2507AFC021425 – Patiently hoping in the Lord.

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Jeremiah 17:5, 7 –
⁵ Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
    and make mere flesh their strength,
    whose hearts turn away from the Lord.

⁷ Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.

Psalm 1:1-2 – (GNT) ^1
1 Happy [Blessed] are those
    who reject the advice of evil people,
    who do not follow the example of sinners
    or join those who have no use for God.
² Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
    and they study it day and night.

1 Corinthians 15:19-20 (GNT) [1] – ¹⁹ If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.
²⁰ But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope! Happy Aloha Friday! This week I have been thinking about two BIG things: Hope and Obedience. We can take another look at something from a long time ago call The Circle of Hope. Let’s begin with Obedience. We all can be more comfortable obeying someone we trust, right? We can obey someone who is forcing us to do something, but it is reluctant obedience because of our disdain. It is much more natural to obey those whom we trust. Here are some thought on that:

• Obedience without understanding is fright.
• Obedience with understanding is trust.
• Obedience with trust is faith.
• Obedience with faith is righteousness.
• Obedience with righteousness is the foundation of Hope.
• Hope is the outcome of humble Love to the very end of everything.

Jeremiah tells us those who do not – will not – trust in the Lord are cursed, whereas those who do trust in the Lord are blessed. Their Trust is the outcome of Humble Love. Humble Love can be visualized like this: As Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, the entire world was on his back and he carried all of it – including us – to God his Father. It was more than those three terrible nails that held him fixed to the wood of the Cross. It was something much more powerful. It was Love. Jesus’ Love is Love which is humble unto the very end. Many martyrs have Loved humbly unto the end. Many parents have Loved unto the end despite tragic consequences of disobedience and betrayal of Love by their children.

Humble Love unto the end is a gift of Grace, and that gift is the seed from which Hope sprouts and bears fruit. Hope comes from humble Love because Hope is neither selfish nor proud. Indeed, Hope is selfless and humble. There is a Latin phrase, “Semper Idem, Semper Fidelis, Spes Numquam Deficit.” This means: “Always the same, always faithful, Hope never fails.” Hope is always the antecedent of Peace. Peace is the realization of Hope.

Remember that old aphorism “Where there’s life there’s Hope.”? Well, where there is Hope, there is also Peace because true Hope truly is always the same, always faithful, never broken by greed, or pride, or any other evil. Many seek Hope in religion like Simon the Pharisee (See Luke 7:36-50) who felt his own righteous compliance with The Law justified is judgment against those whose sins he deemed greater than his. Religion can show us the effects of humble Love until the end, but only Hope can help us Live like that. Humble Love seeks only to give Love because Love that is freely given always returns, and that is a lot to Hope for. If we look back at 1 Corinthians 15:20, we will see the word “guarantee.” Belovéd, my Dear Friend told me somewhat a humorous quip: They say there’s no guarantees in life, but The Apostle Paul tells us there is certainly a guarantee to be found in Death.”

My Hope for you today is that you will know you are freely Loved in ways that surpass all understanding, and that is a Love so great that it most surely will engender greater Hope.

Hope is a Divine Gift from God, a gift of Grace, Grace that is greater than all our sins. Do you remember the Circle of Life as Disney presented it?  It portrays a cycle of destruction and renewal, of birth and death, of fate and destiny. There is something greater than the Circle of Life, and that is why I also want to share with you something from many years ago called the Circle of Hope.

And so it continues. Make it a great day, Belovéd

And even in the darkest hour

SHINE.

“I am come that they might have Life, and have it more abundantly.”

(and where there’s Life . . . )

There is no hope without Trust. In Adam we lost our trusting in the evidence that God had made us for eternal life and fellowship with him. Satan broke that treasure of Trust when he beguiled Eve and Adam to disbelieve God gave them the maximum access to his Glory and his Eternal Presence. Our Creator’s response was to immediately put into place the Hope The Creator had prepared against that eventuality – the promise of Salvation and restoration of that Wholley Holy Union of First Innocence (See this reference). Let’s get into the Wayback Machine and listen to a Golden Oldie Hymn: Trust and obey (↔ Music Link) “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Trust becomes obedience. It takes courage to trust what we cannot see, hear, taste, touch, or smell. Could it be that courage, obedience, and Love are somehow related? Try this out for a clue:

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 – ¹³ Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. ¹⁴ Let all that you do be done in love. And The Apostle Paul continues with: 1 Corinthians 16:22 – ²² Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come. Many translations read “let him be Anathema Maranatha.” I agree with the position that, in Koine Greek there is no punctuation, so that could read “let him be Anathema. Maranatha.” The Aramaic word, Maranatha, as we have often discussed here can be Maran atha and/or Maran atha. Here is a sampling of the words’ origins and meanings, starting with the Greek words: Μαρανα θα! Μαραν αθα! Maranâ thâ‘! (↔ Click it) Maran ‘athâ’ (Aramaic: מרנאתא‎) – Come Lord! Our Lord has come! This word occurs only once in Scripture in 1 Corinthians 16:22 (follow this to see multiple translations of how this is used – and sometimes abused!)

 Why do we want Our Lord to come? BECAUSE WE TRUST HIM TO RETURN LIKE HE SAID HE WOULD, and that, ʻŌmea, is guaranteed HOPE!!

Now, who can recall the name of the Bible Personality alluded to last week? It was JUDITH. The Book of Judith is one of the so-called “apocryphal books,” that is, it is one of the 7 books in the “Catholic Bible” that are not in the Bible most non-Catholics use – the King James Version or similar translations. Who, then, was Judith?

The book of Judith (← Check it out!) is regarded by modern scholars as a work of historical fiction – a docudrama in current terms – and it draws information from disparate times, places, and persons. The name of the main character, Judith, is the first clue to it’s unique formation. Judith means “Jewess” aka “Jewish woman.” It is cast during the time of Nebuchadnezzar. There are other characters included which do not fit that timeline. Judith is a virtuous widow who is portrayed as a faithful, brave, resourceful, and attractive woman (as in drop-dead gorgeous). Her home town is “Bethulia.” She boldly steps forward to say she can, with God’s help, defeat the enemy and save Bethulia.

