The art of prayer

Is prayer an art?

I can be lost in wonder at the beauty of some prayers. David's for example how Psalm 16 begins, A Secret Treasure of David. Watch over me, O God, for I take refuge in You... Or how about Paul's in Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may yet abound more and more in full knowledge and all perception, 10 for you to distinguish the things that differ, that you may be sincere and without blame for the day of Christ, 11 being filled with fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Some prayers have been combined with music which settles the soul’s yearning such as David’s cry after he acknowledged his sin with Bathsheba, Create in me a clean heart, Oh, Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and remove not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me, the joy of my salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

What glory shines from our faces and our lives when we exercise our faith by praying? It is well with the soul as one song declares, when we know Who is powerful enough to deliver us from our troubles. And if not deliverance, then we are sustained through them. God is pleased with our faith.

But the simple prayer of Jesus, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," is one of the greatest works of art of all time. The wonder and beauty of this plea from the cross in His darkest hour, and His deepest pain cannot be fathomed in a lifetime. This is our lesson. This is God’s pleasure that we forgive through faith as He forgives us.

It takes faith to forgive, because it is not all right that someone intentionally inflicts pain on God’s children. Forgiving does not call the action of injustice all right. What it does do, is free the person forgiving from the clawing clutches of anger, bitterness, and hatred. When those things take over the heart, it leaves little room for God’s love. Praying for your enemies is the best road to forgiving them.

My Dad used to ask me to say the blessing every single time I was upset or angry about something. Every time, before I was finished praying, my heart was filled with peace and I could look at whatever had upset me with clearer vision.

If it is hard to pray for your enemy, then pray, “May God bless and keep _______ far away from me.” Or pray as Beth Moore suggests in her book, Praying the Word, O Father, please cause the love of Christ to compel me to do what is right in this challenging situation. (2 Corinthians 5:14)

And isn't it absolutely wonderful that Jesus prayed for us! As Paul points out we were sinners, ugly and unlovely, but He first loved us in our unlovely state. Jesus prayed, in John 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine and I have glory in them.

Of course this part of His prayer is for His disciples, the eleven who were faithful. However, I am a disciple of His and I am expected to bring Him glory. Jesus has glory in me. Selah! What an awesome thought. How I act. How I present myself to the world. What I think, either brings glory to Him or shame. He took the burden of all my sins. He counted the shame of the cross as nothing compared to the joy on the other side.

John 17:13 And now I come to You, and I speak these things in the world, that they may have My joy being fulfilled in them.

Jesus spoke His prayer in the world. That is difficult to understand. But when we consider that He lay all His riches aside and stepped away from His place beside His Father so that we could understand God better, understand how we are to conduct ourselves righteously, understand the stark difference between good and evil in order to choose the good and reject the evil. Yes. I can absolutely see how that fills me up with Joy. Indescribable, unmistakable, unquenchable joy.

So is part of the art of prayer the joy that accompanies the presence of God? I believe it is. If we become pray-ers by rote, repeating prayers without feeling or understanding their meaning, then the joy is not in it or in us.

Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." That is in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Doing that is definitely an art: To develop our relationship with God to such a degree that our every thought is a conversation with Him. That is an art form worthy of pursuing.

I believe it is also worthy to laugh with God. He has such a wonderful sense of humor, after all He gave one to us if we just exercise it.

So interesting that Paul also cautions us to give thanks in everything (he means in the good times and the bad times) for this is the will of God. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the prophecies, keep back from every form of evil. Then he gives a blessing: May the God of peace Himself fully sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious blessing!

May the God of peace fully sanctify you, dear reader, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. May you pursue the art of prayer so that your tender relationship with our LORD blossoms into the eternal fragrance that pleases God. Amen and Amen.

Gina Burgess, Author and Columnist

Excerpt from Refreshment in Refuge, 2010

May 1944 -- Interview with Dr. Ray Mitchell

 

 

By Gina Burgess
Lifestyles Editor
It is early 1944. The 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), better known as Merrill’s Marauders need replacements. A young volunteer named Ray Mitchell wants to volunteer to the Army. His father drives him and his cousin from Picayune to Camp Shelby just outside of Hattiesburg and drops them off at the gate. Only now, after being a father does Mitchell understand what must have been occurring in the chest of his father that day.

