100525

 

Kitchen disaster morning
STILL CHOSE to thank God for it, because He wouldn't have allowed it without a Good reason

Accidentally froze the hemp hearts
Positive outlook: maybe they'll have a cool texture this way (pun intended)

Made up my mind and already DELETED THE FACEBOOK.
It has been doing nothing but feeding addictive patterns and causing me immense "social mode" stress.
So it's gone. Good riddance, again.
I will tell mom i REFUSE to make one again, because I ONLY did so for her. But it was only harming me.
Honestly, Tumblr is next, if i cannot glean enough edification from the religious blogs to merit its staying.

ACCIDENTALLY FASTED FOR 24 HOURS AGAIN
No wonder I have a headache haha



------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Then the Lord answered and said,
‘Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read, since this vision is for its own time only:
eager for its own fulfilment, it does not deceive; if it comes slowly, wait, for come it will, without fail.
See how he flags, he whose soul is not at rights, but the upright man will live by his faithfulness.’

This fascinating passage has two entirely different meanings; the first is the meaning of the original Hebrew prophet, the second is the meaning of ‘faith’ in the gospels. The drift of the passage in the Hebrew prophet Habakkuk is endurance. ‘Make it plain on tablets, so that a runner made read it’ – that is, as you whisk past, running your Marathon, you see an encouraging placard in the crowd, ‘Keep it up!’, ‘Keep going!’ So the message in the last line is that, however tough and unpromising the course, the righteous person lives by endurance, perseverance, fidelity. The message was originally intended to keep up the spirits of the Jews as the Babylonian armies approached: it will be tough, but stick it out, for the LORD will not desert you. However, the Apostle Paul is using the Greek translation of the Hebrew text – of course he is writing in Greek – which reads ‘the righteous person lives by fidelity/faith’. Paul uses the text in Romans 1.17 and Galatians 3.11 to prove that justification is by faith. Luther adds a further complication by adding, without justification, ‘alone’: ‘the righteous person lives by faith alone’. For Paul, faith expresses itself in action.


The two sections of this Gospel reading appear at first sight to be entirely separate, the first about faith, the second about the reward of service; but they do fit together. The faith required consists not in reciting a creed but in hanging on by one’s finger-tips, through thick and thin, to God’s power and will to save. In nothing else is there any hope, not in my own power or ability. That is why, in the second section, we have no right to expect any sort of reward as our due from God. Our work is valueless; only our admission of helplessness and our trust in God’s power can save us. However, not all parables should be taken as allegories. The severe master here is not necessarily God, any more than the master who in another parable praises his crooked steward. When we hear the unyielding command of the master to the slave to expect nothing and to set about serving at supper, we cannot forget that at the Last Supper it was Jesus who put on his apron and washed his disciples’ feet. We may be worthless slaves, but this gives us confidence that our Master ministers to us.

------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

A spiritual guide should be silent when discretion requires and speak when words are of service. Otherwise he may say what he should not or be silent when he should speak. Indiscreet speech may lead men into error and an imprudent silence may leave in error those who could have been taught. Pastors who lack foresight hesitate to say openly what is right because they fear losing the favour of men. As the voice of truth tells us, such leaders are not zealous pastors who protect their flocks, rather they are like mercenaries who flee by taking refuge in silence when the wolf appears.
    The Lord reproaches them through the prophet: They are dumb dogs that cannot bark. On another occasion he complains: You did not advance against the foe or set up a wall in front of the house of Israel, so that you might stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord. To advance against the foe involves a bold resistance to the powers of this world in defence of the flock. To stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord means to oppose the wicked enemy out of love for what is right.
    When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? Whereas if he intervenes on behalf of the flock, he sets up a wall against the enemy in front of the house of Israel. Therefore, the Lord again says to his unfaithful people: Your prophets saw false and foolish visions and did not point out your wickedness, that you might repent of your sins. The name of the prophet is sometimes given in the sacred writings to teachers who both declare the present to be fleeting and reveal what is to come. The word of God accuses them of seeing false visions because they are afraid to reproach men for their faults and they consequently lull the evildoer with an empty promise of safety. Because they fear reproach, they keep silent and fail to point out the sinner’s wrongdoing.
    The word of reproach is a key that unlocks a door, because reproach reveals a fault of which the evildoer is himself often unaware. That is why Paul says of the bishop: He must be able to encourage men in sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For the same reason God tells us through Malachi: The lips of the priest are to preserve knowledge, and men shall look to him for the law, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Finally, that is also the reason why the Lord warns us through Isaiah: Cry out and be not still; raise your voice in a trumpet call.
    Anyone ordained a priest undertakes the task of preaching, so that with a loud cry he may go on ahead of the terrible judge who follows. If, then, a priest does not know how to preach, what kind of cry can such a dumb herald utter? It was to bring this home that the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues on the first pastors, for he causes those whom he has filled, to speak out spontaneously.