Why did Jesus’ story about wicked tenants cause offense to the scribes and Pharisees? It contained both a prophetic message and a warning. Isaiah had spoken of the house of Israel as “the vineyard of the Lord” (Isaiah 5:7). Jesus’ listeners would likely understand this parable as referring to God’s dealing with a stubborn and rebellious people.

Jesus faithfully does his Father’s will even in the face of severe opposition This parable speaks to us today as well. It richly conveys some important truths about God and the way he deals with his people. First, it tells us of God’s generosity and trust. The vineyard is well equipped with everything the tenants need. The owner went away and left the vineyard in the hands of the tenants. God, likewise trusts us enough to give us freedom to run life as we choose. This parable also tells us of God’s patience and justice. Not once, but many times he forgives the tenants their debts. But while the tenants take advantage of the owner’s patience, his judgment and justice prevail in the end. Jesus foretold both his death and his ultimate triumph. He knew he would be rejected and be killed, but he also knew that would not be the end. After rejection would come glory – the glory of resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father.

If we trust in the Lord our labor is not in vain How do we share in this glory? By submitting to Jesus’ kingly rule in our lives. Jesus promises that we will bear much fruit (certainly the fruit of peace, righteousness, and joy, and much more besides) if we abide in him (see John 15:1-11). The Lord also entrusts his gifts to each of us and he gives us work to do in his vineyard – the body of Christ. He promises that our labor will not be in vain if we persevere with faith to the end (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). We can expect trials and even persecution. But in the end we will see triumph. Do you labor for the Lord with joyful hope and with confidence in his triumph?

“Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have given us; for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend, and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, for your own sake!” (Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester, 13th century)

Psalm 91:1-2,14-16

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, 2 will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” 14 Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Christ’s wounds bring healing and life, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.“The vineyard prefigures us, because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal Vine, appear above the earth, bordering the lowly ground. They now grow ripe with budding flowers. They now are clothed with dense greenery and take on a gentle yoke [see Matthew 11:30] when they worship with mature branches as if with the twigs of the vine. The Father Almighty truly is the Vinedresser, and Christ is the Vine. We, not vine sprouts, are pruned by the sickle of the eternal cultivator if we do not bear fruit in Christ. [see John 15:1-2] The people of Christ then is correctly named a vineyard, either because the sign of the cross is woven on its forehead [see Ezekiel 9:4,6] or its fruit is gathered in the last season of the year. It may also be called a vineyard because there is equal measurement in the church of God for rich and poor, humble and powerful, servants and masters. There is no difference in the church, as in all the rows of the vineyard.[see Colossians 3:25] As the vine clings to trees, so the body is joined to the soul and the soul to the body. When the vine clings, it is raised up. When it is pruned, it is not diminished, but it increases. The people of God is stripped when it is bound, uplifted when it is humbled, crowned when it is cut back. The tender shoot cut from an old tree is grafted onto the progeny of another root. When the scars of the old shoot are cut away, the people of God likewise grow into the wood of the cross. It is as if they are cherished in the arms of a pious parent. The Holy Spirit comes as if cast down into the deep ditches of the earth and poured into this prison of the body. With the flow of saving water, the Holy Spirit washes away whatever is filthy and raises the posture of our members to heavenly discipline. (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.30.21)

Scripture quotations from Common Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1973, and Ignatius Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 2006, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.  Citation references for quotes from the writings of the early church fathers can be found here.

Go to | Daily

Reading & Meditation Index

|

The Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations is in need of on-going development to expand resources and to reach people around the world. If you would like to contribute, you can make an online

donation

.

 

Source link