“Wanted: Volunteers for a Dangerous, Hazardous Mission in Jungle Warfare” stated the sign that young Mitchell saw.
“Pretty music was playing in my head,” he says in his memoirs, “as I signed. Take a long sea voyage to a beautiful, lush, green island in a far away land and forget those that are overburdened in the 65th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby. The salt air will do wonders for your health and attitude. Not only did I sign the paper, I took one back to my company and got thirteen more nice soldiers to agree to that beautiful trip with me. None of them speak to me any more, but I think I am the only survivor.” (May, 2007)

That began Cpl. Mitchell’s trip around the world with a stop off in Burma and China chock full of horrors that we cannot imagine. Many on the ship that zig-zagged across the Atlantic Ocean had not volunteered for jungle warfare, which left those who had, the butt of many jokes during the 31 days it took to get to Bombay, India. That is where squads were formed and Cpl. Ray Mitchell was given 12 men to “look after”, some of them were cooks and bakers, military police and green (untrained) recruits.

Six days of train travel, took them to a beautiful meadow, smooth enough for aircraft to land. C-47 and C-46 transport planes landed and the troops quickly boarded. After a lengthy flight, they landed to load guns, ammunition and other supplies needed to fight a war. Guns were passed out to each man.

“Keep the gun that lands in your lap. We’ll match you with your weapon later,” they were told.

On the seventh day from landing in Bombay, all noncoms (non-commissioned officers) were ordered to a meeting, and Cpl. Mitchell went.

“You will be flown into combat this morning,” Those words still cause the muscles in his chest to constrict today.

“Your mind races,” he said. “‘Combat!’ We are just a bunch of men that were put together on a ship, we had not trained together for a single day. Some of my guys didn’t even know what a combat pack was. Others looked at the weapon they held like it was a snake. Some knew nothing about the M-1 rifle, they were not infantry, but could use the carbine. Trades were made. We had several -03 rifles that the fellow in military police took. One fellow that was in cook/bakery school took a .45 pistol as I did. I could use any of them, but it was necessary to have each man with a gun he could use.”

This motley group’s first mission was to protect the Battalion Commander and Headquarters on the flight to combat. Mitchell didn’t even have time to tell his 1st Sergeant they were flying out.

The Battalion Commander wanted to know what was taking so long to land the plane, and sent Mitchell to the front of the plane to find out.

Mitchell was told, “You tell the old so and so there are a bunch of Jap Zeros over the landing site and we ain’t going in till they are gone. Now, if he’s in such an all fired hurry, he can jump out and walk.” Mitchell may have been young, but he was wise enough just to mention the Zeros to the Commander. After the “Jap Zeros” cleared the area below, they landed.

“We were told that the only men to stay on the plane were those flying it or those that got shot while we were in the process of landing,” Mitchell said. “We are digging in along the edge of the runway at Myitkyina, Burma. It is the end of May, 1944 and we have no idea of what we are suppose to do now that we are here." “During the last part of the campaign for Myitkyina, we were pushed to move forward and take the city. We were tired, hungry, sick, but with the promise of a flight back to India, clean clothes, bath, back pay, the promotion that we had been put in for earlier, and a leave to rest, we fought on just a little harder During the period of our heaviest fighting we received word from the rear supply that we were using too much ammunition. That hurt our feelings. I have no idea what the supply was using as a comparison to gauge the amount used,” Mitchell said.

“We had some very bad days,” he added. “We were bombed twice by B-25s bombing from 5,000 feet. Why? The enemy had no anti-aircraft guns where we were. It was very devastating to be bombed at all, but by your own force with never any explanation, or a ‘sorry it happened.’ To dig out the bodies and pick up the body parts of your friends, stays with you the rest of your life.”

Mitchell was called to Battalion Headquarters the same day more than 200 men were ambushed and killed. Seventeen of the company made it back behind friendly lines.

“I remember it so well,” says Mitchell. “It was the day I became acting Sgt. Major of 2nd Battalion. I had then more than two hundred men missing in action. This number continued to climb until the battle ended in August of 1944, and the 5307th CUP was deactivated. “The “second Team” paid its dues although no one seems to read or hear about these men and what they experienced in those jungles.”

