#2 samuel david depresses me

[dilutedh2so4]

I’m impartial to David (from The Bible™️) as a character but I absolutely adore Jonathan x David, whereas I love Paris (of Trojan War fame) as a character but am indifferent to Paris x Helen

[wolint]

A BROKEN SPIRIT AND HEART!

A BROKEN SPIRIT AND HEART

Psalm 51:1-19

 

A broken spirit and heart signify the depression and decay that stem from the world around us and the unrepentant lives we lead. However, God loves us and desires for us to turn away from the path that leads to death and follow His way that leads to life. God wants us to be humble in spirit, reverent, and to love His word, which contains the truth.

A contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness, being humble and teachable. Contriteness is the sorrowful and repentant state of a person, hitting rock bottom and realizing that only God can turn things around for us. Being crushed, bruised, and broken is a prerequisite for needing healing, forgiveness, and transformation.

When David recognized the enormity of his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11, 12:1-15 and his attempted cover-up that ended with her husband’s death, he cried out to God in deep repentance. Verse 17 records his heartfelt prayers and what he had learned about how God wants to be approached.

Why does God value a contrite heart of sacrifice more than the burnt offerings He had commanded under the Old Covenant? Because the place of contrition is a blessed place to be. God says in Isaiah 57:15 that He is with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit. The contrite are promised a dwelling place with God. Their broken hearts will be revitalized.

A contrite heart does not take the forgiveness of God for granted. It is grieved over its sin and what it cost the Son of God says 2 Corinthians 5:21. Without a contrite heart, we are like the proud Pharisees, going through the motions of religion but harbouring arrogance in our hearts. Contrition agrees that a heart intent on following Christ must reject evil in all its forms. A contrite heart seeks the strength of God to overcome sin and move on toward holiness according to 1 Peter 1:15–16.

We must understand that God does not deal with the proud and lofty but the humble (1 Peter 5:5). He wants us to be repentant. A hard heart, like Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and wouldn’t let them go, is resistant to God. Exodus tells us six times that Pharaoh had a “hard” heart. Even in the face of the evidence of God’s great power through the 10 plagues, again and again, Pharaoh’s heart grew hard in Exodus 7:13.

Ezekiel 11:19 tells us that God wants to remove our stony hearts and give us a fleshy, repentant one. Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17 warns of self-sufficiency and pride, the hallmarks of a heart that’s lifted. Nebuchadnezzar is an example of one whose “heart was lifted, and his spirit was hardened in pride” in Daniel 5:20.

Is your heart lifted, hardened, and too stony to acknowledge your sin and need for repentance and dependence on God? Are you proud of your achievements and taking credit without honouring the Father for His mercy, favour, and grace? God does not want us to have what Psalm 101:4 calls a perverse heart, a proud heart in Psalm 101:5, a wicked heart in Proverbs 26:23, a defiant and rebellious heart in Jeremiah 5:23, a sinful heart in Jeremiah 17:1, a deceitful heart in Proverbs 17:20, a desperately wicked heart  in Jeremiah 17:9, an adulterous heart in Ezekiel 6:9, a hard and impenitent heart in Romans 2:5, a veiled heart in 2 Corinthians 3:15, or an evil and unbelieving heart in Hebrews 3:12.

God’s gift of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts and begins the process of changing them spiritually. If we approach God contritely, He can create in us pure and sound hearts that will rejoice evermore.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for being long-suffering towards me, I humbly beseech you to have mercy on me for all my unfaithfulness in Jesus’ name, amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT’L PRAYER MIN.

[highaltitudedude]

My Soundtrack to Sanity: Personal Stories of Music and Mental Health by Gary Dranow

Music, for many of us, is more than just a collection of melodies and rhythms; it's a trusted companion on the tumultuous journey of life. In the heart-rending lows and exultant highs, certain songs and artists become markers, signifying critical crossroads in our individual mental health journeys. In this edition, I've invited a few brave souls to share their tales, revealing the powerful bond between music and the mind.

1. Clara's Healing Harmonies

For Clara, it was the sultry voice of Norah Jones that pulled her out of postpartum depression. "I remember feeling so distant from the world, even from my newborn. But one day, as 'Don't Know Why' played on the radio, a surge of emotion washed over me. Norah's soothing voice felt like a hand reaching out, reminding me of love, warmth, and the possibility of better days."

2. Miguel's Rock-solid Support

Miguel always turned to punk rock as an outlet for his teenage angst. But during his battle with anxiety in his 20s, he found solace in a surprising source: David Bowie. "There was something about Bowie's 'Heroes' that spoke to me. It wasn't just about two lovers against the world; it was a promise that I could beat my anxiety, that I could be my hero."

3. Ayesha's Bollywood Boost

Ayesha struggled with body image issues during her teens, continually battling the weight of societal expectations. Bollywood song "Ainvayi Ainvayi" from the movie "Band Baaja Baaraat" became her anthem. "It's such a vibrant, energetic song. Whenever it played, I felt compelled to dance, to celebrate my body regardless of its size. It was a daily reminder that joy was not tied to the number on a scale."

4. Samuel's Serenade of Self-love

Samuel's journey of coming out and accepting his sexuality was punctuated by countless struggles. Yet, in this journey, Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' played a pivotal role. "It became my anthem. Every lyric spoke to my soul, urging me to embrace who I was, unapologetically. Gaga's message of self-love fortified me against the world's judgments."

Conclusion: Our Endless Soundtracks

These narratives remind us that music is not just entertainment; it's a lifeline, a therapist, and a friend rolled into one. We all have our own soundtracks, unique chronicles of our challenges and triumphs.

I urge every reader to reflect upon their own 'Soundtrack to Sanity'. Which songs have anchored you during storms? Which artists have been your guiding stars? Music is our shared language, and in its notes and lyrics, we find ourselves, our stories, and our healing.

In harmony and hope,

Gary Dranow.

[hiswordsarekisses]

THIS IS THE BEST PRESCRIPTION I HAVE EVER HAD FOR DEPRESSION OR ANXIETY AND IT HAS SAVED ME SO MANY TIMES!!

OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT AND DEPRESSION by Lynette Hughes: Isaiah 61:3 gives us the prescription for discouragement and depression: "Put on the Garment of Praise for the spirit of heaviness." Whenever I feel emotionally exhausted, frustrated, discontented and want nothing better than to retreat from life, I begin to praise and worship God and express my gratitude for His goodness and all that He has done for me and through me, my seemingly hopeless predicament gives way to a glimmer of hope and peace. I have personally encountered and have intimate knowledge of the "spirit of heaviness" and truly believe that praise offered with a thankful heart is the most powerful weapon against this insidious enemy that infects the spirit and numbs the soul.

Scripture says that when David was greatly distressed and standing among the ruins of his life, when his friends had turned against him and wanted to stone him, he had no one to encourage him, so he “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” [1 Sam. 30:6] Knowing what we know about David, I imagine he took his harp, retreated to a solitary place, and began to sing songs of praise to God. I can easily imagine David singing the lyrics of Psalm 34, “I will bless the Lord at ALL times.” No doubt he didn't feel like singing, but he chose to do it anyway. And he didn't sing a sad song bemoaning his situation. Instead he sang of the majesty and power of God. He sang of the faithful Deliverer who had in the past given him victory over the lion and the bear and gave him the courage to fight Goliath, and it gave him faith for what he was going through right then. [Psalm 13:4-6; 9:1-2] David changed his focus from his depressing circumstances and looked to the God of his salvation. And not only did the Lord increase his strength, courage and faith, He made him to be a blessing to many others. [1 Samuel 30:26]

Anyone can sing when the skies are azure blue, the air is fresh and not a cloud on the horizon, the flowers are blooming and releasing their sweet fragrance. It’s easy to praise God when everything is going well and all is right in our world. But it’s another thing when life feels chaotic and uncertain and we’re facing insurmountable storms of adversity in a dark night.

Like David, it doesn’t take long to realize that our walk with God is not all glorious as some like us to believe. Many of us who love the Lord are distressed with the challenge of living in an increasingly hostile world, a world plagued with one crisis after another, where men not only reject Christ but those of us who follow Him. Many believers are in a season of hardship, distressed by family estrangement and conflict. Many are trying to cope with the grief of losing a loved one. Many are faced with serious financial stressors, or the plummet of their physical health. Many are having to navigate life with a chronic illness or physical pain. Many are trying to deal with the emotional pain of loneliness and family estrangement. Many are fighting a dark, heavy cloud of depression. After struggling for long periods of time, we often begin wondering why God has not intervened. We begin questioning what we have done to deserve our unimaginable difficulties and whether God really cares.

Scripture clearly tells us depression has a spiritual component. Isaiah 61:3 calls it a ‘spirit.’ Depression is a demonic power of darkness that holds us captive in a dungeon of discouragement. If we don’t guard our heart, we can easily begin wallowing in self-pity and choke our faith, drain our hope, smother our love and fuel our anger. The bitter fruit of depression and self-pity unseats gratitude and places despair and defeat on the throne of our life. It fills our time with useless, faith destroying complaining and whining.

Nehemiah. 8:10 MEV tells us: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” All the strength we need for this life is found in the joy of the Lord. The joy is not in our circumstances, our joy is in knowing who God is, that He loves us with an everlasting love, that through Christ Jesus He provided us the opportunity to receive the gift of salvation and eternal life.

When discouragement slams you to the ground, get up and clothe yourself with a garment of praise and cast off the spirit of depression and despair [Is. 61:3]. It may be a difficult battle, but when you praise and thank God, you shift your focus from the problem to the problem solver. Praise is similar to a magnifying glass. As you give thanks and exalt God, you get the proper perspective of who God is and begin to see your problems with clarity. When God is magnified, He gets bigger and your problems will begin to shrink in importance, because no matter how great they seem, they’ll never be greater than God.

The garment of praise is like any other item of clothing; you must put it on for yourself! Like every provision God has given us, it must be put on by faith. And when the devil comes to you and holds up the garment of heaviness, don’t put your arm back in the sleeve; don’t pick it up and put it in your closet for another day. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Fill your mind with the truths of God’s Word and fill your mouth with praise [Psalm 71:8; 149:6] not negativity, fault finding, self-pity, and unthankfulness.

