Twenty-Five!

Finally, I can rent of car and not pay the 25 and under fee. I will have lower car insurance, unless I get in an accident to raise my monthly rate. If I did not get any of those benefits, it does not matter. I am breathing. I thank God for breathing.

I started the day of my birthday with a Destiny(niece) on my chest then blessed me with vomit to the shirt. A wonderful big breakfast. I went to the park with my family. Relaxed until it was time to go to Hannah's graduation. After the graduation, it was a great time of food, fellowship and exhortation.

Leading up to May 22, I was reflecting on this verse.

A good name
is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death
better than the day of birth.
Ecclesiates 7:1

This verse as well:

A good name
is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is
better than silver or gold.
Proverbs 22:1

TICKET!

Raffles always are popular at work because the ideal of a chance to win motivates the staff to participate. Raffles remind me of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. I was humming the song I've got a golden ticket. I was skipping around going to drink out of an endless fountain of milk chocolate or at least in my head. It is funny how simple things like a raffle could bring such joy.

In reflection about joy, The church of the Thessalonians comes to mind.

16Be joyful always;
17pray continually;
18give thanks
in all circumstances, for this
is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Paul gives the church final instructions. In verse 16, it is a command for them to rejoice exceedingly. Even in the midst of suffering.
6You became imitators of us
and of the Lord;
in spite of severe suffering,
you welcomed the message with
the joy given by the
Holy Spirit. 7And so you
became a model to all the
believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8The Lord's message rang out
from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—
your faith in God has
become known everywhere. Therefore we
do not need to say
anything about it,
9for they themselves report what kind of reception
you gave us. They tell
how you turned to God
from idols to serve the
living and true God,
10and to wait for
his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from
the dead—Jesus, who rescues
us from the coming wrath.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

In verse 17 and 18, again, Paul is commanding them to pray (in all circumstances which includes suffering) and to give thanks, for thelema - the purpose of God or of what God wishes. So we give thanks for God sent his one and only Son to pay the penalty of sin. Because of sin the wrath of God is on you, which is why Jesus is our Propitiator.

I am reminded of this church because I was frustrated this morning at work but God used this ticket for me to give thanks. I was given a monotonous task was writing each staff member on a ticket. About halfway through, my boss says not to waste a ticket so write the names on both the top and bottom. She had no idea where I stopped to go to write on the bottom but God did. So, I wrote start at the beginning with a new set of names and literally when I finished the list every employee was counted for without waste. The tickets evened out without my counting them or anything. They evened out and I just laughed because certain tedious task frustrate me. Opening up envelopes and writing down someone's else name, do not ask why.

LAMENT!

The dictionary states that Lament is a cry of sorrow and grief; to express grief verbally and a mournful poem.

I reading through Lamentations currently and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I had some introductory hurdles but God got me through those opportunities. The book is still a little difficult to grasp considering the context as a whole.

One of my favorite passages is Lamentations 3:24-26 but the whole chapter of three is solid.

I say to myself,
"The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for
him." The LORD is good to those
whose hope is in him, to
the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:24-26

After careful reading, chapter 3 of Lamentations really captures the whole book. You have desolation, destruction, desert, and defilement in this book and in this chapter. Now, we know that all this happen as a result of disobedience. The best place that really encapsulates Israel's disobedience and the outcome is Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

In the first portion of the this chapter, we see the confusion, frustration and curses. In the latter portion we are reminded that the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Deu 4:31 KJV - (For the LORD thy God [is]
a merciful God;) he will not
forsake thee, neither destroy thee,
nor forget the covenant of thy fathers
which he sware unto them.

Deu 4:32 KJV - For ask now
of the days that are past,
which were before thee,
since the day
that God created man upon the earth,
and [ask] from the one side of
heaven unto the other
, whether there hath been
[any such thing] as this great thing [is],
or hath been heard like it?

Deu 4:33 KJV - Did [ever] people hear
the voice of God speaking out of
the midst of the fire,
as thou hast heard, and live?

Deu 4:34 KJV - Or hath God
assayed to go [and] take him
a nation from the midst of
[another] nation, by temptations,
by signs, and by wonders,
and by war, and by a mighty hand,
and by a stretched out arm,
and by great terrors,
according to all that the LORD your God
did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deu 4:35 KJV - Unto thee it was shewed,
that thou mightest know that the LORD he [is] God;
[there is] none else beside him.

Deu 4:36 KJV - Out of heaven
he made thee to hear his voice,
that he might instruct thee:
and upon earth he shewed
thee his great fire;
and thou heardest his words
out of the midst of the fire.

Deu 4:37 KJV - And because he loved thy fathers,
therefore he chose their seed after them,
and brought thee out in his
sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

Deu 4:38 KJV - To drive out nations
from before thee greater and mightier
than thou [art],
to bring thee in,
to give thee their land
[for] an inheritance,
as [it is] this day.

Deu 4:39 KJV - Know therefore this day,
and consider [it] in thine heart,
that the LORD he [is] God in heaven above,
and upon the earth beneath: [there is] none else.

Deu 4:40 KJV - Thou shalt keep therefore
his statutes, and his commandments,
which I command thee this day,
that it may go well with thee,
and with thy children after thee,
and that thou mayest prolong
[thy] days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
for ever.


Let us lament. When we lament, it brings about a needed repentance and exaltation of our Great, Compassionate And Awesome LORD GOD.