Bethulia was an imaginary city that was endowed with a theophoric name for the purposes of a historical-romance novella. The construction of the name could be a theomorphic portmanteau of “Beth” – house, and Betulah – a woman set apart, such as a virgin or a widow. Bethulia, then, is the house (home) of a woman set apart – i.e., a chaste widow. Bethulia is under siege by Holofernes (hah-lah-FUR-neez), an Assyrian general intent on capturing Bethulia because of its strategic location near Jerusalem and the hills of Judea. The town was in bad straits and on the verge of surrender, when Judith says she can save the town.

She put on all her finest apparel, jewelry, got a swanky hairdo, and went out with her maid (and coconspirator) to meet with Holofernes. Holofernes had been hard at war for a long time, and the attention of a gorgeous woman was very appealing. She and her maid were admitted to his tent, and she assured him she would lead him through Jerusalem and into Judea. She ended up staying three days and nights, all the while using her own provisions and only pretending the match Holofernes’s copious consumption of strong wine. In the middle of the night she would get up, go back into town, bathe, and pray for God’s guidance and protection. On the 4^th day of her infiltration into his camp, he threw a big banquet for just the servants (no officers invited!).

The beguiled general got “totally plastered” and passed out. Everyone else left and she was alone with Holofernes in the sleeping area. She said a quick prayer of courageous love of God and Country. She went to the top of the bed where his sword was hanging, pulled it out, took a mighty swing, and cut off his head. She had her maid put his head in the basket they used for bringing provisions into the camp, and hustled back to Bethulia. Once inside the gate, she pulled out the head and declared victory over the encroaching Assyrians. She kept her promise to Holofernes because she said she would “lead him through Jerusalem and into Judea. That’s exactly where his head went!

That’s all for today adelphos. Tune in next week for more Bible study and a new Person of the Week. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Be at peace in the Hope found in the Spirit of God (↔ Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.

2506AFC020735 – The sinners and their Angels

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Psalm 138:1 – (CPDV) – ¹ Of David himself. O Lord, I will confess to you with my whole heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth. I will sing psalms to you in the sight of the Angels. (Check this Bible version out. It’s a great source and it is FREE!)

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! It was tempting today to grab the concept of “fishers of men” for this post, but when I tried to start that Someone said something like, “Nope. We’re going to go with Angels this week.” OK, some changes had to be made. That said, here we go!

About the picture: Imagine that each dot is a set of 10,000 pages that look like this one in the image above, and that each dot on each page represents one angel. That’s a beginning. Then imagine a Google of Googles (one Google is 6.023×10^23 individuals) of such collections of 10000 pages, and well, that’s still just a beginning. Now, think about all of those angels singing with you, “Holy. Holy. Holy LORD, God of power and might. Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory! Hosanna in the Highest!…

All of us can most likely remember hearing the following passages:
 Isaiah 6:3 – ³ And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Revelation 4:8 – ⁸ And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come.”

Luke 2:13-14 – ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,* praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

I want to share with you a lyric of a tune I wrote in 2006. It’s based on my favorite Psalm, Psalm 138. The melody is in the genre of four-part gospel harmony as you would hear from groups like The Florida Boys. Anyway, I’m trying to memorize it because it’s fun to sing. If you get a chance, look up Psalm 138 and read it for yourself. I just love the idea of standing with the angels and lifting up my hands to praise God. That’s quite a picture! So, enough of that. Here are the lyrics. Have a great weekend, beloved, and maybe you can make up your own tune for this little ditty! In my version, the chorus and the verse use the same tune, so that makes it easier to sing.

CHORUS:

In the presence of the Angels I will sing your praise.
I will lift up my hands And I will bless your holy name.
I will bow down before You And your Temple on High.
I will sing of your promises, Your faithfulness and love.

1: I know that you hear me Every time I pray.
You strengthen my heart And you get me through the day.
All of Earth’s Kings and Princes And Peoples of  all lands
Praise your Name for your Promises. They shout, and clap their hands.
And …: Chorus

2: Father, God Almighty, I live safely in your care.
The proud and the wicked You point out everywhere.
You bless the meek and lowly, And fill them with your Light.
To the fury of my enemies You lead me in my fight.
So …: Chorus

3: Though danger’s all around me, And enemies close in
Your strong right hand will save me. You are with me to the end.
Your love endures forever! You will not abandon me!
I will sing your praise forever In eternal harmony!
For …: Chorus

Did you know that when you sing praise to God, the Angels join in? They already know all the words and melodies! Next time you sing “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, Lord God of Hosts …” listen for the angels – in particular your angel – then imagine singing with a google of googles of angels singing with you. Our Guardian Angels are right by each and every one of us as we sing our praises to God. Our Guardian Angels? Of course! In the Common Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the Priest says, “And so with the Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominions, and with all the hosts and Powers of Heaven. We sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and Earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest Blesséd is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Now, Imagine you could look into that Throne Room and see THIS! 

Art used by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992, 2002. To order prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://revelationillustrated.com. Contact us and let us know which one you need to use. If you wish to use more than one, you should purchase the 40 image CD .You will also be required to add a right-click copy protection code to each image. For use as wallpaper on your computer, just let us know which one you need. For use as a screensaver, please go here where you can get information on the new “Revelation Illustrated” screensaver program. Now, let’s pick up that asterisk in the Key Verse from Luke.
* There is a special word used to describe “the heavenly host.” That Greek word is “stratia” (στρατιά) primarily refers to an organized group of soldiers, an army, or a host. In the New Testament, it is often used metaphorically to describe the heavenly host or the angelic armies of God. The term conveys the idea of a structured and powerful force, often under divine command. In Jewish and early Christian thought, the heavenly host was seen as a divine army led by God, ready to execute His will. This imagery is rooted in the Old Testament, where God is often depicted as a warrior leading His people to victory. When we say,” God of Hosts,” that’s not limited to just the Warrior Angels of the Army of God. In that phrase, “hosts” means EVERY thing God created! From strings and quarks, and quasars to galaxies and worlds and moons, to Dick and Jane and Spot and Puff, and even you and me.

Yes! God created the universe out of Love for Love because God IS love. And God Loves you, Loves me, Loves all of us so much that he chose to include us in his Absolutely Perfect Plan! Please remember that and let it inspire your Praise when you give God the Glory.

Now, I want to share a brief look at someone who was a very unlikely hero in the history of Israel, a brave, clever, woman named Jael [Jael (/ˈdʒeɪəl/) or Yael (/ˈjeɪəl/’ Hebrew: יָעֵל Yāʿēl)]. You can find her story in the book of Judges 4-5. There we learn about Canaanite King name Jabin from the region of Galilee who harassed and oppressed Israel for 20 years. His commander-in-chief was a general f his army whose name as Sisera. Also at that time there was a prophetess named Deborah who told the leader of Israel’s forces, Barak, that on a certain day, God would deliver Isreal from Jabin. Barak was to take 10,000 soldiers and attack Sisera’s forces from a position on Mount Tabor. Barak won a decisive battle, but Sisera jumped out of his iron war-chariot and slipped away. All of his subordinates were slain by Barak.

Sisera ran away on foot to Kedesh, which was west of the Sea of Galilee. Jael saw him – and of course she recognized him because he’d been around for so many years causing trouble – and she invited him to hide in the tent of her husband, Heber the Kenite. The Kenites were decedents of Moses’ father-in-law (Jethro). Heber’s clan had separated from the territory of the Kenites and had negotiated a treaty with the enemy king, Jabin. Sisera apparently knew this and felt safe to hide in that tent. Jael gave him a skin of milk when he asked for something to quench his thirst. He was worn out from the battle and wanted to rest, so Jael covered him with a rug or a blanket by which he apparently felt she was concealing him. He eventually fell asleep, and as he slept, Jael picked up a tent peg and – hammered it through his temple, right through his head, and straight into the ground!

Soon thereafter, Barak, the Israelite commander came to that area looking for Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and told him to come see where Sisera could be found. In Judges 4:23 we read – ²³ So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. Chapter 5 of Judges is the Song (canticle) of Deborah celebrating the act of Jael and the end of Jabin’s oppressions. That glorious song ends in Judges 5:31 –
³¹ “So perish all your enemies, O Lord!
    But may your friends be like the sun as it rises in its might.”

This clever, brave woman, Jael, was not a warrior, not a leader in Israel, her husband was a collaborator with their enemy, and yet God chose her to deliver Israel from their oppressor. He chose to prepare her for that brave act in the same moment he said “Let there be …” in the same way that he chose to create you and me – because of Love. Because of Love, he also sent his Only Begotten Son to suffer and die for the sins of the World which is supposed to be part of the Hosts of God and should be praising him forever. When sin entered into our history, God’s Love was nailed to the Cross to end the oppression of the Devil; that oppression is sin and Death. That is the magnitude and majesty of God’s Grace. In §388 the CCC shows us, “We must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin. The Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the risen Christ, came to “convict the world concerning sin” by revealing him who is its Redeemer.” (↔ Music Link)

Will you, will I, will we be willing to be like Jael – an unlikely choice for an important job – and live according to God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan and not our own? Remember, sin is rebellion against God. We sin when our actions say, “God I know what you want, but I don’t want that. I want what I want.” Are we willing to do all that we ought to do instead of all that we can do? Can we, will we give Primacy to our Creator instead of his creation? Will we say, “God my Father, I want what you want, and only what you want.”? Jael, Deborah, and Barak did what God wanted. Sisera didn’t. perhaps next week we can look into the actions of Judith.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

2504AFC012425 – A Promise is a promise! 😀 ← PODCAST LINK  

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

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Luke 4:14-15 –¹⁴ Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Today’s key verse is from the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this passage, we see that – at the beginning of his ministry – Jesus was “knockin’ it outta the park.” He has returned to his home town, Nazareth. He got up to read from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah “where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” Here is that passage for your inspection:

Luke 4:16-21 – ¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

 ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is what Jesus read from that scroll:

Isaiah 61:1-2 ^a (GNT) [1] – ¹ The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor …

What promise was fulfilled in their presence? The covenant Promise of a Savior. There are successive covenant expansions, but only One Promise supported by every step in the covenantal progression: A Saviour will restore us into the presence of God. Now that I am an Old Man, I find that my patience for many things is either waning or missing altogether. I know and understand that this One Promise is the warp and weave of the whole fabric of my life. You’ve seen this phrase in many of these posts: Maran atha! Marana tha! Our Lord has come! Come Lord! This happens whenever I forget the best lesson I learned in Navajo Country. Wait patiently in patient waiting.           Huh? Here’s what I mean:

Hebrews 6:15 – ¹⁵ And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.

James 5:7-8 – ⁷ Be patient, therefore, belovéd, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

2 Peter 3:3-9 – ³ First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” ⁵ They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, ⁶ through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. ⁷ But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

   ⁸ But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you*, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. * Some translations read “on your account,” or “for your sake” and YES, he is coming back! As far as we know Jesus and his Mother were the last persons to be bodily taken up into Heaven. Have you any idea who was the first? Here’s a clue. The first time we hear about him is in Genesis 5:18-24 – ¹⁸ When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years; and he died.
²¹ When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

Enoch was also the name of a son of Cain (See Genesis 4:17-18). The name “Enoch” occurs about 14 times in the Bible (depending on which translation your consult; we use the NRSVCE) [i] Here is a quick list (without hyperlinks): Genesis 4:17, Genesis 4:18, Genesis 5:18, Genesis 5:19, Genesis 5:21, Genesis 5:22, Genesis 5:23, Genesis 5:24, 1 Corinthians 1:3, Sirach 44:16, Sirach 49:18, Luke 3:37, Hebrews 11:5, and Jude 1:14. The references in the New Testament are particularly important as they refer to Enoch the son of Jared who was of the sixth generation from Adam through the line of Seth, Adam’s third son. The name Seth means “compensation.” Eve named him that because he was “compensation for the los of Abel whom Cain had murdered. That’s is where Enoch fits into the Bible timeline. Now, why is he the Person of the Week?

