Only Jesus remains. The mission remains. Let’s finish it today. Megan, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
❤️

“Psalm 51

New King James Version

A Prayer of Repentance

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just ^[a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
⁹ Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
¹⁶ For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.”

Fiat! St. Joseph. Love. Forgiveness. Steadiness in the Love, Awe and Wonder of God.

The Clean Beginning Starts Right Now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

When I was drawn to Niles, Michigan to paint, play, commune and explore, I found Isaiah 35. In that it was clear to me that this passage was ever so powerful in the Mighty Hand of God and within this specific prophet. Isaiah, what a powerhouse for The Lord of Hosts. Obviously an understanding came to him alone that exceeded the expectations of those around him, with him and beyond the day to day existence. Isaiah. Brilliant. Forthright. Accompanied by the Heavens. Surely these words were meant for those who also are with The Lord. We are meant to standby YHWH, receive the Bread of Heaven and feed the people. It’s like the loaves. We receive word from God and send it out. What came in as one loaf is then received by the power of the Holy Spirit to us, within us and for the world. We are to be reminded that darkness does not have authority and that authority is the illusion. For us believers are trained by God’s Grace to stop, listen, receive and share. We are not meant to keep this bread for ourselves, as many people do. We are not meant to twist it to our own liking. We are meant to wait until we understand the full message before we right it and write it. Fiat. Psalm 51. That’s the message. Melting the hardened hearts of the world with faith, spiritual gifts and obedience to God’s Love. Receiving understanding, wisdom and knowledge but knowing without love it means nothing. Without love we are nothing. Without love the message can’t and won’t travel to all the ends of the Earth. It is our love for God that makes the word, the bread, reach those that are hungry. It is the love that pours out the Living Water for the world to drink. It is the love within us that guides us, stops us, wakes us up and turns our heads so that we may help turn others. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus is always the same. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, the message remains the same. Love God with all that you are and everything else flows from the Sanctuary. This is complimenting Ezekiel 47 and drying out what no longer needs water. The ol fig tree that just withers because our faith cuts it off. The mustard seed tree that grows in full and is shelter for those that come because of our faith. Faith is love for without love there is no place for faith. Love breeds faith. Love feeds the faithful and brings in harmony to all things. Our attention then becomes stronger. Our focus in being held becomes dominant and the trade of emotion for walking in the spirit becomes easy. We live to love and love to live because we see God. We know God. We trust God.
Clean Slate day for everyone that God intends it to be for.
in Jesus’ name. Amen.