Put your Christian praise music on and sing and shout to the Lord! Lift up your hands and speak forth the praises of God by faith! Remember your blessings and name them one by one! If you are in the trial of your life, encourage yourself in the Lord! Allow God to fill you with His joy and in return you will receive the strength needed to overcome the chilling grip of fear, despair, and discouragement.

Psalm 34:13: “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

[rochey1010]

HI, ok so this second post is about Eliott posting obscure movies and how they are or will relate to the plot:

1: NIGHT OF THE GHOULS - this movie is basically made by an amateur movie director known as Ed Wood. Now this one did confuse me for a bit as i had multiple threads going in my head. So i'm just gonna list them all. This is setting up the ELU trust/insecurity issues to come. It's also setting up the connection between Eliott and Lola, and it could be setting up Eliott and his suspected uni movie project.

● ELU trust/insecurity issues- the girl in the clip is panicking over something being outside. She's very hysterical and unsettled, and refers to what's outside as ghosts. The guy in the turban is basically telling her she's a fool and that there isn't anything outside. So theorising here, the girl is lucas. The ghosts are the ghosts of the past AKA abandonment issues. They're so deeply rooted that there's a struggle to get through to him. The turban guy is Eliott and he's frustrated that his reasoning isn't getting through. That the fears are unfounded = possible misconstrued nature by Lucas of Eliott and Lola's friendship.

More obscure theory but actually starting to build ground as the show goes on. The girl is Eliott and it's simply that the ghosts of the past have returned (upcoming Benny.Taxi post) and he's freaking out over it.

● this is the BTS, and i think very important for the Lola and Eliott friendship. So Ed Wood the director of the movie formed a friendship with Bella Lugosi (star) but it was through the making of this movie that Wood got Lugosi through the darkest days of his depression and alcoholism. His friendship saved him and put him in a better place. How does this relate? Lola is spiralling at the moment and Maya is distant. She needs a connection and she's one step away from going on another bender. This is where Eliott comes in. He's empathic, sees the bigger picture and has shown concern towards Lola. Their connection is being built on self identification. Basically someone who can relate and understand. Lola needs that right now. Eliott has reached out and they are gonna be friends. He's gonna help her and i suspect the movie will be part of it.

● this one is just about Ed Wood and being an amateur director. I must say a really bad one. I'm thinking it's Eliott BTS and his possible Uni project, and his insecurities over his ability and talents because he was hurt when POLARIS failed to get the funding it needed in the past.

2: MAX AND MARY: A story about a long distance friendship between two lonely outlier souls. There is an age difference but the bond is innocent between them. They converse as penpals and in the end Mary goes to meet Max but he died. this is basically setting up not only the friendship between Eliott and Lola but that Lola will meet Eliott in the next few days. It's also screaming another theory (Benny.Taxi) but i'm gonna talk about that in my last post. The clip is Mary knocking on Max's door. Now my theory is that Lola goes to find Eliott possibly at his job but just misses him, and ends up slipping and going back to the club or more likely she now reaches out to him and meets him.

Edit: next movie Eliott just posted on his insta story.....

3: Unbreakable: This is a 2000's movie directed by M Night Shyamalan. There are 2 important characters. One is a security guard called David (Bruce Wilis) and the other is a comic book store owner calked Elijah (Samuel L Jackson) They come into each others lives and force each other to confront their true selves. They are opposites or polarities of each other. POLARIS i see you there. 👋 but at different places in their lives.

Elijah says "however unreal it may seem, we are connected you and i, we're on the same curve, just on opposite ends"

David is damaged psychologically. He's trying to fix himself and his world. He is numb and just going through the motions of life. He has no passion or drive. Then he finds out about his super powers. That he is super strong like iron, and through this knowledge, and using those abilities, he heals his soul and feels complete.

Elijah is physically damaged. He has brittle 'glass' bones and is in a wheelchair. He learns of David's abilities and he seeks to understand them. Elijah thinks that himself and David are connected and it's through this presence in David's life that they both go on a journey of self discovery and knowing their purpose. Elijah acts as a quirky sort of mentor for David. A guide you would say.

Elijah: "it's alright to be afraid, David because this part won't be like a comic book. Real life doesn't fit into little boxes that were drawn for it"

It's a very ambiguous sort of movie, as both characters are simply grey people. They are very flawed and they have hurt people. There are themes of heroism, self worth, destiny, fear identity and purpose, and really it's about becoming your own hero in life. So how does this relate to the show?

Ok, Eliott is again forshadowing the plot and the issues these characters will face and overcome. Basically i feel it's again the dynamic that Lola and Eliott have. How they will affect each other and the meaning they will bring to each others lives. So Lola is David and she's depressed and numb right now. She's directionless and feels she has no place in her world. Eliott is Elijah and he meets her at a place in life where he ends up helping her to see her true potential. Through this Lola starts to take the reigns of her own life and be her own hero. And her world around her begins to flourish once again e.g. friends, family, love etc.

Elijah says to David at one point "do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here"

That screams so much fear in both of these characters, with their own insecurities and trauma's. Eliott could possibly be to me at a crossroads in his creativity. That now that he is trying to bring POLARIS back again, that he is crippled with doubt and insecurity from the first time it failed. His personal insta movie stories seem to me to be him trying to find inspiration to finish POLARIS. And through them it's like he's doubting himself (Elijah's "i almost gave up hope there were so many times i questioned myself")but also through them, the thread is there that he will have help to make POLARIS realised finally.

Ultimately the movie and the show is referencing the realisation of who a person is, what they are capable of, and finding closure from the past and putting your fears and doubts to rest. This to me is both Eliott and Lola's journey.

So basically Eliott's movie is coming. Possibly E6. And POLARIS will be the crux of the life changes in Eliott and Lola. I feel Lola being involved in Eliott's art may even start changing the way she views her own. (damage) and i feel POLARIS will help Lola come to terms with her love for Maya. Thanks to anyone who continues to read my ramblings. 😊

OK my last post is about Benny.taxi and how it's looking like it will be Eliott and not Daphne. And how Eliott's past connects to that.

[mrlnsfrt]

Peace in Uncertain Times

David continues to flee from Saul (for more context check out Persecuted, and Best Friends Forever) and this time he flees to Nob. After the destruction of Shiloh (sometime in the eleventh century before Christ, interesting article here.) the sanctuary was moved to Nob, which was located north of Jerusalem. There David meets Ahimelech who is the brother of Ahijah (1 Samuel 14:3) and the great-grandson of Eli the priest. (For more on Eli check out Right God wrong Theology.)

A small lie?

David is scared, anxiety and sorrow are likely visible on his face and this concerns Ahimelech. Ahimelech knows that something is off, so he asks David:

“Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” - 1 Samuel 21:1b NKJV

David could have told Ahimelech the truth and sought help and guidance, instead he chooses to lie, and answers saying:

“The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” - 1 Samuel 21:2b-3 NKJV

I read a Bible commentary where the author tried to defend David’s behavior by saying he could have been referring to God as king and that he was not lying since God was sending him on a mission. I have to admit that with all due respect to the author of that commentary, I humbly disagree. David was scared and told a lie to protect himself. David made a mistake, his faith faltered, under the pressure of persecution David began to crack.

Holy Bread

And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.” - 1 Samuel 21:4 NKJV

There is no regular bread, only consecrated bread.

And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always. - Exodus 25:30 NKJV

For more on the showbread read Leviticus 24:5-9 where it also specifies that this bread was meant to be eaten only by “Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place.” So by the letter of the law David and his men should not eat that bread since they were not Levites. It might seem odd that the priest asked David regarding his men if they kept themselves from women. This is likely regarding the young men being ceremonially clean. Exodus 19:15 mentions staying away from wives as part of the sanctification process.

So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. - 1 Samuel 21:6 NKJV

Was this a sin?

Now I will go on what I believe to be a worthwhile digression.

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” - Matthew 12:3-8 NKJV

Jesus spoke those words when He was accused of breaking the Sabbath, and many believe that Jesus was saying that in essence it is okay to break God’s law. But I believe we have to tread very carefully here. Looking at the story carefully I see not a downplaying of God’s requirements but rather an uplifting of God’s mercy and grace. For God the life of David and his men meant so much that He allowed them to eat the bread they were not supposed to eat. David did not desire to eat the holy bread because he was curious, not because he saw nothing wrong with it, not because he just wanted to, but rather he was a man on a run who had nothing else to eat. If the two options were to eat and live or to die of hunger God allowed him to eat. Jesus tried to explain this principle. Jesus was not breaking the Sabbath, rather he was teaching us how to properly keep it. As Lord of the Sabbath Jesus could properly teach the true meaning of the Sabbath. Jesus taught that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  - Matthew 12:9-13 NKJV

Earlier Jesus and his disciples had been eating grain as they walked by a field…

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” - 1 Samuel 12:1-2 NKJV

The point here is that they were hungry and food was available around them. Jesus and His disciples were not harvesting, they were not selling or buying grain, they were not doing business. What Jesus and His disciples were doing was going from place to place preaching the good news and healing the sick, so it was lawful for them to not starve.

Though David had lied to the priest, God allowed him and his men to eat the holy bread. I say God allowed him because he was not cursed afterward and even Jesus used this event in history to highlight God’s mercy and the intention of God’s law.

The Need for Protection

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. - 1 Samuel 21:7 NKJV

David spots a servant of Saul and realizes he has no way of defending himself. David is becoming paranoid, he feels like he is constantly in danger, anyone might try to kill him and collect some reward from the king, or anyone might tell the king where he is, or try to capture him and hand him to the king.

8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

9 So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David now asks for a weapon and ends up with Goliath’s sword.

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. - David (1 Samuel 17:45)

I wonder, how effective had Goliath’s sword been against David? Now David seems to be looking to himself for a way out. Sadly he seems to have forgotten about God and God’s plans for his life. How easy it is for us to doubt God’s power and to forget God’s protection when we are being persecuted. When we are scared, when we are exhausted, when we feel alone and lonely. Do we, like David, forget what God has done for us, do we forget what God has promised us and do we search for a way to save ourselves through lies and violence? Do we turn to what we see those around us using in hopes that it will be more effective than God?

