at work within the non-Jewish world...

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The God who's been at work within your lives 

and given you each joy that you have had

in such a way that he hoped to entice 

you to connect again with him as "Dad".

He hasn't been away from you (it's true!)

though you might not have had an inkling that

the folk who've had the influences to

bring you what hope & wisdom (when you're flat)

that you could handle, understand, accept,

were those who were some way, open to him,

to life and thriving (though they may have wept),

though through their eyes he looks, his sight's not dim.

And he is talking there inside your head, 

or dreams that come at night, to lead you back

to his great faithful-love (that is heséd*).

And wants to see your joy increase, not slack.

Give up your ways of seeing all this world,

and how to move ahead while we're down here.

God's chosen Leader's flag is now unfurled,

we'll learn from him, and give allegiance clear.

And what the sign is to all peoples that

he is the Human Leader picked by God

(the giver of all life) is why he's sat

just now beside creative love; he's got

a place at centre of the Universe.

God raised him from a crucifixion so

to be the Lord of life. I now rehearse

his news of who's in charge, each place I go!

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Footnotes

*  hesed (or khesed or chesed), is the Hebrew word for commitment-based love, a love not based on keeping one’s body appeased, but based on keeping one’s word. A faithful love, where pleasure is (strangely) maximised, by not aiming at it, but receiving it gladly as a gift from love itself, through both lover & beloved.

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End Notes

Psalm 36 

(Robert Alter's translation, typed from the Audio book)

Crimes utterance to the wicked within his heart:

"There is no fear of God before my eyes!"

For it caressed him with its eyes to find his sin of hatred.

The words of his mouth are mischief, deceipt. He ceased to grasp things, to do good. Mischief he plots in his bed, 

takes his stand on a way of no good. 

Evil he does not despise.

Lord in the heavens, your kindness & 

your faithfullness to the skies… 

your justice like the unending mountains, 

your judgement the great abyss. 

Man & beast you rescue Lord. 

How dear is your kindness oh God!

And the sons of men in your wings' shadow shelter.

They will take their fill from the fare of your house, 

& from your stream of delights you give them drink.

For with you is the fountain of life.

In your light, we shall see light.

Draw down your kindness to those who know you, 

and your justice to the upright.

Let no haughty foot overtake me, 

or the hand of the wicked repel me.

There do the doers of mischief fall,

they were toppled and could not rise!

Jesus' Apostle(Ambassador)Paul, to pagan people around Lystra & Derbe:

‘Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: he has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.’ Acts 14:15‭-‬17 NIVUK

Jesus' Apostle(Ambassador)Paul, to Greek Philosophers (& city leaders?) in Athens:

So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. ‘The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.” ‘Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.’ Acts 17:17‭-‬19‭, ‬22‭-‬31 NIVUK

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to bear wit'ness*...

 

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(to the truth… that hesed/agape is motive, method, means & end*)

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And as a child looks up to Mum, or Dad

they find their nurture in the love of them

(or else find nurture not, unless some tad

is spread around the world within the hem

of garments that are worn by others sent

by that creative love, who do their job

and treat them as their children, who have rent

their hearts, and not just garments. They won't fob 

them off, as unimportant, for as such

their hearts

beat as one, with the one who made

a world of people, where folk matter much.

The one-ness grows from heaven in Earth's shade

 - within the shade and cover of the flesh

of mother, as folk live within her womb.

So life on Earth, as we know it, will mesh

both parts of hell (that's life within a tomb),

and parts of heaven, "re-al-ized" inside

parameters that nurture life in young

(biology of blood, placentas hide,

yet function so to give, they are not stung!)

And life "as we now know it" quite depends

on maintenance of that togetherness,

that union, though through cord that has two ends

and will be done away with. We now bless

it for it is our lifeline, so to grow

till we come out, and then relationships

can start to be more, as good friends who know

each other well, and won't just "pass as ships

within the night", or if they must, they keep

a vigil of remember-ance themselves

to not forget, or live as though asleep

to their relationship, recall to health

their friendship, by some choice to look, or touch,

imbibe, reflect, their action is a sign

to them, if to no other very much,

a mem'ry, real-ization of design.

And he looked up1, and we might too, if we

would listen2, learn, and follow in his wake3.

A way of covenantal love4, to be

awake to his good leadership3, no fake!

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Footnotes:

*  Jesus Christ's raison d'etre: "For this reason I was born and came into the world: to bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37). 

