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AnasAbdin

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Claire Keane

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Sweet Seals For You, Always
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Sade Olutola

#extradirty
$LAYYYTER
YOU ARE THE REASON

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@foundfaith
christ in the wilderness, ivan kramskoy
Matthew 4:1-2 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Luke 4:1-2 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
Adam and Eve in Worthy Paradise (1615) by Peter Paul Rubens
Genesis 2:21-25 (Message)
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.
-Solomon Dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem-
Amazing prayer and call to repentance, as well as a messianic message.
2nd Chronicles 6:12-7:4 (RSV)
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
“But will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee; that thy eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where thou hast promised to set thy name, that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive.
“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before thy altar in this house, then hear thou from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, requiting the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
“If thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, when they turn again and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house, then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them, then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance.
“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel, each knowing his own affliction, and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house; then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each whose heart thou knowest, according to all his ways (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men); that they may fear thee and walk in thy ways all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers.
“Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
“If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name, then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. “If they sin against thee—for there is no man who does not sin—and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly’; if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name, then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee. Now, O my God, let thy eyes be open and thy ears attentive to a prayer of this place.
“And now arise, O Lord God, and go to thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy might. Let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in thy goodness. O Lord God, do not turn away the face of thy anointed one! Remember thy steadfast love for David thy servant.”
(7) When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.”
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord.
St. Catherine of Siena Besieged by Demons, c. 1500, artist unknown
tempera and gold on panel
From the Franciscans:
If she was tempted to think that her visions made her someone special or better than others, she very soon learned that visions are not all sweetness and light. At one point in the three years of solitude in her cell, the sweet presence of Christ was replaced with demonic visions and voices, including vivid visions of naked couples copulating all around her cell. The buzzing in her ears, too, became so bad that she left her room and sought out churches where she could remain and pray without demonic oppression. But as soon as she returned home to her room, the demons would start assaulting and tempting her again. No doubling of her prayers and petitions helped. In the end, when she was about to succumb to complete exhaustion, she remembered to remember that she was the one who was not, and she threw herself upon the mercy of God, trusting wholly in her beloved—the One who is. She then told the demons to do with her as they pleased; she found them merely amusing! Almost immediately the demonic visions and voices began to diminish and disappear. Later in her life Catherine said that what was terrifying in this experience was not the presence of demons but that they were in her mind, and she did not yet know that she was not her mind. She was able to mock them at last because she could distance herself from her own thoughts. Thoughts change, but the center of who we are, the self, transcends and is more permanent than changeable, fleeting thoughts.
-The Archangel Raphael Taking Leave of the Tobit Family-
Tobit 5:1-16 (RSV)
Then Tobi′as answered him, “Father, I will do everything that you have commanded me; but how can I obtain the money when I do not know the man?” Then Tobit gave him the receipt, and said to him, “Find a man to go with you and I will pay him wages as long as I live; and go and get the money.” So he went to look for a man; and he found Raphael, who was an angel, but Tobi′as did not know it. Tobi′as said to him, “Can you go with me to Rages in Media? Are you acquainted with that region?” The angel replied, “I will go with you; I am familiar with the way, and I have stayed with our brother Gab′ael.” Then Tobi′as said to him, “Wait for me, and I shall tell my father.” And he said to him, “Go, and do not delay.” So he went in and said to his father, “I have found some one to go with me.” He said, “Call him to me, so that I may learn to what tribe he belongs, and whether he is a reliable man to go with you.”
So Tobi′as[c] invited him in; he entered and they greeted each other. Then Tobit said to him, “My brother, to what tribe and family do you belong? Tell me.” But he answered, “Are you looking for a tribe and a family or for a man whom you will pay to go with your son?” And Tobit said to him, “I should like to know, my brother, your people and your name.” He replied, “I am Azari′as the son of the great Anani′as, one of your relatives.” Then Tobit said to him, “You are welcome, my brother. Do not be angry with me because I tried to learn your tribe and family. You are a relative of mine, of a good and noble lineage. For I used to know Anani′as and Jathan, the sons of the great Shema′iah, when we went together to Jerusalem to worship and offered the first-born of our flocks and the tithes of our produce. They did not go astray in the error of our brethren. My brother, you come of good stock. But tell me, what wages am I to pay you—a drachma a day, and expenses for yourself as for my son? And besides, I will add to your wages if you both return safe and sound.” So they agreed to these terms.
Then he said to Tobi′as, “Get ready for the journey, and good success to you both.” So his son made the preparations for the journey. And his father said to him, “Go with this man; God who dwells in heaven will prosper your way, and may his angel attend you.” So they both went out and departed, and the young man’s dog was with them.
I appreciate your citation of John 8 in your reblog of the Mary Magdalene engraving. I wonder if you know the gospel song "Strange Man" which retells the "he who is without sin..." parable in its own way. It's a favorite of mine - https://youtu.be/5vkxN6moLPw?si=glUemncPktqzLm-i
That's lovely!
Coates is a treasure And one of my favorite stories in the new testament.
John 4:1-26, 39-42. (ESV)
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
...
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Dorothy Love Coates: He opened up his arms and took me in I found that same power, Lord My soul caught on fire I'm just glad He stopped by In Alabama, the Lord stopped by One Tuesday evening, I'm glad He stopped by Blessed my soul, and gone
The Penitent Magdalene. Tomo IV. Nuevo Testamento de Mateo a Apocalipsis. 1883 ed. Engraving by Gustave Doré.
Internet Archive
Unfortunately they pair this with John 8, which is an old misidentification with Mary Magdalene. BUT the whole book is amazing.
John 8: 1- 11 (ESV)
...but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Magnificat linocut by Sarah Fuller
Luke 1:47-55 (ESV)
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem by Gustave Doré
Matthew 21:1-11 (ESV)
The Triumphal Entry Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Follow the golden rule!
Bob Hope, master of all
To the Churches
Revelation 2-3
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the one who conquers -
(Ephesus) I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (after)
(Smyrna) Will not be hurt by the second death. (after)
(Pergamum) I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. (after)
(Thyatira) and keeps my works until the end, I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen pots are broken into pieces, even as I have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. (before)
(Sardis) will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (before)
(Philadelphia) I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (before)
(Laodicea) I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (before)
Wow! So much to ponder. Quotations from the ESV.
Just before the conqueror's blessing in 3:20 is the Christian wall art passage. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
Thomas Merton
"Both Christianity and Buddhism show that suffering remains inexplicable, most of all for the man who attempts to explain it in order to evade it, or who thinks explanation itself is an escape. Suffering is not a ‘ problem’ as if it were something we could stand outside of and control. Suffering, as both Christianity and Buddhism see, each in its own way, is part of our very ego-identity and empirical existence, and the only thing to do about it is to plunge right into the middle of contradiction and confusion in order to be transformed by what Zen calls ‘ the great death’ and Christianity calls ‘ dying and rising with Christ’." - Thomas Merton, Zen and the Birds of Appetite.
"Jacob Wrestling with the Angel", 1876. oil on canvas, 🎨 by Léon Bonnat.
Genesis 32:22-32 (ESV)
"The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh."
Always an issue when I was young, was he wrestling God or an angel? But in Hosea 12...
Hosea 12: 2-6 (ESV)
The Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us— the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name: “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”
Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey. Photograph by Daniel Ibanez, 2024
It is only God who creates. Man merely rearranges.