As I think about this I consider if it could be similar to someone turning to alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and other “weapons” to protect them from exhaustion, fear, depression, and anxiety. Like David we should be well aware that those “weapons” are not able to keep us, to save us, or to protect us. We know that they don’t work. So many have witnessed or even experienced the destructive power of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sexual immorality, etc. in their lives or in the lives of their friends and loved ones.

Dear reader, if you have made it this far on this post I want to encourage you to turn to Jesus. Turn to God and receive from Him your salvation. The weapons this world offers you are powerless to provide you with what only God can give you, peace, protection, and hope for a brighter future.

David a madman?

David flees outside the realm of King Saul, to Gath, where Achish was king.

And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?” - 1 Samuel 21:11 NKJV

The servants of the king of Gath refer to David as “the king of the land.” David had a reputation of being brave, wise, successful, blessed by God, and feared by his enemies. God had caused David to be known and feared and respected. This was a blessing from God! But David was afraid, and he was even afraid of who he was and of the success God had given him, so David now humiliates himself trying to save his own life.

So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. - 1 Samuel 21:13 NKJV

David’s plan worked and he was left alone. However, he was now seen as a madman. How far David had come from being successful and victorious. What a difficult journey David is on. I love the insight and perspective provided in the book Patriarchs and Prophets.

Yet this experience was serving to teach David wisdom; for it led him to realize his weakness and the necessity of constant dependence upon God. Oh, how precious is the sweet influence of the Spirit of God as it comes to depressed or despairing souls, encouraging the fainthearted, strengthening the feeble, and imparting courage and help to the tried servants of the Lord! Oh, what a God is ours, who deals gently with the erring and manifests His patience and tenderness in adversity, and when we are overwhelmed with some great sorrow! - Patriarchs and Prophets p657

We serve a merciful and loving God. God does not give up on us when we mess up. God is patient and gives us a chance to return to Him, not only that He calls us. If you are feeling down, turn to God, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Nothing else can give you what you need. Peace in these uncertain times comes only from Jesus. Only God can give you what you need most. Our problem is that we don’t believe the good news. We doubt God’s love, we doubt His power, we wonder if He really cares and our faith falters.

Every failure on the part of the children of God is due to their lack of faith. When shadows encompass the soul, when we want light and guidance, we must look up; there is light beyond the darkness. David ought not to have distrusted God for one moment. He had cause for trusting in Him: he was the Lord's anointed, and in the midst of danger he had been protected by the angels of God; he had been armed with courage to do wonderful things; and if he had but removed his mind from the distressing situation in which he was placed, and had thought of God's power and majesty, he would have been at peace even in the midst of the shadows of death; he could with confidence have repeated the promise of the Lord, “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.” Isaiah 54:10. - Patriarchs and Prophets p657

In closing, I want to encourage you to give your heart to Jesus. Invite Him in. Turn to Him today, He loves you and is waiting for you. Don’t rely on yourself, on your weapons, you are unable to save yourself and when you try, you end up behaving like a mad person. Lean on God, trust in His love, and allow Him to save you. Stop fighting Him, stop running away, stop turning to things that He wants to remove from your life. Let God save you. Turn to Him daily.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

[thismustbetheblog]

Random About Me Tag

I was tagged by @theoneintheband-yeahthatone Sorry it has taken me like 3 weeks to do this I have adhd

1. What’s your current phone wallpaper? 

2. What’s the last song you listened to?: Be Still by Liam Gallagher on a loop to block out the sad bits of The sodding Repair Shop

4. What’s the last thing you Googled? The US National Radio Quiet Zone because of a Matt and Tom Park Bench video

3. What’s the last meme you saved? 

5. What’s your favorite movie and why? The Sound of Music: Nuns escaping the church, CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, Dame Julie Andrews, Goats, beautiful scenery, Nazi’s getting dragged. What’s not to love???

6. Add a gif of one of your favorite TV shows.

7. Do you model your dress sense after anyone? If not who would you model it after if you had all the money in the world?: Em, I always kinda loved Samuel Beckett’s style...ok you’re probably like girl wtff but look: 

So like the female version of that. I love vintage stuff. Also I also have like 10 parkas and a load of Adidas and Fred Perry kinda mod stuff so think mid 90s LG crossed with early 2010s LG. Oh and of course Pulp/Jarvis Cocker

8. What’s your favorite hobby?: Hyper-fixating on things??? **cough** David Byrne and Rugby  **cough** Lol. Learning stuff. Detective puzzle things like finding out where something is from one picture. True crime. Making crappy videos. Writing (even though I haven’t wrote anything since the lockdown because I was depressed/tired). Music..I sorta play the bass, guitar and piano...not well..calm down

9. Are you procrastinating about anything right now? If so what is it? Writing that article thing. I have literally just remembered I have to do that. WRITING.

10. What’s your favorite film score or song from a film? Pride maybe or Lost in Translation?? I dunno I’ve only watched like 7 films

11. Favorite vegetable?: Broccolli

12. How tall are you?: Short

13. Who do you think the funniest person alive is?: BOB MORTIMER

14. What’s your zodiac sign? Does it’s description match your personality? Taurus. Me being a pragmatist: Yeah that’s bullshit. Also me being trash: omg totally I am loyal, stubborn, I love luxury and art and relate to many tauruses...Actually I do love a lot of Taurus people so yeah but it is bs but a bit of fun. Please don’t make life choices based on it like people I know ok

15. Tea or Coffee? What kind?: Brew. Tea. Hot tea in a mug. None of that American shite cold muck get to fck. Preferably Yorkshire Tea or Tetleys. Coffee: McDonald’s Cappuccino 

16. Soda or Juice? What kind?: Pop/Minerals as a treat because it makes me sick in large amounts. Only 7up, Lilt, IRN BRU or Rock Shandy. Juice: Has to be smooth fruit juice. I can’t stand pulp..ironically

17. Unpopular opinion? The last two series of DW have been shit. 

18. What’s your eye color? Greeny...blueish. But mainly green

19. What is your least favorite band? Arctic Monkeys

20. What’s the last book you read? .......Omg ages ago probably Into the Woods by Tana French

I tag anyone who sees this and fancies doing it. Tag me if you do 

[dailyaudiobible]

05/24/2020 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 4:1-6:23, John 13:31-14:14, Psalms 119:17-32, Proverbs 15:31-32

Today is the 24th day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we reach out our collective hands and twist the knob and open the door and walk into this brand-new week together. Everything is out in front of us. We have this reset. This is the last full week of the 5th month of the year. Yeah, a week from today is the last day of this month. So, we are oriented, we are ready to live into this, we are ready to hear what God has to say through His Word into our lives this week as we join our hearts and minds around this Global Campfire. So, we got a brand-new week and we’ll read from the English Standard Version this week and we’ll pick up the story. And at this point the story is highly focused…well…on somewhat the tumultuous times as King Saul has died and King David has become king of Judah, the tribe of Judah. And, so, there's kind of all this unrest about who's going to be the king and how and all the intrigue and drama around that and people are watching David, they’re watching what he does, how his posture is. And, so, we continue with that story today, second Samuel chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this new week that we are walking into and we…we mark this every week by just considering the fact that it's in front of us, it's the future, it's what we are immediately walking into and we…we do this because we don't want to walk into a blindly just kind of floating along. We want to walk into it intentionally with You and we've learned from our reading as we begin this week is that we are to love one another as You have loved us and…oh…that's…in our own strength that is not possible. We can try and try and try and try and maybe make it through a day, but it…without Your Holy Spirit guiding our steps we can't do that, and we confess that. And, so, we see that in order to obey You we need You. And, so, come Holy Spirit we surrender to You and invite You to show us what it looks like in this coming week to love each other as You have loved us. Come Holy Spirit into this we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here in a virtual community. So, stay connected there. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can access most of this stuff as well from within the app.

So, the Daily Audio Bible Shop is there full of resources for this daily rhythm that we have in our lives.

The Community section is where you go to find the Prayer Wall as well as the different links to reach out and interact and connect on social media. So, be familiar with that.

The Initiatives section is what's going on around here. So, certainly be familiar with that as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. Thank you, thank you profoundly. There wouldn’t be anything going on around here if we were not in this together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. So, there’s a link on the homepage. If you’re use using the app, you can press the Give button. The mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can dial 877-942-4253 or you can hit the Hotline button, the little red button at the top in the app and share from there.

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:

Hi DAB family this is Rosie from Spring Hill. I am calling in to Lisa from San Jose. Just wanted to give you my condolences for your husband Craig. I am a hospice nurse. I just started a few months ago so I don’t have a lot of experience but I do know that a lot of times people feel like they don’t do enough or don’t do a good job and I just want to let you know that I know you said that you want to do God’s will and I believe that being there with your husband and spending the time with him and loving him even though it was a scary time and difficult to watch and very sad and emotional you stayed with him and loved him and I think that was doing God’s will. I think that was very Christlike. And I know you said he had a little pain at the end and that it was a little bit better. And I’ve heard it explained to me that it’s kind of like your last struggle or last wrestling with God and I’m glad that he gave you that the gift of him being alert to read Brian’s book Sneezing Jesus together. That sounds special and just something that beautiful that God gave you as a last memory, happy memory together. And I hope that you’re doing well, and I hope that you are feeling God’s presence and His peace and comfort.

Hi it’s Sherry from Kansas and this is for those people who have worked hard and sacrificed to build their own businesses and to make progress toward achieving their goals and now because of what’s happening in the world they could potentially lose their businesses or lose what they’ve worked so hard for. And I know that God knows, He’s seen your works, he’s seen your sacrifice. But I just want to say that sometimes when I’ve felt like I lost everything that I would be worshiping the Lord and all of a sudden it would hit me that I didn’t need anything in this world. I…there was nothing I needed to pray for because I had everything, I needed in Him. So, I just want to say that we need to keep our hearts and our minds set on him and regardless of what’s going on around us He is truly all and everything that we need. [singing starts] turn your hearts upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace [singing stops]. God bless you all. Bye-bye.

