Purity of Heart

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+97%3A9-12&version=NKJV

Psalm 97:9-12 (NKJV)

⁹ For You, Lord, are most high above all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.^[a]

^{------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

^{There is a benefit to following Christ. There is a benefit to having a pure soul, an upright heart.} 

^{God will preserve you.}

^{Many times I have wondered if it is worth it to align myself with other believers against sinful behaviors, or ideas that go against Scripture. I sometimes wonder if taking a stand is effective.}

^{I think it is.}

^{I think there are powers in the unseen realm that try to keep us from standing firm, and it comes at great cost. Sometimes relationships suffer, sometimes there are "accidents" that occur. Sometimes we have to endure a period of spiritual drought.}

^{Sometimes we are killed.}

^{I think that facing fear is the most important thing any of us can do on this earth. We need to know that our fears are nothing to God. He knows every thought. He knows every atom and holds it together personally.}

^{In Him we live and move and have our being.}

^{I think that many of us think He's rather smaller than He really is. We look around us at the suffering of mankind and we cannot imagine a kind, just, and merciful God.}

^{We fail.}

^{Those are the days when I particularly pray, "MARANATHA!"} 

^{I am tired of keeping on keeping on. I want the Maker of the Universe to make it all right. I want out, to be done here, to leave it all behind!}

^{We all have those thoughts, right? Oh, yeah, it only happens to those of us who suffer.}

^{We sufferers want out.}

^{But we know that our Comforter understands. He gives us assurance when we most need it. He convicts us of our sin, He reminds us of His promises. He helps us be patient. He gives us hope.}

^{Today was not a good day. Something went amiss with the dishwasher in our new house. Water everywhere----dripping through vents and through cracks down into the basement. There's hardwood on the floor in the basement, so we scrambled with towels and buckets. Boo-hoo. What a mess.}

^{Ugh, I'll probably have to repaint. :(} 

^{Yesterday Ed had a particularly painful spinal tap. His bi-polar medications need tweaking. He hurts and was told that he MUST swim three days a week, minimum, to reduce the limp in his walk. Yesterday I saw the endocrinologist and learned that I am just a big baby where my thyroid is concerned. The doctor basically told me that yes, the thyroid isn't normal, but she's seen far worse. Why are you complaining, anyway?}

^{Ya. I'm a big baby.}

^{But I know that the GREAT Father in heaven is my intimate helper and healer. I go to him when things look bleak.}

^{Sometimes you stand by your convictions at great cost to your loved ones. People aren't necessarily so understanding of your own life path. They truly want you to sanction their ways and their life choices, even when you have an entirely different philosophy and worldview.}

^{That hurts.}

^{I think Hollywood is full of movies of people coming together and compromising. I don't see life that way. Hollywood is, well, Hollywood.}

^{We DO think differently, we DO disagree. We do have different convictions.}

^{My dad is a total tee-teetotaler. I don't drink alcohol either, but I have no issue with beer steins or wine glasses. To please my dad, who is now a regular visitor, I moved the goblets out of sight. Sometimes we do that for people.}

^{I could just stand my ground and thumb my nose in his face.....}

^{but that would not be showing respect. I don't try to antagonize my dad.}

^{We've talked here about dancing, drinking, drugs, and divorce. I'm old-school on all of these. a Traditionalist, I'd say.}

^{I'm also pretty hard line on fornication (sex before marriage) and filthy language. Pornography is a big no-no. I have issues with perverted sexual function, whatever it may be.}

^{I decided a long time ago that I would not support that type of behavior.}

^{Sadly I've seen many people give in to it, only to find themselves toying with the doctrines of demons.}

^{I pray that eyes may be opened, that repentance occur, that lifestyles would show the power of the Holy Spirit.}

^{That transformation would come to those who espouse lives of filth.}

^{There are so many powerful testimonies from around the world, of lives sold out to Christ, pure, godly, and blameless.}

^{I want that. My convictions may not be yours, but I certainly would hope that yours would align with God's.}

^{You know what His are, don't you?}

^Purity.

