Psalm 140:1-3 Preserve me from violent men. Who plan social unrest in their hearts

 Psalm 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,

Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

Psalm 59:2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,

And save me from bloodthirsty men.

Jesus came to break down and eliminate the veil that separated us from the Father. He  came with shouts of peace, peace to the people on earth. It is finished. In His redemption of the human race He   unleashed the  power of Holy Spirit to battle against Satan and those who follow the way of violence.  Satan knows that his time will end. God never condones cruelty or violence done in His name and He will not be mocked. What evil men do in the dark, will be brought into the light of His truth. Holy Spirit will direct us and help us to be doers of the Word of God made flesh and not just hearers. Carla

Psalm 140:1-3

1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

Preserve me from violent men,

2 Who plan evil things in their hearts;

They continually gather together for war.

3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;

The poison of asps is under their lips. (NKJV)

The psalmist mentions violent people at several points (verses 1, 4, 11), including their words and schemes.

The Hebrew word used here for wars , milchamah, refers literally to close fighting or struggle, like hand-to-hand combat. Here, it seems to refer metaphorically to arguments and social strife.

They sharpen their tongue as sharp as a snake’s The words of the psalmist’s opponents are compared to poison or venom (chemah in Hebrew). Faithlife Study Bible

David cries out to the Lord for deliverance from the wicked, who continually harm the innocent. The words violent men are repeated in verse 4. The word violent describes people who are harsh and ruthless, who plan the destruction of the people. They are purposefully evil and will be satisfied only if they can participate in the destruction of God’s people. But God is always ready to deliver them from their grasp. The NKJV Study Bible

Psalm 17:13

Arise, O LORD,

Confront him, cast him down;

Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,

Psalm 18:48

He delivers me from my enemies.

You also lift me up above those who rise against me;

You have delivered me from the violent man.

Psalm 86:14

O God, the proud have risen against me,

And a mob of violent men have sought my life,

And have not set You before them.

While I sit on the back deck, the sun sets over the Kitsap Peninsula (the expanse of land west of Seattle and Puget Sound). The sky, as if batter poured from a pitcher, turns an effluence of slate blue and vermilion. Spires of hemlock are backlit and silhouetted like hand puppets on an immense screen. I stand for some unknown reason, singing, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog. Was a good friend of mine. I never understood a single word he said, But I helped him a-drink his wine. And he always had some mighty fine wine..." at the top of my lungs, and do a little boogie with my black Lab, Conroy, who hasn't the foggiest idea what's come over me but is a sucker for a party and plays along, nonetheless.

I let the moment melt around me before I gain my composure and give myself some sort of reality check: a quiz requiring justification for what I'm feeling and why. And then it hits me. I can't tell a soul about my dance at twilight without coming face-to-face with who I was pretending not to be and the energy it required to maintain that image.

When I lived in Southern California, I spent three days a month at a Benedictine monastery out in the high desert. It was my periodic trek to a place where I could slow down long enough to pay attention. Truth is, I wanted to learn how to be alone with myself and like it, because I wasn't very good at that. And, I wanted to learn how to be alone with God and like it, because I wasn't very good at that, either.

On one visit, a friend asked one of the monks, "What exactly do you do here?"

"We pray," the monk replied simply.

"No, really," my friend persisted. "I mean besides that. What do you really do?"

"It is enough just to pray," the monk told my friend.

"It is enough," I tell my dog standing on the deck absorbing the summer sky, "just to boogie." Just to boogie under the inexplicable marbled canopy of dusk. Just to feel your lungs swell and your heart flutter. Just to cheer the sun as it sets and not give a damn about some need to fight back the tears, standing spellbound in the salty prism for twilight rainbows.

The permission to embrace this moment.

This day.

To hear, and boogie to, the music of sufficiency and grace.

And speaking of grace, let us not forget:

Empathy matters.

Compassion matters.

And community backbone matters.

Sabbath Moments

Comey and Trump’s unethical abuse of power

 https://youtube.com/shorts/xwb33JohqFw?si=DshKudN5OKxIHwTD

Colossians 1:12-18 We are sanctified by faith in Jesus to the glory of God!

 Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

John 1:1–3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…

Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the Covenant of the Old Testament. Now we live and breathe in the newness that He redeemed for us. The New and everlasting Covenant that was given to us in Christ Jesus. His teachings are the only ones that matter. The very Word of God was born into this world that we could have life and that life abundantly rich in the peace that only He can give. Glory be to Father, Son and Holy Spirit that protects us and delivers us from the evils of this world. Carla

Colossians 1:12-18

12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (NKJV)

As non-Jews (Gentiles), the Colossians would have been considered outsiders to God’s blessings, which were reserved for the people of Israel. However, the central truth of the gospel for Paul was that Christ’s death and resurrection brought salvation for all who believed, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Throughout his letters, Paul conveys this central truth using different kinds of imagery. Here, he affirms believers as God’s heirs; in the next verse, he shifts to language of deliverance. The domain of darkness refers to the realm dominated by sin and death (Ephesians 6:12).

The kingdom is the realm in which Christ reigns as King, where His sovereign rule is carried out. The transfer from one realm to the other is accomplished by God: In His love and grace, He brings believers out of the domain of sin and death and moves them into the kingdom of His Son.

The kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) is one of the most dominant themes in Jesus’ teaching ministry (Matthew 4:17; 5:3–20; 13:10–52). In this verse, Paul indicates that God’s kingdom is not just about the future; in some sense, it must already be present, because God has delivered believers from darkness and transferred them into His kingdom.

Redemption refers to the act of freeing someone who is enslaved. Just as Israel was enslaved in Egypt before being rescued by Yahweh, so the Colossian believers had been enslaved to the domain of sin and death before they responded in faith to God’s act of salvation in Christ (Exodus 6:6; 14:30; Romans 6:16–17).

God’s forgiveness removes sin (Colossians 2:14) and provides reconciliation (verse 22). Forgiveness is an expression of God’s grace and love. Faithlife Study Bible

The word qualified means to be able or authorized for a task. Believers can never be qualified on their own; instead God must make them sufficient through Jesus Christ. The tense of the verb points to “qualifying” as an act in the past rather than a process. Ordinarily to qualify for an event or a position, we have to prove ourselves. However the inheritance (verse 5) that believers receive is not one that they have earned but is based on being qualified by God. The Father “qualifies” us for eternal life with Him, whereas the Son will reward us at the end of the race (Revelations 22:12). 

God has liberated believers from the dominion of darkness. The apostle uses the common symbolism of light and darkness for good and evil, for God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom, that is found throughout the Nw Testament. The kingdom from which believers have been rescued is the kingdom of darkness.

The Greek word redemption points naturally to the payment of a price or ransom for the release of a slave. The slavery from which believers are released is not physical but spiritual. They are freed from bondage to sin by forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7).

Firstborn could denote a priority in time or in rank. The word does not describe Christ as the first being created in time because the hymn proclaims that all things were “created by Him” and that “He is before all things.” Jesus is the eternal One who was before all creation. Being firstborn referred more to rank and privilege than to order of birth. Since Christ is God, He is supreme in rank over all creation. Yet He is not only the transcendent deity who created us; He is the One who died on our behalf (Philippians 2:6–18) and was subsequently raised from the dead. Thus He is also the firstborn from the dead (verse 18). The first One who experienced the true resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Christ is the One who created all things, whether they be material or immaterial, seen or unseen. All things were created through Him and for Him: Not only did Jesus create all things; everything was created for His purposes (Hebrews 1:2, where Christ is said to be the “heir of all things”). But the glory of the earth, the heavens, or the sun, moon, and stars cannot be compared with the glory of His new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Following the celebration of Christ’s authority over all creation, this early Christian hymn proceeds to proclaim His authority over the church. He is the head of His own body, which is the church. No one should underestimate the significance of the church, for it is in fact Christ’s body. The sovereign Creator of the universe, as Head of the church, provides leadership and oversight over it. No wonder He is so jealous for it (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17). Christ was the first to be raised from the dead. His own resurrection guarantees that the church will one day be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:12–28). The NKJV Study Bible

Ephesians 1:20–23

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come…

Romans 11:36

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Ephesians 1:6–7

to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Empathy matters.

Compassion matters.

And community backbone matters.

Let is not forget that “Tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility,” as Pope Francis reminded us.

And I take a deep breath and smile big.

More and more, I am so grateful for every opportunity to remember that I need not be afraid of living with a soft heart. That empathy and compassion matter. And they spill to the world around us.

Okay, my homily today:

One. From a soft heart, compassion and empathy win.

For starters, when we see with our heart we don't give in to fear.

And Two. A soft heart can hold life’s brokenness and pain, and not be undone by it.