Several Battalion Commanders came and went, some so quickly it seemed to Mitchell they were there a week or less.“There was one major,” he said, “whose first order was for all officers and non-coms to wear their insignia of rank, you know how that went over.

“Fortunately, he tried to show one of the old Sargeant [sic] veterans that had served in Panama how to shoot an old beat up 37 mm antitank gun, but he forgot the recoil...he failed to listen to warnings. He got the full impact of that recoil in the face. He was evacuated with heavy lacerations to the face and eye area. I hope he’s still alive, and I hope his experiences mellowed his ways. He paid a heavy price.”

Mitchell and the rest of the 2nd Battalion pressed on, finally taking the city. When the city fell, Mitchell was given duty finding MIAs. He had to scour through lots of bodies that had lain in the jungle heat for days.

Merrill’s Marauders, named for their commander Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, was a behind enemy lines fighting unit. They were sometimes 300 miles behind enemy lines in jungle so dense it was dark on the ground. Their mission took them on foot 1,000 miles, hacking through foliage, trudging over mountains and through valleys filled with mud, and through such furious rain it was more like a swift waterfall than rain.

By October of 1944 only 200 fighting-trim men were left of the 3,000-man force. Most had been struck down with insect-born disease, others had been killed in the five major battles this force won and the 30 skirmishes won despite being far outnumbered.

In November 1945, Mitchell landed in Tacoma, Wash., and saw the sign, “Welcome Home! Job Well Done!” Mitchell said it was great to walk down that plank and set foot on the soil of a free nation. Can you put a price of freedom? “No way,” he says.

Part 2 of 6 parts The Burma Campaign is here. 

Merrill's Marauders are featured
here on YouTube.

Crowns of the Believers

Book Cover jpeg

Study about the 
Crown of Protection... 
The Crown of Separation ... 
The Crown of Insolence ... 
The Crown of Lovingkindness and Crown of Tenderness ... 
and the other crowns of the believers.

It's finally here! It's available on Amazon, and other eStore book stores.

...and for Kindle, too.

Grab your copy

I did a lot more digging using the Hebrew and Greek lexicons. Then, I taught this study to my Thursday morning Bible study class. Wow! When I updated it with more in depth research you won't believe what I found. There are more than 7 crowns that we receive. Isn't that amazing? There's several crowns of the same type, but of different kinds. There is also a crown of insolence... and yes, Christians can wear this crown.

This has been such a popular post, I decided to use my updated notes and write a book.

It isn't long, and it isn't expensive.