Take another look at the last verse in that passage from Genesis 5. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him. In several of the passages from Genesis in the above list, Enoch is described as on who “walked with the Lord.” You might recall a couple who did that a few generations previously: Eve and Adam. In Genesis 3:8, we read that Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze” and we infer from that that God visited them in Eden before they chose to rebel against his command to not eat of that forbidden fruit. (Remember: The Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is Free Will which allows us to choose Life of Death.) Enoch ben Jared pleased God and intimately walked with him. In Hebrews 11:5 The Apostle Paul tells us, For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” God did not walk with Eve and Adam after they sinned but there is speculation that he did. Enoch walked with God, that is was obedient and reverent and always in God’s presence. He was taken up and was not found again. Nor has he returned to this Earth.

We should also be aware that there is an apocryphal “Book of Enoch” which was a very popular and well-known sort of reference book in the time of Jesus. It contains many inconsistencies, a lot of questionable prophesies, and is excluded from the canonical collections of nearly all 23 Rites in union with the Roman Catholic Church except for the Coptic Rite. The references to Enoch in the Epistles refer to that well-know document, however those references do NOT recommend its inclusion in Church Liturgy or the Canon of Scripture. It is used as an example to illustrate and to strengthen his argument against false teaching – heresy – and not as an endorsement of the content. It would be like referring to Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the Story of Faithful John (↔ Learning Link)  as a reference for losing everything to gain enduring happiness when all is returned.

Now, what is the connection between today’s Key Verse and the information about Enoch? It is the Promise. Enoch made his life a persistent and continuous (↔ Music Link) Gift to God and – and as example to all who aspire to join Our Father in Heaven – God demonstrates that he gathers up those you love justice, show mercy, and walk humbly before him (yup. Micah 6:8 – AGAIN!) will ultimately get to meet Enoch (and a handful of other “translated” folks) in Heaven. (↔ Music Link)This is the Jubilee Year of Hope, and that Hope of Heaven is too good to pass up. “As for me and my house” we’re gonna try to walk with God (↔ Music Link). Can I get and AMEN there?

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[i] New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.

2503AFC011725 – The First of Many  😀 ← PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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 John 2:5, 11 – ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today we take a few moments to look at Jesus’ first recorded miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee. It is the conversion of water to wine (↔ Music Link) – and not just a glass or two of wine! John tells us “Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.“

The Greek word used here makes this measure quite impressive. The word is μετρητής (metrétés) {met-ray-tace’} – a measure equivalent to about 39.39 liters or 8.75 gallons. The Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV) describes the jars as “containing two or three firkins apiece.” What’s a firkin? A “firkin” in terms of size, is equal to 9 imperial gallons, which is 10.8 US gallons; 2-3 firkins then would be 21.6 to 31.8 gallons and average of 26.7 gallons. SIX of those would come to just over 160 gallons of first-class wine! When Jesus sent the servants to the wine, the headwaiter was amazed at the quality. Not only had Jesus supplied in quantity, but also in quality! That is how he does everything when we do what he tells us. And there’s something else, too. He used just simple things even at a BIG wedding.

 The wedding was nearby Capernaum where Jesus and his family and disciples had moved after he started his ministry. (See Matthew 9:1 and Mark 2:1) His mom had just said, “They are out of wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” He called her אִשָּׁה (ishshah) {ish-shaw’} – woman, as the first Adam had called Eve. (See Genesis 2:23 – ²³ Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman [אִשָּׁה] for out of Man [אִישׁ] this one was taken.” It was a respectful way to address his Mother. Simple questions are wonderful when followed by simple words and simple actions. “Do whatever he tells you.” The servants did what servants do – they served by obeying. They had simple things around them – stone jars, water nearby, and they fetched it. They topped off the stone jars as told in the simple command, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the brim – they did their part to the best of their ability. Then Jesus did his part to the best of his ability – and the miracle happened. He made 160 gallons of water into 160 gallons of wine. (We don’t know if it was Chablis or Merlot – or even what color or taste it had – because that is unimportant.) Ordinary things done in ordinary ways become extraordinary when we do what he tells us.

Jesus’ first miracle – the first of many, many, many – took place at the uniting of a man and woman in matrimony as God intended, and still intends, from Eden to this very moment. It began with water, the same way that Creation began. Jesus’ Presence changed the water to something new and better. We can experience the change to new and better if we only respond as he did to the words, “Do whatever he tells you.” That brings us to the story of someone else who did whatever God told him – except a couple of times when he did not, and we are still paying for that today. His name was אַבְרָם Avrahm – Abram – and later he became “My Old Friend Abraham.”

We first come across that name in Genesis 11:26 – ²⁶ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah was a direct descendant of Shem, one of the sons of Noah. The following verse, verse 28, tells us that Abram’s younger brother, Haran, died early in his birthplace – “Ur of the Chaldees.” Abraham started off as Abram, a princely warrior from “Ur of the Chaldees.” The Bible puts him 12 generations from Adam, and 10 generations from Noah. God told him to get up and move across a vast distance to a land God would show him, and give to his descendants, a land where he would become the father of many nations. He did whatever God told him. In Genesis 17:1, God revealed he was El Shaddai – Almighty God, and told Abram to walk before (as in front of) and to always do what is right. Please read that passage to get the context. (Yep. First occurrence of “Do the right thing.” Check it out!). Soon thereafter, he entered into a covenant with God and throughout his remaining life he did some pretty amazing things. One of the things God called upon him to do was to sacrifice his belovéd son Isaac. Most of us remember the story.