Good morning this message is for Chris from Michigan. My name is Christina Rose I’m in Denver right now and I wanted to pray for you about the situation with your teenage daughter who is feeling hopeless. I’m a mom, I have daughters, they’re in their 20s. And storms come and go in this life. Now, I am a survivor of a teenage suicide attempt myself. I went to school in South America and had a class of five people and the isolation was very depressing to me. And fortunately, my mother intervened and…as I’m still here today. I look on that now and remember how painful it was for my mom when she saw what was going on and such a distressing time for parent. Storms come and go. Isolation is the enemy. Even if your daughter can’t be with her friends just do whatever you can to back her up and just…just tell her would she be tempted…I look back and I think…I said I would have missed out on marriage and children and surfing under the Golden Gate Bridge and I mean a million wonderful things if I had just given up in the middle of the storm. And just encourage her to hang on. Things turn around. That is the way of life. We go through storms. Now my dad did successfully take his life and I have to tell you I feel him around me all the time saying he’s sorry and feeling regretful that he hadn’t seen the big picture and if he had he would’ve stayed. That leaving solves nothing and your…your loved ones, you have to watch your loved one’s carry-on without you which is very painful. You can write to at christinarose.org. God bless you and your family, and I pray that every day you would be well.

Hey DAB family just calling to say hi and this is Reggie from Iowa and hi dad if you’re listening. And I’m calling to pray for Chris from formerly New York City who just called in and he said he was healed from an infirmity and was asking for prayer for his…for insomnia. Dear God, I just thank you so much for Chris and this this beautiful community that were all in, the DAB family. Father I pray that You will just touch Chris today Jesus and I pray that You will help them to sleep well at night. God Your word…Your word says that…that those who trust in You will be able to lay down and rest and sleep peacefully at night. I pray God that You will touch Chris in a mighty way, give him Your peace and may all things work together for…for his good and for Your glory God because I know that he loves You. Touch him and his family today in Jesus’ name. Amen. Love you DAB family. You guys are awesome. Thanks Brian and Jill for all you do. Have a great day.

Good morning everybody it’s Susan from Canada calling. I just heard on the daily prayer that Chrissy from Alabama wants us to pray for her friends in Texas whose daughter died in a car accident and second daughter is in ICU. They were hit by a drunk driver. And Lord God, Lord heavenly Father Jesus be with that family. Dear Lord, I know what suffering for Your children is like. And it’s not a good space to be in but we know that You are the Lord, that You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We know that You love us. We know that Your comfort will heal us. And I pray Lord over the family, the girl in ICU, __ a healing touch from You. And dear God I pray for the family whose grieving such a huge loss. Lord God just be with each and every one of them as they just have to climb out of this hole that they’re in. Lift them dear God. Lift them high with You where they can soar as eagles’ wings. Of Lord Jesus just be with them and this little girl in ICU dear God. I just don’t know why we have to go through these things but we trust in Your love for us in all things and in all ways. Bless all of us Your God as we travel through these difficult times. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hello this is Jackie from Decatur Texas I’m a new DAB listener. It was by the grace of God that I came up upon DAB and was curious about it and…well…now here I am about a month into listening. I love the community and what it offers. I’ve wanted to call in to request prayer, but I lacked the confidence in doing so until now. I was married for 24 years, now divorced for three years. The divorce was ugly, which tore and ripped many things. I currently live with my whole family due to the fact that I’ve recently discovered that I am codependent. I wondered why I felt this need to provide for my adult daughters, their families, my mom and my brother. Our home is an emotional mess right now with disagreement, discord, and dysfunction. I need prayer please. My heart is heavy with the many things the enemy has used against my family. He has attempted kill, steal and destroy. I cry out to Abba, how long oh Lord? I am worn and wary and lacking in my faith. I’m still grieving and hurting over such loss from the divorce. I have no hope and I covet your prayers. Thank you.

[ehc-on-ao3]

What superpowers do you think LiS characters would have?

Saw this topic on Reddit and, well, I just had to respond. This is what I wrote:

Let's have some fun, shall we?

Max: n/a (we love you just the way you are)

Chloe: Resurrection. Nothing other than old age can permanently kill her. She can be shot, hit by a train, stabbed, whatever, but she'll bounce right back to life anywhere between 10 seconds to a minute. It's not regeneration, though, so normal wounds can still be inflicted and she has to heal normally. Unless, of course, she just shoots herself in the head. Seriously, why would she bother sitting in the hospital with a broken leg for two months when eating a bullet is so much quicker?

Rachel: While pyrokinesis is a popular pick, I'd vote that she instead has powers of the classic four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. It's just that Fire is super easy to summon forth on account that it's tied to anger. Air is tied to happiness, Water to serenity/peacefulness, and Earth to something else (forgive me, I'm actively pulling these out of my ass and can't think of something at the moment).

Kate: Psychometry, the ability to "read" objects by touching them. She could, for example, touch a note and immediate get impressions on who wrote it and their state of mind while doing so. The longer the person was in contact with the item, the stronger the impressions and the more clear the information she can derive. Touching living things, fortunately, doesn't automatically trigger her powers. She has to choose for them to activate in that case, which she does so only reluctantly as the sensory input can be overwhelming.

Victoria: Speedster. And hates it. Seriously, what does it matter that she can run at 300 mph if it completely ruins her hair? Not to mention her damn shoes. Those were Jimmy Choos, for fuck's sake! Stupid powers.

Courtney: Flight. Top speed is unknown but enjoys getting away from it all from time to time. Victoria is jealous of her powers (can you imagine the shots she could take while airborne?!) but tries not to show it.

Taylor: Telepathy, and loves it. Now, she has the inside scoop on everyone she could possibly want! Or would, if it wasn't for her sick mother (Empathic Broadcaster) who loves her so damn much and has inadvertently made Taylor super conscious about invading other people's thoughts. While she loves gossip, she has a healthy respect for other people's privacy, too.

Brooke: Multiplication of Self. Can create doppelgangers of herself, up to three (for now), that can all act independent from one another. Total duration is six hours, divided amongst the clones (so, 1 clone can last 6 hrs, 2 can last 3 hrs, etc.). Memories transfer back to Brooke when they fade away, meaning she can take a LOT of classes simultaneously. Principal Wells has attempted to say that using her clones in this manner should mean she should have to pay 4x the tuition but failed to win the argument.

Dana: Elasticity. Some thought her power to be rather weak in comparison to others but two things really make her shine. First, she seems to have some sort of invulnerability as well, as not even Victoria running at close to top speed was able to penetrate her body (it was an accident, and both came out of it fine, if not a bit embarrassed). Second, she can stretch herself incredibly thin (like, hair thin) and not suffer any adverse effects. Incongruously, her clothing stretches with her, so long as it's skintight.

Juliet: Healing Touch. If she can touch someone, she can heal them of any disease or physical injury. Mental injuries, however, are trickier. She can alleviate (not cure) the pain of the sufferer (things like severe depression, PTSD, etc.) but only by taking the pain herself. For obvious reasons, she doesn't use this ability all that often.

Nathan: Immunity, Specialized: cannot suffer any negative effects of any drug nor can he ever get addicted to one. In addition, he possesses a very unusual type of Empathic Broadcast/Telepathy/Psychometry: he can induce the effects of any drug he's ever taken onto anyone within 10 feet of him. So, if he smokes weeds, he can get everyone around him high. Makes him incredibly popular at parties.

Warren: Super Strength and Invulnerability (think Mr. Incredible). Tries to use his powers to impress the ladies. Only sometimes works.

Steph: Telekinesis. Upper weight/mass limit unknown, as she's been seen lifting entire tractor trailers without any strain. She does have incredible control at a minute level, too. Many have accused her of using her powers to cheat at D&D. She has vehemently denied these allegations.

Principal Wells: Regeneration. Perfect for his liver as he's an unapologetic alcoholic.

Samuel: Animal Communication (or, as Chloe calls it, the Disney Princess Power). Seems spacey at times as he can't turn off this ability and he hears them constantly, though distance does mute the effect. With permission, Juliet once tried to alleviate his pain but it didn't work (he doesn't see it as a detrimental thing any more, having had this power for over 40 years now).

Joyce: Creation, Specialized. Can summon food from thin air, great for busy nights at the diner. This is the real reason the menu at the Two Whales diner is so small: the fewer items she has to deal with, the easier it is to summon the food. In addition, it has to be food she's familiar with. Ask her to summon escargot, for example and she just won't be able to do it. If you explain they're cooked snails, she might be able to summon a plate of snails. Don't be surprised if they're still moving, though.

David: Penitent Stare. Anyone who looks into David's eyes while in close proximity feels a powerful compulsion to confess any and all crimes to him. However, there are drawbacks. First, it requires eye contact. Second, it can be overcome through sheer willpower. Third, there's no telling what will be confessed. It could be a recent murder. It could be the time the victim took one too many cookies from the cookie jar when he was five years old. Once a crime is confessed, it never comes up again. David tried to use his power to become a police officer but was dismissed from the force as his power was too unreliable. He's a security guard at Blackwell as the teens that attend school are more likely to confess recent crimes and often lack the willpower to resist.

Don’t take this list too seriously. With the exception of Rachel, I was trying to come up with power pairings that hadn’t been done before and even grant powers to those characters that are usually ignored in superpower AUs.

[awideplace]

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” - Luke 23:5

“They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb...” - Revelation 12:11

This is how I fight my battles: at Your table. It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You. Nothing is as strong as Your blood; right here at the table Your blood and Your body has overcome. You’ve already overcome. 

“And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s.” - 1 Samuel 17:47

“David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem.” - 1 Samuel 17:54

You go before I know that You’ve even gone to win my war and You come back with the head of my enemy. You come back and You call it my victory. You go before I know that You’ve even gone to win my war; Your love becomes my greatest defense, leads me from the dry wilderness. And all I did was praise. And all I did was worship. And all I did was bow down. And all I did was stay still. Hallelujah, You have saved me - so much better Your way. Hallelujah, Great Defender, so much better this way. 

Sometimes our enemy is depression, worry, anxiety, thoughts of ending it all, feelings of being unloved and worthless. Cling to God’s Word, His truth. Cling to Him; “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” - Psalm 27:10 - “You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.” - Psalm 88:18. Sometimes we will feel unloved by those around us, the Lord will never leave you or forsake you. You are beloved in Him. Cling to His Word. He sees you, the God-Who-Sees (Genesis 16:13), He counts your tears (Psalm 56:8). May the Lord lift you out of the pit (”He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.” - Psalm 40:2); weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. The Lord sees you, God loves you. You are not alone. Cling to Him and His Word.  

