Do You Have The DIVINE WEDDING GARMENT ?

What  is  PRECIOUS to The FATHER?

The BLOOD of HIS SON+,

The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

PROFANING The BLOOD+ of CHRIST

How is it possible that we should count the BLOOD+ of the Covenant an "unholy" thing , a common thing, a profane thing , a “garment” that can be tossed away ? 

How do we do this awful thing ?

Let’s look at our thoughts.

The InCarnated LIGHT

.  .  .  has dawned upon Mankind.  

Advent Meditations 2014

JOY to the WORLD ! 

In HIM+ was LIFE;  

and the LIFE was the LIGHT of Men.  

And the LIGHT shineth in darkness

and the darkness comprehended it not. 

PUT ON THE ARMOUR OF LIGHT+ ! 

O Children, why walk ye longer in darkness ? 

Why have ye not cast off the works of the flesh, of sin, of the devil that are clinging to you and making you non-effective ?   

Do ye not know there is a battle RAGING for your souls, and for the souls of all men?  

Have I+ not given you MY+ LIVING, power-filled Blood to cleanse you of yourself and to grant you power to deliver others  ?

Why have ye not renounced the hidden works of darkness? 

The night is FAR spent, the day is at hand;  let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of LIGHT.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.  Romans 13:12-13

Not in rioting ~ ~ ~ Do not run with the crowd and do anything that the natural-minded crowd does, even if they are church-attenders; stay away for your own safety. 

Not in drunkenness ~ ~ ~   Do not  drink the same cup of "spiritual" spirit-water that the natural-minded drink, even if they are decent fellows, neighbors, or relatives. Their water is poisoned. It will not refresh you.

Not in chambering ~ ~ ~ Do not lay about with worldlings, mingling your seed with theirs, in ANY and in EVERY sense of the word.  If you lay with the world, you will be one body with THEM; I+ will cast you from ME+. 

Not in wantonness ~ ~ ~ Do not do excess of anything. Do NOT toss off limitations in any area of your life. Stay sober; you have no license to indulge in gluttony... of any sort whatsoever. 

Not in strife ~ ~ ~  Do not concern yourself with "your civil rights."  As followers of ME+, you have NO CIVIL rights. . . in any land.  Those who do not know this will find this out shortly, like many others of My+ children. 

Focus rather on living TOTALLY for ME+; I+ will then be able to use you against the powers of darkness swarming the habitable world now.

Not in envying ~ ~ ~  Bury it ! Put it to death ! Temporal things are just that: temporary !  They are worse than temporary; they hinder you from walking in My+ Spirit. They hinder you from hearing My+ Voice. Casting your eye upon the things of this world makes you useless and ineffectual in My+ Kingdom.  

Come OUT OF HER, My+ people and touch not the unclean thing.  

PUT ON THE ARMOUR OF LIGHT+  !

Let us cast off the dark works through the Blood of JESUS CHRIST, WHO+ was born to set us free from these yokes of darkness.  

.
Such BLOOD !  

Such LIGHT ! 

   Such LOVE !
.  

BE PREPARED TO PAY 
FOR YOUR CONVICTIONS.
.

O Gracious SAVIOR+ , WHO+ came to over-come darkness, prepare me to stand for THEE+ in the time of trial, in the time of darkness. Let Thy+ Light rest upon me in this dark and dying world, so that in Thy+ LIGHT+, we may see LIGHT+ . Strengthen me with Thy+ Divine Body and Blood, so that dying, I may live with THEE+; and by living, I may die for THEE+, 

O Holy JESUS.

Amen.

+ + + 

Pre-Passover Meditation ~ ~ ~ The UN-distracted Mind of CHRIST

Photo by The ORDER of The GOOD SHEPHERD+
Crown of Thorns bush

The Invitatory

 CHRIST JESUS 

came into the world to save sinners,

Of whom I am chief. 

LORD, 

be merciful to me, a sinner.

O Come, Let us Adore HIM+ . 

Old Testament Lesson: Leviticus 26, 

selected verses ,
 courtesy of  www.Biblegateway.com

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I AM THE LORD THY GOD.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, 

and reverence my sanctuary: 

I AM THE LORD.

If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;
⁴ Then I will give you rain ...
⁵ And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage ... 
⁶ And I will give peace in the land ... .
⁷ And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
 ~ ~~ ~~ 
⁹ For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

¹¹ And I set my tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you. 