“To remain soft in a world that punishes tenderness is a choice few dare to make. It is saying, ‘I will not become someone I am not to survive.’ Life will knock us down, and it will demand that we harden ourselves just to keep walking. Yet those who refuse to armor up understand that authenticity is not weakness, it is power. Softness is courage incarnate. It is the willow bending in the storm, the phoenix burning to ash only to rise anew.

Yet, in such a tough and hurtful place, you need to remember who you are. You need to continue to spread passion and an essence of goodness, despite the under appreciation and maltreatment you receive. I want you to know that there is nothing wrong or bad about being softhearted. In fact, hold the remembrance that being kind and sincere makes you unique.”

(Thank you Obnews.co—Staying Soft Is a Choice of Radical Authenticity). Sabbath Moments

Ephesians 6:14-20 Your faith in God stops the power of evil.

 Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains

Are the feet of him who brings good news,

Who proclaims peace,

Who brings glad tidings of good things,

Who proclaims salvation,

Who says to Zion,“Your God reigns!”

In our prayers and requests we invite God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into our lives. The prayers that we offer are heard and answered by our merciful and gracious Father. In the manner that we believe in His righteousness, given to us in Jesus, and in the power of Holy Spirit we can receive His wisdom and guidance. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that through His righteousness the world could be saved. God cares for us…all of us. Our faith in believing what we cannot see, but know to be true, pleases God. Carla

Ephesians 6:14-20

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— (NKJV)

The shield was the soldier’s primary defense in battle. In the same way, the believer’s trust in God provides protection against the devil and his schemes.   

The assurance of God’s salvation protects the believer just as a helmet protects a soldier in battle.

The sword of the Spirit  helps believers proclaim the gospel message, act on God’s behalf, and combat attacks from the devil.

Paul’s use of the Greek word rhēma, for word, here primarily refers to the proclamation of the gospel and its ongoing work in the life of the believer

Prayer should not be an afterthought for believers, but rather their primary source of strength.

Mystery of the gospel might refer generally to the good news about Christ, or it could point specifically to the inclusion of Gentiles (non-Jews) into the people of God (Ephesians 3:4–6).  Faithlife Study Bible

Truth is considered crucial by Paul (4:15, 25), because a dishonest Christian cannot hope to withstand the father of lies himself. The truth referred to here is integrity, a life of practical truthfulness and honesty. 

The righteousness that the breastplate represents is not the righteousness of Christ, which all believers possess, but the practical, righteous character and deeds of believers.

Above all may mean that the shield is to be used against everything. The Christian’s shield offers protection against all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Flaming arrows could not penetrate the fireproof shield of the ancient Roman soldier, nor can the assaults of Satan penetrate to the believer who places his or her faith in God.

The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the believer’s armor. This weapon is not necessarily the Bible as a whole, but the specific word that needs to be spoken in a specific situation. To have the precise word ready, a person must know the Bible intimately.

Without prayer, all the armor in the world would be of no use. General prayers and specific petitions in the Spirit are to be made for all and at all occasions. Perseverance and patience in prayer are essential.

The apostle Paul was not ashamed to ask other believers to pray that he would have the courage to proclaim the gospel. Even as a prisoner, Paul still wanted to be a faithful witness for the Lord. Paul was an ambassador in chains in Rome for the gospel of Christ. His prayer was that he might speak boldly, as an ambassador for the King of kings ought to speak.  The NKJV Study Bible

1 Thessalonians 5:8

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 

Colossians 4:2–4

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains…

Isaiah 11:5

Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,

And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

Stories about kindness and courage in small ways—regardless of when they happened—can carry with us today.

These reminders of graciousness, keeps us in touch with another life-giving truth: We are, literally, repairers of the world. 

It is from Jewish tradition that we learn our job title; “Tikkun olam”.

Tikkun—to repair the soil of the world with nutrients: kindness, a balm of generosity, a capacity to accommodate fragility, and a softness of spirit. What Eve Ensler called, “The daily subtle simple gathering of kindness.”

Working to heal—Tikkun olam—isn’t only for the spiritually or intellectually inclined.

Working to heal is in our DNA. As children of our creator, we are healers. In kindness, we affirm dignity. In empathy, we see value and build connections. With compassion and justice, we right wrongs and create sanctuaries. 

And I know this more than ever: In the world we live in, I believe in the necessity, and healing power, of sanctuary—fueled by empathy and compassion.

Here’s the deal:

Empathy matters.

Compassion matters.

And community backbone matters. Sabbath Moments