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THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS

Peter and John had had a good day.  As they were going to the temple to pray, they had encountered a man who was lame for 40 years sitting at the gate.  The man asked for a handout; but they gave him the gift of healing and salvation, and he went about walking and leaping.  Seeing what had happened, a great crowd gathered; and Peter, seizing the opportunity, preached to them about Jesus Christ.  Five thousand men believed and were converted to the faith.  It was a very good day!   Some of the religious leaders were grieved, however, that the Apostles taught the people about Jesus, and so they took them and cast them in prison.   The next day, they were brought before the rulers to answer for their actions.   When given the chance to speak, God anointed Peter again with words of salvation.   Scripture records, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and the...
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BE STILL AND KNOW

It is impossible to determine for certain the occasion for which the 46 th Psalm was written.   Some commentators believe that it was written after God delivered King Jehoshaphat from a great army of Moabites and Ammonites.   Others believe that it was written during King Hezekiah’s reign when the Assyrians under King Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem.   This we do know: this Psalm was written to encourage Israel to trust in the LORD Jehovah during difficult and frightening times, and Israel certainly had an abundance of those!     It is said that Psalms 46 gave Martin Luther much comfort and encouragement during the times that he faced fierce opposition to his preaching and ministry.   It is said that it was one of the portions of scripture that inspired the words to his hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God .       The psalm opens with these words of comfort and encouragement: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in troubl...
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REBUILDING THE WALLS

“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city ; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks .” (Isaiah 26:1).   I have been building a wall this summer.   It’s a retaining wall that borders the north side of a very large flower and shrub garden in our backyard.   We have a lilac bush, forsythia bush, spice bush, magic lilies, peonies, tulips, hyacinths, crocuses, daffodils, and irises all planted there.   The ground in this bed falls away about a foot or a foot and a half toward our backyard, so I thought a retaining wall would allow me to add dirt and level the surface to create better moisture retention and less erosion.     Some of the lessons that I have learned from this project are: a.) at 73 years old I don’t have as much stamina as I did when I was 53, or even 63;   b.) my body protests when I overexert it with too much lifting and digging by manifesting pain in muscles and tendons that I didn’t...
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