God told Abraham to take Isaac to the top of a distant mountain. Isaac was to carry the wood for the burnt offering. Abraham prepared the altar, bound Isaac, and was prepared to kill him there. His reasoning was that God had promised him he would be the father of many nations; that God could be trusted to keep his promise; that even though it made no worldly sense to kill his son and his progeny, God would provide a way to keep his promise. As Abraham raised the knife to take Isaac’s life, a messenger of God told him to stop. He had proved his faith. Another suitable sacrifice was provided – a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. Isaac was redeemed, God’s promise was kept intact, and Abraham was ready for the next action God would request.

How could Abraham do that?! How did he have so much faith in God? How in the world was he prepared to take his own son’s life? And there we have it, the word that sets Abraham apart from us: Prepared. Abraham was prepared to “Do whatever he tells you.” What is the nature of that preparation? Did you read that passage I just asked you to read? It ends with “walk before me, and be blameless.” Does that sound familiar? Check this out:

• MATTHEW 5:48 – So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
• LXX (English) Leviticus 19:2 Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.”
• Leviticus 20:7 — So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
• AKJV Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
• NIV Luke 6:36 – Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
• NJB 1 Peter 1:16 since scripture says, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’

Our sinful nature insists that we can do what we want to do, and then looks to our imagination to see what our inclinations might be. As we all well know, that is the wrong reference source. When we look to our own imaginations, we confirm what God first stated when he saw how utterly wrong and confused. We see it in Genesis 6:5 – ⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. How? How can we change that: hark to the Word!

• Ecclesiastes 10:2 – ² The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
• Isaiah 30:21 – ²¹ And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
• Jeremiah 6:16 – ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
  But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
• Matthew 17:5 – ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

See that design up by the Key Verse? Each line is made of thousands and thousands of points. Each space has room for thousands of more lines. You may recall that in the New Testament, the Greek word usually translated ”many” (pollōn) (↔ Learning Link) actually means multitudes. If we look at the design, it draws one’s eyes to the center. Think about that being Ur of the Chaldees and the origin of Abram’s journeys, then think about the multitudes and multitudes of souls descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham’s children were the first of multitudes of offspring; 160 gallons of wine was the first of multitudes of miracles. That Key Verse symbol is emblematic of the many Miracles Jesus performed which all started with 6 ceremonial stone jars brimming with abundant and exceptional blessings from the Lord of the Universe. That’s how God does things – the biggest and the best from the lowliest and least. All of that comes to us in the Life he gives. Our God-given Life is the First of Many Blessings, Healings, Miracles, Answers, Joys, … well, you get the idea. All because we choose to do whatever he says. Amen.

And here’s something the cogitate with: Sum up the Bible and ALL of history in a single word.

That Word is

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

2502AFC011025 – “Y” is for YES 😀 ← PODCAST LINK   Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

 Matthew 3:15 – ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way*to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.*  οὕτω[ς] (houtō and houtós) {hoo’-to[s]} like this |__| ; in this manner, in this way (fashion), in accordance with this description (i.e. corresponding to what follows); in keeping with; along this line, in the manner spoken; in this way, thus(ly)

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This coming Sunday, many churches around the world will be celebrating The Baptism of The Lord. Sometimes this event gets confused with other events in Jesus’ life. Some folks think it has something to do with last week’s celebration of the Epiphany. Some think it might be concurrent with the visit to the Temple at the Purification of Mary. A few believe it happened when Jesus was an adult, and they are right. Just for the sake of clarity, let’s look at a timeline based on what we read in the synoptic Gospels. Remember, there are no precise dates given there, so everything happened “around [this year].” Here is a sequence of some of the important events before Jesus started his ministry:

• Birth – At Bethlehem during the lambing season
• Circumcision – eight days later
• Presentation – on the fortieth day after birth – Purification of Mary and Jesus’ presentation at Jerusalem
• Visitation of the Magi – Jesus was not yet two years old
• Massacre of all male infants under age 2 “in and around Bethlehem”
• Flight to Egypt – around age 2
• Herod the Great dies – Jesus is around age 4, and then
  • Herod Archelaus {ar-khel’-ah-os} takes over Judaea, Idumaea, and Samaria
  • Herod Antipas takes over Galilee and Peraea
  • The non-Jewish areas (except Samaria) were assigned to a third son, Philip, to Herod’s sister Salome, or to the province of Syria
• Joseph is counseled by an angel that it is safe to return home
• The Holy Family settles in Nazareth to avoid living in the territory ruled by Archelaus – Jesus is perhaps age 5
• Lost at the Temple – around age 12
• John the Baptist and Jesus begin their ministries around 27-30 AD. No precise date is known
• John BAPTIZES JESUS
• John proclaims Jesus is “the Lamb of God.”
• Jesus retreats to the desert for 40 days of preparation and temptation (See Mark 1:12-13)
• Jesus calls Andrew, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael as Apostles
• Wedding at Cana and Jesus begins baptizing, preaching, and teaching.

 Now, another thing that brings us to wonder “why did he do that?” is Jesus’ insistence that John baptize him. After all, he is the Messiah- the King of Glory! – at whose name every knee shall bow, (↔ Music Link) and John knows that. He is The Son of God, and both Jesus and John know that, too. So how can a mere man who is unworthy to carry Jesus’ sandals (or tie or untie them), a man sent as a Prophet in the Spirit of Elijah, or a man who is lesser because he is mortal and his cousin is immortal having existed since before creation and who was present at Creation – how can this mortal man we worthy to Baptize the sinless Son of God as a sign of righteousness? Jesus in effect tells him, “This is the way Dad wants it done, so let’s just do it.” The key to understanding that well is in that little phrase in this way

I’ll put that note about our Key Verse here for us to use again: οὕτω[ς] (houtō and houtós) {hoo’-to[s]} like this. . .; in this manner, in this way (fashion), in accordance with this description (i.e. corresponding to what follows); in keeping with; along this line, in the manner spoken; in this way, thus(ly). To what does “thusly” or “in this way” refer? The answer to that question will help us understand why Jesus insisted on John’s cooperation: The importance of a spirit of obedient submission to the will of The Father. “We need to do this together. Both of us need to do what God is expecting of us. It is the proper thing to do to complete every aspect of righteousness. Your responsibility is to baptize. My responsibility is to let you.”

