“Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."
(Sonnet 116)”
― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets
“Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."
(Sonnet 116)”
― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."
(Sonnet 116)”
― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets
DEUTERONOMY 5-7
9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10But
those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
11Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.(7:9-11)
9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10But
those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
MARK 12:1-27
12Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
1Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’a ?”
JOURNAL
Obey God. Seek him in all that I do. Trust his ways and obey his commandments in all circumstances, in all situations regardless of the consequences...I live in a world that does not fully take this to heart. Even the best of us are swayed by the culture...swayed to take shortcuts, shade the truth and protect ourselves.
I truly can only speak for myself, and in so doing I know the struggle and the anxiety and the angst everyday to measure up to certain standards. Often those standards are not Godly standards. To live a comfortable life, free of problems is not possible on this earth. Yet in many ways the commercialization of life implies that it is.
Every day, hour, minute and second of my life I must face these divergent roads. Do I follow God or do I seek my own comfort? Who is my God and do I truly follow? In honestly reading scripture every day...I find that so often it flies in the face of my desire. This is hard, this is difficult...to truly follow God when my desires and others expectations are contrary to obedience. It feels as if to truly follow God is a form of self-sabotage, yet to not is absolute rebellion and disobedience. It feels as if it is damned if you do and damned if you don't. Yet in counting the cost I would rather be damned by society and redeemed by God.
This is such a lonely road and one every believer must face...It is easy to be isolated and stay isolated. However every traveler in this life experiences the loneliness of failure, doubt and rejection.
Obey God. Seek him in all that I do. Trust his ways and obey his commandments in all circumstances, in all situations regardless of the consequences...I live in a world that does not fully take this to heart. Even the best of us are swayed by the culture...swayed to take shortcuts, shade the truth and protect ourselves.
I truly can only speak for myself, and in so doing I know the struggle and the anxiety and the angst everyday to measure up to certain standards. Often those standards are not Godly standards. To live a comfortable life, free of problems is not possible on this earth. Yet in many ways the commercialization of life implies that it is.
This is such a lonely road and one every believer must face...It is easy to be isolated and stay isolated. However every traveler in this life experiences the loneliness of failure, doubt and rejection.
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
LUKE 14:25-35
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