Only Grace / Matthew West
There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace
I also woke from A DREAM: I was a student at a college. It was my last semester. I had four more classes to take and then I would graduate. One class was really difficult. It was scheduled last and late in the evening, too, like 11:30 p.m. I thought about taking something else, but I realized I had to take this class in order to graduate. I think it might have been some kind of math class.
When I went to the first class, someone told me there was an office for me near or next to another teacher’s office. Evidently I was not only a student, but I was also a teacher and I was to teach the same four classes I was being taught. I was really concerned about that last class and wondered if, perhaps, I could teach an easier subject for my fourth class.
The first class I taught was a Kindergarten class. The previous teacher had methods I did not approve of, but I was there to learn from him (observe) and then it would be my class. A mom made some homemade banana cake with white icing and brought it in for the teacher and the class, but she (or they) never offered me any even though there did seem to be some leftover that had fallen on its side.
Somewhere in here I misplaced my tennis shoes. I asked my husband if he had seen them. He pointed to a pair of dress shoes, but that isn’t what I wanted. I ended up wearing a pair of black loafers with rubber soles and square toes over my white athletic socks.
Then, I was the teacher of the Kindergarten class. One child needed to use the bathroom. I was concerned if I let her go in there alone that I might lose her. I asked if there was another door out of the bathroom. I don’t recall if I got a response. I remember going in to check on her and there was an older boy in there, too who was from another class. I was helping my student to wash her hands, and I reminded the boy to wash his hands, too.
I went to look for my office with my name printed on the door, but I could not find it. Someone suggested it might be across the hall. I had looked on the left side, so I needed to look on the right for the door with my name on it. END
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 27:
Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar
1 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 This is what the LORD said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters and say, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Tell this to your masters: 5 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
8 " ' "If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I destroy it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.' 10 They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the LORD." ' "
12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, "Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the LORD has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying lies to you. 15 'I have not sent them,' declares the LORD. 'They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.' "
16 Then I said to the priests and all these people, "This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, 'Very soon now the articles from the LORD's house will be brought back from Babylon.' They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD, let them plead with the LORD Almighty that the furnishings remaining in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. 19 For this is what the LORD Almighty says about the pillars, the Sea, the movable stands and the other furnishings that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem- 21 yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 'They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,' declares the LORD. 'Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.' "
Excite.com Daily Bible Verse for 9/21/08: John 17:15-17 (NIV):
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Possible relevant news stories:
$700B rescue plan may not save some troubled banks
Sep 20, 7:25 PM (ET) / By STEVENSON JACOBS
NEW YORK (AP) - A sweeping government plan to buy up to $700 billion in bad mortgages may not be enough to save some banks, which experts say may be forced to absorb big losses if they sell their troubled assets.
The proposal for the government to soak up the mortgage-backed securities would be the biggest bailout plan since the Great Depression, but experts say a critical issue will be how much it actually pays for the troubled assets…
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080920/D93AOEHG0.html
Exclusive: Foreign banks may get help
By MIKE ALLEN | 9/21/08 7:24 AM EDT
In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.
The theory, according to a participant in the negotiations, is that if the goal is to solve a liquidity crisis, it makes no sense to exclude banks that do a lot of lending in the United States… http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13690.html
Shoes/Boots/Sandals: To be alert; a person’s words; prepared to share the gospel (Eph. 6: 15; Ruth 4: 7; Josh. 5: 15; Gal. 5: 16; Luke 3: 16; Ex. 3: 5; 12: 11; Ruth 4: 7-8; Is. 5: 27; Du. 33: 25; Song 7: 1; 1 Kings 2: 5). Tennis Shoes: Running the race; comfort; Spiritually sports minded, like “playing games”; or “staying fit.” Need of Shoes: Mourning. Putting them on: Preparation for a journey. (Source: In a Dream In a Vision in the Night/ Susan Riddle).
My Understanding: The Lord is paralleling these black loafers with this yoke that he asked Jeremiah to put on. And, I believe the Lord is also paralleling this passage in Jeremiah 27 with Revelation 13 and 14:
• First beast given 42 months to exercise his authority – global ruler
• He was given power to make war against the saints; to conquer them
• All inhabitants of earth will worship him – all whose names have NOT been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life
• If anyone is to go into captivity or to be killed, that is where he will go
• This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on part of the saints
• Second beast will force everyone to receive a mark on RT hand or forehead
• No one can buy or sell unless he or she has this mark
• BUT… the saints will have the names of Jesus and God the Father on their foreheads
• They are not to worship the beast; they are not to receive his mark
• They are to continue to obey God’s commands and to remain faithful to Jesus
• They will be persecuted and many will be martyred for their faith in Christ (trading in tennis shoes for black loafers)
• Yet, they are not to revolt against Babylonian rule; they are not to fight against it, because it is God’s divine will
• God has the right to give the dominion of the earth to whomever he chooses
• God has appointed “Babylon” to execute his purpose of judgment
• God is the Administrator in the affairs of the nations
• Our Lord Jesus Christ will return one day and will come to the rescue
No comments:
Post a Comment