PJP2 PROLOG 151205 PROLOG Focus Hosea 4:1-3 (ESV)....

Psalm 119:169-175 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Let my Cry Come Before You, O Lord; Give me Understanding According to Your Word!  Let my Plea Come Before You; Deliver me According to Your Word.  My lips Will Pour Forth Praise, for You Teach me Your Statutes.  My tongue Will Sing of Your Word, for All Your Commandments are Right.  Let Your Hand Be Ready to Help me, For I Have Chosen Your Precepts.  I Long For Your Salvation, O Lord, And Your Law Is my Delight.  Let my Soul Live And Praise You, And Let Your Rules Help me."....

PJP2 PROLOG POST 151205 - Hosea 4:1-3 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Hear The Word of The Lord, O children of Israel, For The Lord Has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.  There is NO Faithfulness, NOR Steadfast Love, and NO Knowledge/Acknowledgement of God in the land; There IS swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all Bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.  Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away."

These past few weeks have been intense.  Beginning with the downing of the Russian jet-liner.  This was followed closely by the suicide bombing in Lebanon.  The Paris attacks, now followed by the attacks in California, coupled with the continued unrest and tension in light of a wide-array of social concerns between law enforcement and all lives that matter.   As we read today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151205 (Hosea 4:1-3), it is not too great a leap of Faith to read our own headlines into the writing we find here.

Indeed, as I have paused and pondered over all of these recent events, it is so very, very easy to begin down the slippery slope of despair and to lose all HOPE.  I can readily chime in with the Psalmists as they write (Psalm 42:5; 42:11; 43:5)...."Why are you cast down, O my Soul, and Why are you in turmoil with me?"....BUT (Behold the Underlying Truth), Praise God for His Reply to us...."HOPE in God; for I Shall Again Praise Him, my Salvation"....

HOPE (He's Our Promise Eternal) - In a world that seems to be spiraling out-of-control, I know in my noggin' I desperately Need a Rock to Cling to, an Anchor that I Know Will withstand the storm.....Let me share a few Passages of the Word Select that The Lord Provides us with exactly that....

Matthew 12:18-21 (Taken from Isaiah 42:1-4) / (ESV) / (emphasis added/jaj)....“(God said)...'Behold, My Servant Whom I Have Chosen, My Beloved with Whom My Soul is Well Pleased.  I Will Put My Spirit Upon Him, And He Will Proclaim Justice to the Gentiles.  He Will NOT quarrel or cry aloud, NOR will anyone Hear His Voice in the streets; a bruised reed He Will NBot break, And a smoldering wick He Will Not quench, Until He Brings Justice to Victory; And In His Name the Gentiles Will HOPE.'”....

Hebrews 6:17-20 (ESV)...."So when God Desired to Show More Convincingly to the heirs of The Promise the Unchangeable Character of His Purpose, He Guaranteed It With An Oath, So That By Two Unchangeable Things, In Which It Is Impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for Refuge Might Have Strong Encouragement to Hold Fast To The HOPE Set Before us.  We Have THIS As A Sure And Steadfast ANCHOR of The Soul, A HOPE That Enters Into The Inner Place Behind The Curtain, Where Jesus Has Gone As A Forerunner on our Behalf, Having Become A High Priest Forever After The Order of Melchizedek."....

Luke 6:46-48 (ESV)....{Build Your House on The Rock}....“(Jesus Said), 'Why do you Call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ And NOT Do what I Tell you?  Everyone who Comes to Me And Hears My Words And Does Them, I Will Show you What he Is Like: he Is Like a man building a House, who Dug Deep And Laid The Foundation on The ROCK.  And when a flood arose, the stream broke against That House And could NOT shake it, Because It Had Been Well Built."....

Indeed, The Lord Jesus is our ROCK, our ANCHOR, our HOPE.....

Thus my prayer for us today would be simply that we would first Kneel, Worship and Praise The Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I would Ask, Holy Spirit, during these times of stress, tragedy and uncertainty, that You would Bolster and Encourage our spirit via Your Presence and Power.  Lord Jesus, Help us to Ever Keep our Focus on You, our ROCK, our ANCHOR, our HOPE.  Father God, Thank You that You are ever with us and that we can Forever TRUST in You.  Lord Jesus, Help us to be Your Hands and Feet to those in need.  Father God be with all the families of those who have recently lost loved ones due to the violence and unrest.  Holy Spirit, Help us to continue to Offer Up Your Shield of Prayer for those in desperate Need for Your Presence and Comfort.  We Pray these Prayers in Your Precious Name, Lord Jesus.  Amen/Amen....jaj

Blessings/jaj