Author Gina Burgess

I ask you to purchase the book, and let me know what you think! Give me your insights, discuss what you discover as you study the crowns. I hope to keep updating the book as time goes by so that many believers will know what, how, and why we have these rewards.

~~~~oOo~~~~

Paul was very fond of using The Race as an analogy for the Christian Lifestyle. To the Corinthians, he espoused this theme pointing to the victor in the race receives a crown of corruption. That was a wreath of leaves of laurel which soon withers. In fact the runner coveted the victory much more than the crown. Paul immediately points out that believers’ crowns are incorruptible, lasting forever, being the proof of victory in Christian living.

I have heard studies on “the five crowns” we receive, but there actually are more than five crowns. Believers have already received two of these crowns, which are worn daily.

The crowns and their purposes, which you'll study with me:

Crown of Separation – find out what this crown means, had how to find it in Scripture. 

Crown of Protection - is found in Psalm 5:12 translated surround. The Bible tells us there are several different kinds of this crown type. Find out which ones they are, and how we receive this crown.

Crown of Insolence is first mentioned in  Isaiah 28:1. The derogatory term, Crown of Insolence, stems from how the Samaritans took great pride in the work of their own hands. Find out how Christians today acquire this type of crown. 

Crown of Incorruptibility – Of course Paul describes this crown. Find out how this crown applies to believers today.

Crown of Rejoicing -- Who actually will receive this crown? How does it apply to Christians, and are believers the only ones who wear it?

Crown of Righteousness -- Another crown that Paul describes. We think we know what this one means, but it goes a lot deeper than just being justified by the blood o Christ.

Crown of Life -- Both James and Christ speak of this crown. When do believers start wearing this one?

Crown of Glory -- Peter describes this crown. Does everyone receive this crown? Does anything about our gifts indicate who will receive this one?

Here is the exhortation: We should always be working, using our gifts toward the edification of the body. Setting on a pew hatching nothing restricts the work God has planned for His children to do on earth. Utilizing our gifts ensures we bring God glory and honor.

The Crowns of the Believers gives you precious insight into the real purpose of the crowns. It heightens your insight and opens the doors to in depth study of God's word. I urge you to invest in your copy of this book today. It is well worth the money and your time invested to study this beautiful facet of God's enduring grace and His glory.

Can you fathom a $1 trillion?? It's time to cut the credit card

Photo by Tumisu on pixbay

If we were to get into HG Wells' time machine and go back 1 billion seconds, the year would be 1993. A billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was doling out free wine and free food to every Roman citizen over the age of 14... male, of course. The Roman Empire lasted for another few centuries until 476 when Odoacer, the German, deposed Romulus Augustus and that was the end of the western Roman Empire. 

Ten billion seconds ago give or take a few years, King Tut was born; and God was still king of the Israelites using judges to keep peace in Israel. That was only 3,163 years ago. One Trillion seconds ago, was 31,712 years ago. The dawn of man was still a twinkle in God's eye, biblically speaking..

One billion seconds is 31.69 years. One trillion seconds is 1,000 times that or 31,709 years.

Now that it's all in perspective... fast forward to 2021 and we can see things haven't changed much at all except Congress is now debating trillions of dollars instead of billions. I've posted this before, but I truly do not think anyone can possibly grasp how much $1 billion is much less $36.5+ trillion which happens to be our national debt at 9:45 am pm on February 5, 2025.In the time it took to type that, the debt, increased more than a million dollars!

It would take longer to count to 1 billion because most of the numbers take longer to say than one second. Perhaps about 95 years to count to one trillion... say 485,732,394,723 real fast, three times. That's only 485+ billion.

A 1-inch stack of $100 bills equals $25,000.It would take three 18-wheeler trailers jam packed to the top to carry 1 billion dollars in $100 dollar bills.

Now, your great aunt Bertha died and left you $1 billion dollars but you must spend $1000 per day or you lose everything... do you have enough days left in your lifetime to spend it all? How long does it take to spend $1 billion dollars if you spend $1000 per day, which would be $30,000 + per month?

It would take 2,740 years to spend that much money.

One TRILLION dollars is 1,000 times that. So it's 274,000 years to spend it all at $1000 per day and 3,000 18-wheelers to transport it, and about 95,000 years to count it.

But, our legislators spend far more than $1,000 every day... they spend your entire inheritance from Aunt Bertha  PLUS a lot in one day. That's scary.

We live in the land of milk and honey and it is down right scary that neither Congress nor past president's have seemed to  to bat an eyelash at the national debt.  The national debt is increasing $1.72 Billion per day. Kinda makes me sick at my stomach, actually.

One billion seconds ago, (1993) the national debt was

$3.1 Trillion

In 2006 the national debt was

$8.5 Trillion

On !February 7, 2025 at 10:20 am the national debt is

$36.8 Trillion


We have been spending more than $2 million per minute when in 2011 we were only spending $500,000 per minute in this country of milk and honey.   

Gag! ONLY $500,000. How long will it take for the cow to run dry and the bees can't make enough to satisfy even the leanest request for a taste?

FINALLY Prez Trump understands what Stop Spending means. But gov't workers are now suing him for cutting their stay-at-home do-nothing jobs!!! ARRRRG!

No one is entitled to anything unless they work for it. Social Security and Medicare for senior citizens is a must since they have paid all their working lives into the fund. But there is enough fat on the steak it can be trimmed completely and we'll still have enough fat marbled in the muscle to flavor and feed our lean, mean working machine.