¹² And I will walk among you, and will be your GOD, and ye shall be My people.

¹³ I AM THE LORD THY GOD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

¹⁴ But if ye will not hearken unto ME, and will not do all these commandments;

¹⁵ And if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My Covenant:
~ ~ ~

¹⁹ And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

²⁰ And your strength shall be spent in vain... 
~ ~ ~ 


³² And I will bring the land into desolation ...

~  ~  ~

³⁴ Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

³⁵ As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

Epistle Lesson: Colossians 1: 19-23

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com

For it pleased The FATHER that in HIM+ should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the Blood of His+ Cross, by HIM+ to reconcile all things unto HIMSELF+; by HIM+, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath HE+ reconciled in  the body of His+ Flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His+ sight:

if ...if ... if ...

ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

The Gospel Lesson: Luke 10: 38-42

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com, NKJV

Now it happened as they went that HE+ entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him+ into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His+  word. 

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him+ and said, “LORD, do You+ not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 

Therefore tell her to help me.”

And JESUS answered and said to her, “Martha! Martha! 

You are worried and troubled about many things. 

But ONE+ THING is needed, 

and Mary has chosen THAT GOOD PART+, 

which will not be taken away from her.”

Meditation ~ ~ ~

The Old Covenant was established to show Israel ... and thus, all mankind...  HOW TO PLEASE GOD. It was established to show us what things are acceptable to GOD and what things HE hates. ( HE still hates those things listed as "sin" in the Law, by the way.)

Breaking GOD'S laws under the Old Covenant brought certain, swift, and awful consequences. That was the way The LORD trained mankind to savor righteousness with HIM. 

When Our LORD JESUS walked the earth, HE+ did not "un-do" the laws, HE+ actually

extended them to encompass more.

Back then, adultery was punished by stoning to death the transgressors. Under the covenant of JESUS' BLOOD, adultery of the heart, done secretly was severely condemned. Our LORD JESUS HIMSELF said that if our EYE offended us... that is, made us to sin... to pluck it out.

HE+ was not joking. Under the New Covenant, once JESUS' BLOOD was shed to cover us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, the punishment for willfully-practiced sin IS... IS... IS... (!)  Eternal death.  

Unfortunately, sin occurs in the HEART of man. However, one is not able to pluck out one's heart.  

So, we flee unto JESUS our SAVIOR+ for cleansing and help against sin. 

One of the best strong-holds against sin is to focus on JESUS without distraction of thought, like Martha's sister Mary chose to do.   

Let Us Pray ~ ~ ~ 

Gracious Heavenly FATHER, I have forsaken following Thy Word meticulously. I have done whatsoever I have "thought" to be right... instead of following Thy Holy Words given and preserved for me at great price. 

Help me not to cast ANY of Thy words aside and establish my "interpretation" of what THOU dost require of me... instead of what is clearly written. 

O LORD our GOD, help me to stand firm against temporal values within me, values that focus on my own home, my own family, my own life constantly. 

Help me to strive for that undistracted mind, focused upon CHRIST, so that I may know what pleaseth THEE. Give me Singleness-of-Eye, that I become a GOD-pleaser and not a man-pleaser, that I learn to please THEE+, my LORD, and not myself. 

O, Help me to do this SO MUCH SO that even my undistracted focus upon THY HOLY SON+ JESUS becomes my only identity in this world... that I might choose the BETTER+ part, like Mary. 

So that, when I come face to face with our SAVIOR+,  I can honestly say, "I have loved THEE+ with my whole heart."

Grant these things, for Thy SON+'s sake, our only SAVIOR+ and MEDIATOR, the only name given under Heaven among men, whereby we must be saved... Our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  

Amen.

ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE

Photo courtesy of  PDPhoto.org

Ireland

St. Patrick’s BREASTPLATE

Amended words*  or verses *by

The Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+

Year of Our LORD

1.24.2013

I bind unto myself today 

the strong name of The TRINITY.

By invocation of the same

the Three in ONE ~ and ONE in Three.

The BLOOD of JESUS covers me,

The BLOOD of JESUS covers me.

CHRIST be with me, CHRIST within me,

CHRIST behind me, CHRIST before me,

CHRIST beside me, CHRIST to win me;

CHRIST to comfort and defend* me.

