Easter candy

Well, I tried this year, I really did. But it seems I'm not the only one who has a fondness for Easter candy. My sweet grand baby walked in with a bag full of jelly beans, gummy fruit bunnies and malted milk ball eggs. He dolled them out to grandpa and me, one by one.

But this holiday is nothing more than a Pagan celebration or economic stimulus with purchases of peeps and cadburry, unless I remember the real reason that I celebrate.

This is a beautiful rendition of this hymn:

I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever living Head.

He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.

He lives triumphant from the grave,
He lives eternally to save,
He lives all glorious in the sky,
He lives exalted there on high.

He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly Friend,
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while He lives, I’ll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath;
He lives, and I shall conquer death:
He lives my mansion to prepare;
He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His Name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives,
I know that my Redeemer lives!

Written by Samuel Medley in 1775. The possibility of leg amputation from a war wound led Samuel to pray, asking that he might keep his leg. The prayer was answered. Samuel dedicated his time to God and wrote a lot of hymns.

But the original author of the phrase was Job. The book of Job in the Bible is an interesting study of human nature all right. Job being 'righteous' meaning he really lived purposefully to do good, was the object of a discussion between God and Satan.

Essentially Satan trying to tell God His business, told God, 'sure Job is righteous you have blessed him beyond measure, why shouldn't he act holy?'.  Satan said, 'let me mess him up a bit and then we'll see how he acts'.

Well, Satan squashed Job like a bug. Job was ruined to his inner man after a series of events leaving him face down in the dirt. But still Job endures and then his wife says, "curse God, and die".

Job answers, shakes the dust off so to speak, "You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good from God and shall not receive evil?"

Then Job's friends and not so much friends chime in and give their opinion.

Human nature revealed. It is more than a Bible story, 'the book comprises a didactic poem set in a prose frame and has been called "the most profound literary work of the entire Old Testament".The book and its numerous exegeses are attempts to address the problem of evil. The over-riding and oft-asked question manifestly revealed in the book of Job is, "Why do the righteous suffer?" ' just buzz on over to wiki for a quick dip: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Job

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
Job 19:25-27

Lental thoughts

We're in the season of Lent. A religious tradition which incorporates fasting, abstaining from certain foods in most cases, not always complete abstinence from food. I'm not very religious so I usually find myself in the middle of it and then the light bulb comes on.

But I came across this today, FAST, pray love  and it really struck a chord with me.

It plays upon a well known book title Eat, Pray, Love which was made into a movie. (Yes I saw parts of it, on TV, it was comfortable filler on a busy afternoon when I needed a break, it was cute enough)

...not quite as profound as promoted by Oprah back in the day. This article 'Fast, Pray, Love' approaches profound closer than the book 'Eat, Pray, Love' in my mind.

The author says, "Those people who say fasting is just an ego-based endurance test are right. I'm going to do something different this year. I am going to fast from badmouthing people. I am going to fast from something that can effect some actual good"

ha ha, I think that comes closer to the matter for me, and it's always a temptation for all of humanity to seek their own glory even in spiritual matters of fasting. The Bible has much to say for the benefit of our human nature,

'When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.' Matthew 6:16

Matthew 6:17-18 - "But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Isaiah 58:6-9 - ""Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I."

Very interesting article, what happens to your body when you fast:
http://www.nakedfoodcooking.com/part-1-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-fast-energy-production/

Lots of health nuts, cultures and religions partake in this practice. Why do Christians do it?
http://www.allaboutprayer.org/prayer-and-fasting.htm

So much written about fasting on the internet! (I could go on but I'll spare you)

I'm chosing this poetic instruction to the soul as my meditation during this season of Lent.
Hoping that you will be blessed by it as well!

Happy preperation for Easter.

Isaiah 58
   True Fasting

1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions and
seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’


“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.


“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.


13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”


For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Sublime

Sublime.

http://www.kristinvestgard.co.uk/

Funny word but great meaning.

From wiki: In aesthetics, the sublime (from the Latin sublīmis) is the quality of greatness or vast magnitude, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation.


Wiki's article is the philosophy of sublime. Lots to ponder there. I'm just talking adjective here...

http://www.anitakaushal.com/index.php/product?pid=19&ref=1&cat=1 

sublime [səˈblaɪm]

adj
1. of high moral, aesthetic, intellectual, or spiritual value; noble; exalted
2. inspiring deep veneration, awe, or uplifting emotion because of its beauty, nobility, grandeur, or immensity
3. unparalleled; supreme a sublime compliment
4. Poetic of proud bearing or aspect
5. Archaic raised up

http://www.anitakaushal.com/index.php/product?pid=18&ref=1&cat=1

She suggests to place lights in a huge glass vase. Sublime.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62189111/6-big-fluffy-soft-pink-ephemeral-roses?ref=sr_gallery_28&ga_search_query=coffee+filter&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Best Regards!