That is a Biblical principle that worked well for Paul and the Apostles and it should work well for us. But, like the Romans, some people have become too fat and lazy to work for their supper. But these would rather reach into mailboxes for the government "pay"checks, not go to work, complain about no service at restaurants, not give tips, and eat bonbons by the TV when they aren't rioting in the streets chanting "Sue Trump!
."

 Lately, the Democrats have made that possible. Unfortunately, if we are not careful, like the Romans, our money will be monopoly money and the free wine and free bread along with the daily free ham will drain us all dry. Once the masses are deprived of their freebies, they get really nasty. 

If things are this bad when the well isn't completely dry with riots, pillaging, murders, and stealing without prosecution, what will it be like when the well is dry? 

However, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and render to Uncle Sam what is Uncle Sam's and render to God what is God's. That has worked really well so far. God promises something beautiful when we bring the tithes into the storehouse. He wants us to test Him, try Him, prove Him and the blessings, unmeasured blessings He will pour out on us.

Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, and Busters, et al

I have spent hours viewing several different programs where teams are in hot pursuit of paranormal activities from the netherworld. These teams are in earnest, yet have enormous nerve in that they taunt the entities of whom they are hoping to get physical evidence they exist.

They do exist. They are not ghosts as in human souls. They are spirits as in either angels or demons.

The commonalities are:

1. Heavy air, like swimming through water.
2. Swift temperature changes (both cold and hot)
3. Smells
4. Sounds - popping, foot steps, voices
5. Floating light orbs in photos and on video
Extremely rare is the photo with a transparent person, or even more rare is the video with an apparition in motion. 

Every ghost hunter has this mistaken belief that humans who are distressed before they die, or they die untimely, or die violently are somehow locked here on earth to give trouble to others until their business is finished or until... Very few have Christian beliefs, and even fewer have a deep, intrinsic Biblical knowledge.

If they did, they would know absolutely that God is the King of the Universe and He has stated flatly that no spirit shall linger here on earth after death. If they did, they would know that just wearing a t-shirt with a cross on it doesn't protect a person from a demon. If they did, they wouldn't taunt or challenge the spirits they are chasing.

That fact hit home with Saul when he consulted the witch at Endor. In fact, the witch was a lot shocked when Samuel rose up to meet Saul. I imagine her screeching could be heard a mile away. (The story is in 1 Samuel 28).

God was adamant to Israel about not allowing that kind of wickedness in the land.

Leviticus 20:27

            "A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them."'

 This doesn’t leave room for witchcraft, séances, Ouija boards, channeling or sorcery, does it?”

The term translated "familiar spirits" is fascinating because the Hebrew is obe -- (apparently through the idea of prattling a father’s name); properly a mumble, that is, a water skin (from its hollow sound); hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar): - bottle, familiar spirit. We can understand that as being something that is faked, or that demons use the possessed oracle as a ventriloquist uses a dummy.

Interesting that God had Moses use such a word for general description with sorcery. He was illustrating the chicanery of it and the necromancy. The medium's shocked shriek at Samuel's actual appearance proves this wasn't her usual "show".  Therefore, she had not truly been raising dead souls, but only pretending to for a fee.

The idols worshiped were demon-based religions, and the gods were demons. (Deuteronomy 32:17 which Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 10:21 and Psalm 106:37) Therefore we know that God explained why idolatry was so abhorrent so the Children of Israel had no excuse. Other blatant examples are King Manasseh, and his son King Amon; their stories are found in 2 Kings 21:1ff.

What about psychics? What did Paul do about a girl with a divining spirit in Acts 16:16-18? She described as having a Pythonic spirit which is Puthōn (poo'-thone) and comes from Πυθώ Puthō (the name of the region where Delphi, the seat of the famous oracle, was located); a Python, that is, (by analogy with the supposed diviner there) inspiration (soothsaying): - divination.

He was deeply distressed that the girl kept following him around shouting, "These men are from the most high God and show us a way of salvation." The Greek translated "a way" is hodos which is by implication a road or a progress. The other implication is that there are other ways, these men just point one way.

So does this mean that demons can be prophetic and divine the future? Of course not. The only prophets that are 100% correct are the ones that come from God. Satan is a diviner in the way that he has piles of files about each person and he is crafty enough to use those files against us. He knows our weaknesses better than we do, and he knows our motivations therefore he can be ambiguous while the receiver reads into it whatever serves and gratifies their vain desires; and his servants profit from it. The men who owned the girl profited much by her soothsaying; and it was profit from gullible people who wanted to know what was coming next. Satan had divine permission to lead these ignorant idolaters captive, but unless he offered oracles such as at Delphi, he would not have garnered such adoration and awe.

The demons knew Paul. They knew his mission, thus the girl's following behind them and shouting the truth. Why would Paul be so distressed? There are lots of reasons such as giving credibility to other oracles uttered by the girl, and being followed by demons are two.