I bind unto my self today 

the strong name of The TRINITY… 

( repeat stanza 1 )

CHRIST beneath me, CHRIST above me,

CHRIST in safety, CHRIST in danger* ;

CHRIST in hearts of all who love me,

CHRIST in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto my self today 

the strong name of The TRINITY… 

( repeat stanza 1 )

Against the demon snares of sin

   the vice that gives temptation force

   the fantasies*  that war within…

   hostile spirits+ that mar my course.

I bind unto my self today 

the strong name of The TRINITY… 

( repeat stanza 1 ) 

Few* or many, far or nigh,

in every place and in all hours

Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me GOD’S*  Holy Powers.

 I bind unto my self today 

the strong name of The TRINITY… 

( repeat stanza 1 )

  

Against all satan’s spells and lies*

Against false words of heresy,

Against the doubt that causes fear*…

The cries of self I will not hear.

I bind myself unto The LORD*

The BLOOD of  JESUS, The Living WORD,

By invocation of HIS+ Name

Eternal SON+, ever the same.

                 

Against the wizard’s evil craft

Against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave, the poisoned shaft…

Protect me, CHRIST, till Thy+ returning.

I bind myself unto The LORD*

The BLOOD of JESUS, The Living WORD,

By invocation of His+ Name

Eternal SON+,  ever the same.

+  +  + 

Going Forth in Spirit and in Power...

He loves me...  He loves me not ... He loves me...

A Monastic Breviary, Anglican
Prayer Book
PROPER 8
pg. 293

ALMIGHTY GOD, THOU hast built Thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF+ being the CHIEF CORNERSTONE+ :

Grant us so to be joined together

in unity of spirit

by their teaching,

that we may be made a Holy temple

acceptable to THEE;

...through JESUS CHRIST Our LORD, WHO+ lives and reigns with THEE and The HOLY SPIRIT, one GOD, now and forever, world without end. Amen.

 The Secret for Unity of Spirit

If we walk in the Light,

as HE+ is in the Light,

we have fellowship

with one another,

and

the Blood of JESUS CHRIST

 HIS SON+

cleanseth us

from all sin.

I John 1:7 

If we walk in the Light, confessing our sins unto HIM+ Who+ knew no sin, HE+ will help us ... assist us...  to amend our ways. WE CANNOT AMEND OUR WAYS WITHOUT HIS+ HELP.

HE+ will bring conviction when we accuse someone in our hearts or speak in less-than-loving ways to someone. HE+ will bring His+ wonderful conviction to us, saying: " WHERE did that remark COME FROM ?" 

Our part is to respond. In humility and in truth, we can discover exactly WHERE such things originate.

REMEMBER THIS:

if it is not in our hearts,

it won't come out of our lips.

Now practically speaking, what do we do if there is trouble in the camp, trouble in the home, trouble in the church ? 

We take heed to WALK IN THE LIGHT..... OURSELVES. We do not "push" others to confess their sins. We do not "confess" nor "confront" others with their bad attitudes if they do not ASK US TO TELL THEM ABOUT THEIR FAULTS. 

We are not the correctors of the adults in our homes and in our churches IF we are not the pastors or elders. 

The HOLY SPIRIT

IS THE CORRECTOR.

All we have to do is walk in the Light ourselves.

In humility, and in Truth, we walk "as well pleasing unto The LORD."  We give ourselves unto prayer.

If there is trouble between you and some other adult, PRAY. Get your own heart right before The LORD. ASK The LORD to "make" things right between you and the other one. 

Then thank HIM+ and listen. Thank HIM+ and walk with HIM+. Thank HIM+ and pray blessings upon the troublesome one. 

HE+ will work it out. HE+ will bring conviction. HE+ will change the situation .... or HE+ will not.... but you will be in HIS+ Peace if you walk with HIM+, in the Light. 

You will have fellowship: first, with HIM+, then with others. You will not have "fellowship" with others until your fellowship is established with CHRIST JESUS.

Unity... Concord... Peace...

all of which begins when we are UNIFIED with CHRIST... 

It begins when we are in accord with His+ Word, having straightened up our hearts before HIM+...

It begins when HE+ can find nothing in us which makes HIM+ ashamed to call us His+ Brethren. 

O GOD, THOU hast taught us to keep all Thy commandments by loving THEE and our neighbor: 

Grant us the grace of Thy HOLY SPIRIT that we may be devoted to THEE with our whole heart and united to one another with pure affection; 

through JESUS CHRIST our LORD Who+ lives and reigns with THEE and the HOLY SPIRIT, one GOD, for ever and ever. Amen.