4-7-03

1 p

I just got off the phone with my sister. She�s feeling depressed today and wiped out. She�s coming to the end of this nasty crawlin crud stuff that�s going around. She�s exhausted, feeling like shit, and feeling abandoned and helpless. So, this is largely for her.

Proverbs 30:5, 24-31

5 Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

24 Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 coneys* are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;
28 A lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings� palaces.

29 There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing:
30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;
31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king with his army around him

*that is, the hyrax or rock badger

My sister, He will protect you and keep you safe. It�s okay to be sad, it�s okay to be depressed, it�s okay to be exhausted and it�s okay to be �done�. Breathe and focus your eyes on Him. Then, curl up and sleep. It�s okay to cry, it�s okay to sleep. Rest, my dear heart. Rest. He will take care of the rest.

Jeremiah 24

Malachi 4

�Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire.� Says the Lord Almighty. �Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,� says the Lord Almighty.

4 �Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 �See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.�

Mark 12:41-44

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins*, worth only a fraction of a penny**.

43 Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, �I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything � all she had to live on.�

*Greek two lepta

**Greek kodrantes

1 Timothy 5:1-10

1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,
2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continued night and day to pray and ask God for help.
6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.
7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame.
8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband*,
10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

*or has had but one husband.

My sister� I feel for you, honey. Breathe. Sleep. Rest a little. It�s okay to not feel good, it really is. God will take care of the parts you can�t do.