Another example are Jewish itinerant exorcists. These profanely used Jesus' name to command demons. Specifically, the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish priest  wandered about the land using Jesus' name whom Paul preaches. Acts 19 describes what happened to them. The demons answered back saying, "Jesus we know. Paul we know of, but who are you?" Then the man who housed the demon jumped on these seven, tore off their clothes and mauled them. They scrabbled from the house defeated. This story became well known throughout Ephesus and caused great fear to come upon the people. It also caused many who practiced the occult to pile up their occultic books and burn them. The value was counted to be fifty thousand silver pieces.

The man that inhabited the grave yard which Jesus and His disciples passed was so violent, no one could contain him, nor could chains lock him down. His strength was of ten men. There were many demons in this man and they called themselves Legion. They begged Jesus to cast then into the swine rather than into the Pit. That story is told in Mark 5 and Luke 8.

What does this tell us about demons? Actually Mark 5 and Mark 9 tell us a lot about demons and demon possession. If we begin with verse 1 we find out:
They like being around grave yards which indicates an affiliation with dead bodies.
Demons give humans supernatural strength.
They invade the brain making a human insensible to reason.
They cause crying, and sadistic/masochistic behavior.
They have names. More than one can possess one person and they work in concert to torment.

They recognize Jesus as God's Son and His complete authority. (In Luke 10, Jesus transfers this authority to us.)
They are territorial, desiring to stay in the same region/country.
If they can't indwell a human, they will indwell animal bodies rather than none at all, or be cast into the Pit (Rev. 20:3).
Demons can cause animals to kill themselves, and they like being in a body when it dies therefore they cause suicidal behavior.
They can cause deafness, silence, and rabid animal type behavior.
Demons can indwell from childhood. Mark 9:21 -- To me, this is the most scary aspect of them.
There are certain ways to exorcise specific demons (prayer and fasting etc.).

They use any means to usurp God's glory and worship.
They possess people who are not sealed by the Holy Spirit. Once exorcised, they will come back if the Holy Spirit does not fill up the freshly cleaned vessel.
They use them like dummies to capture others into the occult.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that Satan's demonic forces have a definite hierarchy. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We can conclude from this that some demons have more power and authority than others.

I can't help but think Peter was talking about ignorant, foolhardy people who go about challenging things of which they know nothing in 2 Peter 2:10-11 10 and specially those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise lordship. Bold are they , self-willed; they do not fear speaking injuriously of dignities: 11 when angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring against them, before the Lord, an injurious charge.

Ghost residuals?

After studying for hours all these different "reality" shows about hunting ghosts, a phenomenon reoccurs which these demon chasers call residual sightings.

What happens is they hear voices, footsteps, or gunshots as if the sounds and/or "ghosts" were recreating the history of the place. Gunshots on a battle field, cafeteria voices in a school, smells of perfume in a lady's bedroom. These sightings as well as the sounds and smells seem to have been preserved over centuries.

One celebrity told the tale of his new apartment's "ghosts". A man and a woman were fighting, another man came in and shot the man, then ran right through his bed out of the room. Not a dream, and very real to him. Since this scene played out over and over and over with no deviations what so ever, these images or visions were not sentient beings but more like a recording being replayed. The celebrity found out that his apartment was actually built on top of the roof of this old building and it had been the home base for gangsters during the late 20s and early 30s.

Since there are many sightings such as this, what should we make of it? If the things are reenacted violence, then what would be God's purpose in allowing people to see these visions of past events? Are demons involved, or is it just history? What do you think?

A Physcian Analyzes the Crucifixion

(I posted this 5 years ago, it's time to study it again. I cannot read this without sobbing my heart out.)

A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion

(Originally published in Arizona Medicine, March 1965, Arizona Medical Association. A medical explanation of what Jesus endured on the day He died.)

By Dr. C. Truman Davis

Dr. C. Truman Davis is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He is a practicing ophthalmologist, a pastor, and author of a book about medicine and the Bible.

Several years ago I became interested in the physical aspects of the passion, or suffering, of Jesus Christ when I read an account of the crucifixion in Jim Bishop’s book, The Day Christ Died. I suddenly realized that I had taken the crucifixion more or less for granted all these years - that I had grown callous to its horror by a too-easy familiarity with the grim details. It finally occurred to me that, as a physician, I did not even know the actual immediate cause of Christ’s death. The Gospel writers do not help much on this point. Since crucifixion and scourging were so common during their lifetimes, they undoubtedly considered a detailed description superfluous. For that reason we have only the concise words of the evangelists: “Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to them to be crucified ... and they crucified Him.”

Despite the Gospel accounts silence on the details of Christ’s crucifixion, many have looked into this subject in the past. In my personal study of the event from a medical viewpoint, I am indebted especially to Dr. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who did exhaustive historical and experimental research and wrote extensively on the topic.