This Love is an everyday kind of Love, every morning I’m in it. This Love is an everyday kind of Love, every evening I’m in it. This Love doesn’t leave me all alone and it never forgets its own. This Love won’t leave me because my past is bad. This Love lifts my up above the waves, I don’t need to be overwhelmed. It raises me upon the Rock so my feet can finally stand on ground. It’s every moment of everyday always. This Love doesn’t care if you don’t think you can cut it; He takes you in and He lifts you up and He gives you faith so you can lift your head and you can run real fast and you can feel His joy. There is no chain this Love can’t break.

[penurnbra]

here’s the fuckton of articles from the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts that I obsessively gathered + organized during last night’s sleep deprived, caffeine driven, depressive episode

Vol. 1

No. 1 (1988)

ARTICLES

JOURNAL OF THE FANTASTIC IN THE ARTS (JFA): Purpose

EDITORIAL COMMENTS

Was Zilla Right?: Fantasy and Truth

Children of a Darker God: A Taxonomy of Deep Horror Fiction and Film and Their Mass Popularity

The Artifact as Icon in Science Fiction

The Birth of a Fantastic World: C. S. Lewis's "The Magician's Nephew"

Fantasy's Reconstruction of Narrative Conventions

Postmodern Narrative and the Limits of Fantasy

No. 2 (1988)

ARTICLES

CRITICS IN THE GULAG

Decadence and Anguish: Edgar Allan Poe's Influence On Réjean Ducharme

Mervyn Peake: The Relativity of Perception

Nature's Nightmare: The Inner World Of Hauptmann's "Flagman Thiel"

"Tel art plus divin que humain": The Reality of Fantasy In Ronsard's Poetic Practice

Transvestites and Transformations, Or Take It Off and Get Real: Queneau's "Zazie dans le métro"

Structural and Psychological Aspects Of the Spider Woman Symbol In "Kiss of the Spider Woman"

REVIEWS

Snobbery, Seasoned with Bile, Clute Is (Strokes: Essays and Reviews 1966-1986, John Clute, Thomas M. Disch)

No. 3 (1988)

ARTICLES

Introduction: Beagle and Ellison: A Special Issue

The Wind Took Your Answer Away

The Fractured Whole: The Fictional World Of Harlan Ellison

The Ellison Personae: Author, Storyteller, Narrator

Symbolic Settings In Science Fiction: H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison

Humankind and Reality: Illusion and Self-Deception In Peter S. Beagle's Fiction

Two Forms of Metafantasy

The Alchemy of Love In "A Fine and Private Place"

Fantastic Tropes In "The Folk of the Air"

No. 4 (1988)

ARTICLES

Overture: What Was Postmodernism?

The Decentered Absolute: Significance in the Postmodern Fantastic

Putting a Red Nose on the Text: Play and Performance In the Postmodern Fantastic

Theater for the Fin-du-Millennium: Playing (at) the End

De/Reconstructing the "I": PostFANTASTICmodernist Poetry

There's No Place Like Home: Simulating Postmodern America in "The Wizard of Oz" and "Blue Velvet"

Fictional Cultures in Postmodern Art

Deconstructing Deconstruction: Chimeras of Form and Content in Samuel R. Delany

Millhauser, Süskind, and the Postmodern Promise

Coda: Criticism in the Age of Borges

Vol. 2

No. 1 (1989)

ARTICLES

Phoenix Rising: Like Dracula from the Grave

The Vampire

Rising Like Old Corpses: Stephen King and the Horrors of Time-Past

Tanith Lee's Werewolves Within: Reversals of Gothic Traditions

Loving Death: The Meaning of Male Sexual Impotence in Vampire Literature

From Pathos To Tragedy: The Two Versions of The Fly

An Appreciation: Virgil Finlay

Courteous, Humble and Helpful: Sam as Squire in Lord of the Rings

Genetic Experimentation: Mad Scientists and The Beast

Native Sons: Regionalism in the Work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Stephen King

The Femivore: An Unnamed Archetype

No. 2 (1989)

ARTICLES

From Trickery to Discovery: Old, New, and Nonexistent Trajectories of Science Fiction Film

The JFA Forum on SF Film

The Cybernetic (City) State: Terminal Space Becomes Phenomenal

Murray Tinkleman: An Appreciation

Video, Science Fiction, and the Cinema of Surveillance

Science-Fiction and Fantasy Film Criticism: The Case of Lucas and Spielberg

But Not the Blackness of Space: "The Brother From Another Planet" as Icon from the Underground

REVIEWS

'Weirdies' Point the Way (Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s, Thomas Doherty)

Nirvana for Sleaze-lovers (Revenge of the Creature Features Movie Guide, revised by John Stanley)

Vol. 4

No. 2 (1992)

ARTICLES

"Poof! Now You See Me, Now You Don't"

Interpolation and Invisibility: From Herodotus to Cervantes's Don Quixote

Rings, Belts, and a Bird's Nest: Invisibility in German Literature

"Spells of Darkness": Invisibility in The White Witch of Rosehall

"Seeing" Invisibility: Or Invisibility as Metaphor in Thomas Berger's Being Invisible

Vol. 5

No. 1 (1992)

ARTICLES

The Craving for Meaning: Explicit Allegory in the Non-Implicit Age

Recent Trends in the Contemporary American Fairy Tale

The New Age Mage: Merlin as Contemporary Occult Icon

Dualism and Mirror Imagery in Anglo-Saxon Riddles

Vol. 6

No. 1 (1993; Special Issue: Richard Adams' "Watership Down")

ARTICLES

Introduction

The Significance of Myth in "Watership Down"

Shaping Self Through Spontaneous Oral Narration in Richard Adams' "Watership Down"

Shamanistic Mythmaking: From Civilization to Wilderness in "Watership Down"

Saturnalia and Sanctuary: The Role of the Tale in "Watership Down"

"Watership Down": A Genre Study

The Efrafan Hunt for Immortality in Richard Adam's "Watership Down"

No. 4 (1995)

ARTICLES

The Artisan in Modern Fantasy

The Symbolic versus the Fantastic: The Example of an Hungarian Painter

1920's Yellow Peril Science Fiction: Political Appropriations of the Asian Racial "Alien"

Religious Satire in Rushdie's "Satanic Verses"

Magic or Make-believe? Acquiring The COnventions of Witches and Witchcraft

REVIEWS

Encyclopedia Worth Waiting For (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Clute, Peter Nicholls)

Fresh Approach to Nineteenth Century Science Fiction (Science Fiction Before 1900: Imagination Discovers Technology, Paul K. Alkon)

The Play of the Critic (Staging the Impossible: The Fantastic Mode in Modern Drama, Patrick D. Murphy)

Vol. 10

No. 1 (1998)

ARTICLES

Editor's Introduction

Stasis and Chaos: Some Dynamics of Popular Genres

Lois McMaster Bujold: Feminism and "The Gernsback Continuum" In Recent Woman's SF

"Who Am I, Really?" Myths of Maturation in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Series

Asimov's Crusade Against Bigotry: The Persistence of Prejudice as a Fractal Motif in the Robot/Empire/Foundation Metaseries

When Coyote Leaves the Res: Incarnations of the Trickster from Wile E. to Le Guin

Kurt Vonnegut's Fantastic Faces

Celtic Myth and English-Language Fantasy Literature: Possible New Directions

No. 2 (1999; A Century of Draculas)  

ARTICLES

Introduction

A Century of Draculas

High Duty and Savage Delight: The Ambiguous Nature of Violence in "Dracula"

Bram Stoker and the London Stage

"If I had to write with a pen": Readership and Bram Stoker's Diary Narrative

Closure and Power in "Salem's Lot"

The Image of the Vampire in the Struggle for Societal Power: Dan Simmons' "Children of the Night"

Not All Fangs Are Phallic: Female Film Vampires

Madame Dracula: The Life of Emily Gerard

Back to the Basics: Re-Examining Stoker's Sources for "Dracula"

No. 4 (2000)

ARTICLES

Muggling On

Grail, Groundhog, Godgame: Or, Doing Fantasy

Something Hungry This Way Comes: Terrestrial and Ex-Terrestrial Feline Feeding Patterns and Behavior

Technology, Technophobia and Gynophobia in Gonzalo Torrente Ballesteas "Quizá nos lleve el viento al infinito"

Ready or Not, Here We Come: Metaphors of the Martian Megatext from Wells to Robinson

Bringing Chaos to Order. Vonnegut Criticism at Century's End

Resources for the Study of American Fantasy Literature Through 1998

REVIEWS

Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction, Russell Blackford, Russell Van Ikin, Sean McMullen

Edgar Allan Poe: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide, Harold Bloom

Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments with Interactive and Virtual Environments, Kurt Lancaster

Nursery Realms: Children in the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, Gary Westfahl, George Slusser

Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, Richard Bleiler

Vol. 11

No. 4 (2001)

ARTICLES

When the Hungarian Literary Theorist, Györgyi Lukács Met The American Science Fiction Writer, Wayne Mark Chapman

Cultural Negotiation in Science Fiction Literature and Film

Episteme-ology of Science Fiction

Orchids in A Cage: Political Myths and Social Reality in East German Science Fiction (1949-1989)

Virtual Poltergeists and Memory: The Question of Ahistorcism in William Gibson's Neuromoncer(1984)

The Search for a Quantum Ethics: Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen" and Other Recent British Science Plays

Leakings: Reappropriating Science Fiction--The Case of Kurt Vonnegut

REVIEWS

Darwin's Plots: Evolutionary Narrative in Darwin, George Eliot, and Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Gillian Beer

Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction, Gary Westfahl

The Rise of Supernatural Fiction: 1762-1800. Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, E.J. Clery

Thrillers. "Genres in American Cinema" series, Martin Rubin

Othermindedness: The Emergence of Network Culture, Michael Joyce

A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature, Donna White

That Other World. (The Princess Grace Irish Library), Bruce Stewart

Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Exhaustive Scholar's and Collector's Descriptive Bibliography of American Periodical, Hardcover, Paperback, and Reprint Editions, Robert B. Zeuschner, Philip José Farmer; The Burroughs Cyclopaedia: Characters, Places, Fauna, Flora, Technologies, Languages, Ideas and Terminologies Found in the Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Clark A. Brady