^{And soon the pure in heart shall see God. It's in the Bible.}

^{When darkness and judgment falls on the earth those who thought God would wink at sin and "let them in" will despise Him. They will look away from His light. They will be happy to choose an eternal life of hell.}

^{I don't want that.} 

^{Only Jesus saves. Not Mary. Not good works. Not yourself. Jesus alone. Jesus alone.}

^{We finished the first part of "Vanya," a story about a young Russian soldier in the early 1970's. He was tortured and martyred for his faith in Christ by the KGB.}

 

^{It is quite a story. I wish you all could read it. It is the testimony of one who gave all for his powerful faith in Christ. It is a story of spiritual purity. Of a heart that sees God.}

^{May that be my heart. Your heart.}

^{May you see God.}

^{It's not long now. The signs are happening like a ticker tape machine, chattering off all over the world. The economy is tanking, the hurricane is about to plaster the east coast. The animals are perishing. The elite are showing signs of wear and tear.}

^{Hillary's going down. The powerful politicians are seeing their feet of clay. In my über-liberal state of Minnesota all I see are Bernie Sanders bumper stickers. The guy who honeymooned in Russia, so affiliated with communism! What are people thinking?}

^{I admit that the GOP has little to offer. Ben Carson is my guy, still. The times are so dark we hardly care.}

^{Look at Europe. Here comes a powerful people with an even more powerful ideology----certifiably the doctrine of demons---and they are being welcomed into transforming the continent--- lock, stock, and barrel.} 

^{Wake up! Purify your hearts!}

^{Choose life this day.}

^{May you have a spiritual re-birth. Today.}

^{Today is the day of salvation.}

^Maranatha.

Prepare

https://youtu.be/LGIJPKm_UOY

Tell Us How You Really Feel, L.A.:

https://youtu.be/ugxyzu1f8Bk

New World ....

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/25/443149821/u-n-dreams-big-17-huge-new-goals-to-build-a-better-world?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150925

Shemitah

http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/the-shemitah-that-was-and-the-shaking-to-come/

Catching Up

We've had a few action packed weeks here at Corgi Hollows.

It's all been fun and games, some pain, new experiences, and intense living.

We had the son of dear friends in Munich visit for a week, and we took him to:

Church
Our old house
A bonfire with Margaret's friends
The Mall of America---rides, shopping, and mini-golf
Minneapolis, the Mill Museum
Kramarczuks on Hennepin Ave.
Margaret's birthday party
Duluth harbor
Minnesota Point--to try and swim (freezing!!!)
The Army Corps of Engineers Maritime Museum in Canal Park
Grandma's (the marathon restaurant)
St. Paul
The Minnesota History Museum
Mickey's Diner
Minnehaha Falls and the statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha
The Chain of Lakes --Calhoun, Harriet, and Nokomis, at least
Lake Minnetonka
Caribou Coffee (we visited Margaret's branch)
Dairy Queen and Perkins (typisch Amerikanisch)
The Mall of America for the second time
Target (For cheaper prices)
A Friday evening Twins game, but it was rained out and postponed
(At least he got to go into the gorgeous stadium and hang around for an hour)

Are you tired yet?
I had a blast, but all the driving and fun was certainly a challenge for this sick old gal. Thankfully one of my dearest friends and two of her boys came along and made this whole week twice as fun!

My husband and I went to the postponed game after bringing M to the airport bright and early on Saturday. M is off to sunny and dry California for a week!  We had a wonderful time with him.

After nine innings of baseball I took off for a prophecy conference being held only a mile from the Twins stadium. My husband endured 3 more innings of overtime until the Twins kissed the victory good-bye.

The Twins have been fun to watch this year. They are an exciting baseball team! I'm partial to Brian Dozier, as he has publicly and staunchly declared himself to be a man of faith. He's also an incredible ball player.

The prophecy conference was put on by Midwest Hebrew Ministries.

This organization has been around for almost 40 years, and it has an annual conference which I've attended in the past. This is a great organization, but lacks some key elements of administration---like a good website---but I think the Lord uses it in amazing ways anyway.

I happened to see that an interesting speaker whose blog I follow was one of the conference featured guests. I happened to see it just the evening before!

I took off for the conference from the game just as he began speaking so I missed his opening remarks. L.A. Marzulli is controversial to say mildly. He's very prepared, a bit like I imagine P.T. Barnum was, and very un-Minnesotan.

He talks about UFOs, the Nephilim, and the New World Order. Stuff that makes you squirm.

Interesting. Minnesotans sometimes say that when they are trying to be kind.

He formerly adhered to the Hindu faith, particularly aligning himself with a famous guru. I read his autobiography, and it was fascinating. He found the Lord, and the rest is history. You can check out his work at his blog: https://lamarzulli.wordpress.com/

The other speaker at the conference was Dr. Rob Linsted. He is a regular at this particular conference. He always brings updates of how close we are to Biblical prophecy fulfillment.

