8-25-20 Midweek Musings

“I took the deed of purchase — the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy — and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard. In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.Jeremiah 32:11-15

What a ringing testimony to the power and greatness of God! God had said the land ultimately would be restored, and this deed would be valid. Therefore, it was to be put in a safe place. That is what Jeremiah did. He sent Baruch down to the title company and had him bring a deed to be signed. He acted before witnesses, and had the witnesses sign the deed and the copy — one to be sealed in a safe deposit box, the other to be kept by Jeremiah himself and passed on to his heirs, so that eventually they might claim title to this land. He worked in this normal way, and then clearly announced the purpose of it all: It is because God says there will be houses and fields and vineyards bought in this land again.

Faith takes no halfway measures. There is no hedging of Jeremiah’s bets here, no saying to these people, Well, I’m just buying this property on speculation, hoping it will all work out, but it’s just a gamble, a shot in the dark. No, he assures them that God has spoken, and that everything he is doing is consistent with the word of God.

Later in chapter 32, another quality of faith comes in. Beginning with verse 16 and continuing through verse 25, a remarkable prayer of Jeremiah is recorded. These are Jeremiah’s private thoughts about this deed. Before men this prophet is bold and resolute and confident. But before God he admits that he is not quite so sure this is all going to work out. He says to the Lord in verse 25, And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed. I am glad this account is here, because this is what we might call the doubtings of faith.

Faith always has its doubts. I once had the impression that if you doubted, you could not have faith — that faith and doubt were contrary to one another. But I gradually began to understand that this is not true. Doubt is the proof of faith. Doubt is actually an attack upon the very faith we have. You cannot have doubts unless you have faith. Faith is the way God works, and so the enemy is bound to attack your faith immediately as he sees you beginning to act and live and walk by faith. Therefore doubts will begin to arise — as a result of Satan’s attempt to overthrow your faith. There is no faith without doubts.

Jesus himself, though he always lived by faith, and everything he did was by faith, nevertheless was subjected to times of severe doubt. Otherwise he was not one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning, (Hebrews 4:15 RSV). Doubt is part of the life of faith. If you are trying to walk by faith in a promise God has given you, and you are troubled by doubts, this is the proof you are really living by faith. Hang in there! Do not let your doubts overthrow you.

*https://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/jeremiah/faith-and-doubt

Dear KAG: 20200826 Open Thread

Ready for an earworm?????????????????

My special needs nephew loves that one. The rest of us…not so much.

Okay, real music. Let’s see…how about a chance for the chorus to sit down. Believe me, it was welcome. (And I’ve sung this enough times, finding a video that actually was close to sounding right wasn’t easy, and even then, this a little heavy.)

And now for the obligatory message from our sponsors:

Here at the Q tree we believe in the concept of CIVIL open free speech and the discussion that fleshes out ideas. When commenting and participating in the OPEN discussion on this thread all comments MUST NOT CONTAIN personal threats, baiting, name calling, or other anti-social words fomenting hate, violence or destruction. Our host Wolfm00n has strict rules about that.

Fellow tree dweller Wheatie gave us some good reminders on the basics of civility in political discourse:

  1. No food fights.
  2. No running with scissors.
  3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

In addition, it is requested that there be no swinging from the chandeliers, celebratory gunfire, messing around with the nuclear weapons, and, please, everyone wash your hands.

Please, do not forget to apply sunscreen after a sensible amount of time in the sun so as to beef up the level of vitamin D in the system so we can all get our immune systems in shape to stop the Wuhan Flu thing sooner rather than later.

Please remember to remain locked and loaded and ready for trouble should the insurrectionists try to invade your space.

Those who have things to say that do not fit the generally accepted limits of “civil” discussion, Wolf has provided a venue known as the UTree. You’re welcome to visit over there and say hi to anyone hanging out over there.

A few other vital notes:

Please, review these rules that our host Wolfm00n outlined toward the beginning of the growth of the tree itself. it won’t take long.

Ridiculing the other side, on the other hand…well….

Apologies to our California crew who all still have electricity.

__________________________________________________

Psalm 127 (128);

Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways. [2] For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee. [3] Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table. [4] Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. [5] May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

As always, prayers for the fight against that which seeks to enslave us are welcome.

Please include: President Donald Trump, the Q team, our soldiers in the field, special forces, tactical units, members of the Cabinet, first responders and those working behind the scenes.

Looks like it’s closing in on time with all the winning going on.