Italian Horror Films of the 1960s: A Critical Catalog of 62 Chillers, Lawrence McCallum

Vol. 14

No. 4 (2004)

ARTICLES

On Editing a Journal

"Hiro" of the Platonic: Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"

Suicide and the Absurd: The Influence of Jean-Paul Sartre's and Albert Camus's Existentiafism on Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever"

The Monomyth in Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon": Keyes, Campbell and Plato

Writing the Possessed Child in British Culture: James Herbert's "Shrine"

Disney World: A Plastic Monument to Death: From Rabelais to Disney

REVIEWS

Uncharted Territory: An Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Farscape, Scott Andrews

The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg, William Beard; The Modern Fantastic: The Films of David Cronenberg, Michael Grant

Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years, Bruce Sterling

Monsters, Mushroom Clouds, and the Cold War: American Science Fiction and the Roots of Postmodernism, 1946-1964, M. Keith Booker

Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever, Gary K. Wolfe, Ellen Weil

One Ring to Bind them All: Tolkien's Mythology, Anne C. Petty; Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spitirtual Virtues of Lord of the Rings, Mark Eddy Smith; Frodo's Quest: Living the Myth in The Lord of the Rings, Robert Ellwood

Chaos Theory, Asimov's Foundations and Robots, and Herbert's Dune: The Fractal Aesthetic of Epic Science Fiction, Donald E. Palumbo

The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines, Peter Haining

Vol. 25

No. 1 (2014)

ARTICLES

Introduction: Reinhabiting Fantasy

Reading Tolkien in Chinese

Convention Un-done: Un Lun Dun's Unchosen Heroine and Narrative (Re)Vision

"But what does it all mean?" Religious Reality as a Political Call in the Chronicles of Narnia

Telepathy and Cosmic Horror in Olaf Stapledon's "The Flames"

"I was a Ghetto Nerd Supreme": Science Fiction, Fantasy and Latina/o Futurity in Junot Díaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"

REVIEWS

St. Lovecraft (The Classic Horror Stories, Roger Luckhurst, H. P. Lovecraft; Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy, Graham Harman; Slime Dynamics: Generation, Mutation, and the Creep of Life, Ben Woodard; New Critical Essays on H.P. Lovecraft, David Simmons; H. P. Lovecraft's Dark Arcadia: The Satire, Symbology and Contradiction, Gavin Callaghan)

The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, And Your Way, Gregory Basham, Eric Bronson

Collision of Realities. Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe, Lars Schmeink, Astrid Böger (X)(X)

Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts, Christopher E. Bell

Horror Noir: Where Cinema's Dark Sisters Meet, Paul Meehan

The Mummy's Curse: The True History of a Dark Fantasy, Roger Luckhurst

Scottish Women's Gothic and Fantastic Writing: Fiction since 1978, Monica Germaná

The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre, Jack Zipes

Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, Jeffrey J. Kripal

Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits?, D. E. Wittkower

Animal Alterity: Science Fiction and the Question of the Animal, Sherryl Vint

Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, Marc Steinberg

The Ghost Story 1840-1920: A Cultural History, Andrew Smith

Fairy Tales Framed: Early Forewords, Afterwords, and Critical Words, Ruth B. Bottigheimer

The Time Ship: A Chrononautical Journey, Enrique Gaspar, Yolanda Molina-Gavilán, Andrea L. Bell

Future Wars: The Anticipations and the Fears, David Seed

The Horror Sensorium: Media and the Senses, Angela Ndalianis

Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For, Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

Antarctica in Fiction: Imaginative Narratives of the Far South, Elizabeth Leane

Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on Tolkien, Verlyn Flieger

No. 2 & 3 (2014)

ARTICLES

Elegy

Introduction: AfterLives: What's Next for Humanity

"Only We Have Perished": Karel Čapek's R.U.R. and the Catastrophe of Humankind

"From Zoo. to Bot.": (De)Composition in Jim Crace's "Being Dead"

Terminal Films

Living as a Zombie in Media is the Only Way to Survive

Zombie Republic: Property and the Propertyless Multitude in Romero's Dead Films and Kirkman's "The Walking Dead"

Thinking Blind

The Loveliness of Decay: Rotting Flesh, Literary Matter, and Dead Media

Post-Vampire: The Politics of Drinking Humans and Animals in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight", and "True Blood"

REVIEWS

Cyberpunk Women, Feminism and Science Fiction: A Critical Study, Carlen Lavigne

Under the Shadow: The Atomic Bomb and Cold War Narratives, David Seed

Undead in the West: Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, and Ghosts on the Cinematic Frontier, Cynthia J. Miller, A. Bowdoin Van Riper

Spanish Horror Film, Antonio Lázaro-Reboll

John Brunner, Jad Smith

The Irish Fairy Tale: A Narrative Tradition from the Middle Ages to Yeats and Stephens, Vito Carrassi

Fanged Fan Fiction: Variations on Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries, Maria Lindgren Leavenworth, Malin Isaksson

Welsh Gothic, Jane Aaron

Puppet. An Essay on Uncanny Life, Kenneth Gross

The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, Tatiana Kontou, Sarah Willburn

Mechademia 7: Lines of Sight, Frenchy Lunning

Approaching The Hunger Games Trilogy: A Literary and Cultural Analysis, Tom Henthorne; Of Bread, Blood, and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy, Mary F. Pharr, Leisa A. Clark

Dawn of an Evil Millennium: Horror/Kultur im neuen Jahrtausend, Jörg van Bebber

Solar Flares: Science Fiction in the 1970s, Andrew M. Butler

Becoming Ray Bradbury, Jonathan R. Eller

Beyond His Dark Materials: Innocence and Experience in the Fiction of Philip Pullman, Susan Redington Bobby

Postapocalyptic Fiction and the Social Contract: "We'll Not Go Home Again.", Claire P. Curtis

English Catholics and the Supernatural, 1553-1829, Francis Young

The Late Victorian Gothic: Mental Science, the Uncanny, and Scenes of Writing, Hilary Grimes

Bewitched Again: Supernaturally Powerful Women on Television, 1996-2011, Julie D. O'Reilly

A Hobbit Journey: Discovering the Enchantment of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Matthew Dickerson

Fear and Learning: Essays on the Pedagogy of Horror, Aalya Ahmad, Sean Moreland

Maps of Utopia: H. G. Wells, Modernity, and the End of Culture, Simon J. James

Dancing the Tao: Le Guin and Moral Development, Sandra J. Lindow

The Subversive Harry Potter: Adolescent Rebellion and Containment in the J.K. Rowling Novels, Vandana Saxena

As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality, Michael Saler

Enchanting: Beyond Disenchantment, Stephen David Ross

Ces français qui ont écrit demain. Utopie, anticipation et science-fiction au XXe siècle [Those Frenchmen Who Wrote Tomorrow: Utopia, Anticipation and Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century], Natacha Vas-Deyres

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, James Rose; The Descent, James Marriott

Teaching with Harry Potter, Valerie Estelle Frankel

William Gibson, Gary Westfahl

The Wizard of Oz as American Myth: A Critical Study of Six Versions of the Story, 1900-2007, Alissa Burger

Saw, Benjamin Poole

Scotland as Science Fiction, Caroline McCracken-Flesher

Gothic Music: The Sounds of the Uncanny, Isabella van Elferen

New Directions in the European Fantastic, Sabine Coelsch-Foisner, Sarah Herbe

Fantasy, Art and Life: Essays on George MacDonald, Robert Louis Stevenson and Other Fantasy Writers, William Gray

Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Alien Contact Tales Since the 1950s, Aaron John Gulyas

To See the Saw Movies: Essays on Torture Porn and Post-9/11 Horror,  James Aston, John Walliss

Science Fiction, Mark Bould

[wolint]

POSITION TO POSSES

POSITION TO POSSES

Ephesians 2:4-6

 

Aspire to be in the right place at the right time, for the right reasons and purposes! We miss our possessions and position when we run from an opposition.

David was one individual who didn’t flee from opposition, such as from Goliath.”

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines position as the state of being posited, or placed; how anything is placed, as in attitude, condition, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position. And the spot where a person or thing is placed or takes a place like a site, place, station, or situation.

We are made alive only through Christ Jesus! Since as unsaved people we were dead, we, therefore, had to be made alive before we can believe and through Christ’s resurrection, we have been raised with him.

Because of Christ’s resurrection, those who believe in him are given new spiritual life and positions. He has seated us with him, as he is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places as his people even now to share in a measure of his authority.

When we come to Christ, we change position from sinner to saint through the grace of the Father that allows us to operate from the Lord’s side, kingdom side, the side of power, royalty, and reign.

According to Ephesians 2:19, when we repent and trust in Christ, we are seated with him. We are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

You are seated with fellow believers! 

It is the place of our position in Christ that we have the power to withstand and fight the enemy. The position from where we have the confidence not to run from an opposition.

David recognised and acknowledged his position in God in 1 Samuel 17, the knowledge that gave him the courage and confidence to stand the opposition of Goliath without fear or doubt.

Do you know your position in Christ?

Our position in Christ assures us of our inheritance in him, it’s when we operate from that position that we can face every of life's oppositions without flinching.

Christ showed us by example in Luke 22:27 and continues to show us what our positions ought to be, that should be the supreme position of humility.

Jesus Christ is our teacher, as stated in Matthew 23:10 and we see him reflect that position in Matthew 12:1, the position of seating to teach, which was the typical posture for teachers while verse two says the crowd stood to listen to him.

Are we willing and ready to take the position of the learner at the Master’s feet, to be instructed on spiritual matters that will give us the courage to gain victory over our foes?

Our seating and reigning with Christ represent a position of authority, honour, and triumph. It is not a position of failure, depression, or defeat. As believers, our seating with Christ is part of our inheritance.

This is where we are already positioned because when Jesus was seated in triumph, we were seated with Him.

Our position in Christ is already an accomplished fact. But we need to exercise the authority that belongs to us in that position of reigning with Christ over principalities and powers to benefit from it and possess our possession in Christ.

The possessions, which are the inheritance in Christ, await every believer on earth and in eternity, but only if we remain in our position.

We will fail to possess our possession if we don’t know or take our position as seen with the tribe on Dan in Judges 18, who failed to possess their land because they didn’t take their position. The Tribe of Dan faced challenges in securing their inheritance in the Promised Land. They didn’t drive out the Canaanites from the territory assigned to them.