Yes, we are closer. Before you say "duh," think about the doomsday clock. There are times and have been times when world events suggest a more imminent threat to world society.

Things seem on the cusp of spiraling out of control.

Then things quiet down and we enjoy peace and safety for a season. This is not to say that we are safe! It seems so, however.

I was reading the article in the recent Saturday Evening Post about Robert and Kitty Oppenheimer. It was a telling of the nuclear testing that happened back in the 1940's  in Los Alamos. After seeing the results of his bomb creation he immediately felt remorse, and quoted Dante, all about being the inventor of death.

He isn't that, and it wasn't doomsday. It was just another chapter in the history of warfare.

But I imagine that anyone seeing a nuclear bomb blast, a hydrogen bomb blast, or any type of awesome power unleashed thinks about The End.

The clock was pretty close to midnight that day.

We are looking at an unprecedented September. We're in it right now. Significant Jewish feast days, meetings between global elites, astronomical anomalies, all happening within a short month in human history.

These are fascinating times. Unprecedented. The clock seems to be almost midnight. But perhaps peace and safety will prevail again.

Yesterday and today we celebrate birthdays here. For two weeks I had one teenager in the house (the first time in over ten years) and now I no longer have a young child. My baby is a teenager! (AHHHHH!)

We are celebrating appropriately with cake and tea.

Both days.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't leave the house in weeks. I cleaned, did laundry, caught up on my calendar and enjoyed the peace of the countryside.

Our old house has had several showings, but no one has offered yet. I know that it sits on a very busy road, Highway 18, and that may frighten prospective buyers. I wish they knew that having an acre of yard buffers the feeling of a busy road. No, it isn't the country---it's in the suburbs---and very close to almost anything necessary---but there is a woodsy feel to the place, and you won't know that unless you actually live there.

If it doesn't sell perhaps someone may be interested in renting it.

I admit that I hate to see it leave the family----but so goes the ways of change.

Now that school has started in this new neighborhood we feel more settled in this new house. Each month that passes we feel we understand this change better. I'm so introspective that I feel I've been on auto-pilot for months now.

I'm still coming to grips with a life change that was completely off my radar just five months ago!

We are not harvesting our honey this year due to the incredible busyness of our lives. The bees will keep their store for the winter. I will pray that they stay healthy and alive until spring.

Now for an update on Ed. So many of you have asked.

"Maintenance" is pretty easy to endure. We go into the clinic at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis once a month. There he gets two infusions, one chemotherapy and one "rescue drug" for his Avascular Necrosis.

His left knee is basically gone due to the prednisone chemotherapy. He still takes 6MP every night, and once a week he takes a large dose of Methotrexate. He gets that in a spinal tap once every 3 or 4 months too.

Of the original chemotherapy drugs used to treat B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) he is now on about half of them. Let's all pray that these will work for him and he can beat cancer!

Ed came down with a bad cold last week, but since there was no fever we did not go to the clinic. Cherie and Margaret got the bug too, so we've had sniffles and coughs to manage.

Margaret started her last semester of college and promptly had to miss most of this week due to that virus. She's got a graduate level course this semester, her senior project, an internship at a French Immersion School in North Minneapolis, besides two jobs-----a coffee drink maker at Caribou AND life-guarding at the local YMCA.

Yes. She's busy. She seems happy with her lot. Her class on French-Algerian literature requires much reading, so at least she can sit in one place for a few minutes here and there.

Cherie, whose birthday we celebrate today, has started a "Wranglers" class with a new friend. Working with the horses and meeting a few new girls is the objective, and she is enjoying it. She's putting herself into her math course work with more diligence this year, and I'm thrilled to see that.

The joys of homeschooling. If there is one advantage to homeschooling it is seeing things "click" academically at just the right moment. There is no angst about "not getting it" or delay. Each child is his own standard. It makes for super self confidence in each subject.

So, I'm going to breathe deeply for a few days. A wedding is coming up that we are helping with, and the fall yardwork commences, but I'm going to savor these first days of fall.

The last blood moon occurs on the 28th, so be sure to look up! It's also the Feast of Tabernacles, so all of the significance is not to be missed!
Ed and the Chaplain  at the hospital.     Photo credit: Jonathan Natters

A note: We are getting almost 62,000 hits on this blog. Thanks for your interest! We so appreciate your prayers and well wishes.


 

Satire

https://youtu.be/WTUGadddOq0