Paul's comment that without love no bearing witness (martyrdom) is worth anything, no faith is of avail, no communication in any language is worthwhile, and that of faith, hope and love, only love, in the end, will remain/ abide/ live-on (1 Cor 13)

1. Looking up

• Nebuchadnezzar… lived like a beast of the field for 7 years, then at the end of that time "He looked up! And his sanity was restored to him"

• Ps 121:1-2 "I look to the mountains… my help will come from YHWH who made heaven & earth"

• Ps 123:1 "lord i look up to you. Up to heaven where you rule"

• But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Mic 7:7 NRSV-CI

• Strangely, according to the Septuagint; "Once when Jesus was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Jesus went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?” He replied, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Jesus fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my Lord?” The commander of the army of the Lord said to Jesus, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Jesus did so. Josh 5:13‭-‬15, GRCBRENT ,NRSV-CI (know that the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, made before the time of Jesus (whom I take to be God's christened Leader of Humanity; and that Hebrew Joshua is translated into Greek as 'Iesous and that that ancient Greek name is normally translated into English as Jesus)

• Jesus looked up to heaven, gave thanks and broke the bread etc

• Jesus looked up, gave a deep groan, or a loud cry, …(Mark 7 end)

2. "Look up"  or "lift up your heads", (Luke 21:28)

3. The Greek word used in first Century Christian writings (μαθητής; pronounced mathētēs) means not simply "information learner", but in the context of either the Greek Philosophers or the Jewish Rabbis, a "way-of-life-learner, a follower, a sharer of life and their whole approach to life" ie following their leadership in life.

4. Jesus himself spoke of himself as a disciple or follower of the Father's will. Indeed his "family" were those who "do my father's will" (Mark 3 end)). And he said he got his cues from what he saw his father doing, as well as what he heard from his father in heaven. God's example of covenantal/ friendship love with Noah, was to make a covenant with all living flesh, by stating to Noah, and linking his statement to a tangible, well at least visible object, that drew attention to itself, and committing himself to a course of remember-ance, linking his own recall to every time he saw that object. (Maybe he also hoped that his children would follow his example. I could bet that Jesus did!). 

Abraham, asked God how he could know for sure that God would act in a certain way in the future. God's response was to bind himself by a covenant promise tied to a bbq.

Bibliography:

• Recent Blog posts on www.appallinglife.blogspot.com: & see their Bibliographies  [e.g. bearing wit'ness; to bear with-ness; apparently a parasite;  Responding to HIS initiatives.; a mate travelling through God's world; & with God]

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& GIVE YOUR ALLEGIANCE to this heralded leadership proclamation (& thus its sender, and herald)!*

 

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It's been fun spending time considering each of these five phrases in Jesus's gospel to Jewish people (according to Mk1:15):

• TIME IS FULFILLED*!

• THE KINGDOM/REIGN OF GOD('s..

• ..help) IS NEAR.

• GIVE UP YOUR OWN AGENDAS, &..

• ..GIVE YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (& thus its sender and deliverer).

This reflection is about the last, the fifth, phrase (& the last part of a pair)*:

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..give your allegiance to this heralded leadership proclamation (& thus its sender, and herald)!*

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The god, the boss, the lord, of me, & us

must be identified by  evidence

(that's worthy of what changes, & what fuss,

will be demanded now & future). Hence,

since all such do exist, they'll understand

our need to think well, then to weigh up too,

about the truth of each claim & demand;

the honesty, integrity of who

announces, or declaims, or prophesies,

communications to us from the God

(by which I mean creative love which tries

to grow more that in people who have got

the special right & claim of "likeness" to

this same creative love which sources all,

that has authority that's good and true.

And humans have ability to haul

the world into a curs'ed state, it seems,

as leaders, though we may have need to foll-

-ow leaders from amongst us, as we deem

such as have earned the right, that are not holl-

ow. But have proved by quality of life

(& death, if that could be achieved as well);

their wisdom and consistency both rife,

as carpenter who used to truly dwell

in Nazareth, a village  occupied

both by some foreign forces, & by his

own fam'ly who must build where men have tried

to build before, one fam'ly, with one biz-

ness to get on, and set the world arights,

that's starting with a fire of wind & flame

to burn the rubbish, or with cleansing rites,

to clean us up, and set us off again!

In new creation, new relationships -

the old attempts must now be done away,

and new allegiances be formed, and trips

and falls be overcome, wisely today!

He's now been set apart by God Most High,

this human ruler chosen to reveal

the kind of life creative love lets fly

with wisdom, in a resurrection deal.

But furthermore, on being raised up, to

send back his spirit, breath or wind, as an

alongsider, a counselor, one who

would teach and guide, to grow each woman/ man.

Creator, Father, of his children here,

has designated One as Lord of Earth,

and Sky, & Death & Life. For he is near,

this Jesus, picked as Christ before his birth.

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*    as Jesus said: "‘But you are not to be called “Rabbi”, for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth “father”, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ." Matthew 23:8‭-‬12 Where Christ was the Greek word for the Hebrew concept of Messiah, & both simply meant anointed. An ancient ritual for designating, and making leadership public to those present. Leadership, as king, prophet, priest, in ancient Isra'el and surrounding nations. THE CHRIST came to be expected as the leader of all leaders, i.e. king, prophet, priest (& priestly sacrifice), with a new style of leadership, serving! As Jesus continues: "The[b] greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted"

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