Instead of completely displacing the existing inhabitants, which ultimately hindered their possession of the land.

We do that daily; we coexist with those occupying our position and forfeit our possession. It is our position that obtains our possession.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to boldly and confidently remain in my position to possess my possession in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT PRAYER MIN.

[maglife17]

How Your Choices Define You! Part Three"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment." Proverbs 10:13 The paths you choose to take also define you. Your choices about your education, career, and life goals all contribute to who you are. The choices you make count as crucial features about you; therefore, the next time you are faced with a choice, take a moment to think about what it says about you, then make the choice that is best for you. It is important to be mindful of every choice we make because the future is at stake. I remember a story about King David who chose to commit adultery in 2 Samuel. David, who remains in the palace while his troops are deployed in the war, spies a woman bathing from his rooftop after a late afternoon siesta. The woman is Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite. David sends for her and sleeps with her, knowing that she is married. Later, to cover everything up (in a short story), David has Uriah killed so that he can marry Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 24:11 says, "When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer." The story of David and Bathsheba is often used as an example of the consequences of making bad choices. David could have walked away when he saw Bathsheba bathing, but he chose to pursue her instead. This choice led to tragedy for everyone involved. The Bible tells us that King David sinned against God by committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband, Uriah. As a result, God sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront David with his sin. Making the wrong decision can have disastrous consequences. Just ask King David. David's affair with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah, led to adultery, murder, and even the possibility of God's wrath. All because David chose to value his desires over what was best for him and his country. Brethren, it's easy to get caught up in the moment, especially when we're feeling lonely or neglected. But it's important to be mindful of the choices we make and the risks we take. The consequences of our choices can affect not only ourselves but also our loved ones. I pray that your choice in life will not breed you into a state of depression in Jesus' name. Amen. Proverbs 6:32 says, "He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroy himself." Prayer: 1. Proverbs 3:6 - Oh Lord, I acknowledge your way, and your word, therefore, straightens my paths and leads me in the right direction 2. Holy Spirit guides me in choice-making Jesus' name. Amen. https://youtu.be/opaBILXcZ4M https://maglife.org/

[curtiscroachblog]

Conquering your giants (2)

Word for Today written by Bob and Debby Gass

Sunday 31st October 2021

'Today the Lord will conquer you.' 1 Samuel 17:46 NLT

Goliath's ancestors were Israel's long-standing enemies. And when Joshua entered the Promised Land, he annihilated them all - except the inhabitants of Gath where Goliath hailed from. Why is that important to note? Because if you don't 'kill' the enemy and 'cut off his head', he'll rise to fight you again.

Maybe you're wrestling with issues your parents and grandparents grappled with; things like addiction, marriage problems, anger, worry and depression. David put 'five...stones from a stream...into his shepherd's bag' (1 Samuel 17:40 NLT) because he didn't know how many he'd need to do the job. And there are certain 'stones' you need to take with you to conquer the giants in your life. (1) Be relentless. It may take more than a day, a month, or even a year to see results. But with God's help you'll win if you persevere. (2) Get God involved. God's priority is his reputation, and David's objective was to defend it by declaring, 'There is a God in Israel' (1 Samuel 17:46 NLT). (3) Keep praying and believing God for victory. 'Pray in the Spirit in every situation' (Ephesians 6:18 GWT). Rehearsing your hurts won't heal them and cataloguing your problems won't solve them. But prayer will. (4) Recall your earlier victories. David announced, 'The Lord who saved me from a lion and a bear will save me from this Philistine' (1 Samuel 17:37 NCV). When you're afraid of the future, call to mind God's past faithfulness: 'Remember the wonders he...performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given' (1 Chronicles 16:12 NLT).

With God's help you can conquer the giants in your life!

[michipeachiii-sideblog]

***Disclaimer: Everything is translated as is from Spanish. These are my personal notes. Please let me know if there’s errors in translation. ***

June Assembly 2011 - Will Man Ruin Planet Earth?

Friday

Notes under the cut because this is very long

Page 1

How Do We Know God’s Kingdom Will Come Soon?

No human knows when God’s Kingdom will come

There are prophecies that are coming true pointing to the end of this system of things

Revelation 6:1, 2

 White Horse - Jesus - humility, justice, truth, 

We see growth in congregations

Revelation 6:3, 4

Horse of Fire - War - lack of peace

War & conflict

Revelation 6:5, 6

Black Horse - Hunger - lack of food

Destruction - there is an abundance of food but there’s still hunger

Revelation 6:7, 8

Pale Horse - Death

Sickness, natural disaster, etc. 

The 4 horsemen have made their appearance

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Revelation 6:9-11

Timeline:

1st generation: 1800′s, have already died

Presence of Christ, some annointed: 1914

2nd generation: Present, won’t die until end, most are already older

Page 2

We have to enter the kingdom

Our minister to Jehovah is more important and foremost 

Satan uses subtle attacks to disarm us through emotions

Romans 7:21-24

How to prepare ourselves?

Prepare our mind and heart

Keep ourselves intact

Do I pray frequently?

Communication with Jehovah

Do I show that I am obedient to Jehovah?

Even in front of worldly people

Do I follow the mandate of meeting with our brothers?

Do I show the same bravery as Peter?

Different ways of preaching

Do I stand and forgive others liberally?

Am I submissive to those in charge of the congregation?

Don’t believe Satan’s lies or let them influence us

Stay strong through tests

Page 3

Symposium: Pacts and their relationship to the kingdom

Jehovah can’t lie

Rebellion against Jehovah’s purpose 

Edenic Pact 

1st Decree - Genesis 1:26: Make man in our image 

2nd Decree - Genesis 1:28: Be fruitful, multiply 

3rd Decree - Genesis 2:17: Don’t eat from the tree

Genesis 3:1-5 - lie, slandered God, we only serve out of interest and we won’t stay loyal

Find an alternative route - loss of perfection -> illustration of a straight road to paradise blocked by Adam and Eve with an alternative road because of sin

Genesis 3:15 - 1st prophecy - you and the woman are enemies 

Descendants of the woman - part of Jehovah’s organization

Serpent - Satan and those who chose his side

Pacts That Identify “The Descendants” 

Genesis 17:6 - Kings will come out of you

Genesis 22:15-18 - “the door” -> control of his enemies

Pact of Abraham

Descendants of Abraham - 3:15

A king will come 

All of the nations blessed

He will destroy all his enemies

Pact is stilla ctive

Page 4

Pact of David

Psalms 110:1, 2, 4 -  Melchizedek, a priest 

God guided his people towards the solution

Satan used genocide to stop descendants

Psalms 83:4

Pact of Law

Exclusively made with Israel with Moses as a mediator 

Exodus 19:5, 6 - if they obeyed they would be a holy people full of priests 

Israelites failed the pact

Jeremiah 31:31-34 - Pentecostal 33c - Spiritual Israelites - 144,000 - kings and priests with Jesus Christ 

Hebrews 13:20 - eternal benefits  

The Definitive Solution 

Psalms 89:14

2 Samuel 7:12, 16

Luke 22:30 - Jesus made a personal pact, privilege of being kings and priests in the heavens 

Faith and trust in the kingdom of the heavens

Original purpose will happen

God’s kingdom is the definitive solution  

Page 5 

Who is preaching the “good news of the kingdom”?

Matthew 24:14 - good news will be preached worldwide

Matthew 28:19, 20 - make disciples 

Luke 4:43 - declare the good news

The teachings - focusing on spiritual wellbeing

Luke 8:1 travelling place to place

Matthew 10:11 search for people

Methods - urgency in finding people, house by house

Matthew 10:8 - give freely

2 Corinthians 2:17 - sent by God

Motives - bad to profit from ministerial service, volunteers

Revelation 17:4 - impure, give happily 

Reach of preaching work - 236 countries, 500 languages 

Matthew 24:14 - preach worldwide and then the end will come

There is no other group that has done the work witnesses have

Adoration - 

2 Timothy 4:5 - evangelizing work

Working continuously 

Witnesses 

Correct message

Correct method

Correcct motives

Worldwide and languages

Consistent

Page 6

Questions About the Kingdom

How did he prefigure (foreshadow, idk original Spanish word was hard to translate) the dynasty of David’s kingdom with the Messianic kingdom?

2 Samuel 7:16 - representation on a smaller scale of God’s kingdom

Represents fulfillment of the pact with God

Matthew 13:30

There were anointed ones in the 1st century

There were people devoted to the truth

Psalms 87:5, 6 - name of the 144,000, will be revealed that 144,000 are not angels - humans have died as martyrs for the truth

1 Thessalonians 5:14 - anointed ones can get depressed

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 

Would you make sacrifices for the kingdom?

Psalms 54:6 - sacrifices made in good faith

Technology can take time away from us

Monetary donations

Donating time

Deuteronomy 16:17 

[mrlnsfrt]

Heart Matter

What does it take to succeed?

I have read and listened to so many books, articles, podcasts, about leadership, focus, productivity, achievement, success, etc. I find the topic interesting. I want to be good at what I do, I want to improve, I want to be successful. To be honest with you, it is difficult to measure success in ministry, but I guess it is difficult to measure in life in general. Do you measure how much money you make? How much power you have? How influential you are? How many followers you have? How many friends you have? How many members your church has? Your church attendance numbers? How many views your videos get? The number of downloads your podcast gets? How many employees you have? Your rank/position/title at your workplace? Do you measure success by how happy you are? How healthy you are? How much you can bench press? How fast you can run a mile? By the quality of your relationships?

How carefully should I follow the advice of the CEO who is on his third marriage? The entrepreneur who is a millionaire but never managed to make a relationship work longterm? The millionaire who struggles with depression and is deeply unhappy? Are those my goals? What kind of life do I want to live?

Though there are successful men and women who are extremely smart and talented, no one has a perfect life. We are all human beings and we all have our areas of struggle

Saul was chosen to be king. We have no record of his desire to be king. If anything we see in him a degree of hesitation and resistance to being king (see 1 Samuel 10 and my post Making a King). Saul was tall, he was handsome (Tall, Handsome, and Clueless), he won wars (You Shall Have Help). So what was the problem? Saul’s big problem was his faithfulness to God (Obedience During Emergencies).

