Category Archives: My Sibs

My Sibs relates to my brothers and sisters

The Virus That Afflicts Us Also Afflicts Them

I have told you, maybe more often than you would like to hear, but I am an optimist. I look upon the future from where we stand and I see spring and greenery. We may need to go through a fall and a winter to get there, but spring is coming. It is not coming to stay, but it is coming. It may not be necessarily in our lifetime, but I believe it is coming. It will not mean the elimination of contention, but it is coming. We will fight and we will struggle, but spring is on its way. A spring like the Founders of this country looked upon. A spring that produced a harvest that our fathers reaped abundance. Those seeds that were planted 200 years ago are abundant. They have not rotted. They can be planted today. They can sprout and grow. There is good reason to put your hand to the plow and expect a harvest. The nature of life and God above stand ready.

That being said let it all be set aside for the moment. The virus that afflicts us also afflicts the wicked. If it concerns us, it concerns the evil one. If it strikes us down it also strikes them down. It shows no partiality. As I said before, God is moving the furniture on this planet. His purposes continue to be established. I (I will have you know) want to be in the center of all of that. His judgment has yet to come upon this earth. We have yet to declare, “peace and safety.” Our time has not yet come. God can thwart evil as well as let it thrive.

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

Psalms 10 is A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked. Will you pray it with me? Will you hate evil and love righteousness?

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?

Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;

Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire,

And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.

All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

His ways prosper at all times;

Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

He says to himself, “I will not be moved;

Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.”

His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;

Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

He sits in the lurking places of the villages;

In the hiding places he kills the innocent;

His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.

He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;

He lurks to catch the afflicted;

He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

He crouches, he bows down,

And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.

He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

 

Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand.

Do not forget the afflicted.

Why has the wicked spurned God?

He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”

You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand.

The unfortunate commits himself to You;

You have been the helper of the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,

Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

The Lord is King forever and ever;

Nations have perished from His land.

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

Notes

While preparing this I could not help withholding a beautiful illustration of the battle we are in. It reminds me of Isaiah 5:20.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

I was looking for some synonyms for the word “wicked.” This is what appeared.

Play This Song At My Funeral

I just finished watching Maidentrip last night. It was the third in a series of stories of great accomplishments by people who dreamed.

This riveting documentary chronicles the life and adventures of 14-year-old Laura Dekker, who set out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. In the wake of a yearlong battle with Dutch authorities that sparked a global storm of media scrutiny, Laura explores the world in search of freedom and adventure.

I realized as Laura approached the Cape of Good Hope how much this young girl had accomplished by following her dream.  Many times what I will ever experience and yet she was only 15!  In that light I looked upon my own accomplishments and realized how short I have come to my own standards. When I turned 50 I vowed to pick up the pace. That was nine years ago. I don’t know that my pace has really changed.

This reminds me of this parable that Jesus taught His disciples. He warned them, in a back handed way, against laziness and negligence. He told them what a worthless life consists of.

Matthew 25:14-30

Parable of the Talents

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Last night a friend of mine sent me this song. He is in his late 30s and recently turned his life around and committed it to serving Jesus Christ. He has since been dealing with enormous obstacles, snares, and consequences of living a life contrary to everything you read about in the Bible. To have this song come from him just amplifies its message and beauty. It is an elegant song that tells you exactly what is in my heart today. It is a song I would like to be played at my funeral. It explains why I run. It is why I write. It is why I do what I do. And this is why I will continue to do what I do all the way through my dying day.

If my heart could tell a story

If my life would sing a song

If I have a testimony

If I have anything at all


No one ever cared for me like Jesus

His faithful hand has held me all this way

And when I’m old and grey

And all my days

Are numbered on the earth

Let it be known in You alone

My joy was found


Let my children tell their children

Let this be their memory

That all my treasure was in heaven

And You were everything to me


I’m still in love

You’re still enough for me

Still all I want

You’re still my everything

By Steffany Gretzinger

Sick + Sick = Real Sick

Have you ever “herd” of going to another country and then getting sick from food poisoning?

This experience is unfortunately not all that uncommon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that traveler’s diarrhea — or food poisoning — affects 30–70% of travelers who have consumed food or water contaminated by infectious bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

Source: Travel + Leisure

Have you “herd” that isolating yourself from civilization reduces the strength of your immune system?

This combo of new meat and lower immune systems seems to me to be a threat to my well being.

Rancher: U.S. Importing Beef While Prepping to Possibly Discard American Herds

  • A rancher who raises cattle in Texas and Colorado sounded the alarm that the U.S. government is importing what he considered inferior beef from Namibia while American ranchers are facing the possible “depopulation” of their herds.
  • “Yesterday (April 26), the first shipment of imported beef from the country of Namibia hit the shores of the United States of America,” Rancher Shad Sullivan said in a video posted on Twitter. “And yet, this morning, they (U.S. Department of Agriculture) are telling us to prepare to euthanize harvest-ready cattle.”
  • This is scary. North Texas rancher Shad Sullivan explains why our nations food supply is at risk.Foreign meats are now being imported onto American soil.They in the process of having to euthanize millions of chickens and may soon have to do the same to the cows. pic.twitter.com/xnscaLjF57— Derek Utley (@realDerekUtley) April 28, 2020
  • Sullivan said ranchers and farmers are facing unprecedented times where chicken and hogs are being destroyed, harvest-ready crops are being plowed under, and milk is being poured on the ground by the hundreds of thousands of gallons.
  • “The American public won’t know what they are getting,” Sullivan explained. “There is currently no ‘County of Origin’ labeling requirement on beef packaging.”
  • “We face losing our cattle and millions of dollars invested while food processors are making record profits,” he concluded.
  • On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced he will sign an executive order declaring meat-producing plants as “critical infrastructure,” Breitbart News reported. The president is using the authority granted under the Defense Production Act to order companies to stay open. The order will also provide protective gear for the workers of the plants.
  • In the meantime, Sullivan says his cattle are “harvest-ready” with nowhere to go.