We want to remember that when it comes to salvation, our responsibility is to believe God – not just believe in him – actually believe what he says; he will redeem us. We must let God BE God. This is a hard lesson to learn. The Being who forgot it first was Lucifer. Don’t be like Lucifer. Remember: God is God. We are not. It takes humility to remember that. Humility is another tough lesson (which led to the downfall of that other guy, right?) But, we have an example of humility that is absolutely extraordinary, and that  brings us to the Person of the Week – Our Mother, Mary. (↔ Music Link)

As with Jesus’ timeline, we don’t have any particular dates for Mary’s life. Tradition relates that she was the child of Joachim and Anne. This information is not in the Canon of the Bible, but appears about 150 years after Jesus’ time in the noncanonical Gospel of James. Sacred Tradition discloses that she was an obedient child filled with Love and Reverence for God. We can gain some insight into the life of Mary by looking at her name and the names of her ancestors.

The name ”Mary” is derived from the Hebrew name Miriam. Now, we know that the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. Who was Miriam in the Old Testament?

• She was the daughter of Jochebed (her name means “Jehovah is glory”) and Amram (his name means “exalted people”)
• She was the eldest of three children born in Egypt to this couple. Her brothers were Moses (his name means “drawn forth”) and Aaron (his name possibly means  “light bringer” or “Mountain of strength,” however, the derivation is uncertain)
• The name Miriam comes from the Hebrew word for bitter – mar (masc.) or marah (fem). (See Exodus 15:20-27) Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses’ authority to prophesy. This act of rebellion caused the Lord to meet directly with the three siblings, to ratify Moses’ authority, and to cause Miriam to receive leprose-looking skin.
  • The name Miriam is translatable as “rebellion,” or “bitterness.” More on this momentarily.

The name “Mary” was a fairly common name in Jesus’ time. There are several women in the Bible with that name:
Mary: (1) mother of Jesus; (2) the younger sister of Martha and Lazarus; (3) Mary Magdalene “The Apostle to the Apostles;” (4) the mother of James and Joseph; (5) the wife of Clzopas (John 19:25); (6) mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12); (7) an otherwise unidentified Christian greeted by The Apostle Paul in Romans 16:6

Now, if we look back at these names and consider others like Abram and Abraham (future features), we see it is true that often a person’s names hinted at their destiny and personality. Yet, this does not seem to be the case with Μαρία or Μαριάμ as is her name in Greek in the New Testament. In fact, she is the precise and literal opposite of rebellion.
Because, why?
Well, I have not seen this in the Apostolic or Nicene Creeds, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or any other authoritative source. This is just my puny little opinion which helps me gain a deeper appreciation of Mary’s importance as an Exemplar (Paradigm, Archetype, Ideal) in Scripture.

•  Now, if Mary is derived from the name Miriam which means bitterness and/or rebellion (after the rebellion after the place Massah, and Meribah where the people grumbled bitterly about God), how does that name apply in the Annunciation?
• When the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, her response was an unconditional YES as she willingly and completely submitted to God’s will without bitterness or rebellion.  Rebellion was overcome by obedience. Disillusionment was overcome by joy. Death was overcome by life. Darkness was overcome by light, and doubt was overcome by faith in a simple “yes.”
• Her reverence for God and her impeccable humility allowed her to completely surrender to great risks – the possibility f divorce, a trial. Possibly even death by stoning! Like our Old Friend Abraham, she reasoned that God could be trusted to do what he said. Abraham believed God could complete his covenant with him even if he sacrificed his son. Mary believed she could bear a child who would be called AND ACTUALLY BE the Only Begotten Son of God.
• Thus, “rebellion” was “overcome” by OBEDIENCE out of Grace-based Love of the Father. Indeed we can and should echo Gabriel’s greeting “Hail full of Grace!” (↔ Music Link)

Mary’s Son, Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, also showed us complete and entire surrender through the Grace of Absolute Faith and acceptance of the Will of God. At his Baptism by John the Baptizer, Jesus is seen and heard as the Trinity now present to the Earth. His YES there means a serious interruption to the rule of The Prince of the Air – ha-Satan! At his birth, he shed all Power and Glory of his Eternal Origin and – with his humble and obedient parents – submitted to a life of poverty, loss, and suffering by willingly accepting his destiny as Jesus – the Promised Savior – through death on the Cross. Mary shows us that we can overcome the rebellion that is built into us through Original Sin. She, “The Second Eve,” the “Ark of the New Covenant,” gives us HOPE that we, too, can give our assent to complete surrender. By her YES she knew the Holiness of God surrounding (↔ Music Link) her as the Son of God rested in her womb. The Rebellion at Eden is vanquished in the Sacrifice at Golgotha. Let us prepare our hearts and minds to go there with Jesus, his Mother, and the other Marys who were faithful to him to the end. Surely she who is filled with Grace through the Power of the Holy Spirit was chosen by the Father for the Son from all women to be the Beginning of the End. (↔ Learning Link)

Belovéd! Should not we also surrender everything so that we may receive God’s All?

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

2501AFC010325 – #4358 😀 ← PODCAST LINK   

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

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Matthew 2:5-6 – ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ¡Que la bendición esté siempre con ustedes y que Dios los bendiga, Amados! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd!)