What we need to understand, and what most leadership books will not tell you, is that at the heart of true success is faithfulness to God. True success is measured in faithfulness to God. The challenges are many with this. How do you measure faithfulness to God? Only you know how faithful you are, it is a heart matter. Another challenge is that there are no shortcuts. We are called to be faithful to God for our whole lives, throughout our lives. Sometimes it feels like success, otherwise, it looks like failure. But we must trust God that faithfulness is what we are called to, and we must be faithful when it is visibly rewarding, and when it feels like failure.

God had given Saul everything he needed to succeed as king (1 Samuel 10: 6-13, 17-24, 11:6-7, 14-15 post post). Directions were simple:

Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” - 1 Samuel 12:24-25 NKJV

Sadly Saul was only faithful when it was convenient. When he saw his soldiers leaving he offered a sacrifice that Samuel was supposed to offer (1 Samuel 13:6-12 Post), later when he was supposed to have killed all the Amalekites, he spared Agag their king (1 Samuel 15:8). As time went by it became more and more clear that Saul was more concerned about his popularity, power, and influence, than he was about being faithful to God (The Abuse and Misuse of Religion). Sadly, faithfulness to God was the key to Saul’s success and Saul had disobeyed God in an attempt to strengthen his position as king.

The first king Israel had was what they had asked for, a king like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5 post). This time, God would choose a king after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

Time for Samuel to take a trip.

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” - 1 Samuel 16:1 NKJV

This time we see Samuel for the first time not being sure of what to do. Samuel is aware of Saul’s desire to hold on to the throne and fears for his life. Samuel is an incredibly powerful and influential figure, and it is not difficult to imagine that if he anointed someone word would get to Saul. Samuel’s actions could even lead to a rebellion, the overthrowing of Saul, or a civil war. The people must have been aware that Saul had been rejected by God, and this would have caused everyone to be extra aware of Samuel’s moves since he had anointed Saul as Israel’s first king.

Did God tell Samuel to lie?

And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” - 1 Samuel 16:2-3 NKJV

Some might be tempted to argue along the lines of God makes the rules so He can make exceptions, so you should not lie unless God tells you to. However, when I look at Jesus dying on the cross, because the law demanded blood, death, of those who broke it (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23). Jesus had to die in our place because God’s law demanded it (2 Corinthians 5:21), and if God did not change His law to save the life of His Son, I doubt He would make exceptions for Samuel. So what is happening here? God’s will is not to begin a revolution, not to dethrone Saul and instate David right away. God wants David to know that he has been chosen to be king, much like Saul knew he would be king before anyone else knew (1 Samuel 9, post). So this anointing was important, especially for David, and Samuel, and eventually everyone else, but only when the time came.

Samuel would go there to Sacrifice to the Lord. For anyone who was interested, that was the reason for Samuel’s travel to Bethlehem. Samuel’s meeting with David was a private matter. In other words, Saul had no right to that information. The way I see it, Samuel was not lying, he was simply keeping things private, in other words, it was none of Saul’s business.

The elders trembled

It seems odd that the elders would tremble at the coming of Samuel. One interesting thought I read on this is that they might have thought there was an unsolved murder since Deuteronomy 21:1-9 calls for a ceremony involving a heifer. Another explanation was that Samuel was last seen rebuking king Saul and hacking Agag, king of the Amalekites, into pieces (1 Samuel 15:32-33) and they were afraid of what he might do next. Ultimately we can only speculate on why the elders were trembling, but they were relieved to find out Samuel had come peaceably. Samuel told them to sanctify or consecrate themselves, probably involved washing and putting on clean clothes and avoiding anything that would make them ceremonially unclean (Exodus 19:10, 14; Leviticus 7:19-21; 15:2-33; Numbers 19:11-22; Deuteronomy 23:10-11). Samuel then consecrates Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

This situation is unique in that no one knows exactly all that will happen. Samuel has more knowledge than anyone, but even he does not know who he will anoint. When Samuel sees Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn (1 Samuel 17:13) he was sure that he would be the next king of Israel. But he was mistaken.

Heart Matter

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

Saul, Israel’s first king, looked like royalty, he was tall and handsome (1 Samuel 9:2 post). But Israel’s second king was not going to be chosen based on appearances, he was not to be like the kings of all the other nations (1 Samuel 8:5 post), rather he was going to be a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

His success would not be because he was tall (though research seems to show that taller men make more money). God has this habit of turning conventional wisdom on its head.

 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.  - 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NKJV

We judge by appearances. It is hard not to. We make snap judgments based on appearances. The moment we see someone we decide how we feel about them. Since we cannot keep this from happening, what we can do is become aware of our bias, of our snap judgment, and try to hold back acting on it, and allow the person to reveal the contents of her character over time. I am not saying that appearances are not important, I am saying that appearances are not the most important factor. If you are going to invest heavily, invest in developing your character, your mind, your heart. Dress, well, be clean and neat and healthy. But invest heavily in being kind, honest, reliable. There are a lot of pretty faces in the world. Some people are born incredibly beautiful. We are limited regarding what we can do with our appearance. But showing up on time, having a positive attitude, refusing to give up, are achievable goals. Instead of complaining about not being very tall, or certain aspects of your appearance, focus on what you can shape and change.

You should care for yourself. Make sure you’re getting at least 7 hours of sleep, drinking plenty of water, eating healthy meals, getting exercise regularly, fresh air, some sunlight. When you do this you are investing in yourself. Take a class, learn a new skill, read a book. With the internet, there are endless opportunities to learn useful skills. Invest in yourself. Never stop learning. Stay curious, stay humble, spend time with God daily. Pray often. Who knows the plans that God has for you?

So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” - 1 Samuel 16:8-11 NKJV

This is the first time we witness Samuel at a loss. Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel and even Samuel is a bit confused. When he had spotted Saul God spoke to him and it made perfect sense (1 Samuel 9:15-17). Now Samuel is not sure what is happening so he asks Jesse if anyone is missing. Interestingly one is missing. Jesse has one son, the youngest one, the one who gets stuck watching the sheep while his father and brothers go meet with Samuel who is likely the most influential figure in Israel since Moses. David ranked so low no one expected him to be significant enough to even be present for the sacrifice.

A fellow pastor once compared shepherds to cowboys. He argued that we (in the west) are too far removed from the figure of the shepherd and have a domesticated view of what it means to watch sheep. It is clean and cute and peaceful.

Jacob gives us a more realistic picture of what it meant to be a shepherd.

These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. - Genesis 31:38-40 NKJV

So why compare it to cowboys? Well, you are less likely to think that a cowboy has an easy life. Though you might be inclined to think of shepherds as having an easy life. Just to review what Jacob shared about his experience as a shepherd, shepherds had to deal with birth and miscarriages, attacks from wild beasts, thieves by day and night, plus the weather, drought by day and frost by night, and very little sleep or rest. Sounds like a pretty hazardous job, the kind that extremely demanding in multiple ways requiring physical fitness, mental sharpness, and bravery.

I sometimes wonder how I would have felt if I had been David. Would I have been resentful of my father and brothers for leaving me taking care of sheep while they went to enjoy a meal with the prophet? Would I have done a terrible job as a shepherd just so someone else would have to do it in my place?

The Smallest

By contrast with Saul, David was not the tallest, rather he is described as קָטָן (qatan) the “smallest” often translated as the youngest, it can also mean the least important. David did not look important. His father and brothers did not consider him important. When it came to David, what mattered most was the content of his heart. There in nature, taking care of sheep, David was being molded by God. The hardships, the quiet, the constant contact with nature caused David to ponder the power and majesty of God. Just read the book of Psalms and you will know what I am talking about.

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. - Psalm 19:1-3 NKJ

The fact that God chose the youngest of Jesse’s sons seems odd at first, but then you realize that God has a habit of confounding social norms. Think of Abel, Seth, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Joseph, Ephraim, Moses, and maybe Abraham. Regarding his appearance, David was reddish, we don’t know if it meant his hair, like in the case of Esau (Genesis 25:24) or if it meant his skin, some believe it meant a healthy reddish color. Was he sunburned? Was he a redhead? Was his skin similar in some way to that of some Native Americans? Does it really matter? He had bright or beautiful eyes. He was the one. He was not as tall or handsome as his older brothers, but he wasn’t ugly. What qualified David was his heart, we know that God chose him because of his character, the physical description is what everyone else sees.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. - 1 Samuel 16:13 NKJV

David’s anointing is much more low-key than Saul’s. No series of confirming events, no fancy prophesying (1 Samuel 10 post), just and anointing, and just like that Samuel leaves.

If I was David I would have had so many questions! Now what? What do I do next? Imagine finding out you will be the next king of Israel, then going back to tend sheep. So here is what I take away from this. Especially for the younger crowd but this goes for all.

You don’t know exactly the plans that God has for you, for your future. But we know that God has called you, to be faithful to Him. So right now, as you go about your life, as you do your equivalent of taking care of sheep. As you face trials and dangers and discomfort. Do you notice God’s hand guiding you and preparing you for what He has in store for you? Do you see your current situation as an opportunity to further develop your heart? As an opportunity to draw closer to God? Do you see this pandemic as an opportunity to make some very important and necessary changes in your life?

God cares about the condition of the heart. And some time int he wilderness taking care of sheep can be beneficial. Moses did it for 40 years (Acts 7:30), Jacob also had to take care of sheep (Genesis 31:38-40), Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2), Elijah was struggling with depression and went on a 40-day hike (1 Kings 19:4-8). Maybe you’re having a wilderness experience right now. Maybe you’re feeling vulnerable, or alone, lonely, scared, hurt. Perhaps this is an opportunity for you to work on your heart, to invite Jesus in, to grow stronger. It really does not matter how tall you are, the color of your hair, eyes, or skin. God looks at your heart, and even though the journey might be long, God wants to use you to do great things for him. Others might not see it in you. They may be oblivious to your potential just like David’s family was to his. What matters is your heart, and only you and God know the condition of your heart.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask that you take care of your heart, your character. Invite Jesus in and allow Him to clean it up as necessary fo His honor and glory.

I would like to close with the words of David, the man after God’s own heart. maybe you can make these words your prayer today.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. - Pslam 51:10-13 NKJV