day no. 13,073: so that's pretty sick

Isaiah 19:14

The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

Drunken people aren't notorious for pulling together great feats of walking in the first place.

They are known for upchucking their night's "fun" however.

Combine the two and you've got a recipe for disaster: slippery, vomit-laden, unstable disaster.

Nice metaphor Isaiah.

We get the picture.

Egypt will stumble about and is a danger to themselves and others.

Egypt is on the floor covered in vomit, passed out after several unsuccessful efforts to lift themselves out of their own puke.

What could inspire less confidence than a drunken person walking in slippery sewage?

day no. 13,072: a prayer for my daughters

Song of Solomon 8:9-10

9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds peace.

There can hardly be four words more imaginably peaceful for a father of daughters to hear than "I was a wall!"

Only better are the words, "I worship and follow Jesus" a la 3 John 4.

Doors do not have discretion.

Walls provide security and selectivity.

My prayer is that my daughters would use discretion and selectivity in guarding their hearts.

My prayer is to hear them in integrity and enthusiasm pronounce, "I WAS A WALL" as I walk them down the aisle to their God-fearing, Jesus-loving, humble, servant-hearted, courageous husband.

Oh Lord, hear my prayer!!!

day no. 13,071 continued... the record of a One hit wonder

Isaiah 4:3

And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem

See other references to the book of life and the enrolling, enlistment, recording of those in it HERE.

Those enrolled get their name on the list by grace through faith in Jesus alone.

The velvet rope remains closed unless your name is on the list.

It's not a matter of you knowing the Owner of the club, it's a matter of the Owner of the club knowing you and putting your name on His list.

Everyone trying to get into the club knows the Owner.

Only those whom the Owner knows get in, however.

day no. 13,071: origins

Acts 17:26

From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad is 76 today!

Without you, there'd be no me.

Also, it's my parents' 37th wedding anniversary today!

Still going strong after all these years.

Without your marriage, there'd be no me.

day no. 13,070: the reason is entirely unreasonable

Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:though your sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow;though they are red like crimson,they shall become like wool."

It is utterly ridiculous that God would suggest that a meeting of minds between us and Him would reasonably produce our salvation.

God's logic is this: look to Me and be saved.

The meeting will NOT involve God pretending we aren't sinners.

Nope.

He will not tolerate our sins as mere blunders on an otherwise unblemished resume.

They are blood red.

And He will shed red blood to make them white as snow.

They are permanent blemishes that ruin us like worn out fabric.

He will make us new material altogether.

day no. 13,069: our chores no more!

Ephesians 2:15

...by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he (Jesus) might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace

Jesus abolished the Law in His person by living out the Law and nailing it to the Cross along with our sins.

Having lived the perfect life and died a sinner's death, He becomes a double-cure: 

He is the tree of life from which we ought to have eaten and He is the gruesome death deserved after consuming fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

day no. 13,066: the end of the great experiment

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Here is conclusion to the great experiment.

Fear God and keep His commandments.
That is the duty of each and every man and woman.

God will judge every deed, every word, every thought, every ambition, every intention, etc...

Nothing will remain secret or unexposed.

The good and the bad will both be brought to the light.

Believe and behave in response to who He is:

Fear, love, respect, honor, appreciate, value and worship Him.
Observe, study, apply and teach what He commands.