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This week we begin something new – dare we call it a hybrid study? We’re going to look at something from the Scriptures for the Epiphany of the Lord celebrated this coming Sunday, and then we will look at the first of our Persons in the Bible installments. I’ve never done this before so it is something new, and perhaps we can do that together. This is the time of year when many of us resolve to start new things to which we aspire, resume old things we’ve neglected, or eliminate burdensome things we don’t really need any longer. We make those waffle-prone New Year’s Resolutions that often last less than six weeks. I hope this endeavor will be in the first category of useful aspirations.

The Scripture for today’s short (we hope) meditation quotes a passage from Matthew which in turn quotes from Micah 5:2 –
² But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.
That last phrase, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” connotes the eternal aspect of God – eventually revealed as Trinity – and signifies the fulfillment of the promise to David of a Ruler who would govern Israel forever. John the Baptizer later told us that Jesus was from “forever” when he stated Jesus was grater than he because Jesus preceded him (even though John the Baptizer was conceived before Jesus was).

Here we see that God does not always, – in fact, rarely – chooses the greatest and best to lead his people. He chooses the least likely, the lowest esteemed, the most humble to carry out his will. We have only to look to the last section of Sunday’s Gospel and see that the Magi (plural of Magus Latin for “magician” – Persian Priests of Zoroaster) “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”

And so we have the Epiphany – the Showing Forth, the First Manifestation of Jesus, the Christ of God conceived and born of human flesh and Divine Nature – and we see that first this little baby whom the Angels call “Christ the Lord” (See Luke 2:11) is visited and seen by shepherds, among the lest respected persons in Israel, and then to men who were Priests and great kings (presumedly) of Pagans from the nations of the Gentiles. This signifies he is to be a King of all kings and Lord of all lords. We see this designation in 1 Timothy 6:13-15 – ¹³ In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is also our charge, our duty, our kuleana (Hawaiʻian: responsibility). We are pledged to and serve Jesus who is Emmanual (↔ Music Link)

And we have just encountered the first  of the Persons in the Bible which we will study – Jesus.

We begin with the bold declaration of The Apostle Peter in Acts 4:12 – ¹² There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. You may recall that in ancient times a name was a key to a person’s life. It was as much a title as it was a designation for recognition. In ancient Israel – and to this very day – Jews do not pronounce the name the Lord gave to Moses at the Burning Bush. They will refer to him as Adonai (the Lord) or call him by ha-Shem (the Name). When the Name of God is invoked in any form, ALL of God is invoked. The Trinity is called up, and no member of the Trinity acts alone but rather all act in unison. This also means that all the ways – or names – by which we know and call God are also invoked. In these messages we have referred often to El Shaddai-Olam, Almighty, Everliving God, ha-Ruach, ruach ha-kodesh (Holy Spirit), and several other characteristics like his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation.

In like manner, ALL of Jesus’ names titles, and characteristics are invoked together in the name Jesus. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church at paragraph 2666 we read:

CCC 2666

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. the divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” “YHWH saves.”
The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. (My emphasis added)

What did the Disciples call him? Probably Yeshua (yeh-SHU-ah) which means “Jehovah is Salvation,” or God saves.” It is similar to – actually synonymous with – Yehoshua, Joshua. Our Lord Jesus the Christ of God is not the only “Jesus” mentioned in our Bible. We also have Jesus Barabbas, Jesus ben Ananias, and Jesus ben Sirach. Our Savior would have been referred to legally as Yeshua ben Yoceph meaning Jesus son of Joseph. Joseph was the name Rachel gave to her son. The name is derived from the Hebrew root יָסַף (yasaph), meaning “to add” or “to increase,” and Rachel’s exclamation at his birth was “May the LORD add to me another son.” (See Genesis 30:24) The Lord God granted that prayer for he and she gave birth to Benjamin. Regrettably she died in childbirth as he was born.

As with his Heavenly Father, Jesus had many titular names. I strongly encourage you to explore and learn to pray The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. As you do this, you will find that you, too, know Jesus in many ways, and you might even come up with some titles of you own for how he has influenced your life. Please try that this week.

Next week we will take another briefer look at the Scriptures associated with The Baptism of the Lord (and the Christmas season will be over that following Monday). We will also choose another name from the Bible and get better acquainted with him/her. Please give me some feedback about this first issue of the new format. God bless you always and all ways.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

2452AFC122924 – A Family of Love← 🙂 PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

This is the last post for the year 2024. (Hey! Who said “Hooray!”?) In this post we will give you almost entirely Scripture. The Word speaks for itself. If you will patiently read all of these passages, you may find that a newer or stronger, or clearer feeling about Love and Family is growing in your heart and mind and spirit. As we begin next year we will frequently reference Pope Francis’ designation of 2025 as a Jubilee year. It is important that we learn more about that and why it is important for us to participate more fully in the events that unfold throughout the year.

Shortly after the first of the new Year we will upload the 1,000^th post on this site. I hope you will find that to be OK news and not just evidence of a guy who is blessed with the gift of gab – or blather. Our goal here is to help all of us be more aware of the content and meaning of Scripture (which is why this image is sort of a logo) as well as to understand the importance of our Traditions. One of the most important Traditions are the special Commemorative Feasts. We have one coming up this last Sunday in 2024 – the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

God established families, and marriage, and spousal fidelity and respect. As we have come to know over these past 997 posts, “all you need is Love.” Therefore, Belovéd, let us learn about Love, and learn it as family, as we share the Word of God. Next year we will feature Faces From the B.I.B.L.E. so stayed tuned for further information!

Sirach 3:1-4, 9 (GNT) [1]– ¹ Children, listen to me; I am your father. Do what I tell you and you will be safe, ² for the Lord has given fathers authority over their children and given children the obligation to obey their mothers. ³ If you respect your father, you can make up for your sins, ⁴ and if you honor your mother, you are earning great wealth. ⁹ When parents give their blessing, they give strength to their children’s homes, but when they curse their children, they destroy the very foundations.

