Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Our Lord our God
How Majestic Is Your Name Over All the Earth!
You Have Revealed Your Magnificence In Your Holy Word,
Yet, All the Books in the World Can Not Contain Your Glory!
When We Gaze at the Heavens,
The Work of Your Hands,
At The Order and Intricacy of the Atom,
The Exquisite Proportions of a Seashell or a Flower,
All We Can Do Is Gaze in Wonder and Exclaim,
Oh Lord, How Awesome You Are!

We Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem,
According to Your Will and Promise.
We Pray For the People and Leaders of Israel,
that They Will Look to You for the Protection
and Prosperity of their Nation.
We Also Pray For Revival in our own Beloved USA.

  We Pray For The Leaders of Our Nation,
May They Be Inspired and Led By You,
And Please Guide Them in All Things.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Today's Story is a re-print of one I told back in January, but the context of events these days made me want to share it again. I will put the "old" story into italics, and Today's Commentary in regular print. Here Goes:

Because it has been a half-century since I have read a lot of the "Classics", I am reading them again for a fresh perspective. Some of them (like Ben Hur, Moby Dick, and Animal Farm) are like old friends that I haven't seen in years, but are just as I remember them. Some (like Les Miserables, are obvious abridgements that leave out things I remember. Others have characters and incidents that seem fresh and new to me, and make me wonder if the first reading was an abridged version...or if (HORRORS!) I had FORGOTTEN!

Right now, I am reading The Brothers Karamazov. I am at the point, about halfway through the book, where Dmitri is arrested for the murder of his father. Jurisprudence in 19th Century Czarist Russia was, of course, very different than ours, but the scene of the arrest (a roadside inn and gambling den) is astounding. The prosecuting attorney is accompanying the police detectives, and is questioning witnesses at the site of the arrest! Dmitri, who is without legal representation, sits there under arrest, and is subjected to a parade of "witnesses" who are either drunk, sleeping it off, mad at Dmitri because he loved the same girl as they did, a Pole who barely speaks Russian and who lost money to Dmitri gambling, and the girl who was both Dmitri's lover and the lover of the decedent, Dmitri's father!

If that isn't confusing enough, there is no mention of anyone being "Under Oath", and Dmitri is told that, although he has a "right to remain silent", things will "go better" for him if he just CONFESSES. No DNA, Blood Evidence, or Fingerprints are mentioned. While forensic technology may have come a long way since then, it looks as though Dmitri may be exiled to Siberia on the testimony of False Witnesses.

There is a reason that the admonition against being a "False Witness" is in the Ten Commandments. We see it today in The Media, Government, and Academia, three institutions that, for centuries have been trusted witnesses, and therefore have power over society. When the lies of these institutions are exposed as liars, it is troubling and disorienting. WHO can you trust?

By calling Himself "The True and Faithful Witness", God is telling us that HE is the Truth, and will always be Faithful, no matter what all the false witnesses clamor and scream at us.

I will not spoil The Brothers Karamazov for anyone who may read it, but it is not a "spoiler" to know that Dmitri is NOT the murderer. The book is quite clear on that before this scene takes place, which makes it even MORE frustrating and egregious!

There is a reason God included the Law against "False Witness" in THE BIG TEN along with Murder, Theft, Adultery, Idolatry, Coveting, and Parental Abuse. Its effects are so egregious that it is, in effect, a MURDER. People can and do lose more than a mere reputation when they are the victims of False Witness. The can lose a Marriage, a Family, a Job, their Livelihood, their Freedom, or even their LIFE because of a LIE. St. Stephen, St. Peter, St. Paul, and even Jesus Himself were testified against by False Witnesses. In Peter's and Paul's cases, it led to flogging and imprisonment on a number of occasions. In Stephen's case, and, of course, in the case of Jesus, False Witness led to their Execution.

The evil one wants displays of The Ten Commandments removed from public places. Their very presence is a conviction of his evil deeds.

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance..” Psalm 33 NASB

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS