O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,

O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an [a]instrument for his work;
And I have created the [b]spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you [c]spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 54:16 Or weapon
2. Isaiah 54:16 destroyer
3. Isaiah 55:2 Lit. weigh out silver

Nobody cares about morals

Morals are supposed to win! Do we care about truth? No, we only care about whether our side wins! Does anyone care about where the world actually came from? No, we want our pet theories to win! Winning, winning, winning! Do you think that this is some kind of basketball 🏀 game? Do you think that this is the Superbowl? People are crying 😢! This is real life. This is not a comic book! This is not a video game 🎮! Actual people are actually crying! Doesn't that bother you? You can't just call yourself good and your enemies evil all the time! What about the needs of the people you hurt? Don't those matter? Learn to see beyond your own nose 👃! Learn to care about others! Only then can you walk in the joy of the Lord!

Barnabas 9

Barnabas 9:1
Furthermore He saith concerning the ears, how that it is our heart
which He circumcised. The Lord saith in the prophet; With the
hearing of the ears they listened to Me. And again He saith;
They that are afar off shall hear with their ears, and shall
perceive what I have done. And; Be ye circumcised in your
hearts, saith the Lord.

Barnabas 9:2
And again He saith; Hear, O Israel, for thus saith the Lord thy
God. Who is he that desireth to live forever, let him hear with his
ears the voice of My servant.
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And again He saith; Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the
Lord hath spoken these things for a testimony. And again He saith;
Hear the words of the Lord, ye rulers of this people. And again He
saith; Hear, O my children, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness. Therefore He circumcised our ears, that hearing the
word we might believe.

Barnabas 9:3
But moreover the circumcision, in which they have confidence, is
abolished; for He hath said that a circumcision not of the flesh
should be practiced. But they transgressed, for an evil angel taught
them cleverness.

Barnabas 9:4
He saith unto them; Thus saith the Lord your God (so I find the
commandment); sow not upon thorns, be ye circumcised in to your
Lord. And what saith He? Be ye circumcised in the hardness of
your heart; and then ye will not harden your neck. Take this
again; Behold, sayith the Lord, all the Gentiles are uncircumcised
in their foreskin, but this people is uncircumcised in their
hearts.

Barnabas 9:5
But thou wilt say; In truth the people hath been circumcised for a
seal. Nay, but so likewise is every Syrian and Arabian and all the
priests of the idols. Do all those then too belong to their
covenant? Moreover the Egyptians also are included among the
circumcised.

Barnabas 9:6
Learn therefore, children of love, concerning all things abundantly,
that Abraham, who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in the
spirit unto Jesus, when he circumcised having received the ordinances
of three letters.

Barnabas 9:7
For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household
eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge
given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first,
and then after an interval three hundred In the eighteen 'I'
stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And
because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three
hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the
remaining one the cross.

Barnabas 9:8
He who placed within us the innate gift of His covenant knoweth; no
man hath ever learnt from me a more genuine word; but I know that ye
are worthy.

Barnabas 3

Barnabas 3:1
He speaketh again therefore to them concerning these things;
Wherefore fast ye for Me, saith the Lord, so that your voice is
heard this day crying aloud? This is not the fast which have chosen,
saith the Lord; not a man abasing his soul;

Barnabas 3:2
not though ye should bend your neck as a hoop, and put on sackcloth
and make your bed of ashes, not even so shall ye call a fast that is
acceptable.

Barnabas 3:3
But unto us He saith; Behold, this is the fast which I have chosen,
saith the Lord; loosen every band of wickedness, untie the
tightened cords of forcible contracts, send away the broken ones
released and tear in pieces every unjust bond. Break thy bread to
the hungry, and if thou seest one naked clothe him; bring the
shelterless into thy house, and if thou seest a humble man, thou
shalt not despise him, neither shall any one of thy household and
of thine own seed.

Barnabas 3:4
Then shall thy light break forth in the morning, and thy healing
shall arise quickly, and righteousness shall go forth before thy
face, and the glory of God shall environ thee.
Barnabas 3:5
Then shalt thou cry out and God shall hear thee; while thou art
still speaking, He shall say 'Lo, I am here'; if thou shalt take
away from thee the yoke and the stretching forth of the finger and
the word of murmuring, and shalt give thy bread to the hungry
heartily, and shalt pity the abased soul.

Barnabas 3:6
To this end therefore, my brethren, He that is long-suffering,
foreseeing that the people whom He had prepared in His well-beloved
would believe in simplicity, manifested to us beforehand concerning
all things, that we might not as novices shipwreck ourselves upon
their law.

Leave me alone!

Leave me alone! I just want to stop crying some day, any day. I don't want to hear the latest thing out there. I don't want to know how much suffering there is in the world. I can't do anything about it! Can't anybody tell me how to stop crying?

How moral decisions are made

Moral decisions cannot be solved through reason! They must be solved through tears, through grief, through crying without any end! Science and math can have reason in them! Nobody has their souls on the line for those things! This whole matter of "this vs. that" is just plain stupid and predatory, when moral things are being discussed! We can't weigh options, we can't decide what is best, as long as there are moral issues in the table! You need a "dark night of the soul" for that! You need crying, permanent crying, whenever a moral decision is being made!

CRYING CAT