John 15:9-17 – ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ I do not call you servants any longer, because the servantdoes not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷ I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

1 John 3:1 _a – ¹ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

1 John 3: 18-23 – ¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

John 1:12-13 – ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:16-19 – ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
¹⁷ “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

Colossians 3:14 – ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:14-21 – ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
¹⁸ Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.
²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart.

1 Peter 4:7-11 – ⁷ The end of all things is near, therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. ¹¹ Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

From The Didache – Διδαχή – διδαχή (say “DID-ah-key) – The teachings of the Apostles Chapter 1, Parts 1-3

1. There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, and there is a great difference between the two Ways.

• The way of life is this:” First, you shalt love the God who made thee, secondly, thy neighbor as thyself; and whatsoever thou wouldst not have done to thyself, do not thou to another.”

• Now, the teaching of these words is this: “Bless those that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those that persecute you. For what credit is it to you if you love those that love you? Do not even the heathen do the same?” But, for your part, “love those that hate you,” and you will have no enemy.

From our family to yours, we pray that Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love will enrich your lives in Christ Jesus always and all ways at all times in all things with ALL His Best Stuff!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.

2449AFC120624 – Advent Series 2 Year C – ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

“We should have been ready!”

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

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Philippians 1:9-11 – ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3:3-6 – ³ He [John the Baptizer] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled,
    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
    and the rough ways made smooth;
⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord. “You should’ve thought of that before we left!” We all remember hearing that as we piled into the car – or bus, or train, or tram, or church, or school (you get the picture). There are some things we just have to take care of before we get to the next thing and – more importantly – the main thing. And when the main thing comes, how often do we say, “I should’ve known … – to bring my boots, to go to the loo, to pack a sweater, get my swimsuit, call my Auntie, tell my sweetheart (spouse, children, pet[s] … ) I love them.” We should have known that yesterday, or tomorrow, or even today – for us, for me, for you – judgment will come. “I shoulda woulda coulda” will be of no help at all. Even “I am, I have, I did, I didn’t” will be ineffectual.

“We never heard that before.”
“How the heck did that happen?
“Why weren’t we told?” (↔ Music Link)

“I must’ve missed the memo.”
“The real problem around here is the lack of communication!”

And the Lord might say, “Yes, my children, I agree. Communication is a problem – it’s a two-way process and there’s a lot of static on your end so that you can’t hear me. I’ve been telling you ‘CONSTANT VIGILANCE,’ yet you’re so busy with  your idols that you don’t have time to watch.”

“But I was in church Sunday.”
“I’ve done my Five First Fridays and Seven First Saturdays.”
“You gotta take it easy on me. I’m having a hard time here, and you’re not helping me.”
“I was watching last week when that creepy vagrant came around looking for a hand out. I sure sent them packing! Too lazy to get a job, eh?”
“I think I heard that once in some homily maybe.”
“Ready for what – the signs clearly given in the Book of Revelation have not all been fulfilled, if we really believe all that stuff anyway, so I’ll wait in my own way and see what happens.”

Does this image seem shocking? Why would  I put something so negative here? Here is a phrase from our Key Verse: that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless. And there it is, to determine what is best, to know discernment. (↔ Learning Link) “Well, we know we’re not like them. They don’t even know who Jesus is. (↔ Music Link) This image certainly does not look like “The Pearly Gates,” does it. We know that Jesus talked about Hell often – over 150 times in the New Testament – but too many of us say, “Well, Hell isn’t really a thing, you know, because God is so merciful that Hell is empty (← Check it out!), but it most certainly is not. Now, even though The Catholic Church’s current status on the apparitions in Medjugorje is that it recognizes the spiritual value of the devotion, but does not judge the authenticity of the alleged apparitions, one of the dialogues with the children who were the Witnesses was recorded as: Vicka: “We saw many people in hell. Many are there already, and many more will go there when they die…The Blessed Mother says that those people who are in hell are there because they chose to go there. They wanted to go to Hell.” (← Check it out! Seriously, ← Check it out!)

We see that those people who are going to Hell just aren’t paying attention to what should be easily seen and heard: God is in charge, he is on his Throne, and HIS plan for our Eternity is both final and optional. From the days in Eden to the actual moment we are reading these words, we have been given a choice: get onboard or miss the boat. Remember the last time that happened, the one in the B.I.B.L.E. featuring Noah? (And not that ridiculous cinematic version!) We can choose to gain “more and more knowledge and full insight to help us to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ we may be pure and blameless,” or we can just ignore everything God has given us to know, to love, to obey, and to trust him. Last week we said there are no excuses. I left out this famous passage so I could put it in this post: Matthew 7:21-23 – Concerning Self-Deception – ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Note that the heading to that passage is Concerning Self-Deception. The passage is about self-deception, and self-deception is concerning as in disturbing.

There’s another choice, and the key to it is in our Key Verse from Luke: [John the Baptizer] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Here it comes again: Repent and believe the Gospel! “I’m already saved! I was Baptized and confirmed, when to Sunday School, I’ve got a Bible (somewhere), and I was Born Again right after my birthday in 1971! I’ve got nothing to worry about. I AM A CHILD OF HIS Grace!” I am glad you are that certain. May it be so for your eternal abode. It still might be well for us, though, to be the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

How do we know the will of our father in Heaven, unless we know what he wants by knowing what he has said – like in the first post for this Advent – and by getting ready – acknowledging our sins and repenting, confessing our sins and doing penance, avoiding sin and resisting the desire to be tempted, and seeking and accepting God’s pardon and forgiveness? Dearly Belovéd, we most definitely must work on the second half of Jesus’ admonition –Repent and believe the Gospel! Assuming we are sincerely humble and contrite and can sustain an effective repentance (even if we fail 1,000 times a day, we can still repent 1,001 times!), then we must truly believe the Gospel. There is a Hell, plenty of people are going there, and I don’t want you or me to be among them!

We should have known! We should have been ready! Next week we will see why we say, “It’s Gospel, Adelphos!”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com