An attempt to examine the infinite psychic and spiritual suffering of the Incarnate God in atonement for the sins of fallen man is beyond the scope of this article. However, the physiological and anatomical aspects of our Lord’s passion we can examine in some detail. What did the body of Jesus of Nazareth actually endure during those hours of torture?


Gethsemane
The physical passion of Christ began in Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of His initial suffering, the one, which is of particular physiological interest, is the bloody sweat. Interestingly enough, the physician, St. Luke, is the only evangelist to mention this occurrence. He says, “And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44 KJV).

Every attempt imaginable has been used by modern scholars to explain away the phenomenon of bloody sweat, apparently under the mistaken impression that it simply does not occur. A great deal of effort could be saved by consulting the medical literature. Though very rare, the phenomenon of hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock.

Although Jesus’ betrayal and arrest are important portions of the passion story, the next event in the account which is significant from a medical perspective is His trial before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. Here the first physical trauma was inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him, mockingly taunted Him to identify them as each passed by, spat on Him, and struck Him in the face.


Before Pilate
In the early morning, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and worn out from a sleepless night, Jesus was taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia, the seat of government of the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. We are familiar with Pilate’s action in attempting to shift responsibility to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Jesus apparently suffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and was returned to Pilate. It was then, in response to the outcry of the mob, that Pilate ordered Barabbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.

Preparations for Jesus’ scourging were carried out at Caesar’s orders. The prisoner was stripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire stepped forward with the flagrum, or flagellum, in his hand. This was a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip was brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs. At first the weighted thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continued, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles.

The small balls of lead first produced large deep bruises that were broken open by subsequent blows. Finally, the skin of the back was hanging in long ribbons, and the entire area was an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it was determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner was near death, the beating was finally stopped.


Mockery
The half-fainting Jesus was then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood. The Roman soldiers saw a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They threw a robe across His shoulders and placed a stick in His hand for a scepter. They still needed a crown to make their travesty complete. Small flexible branches covered with long thorns, commonly used for kindling fires in the charcoal braziers in the courtyard, were plaited into the shape of a crude crown. The crown was pressed into his scalp and again there was copious bleeding as the thorns pierced the very vascular tissue. After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers took the stick from His hand and struck Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tired of their sadistic sport and tore the robe from His back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, caused excruciating pain. The wounds again began to bleed.


Golgotha
In deference to Jewish custom, the Romans apparently returned His garments. The heavy patibulum of the cross was tied across His shoulders. The procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution detail of Roman soldiers headed by a centurion began its slow journey along the route, which we know today as the Via Dolorosa. In spite of Jesus’ efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious loss of blood, was too much. He stumbled and fell. The rough wood of the beam gouged into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tried to rise, but human muscles had been pushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, anxious to proceed with the crucifixion, selected a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus followed, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock. The 650-yard journey from the Fortress Antonia to Golgotha was finally completed. The prisoner was again stripped of His clothing except for a loincloth, which was allowed the Jews. The crucifixion began. Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild analgesic, pain-reliving mixture. He refused the drink. Simon was ordered to place the patibulum on the ground, and Jesus was quickly thrown backward, with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire felt for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drove a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moved to the other side and repeated the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The patibulum was then lifted into place at the top of the stipes, and the titulus reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was nailed into place. The left foot was pressed backward against the right foot. With both feet extended toes down, a nail was driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The victim was now crucified.


On the Cross
As Jesus slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. The nails in the wrists were putting pressure on the median nerve, large nerve trunks, which traverse the mid-wrist and hand. As He pushed himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He placed His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there was searing agony as the nail tore through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of this feet. At this point, another phenomenon occurred. As the arms fatigued, great waves of cramps swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by the arm, the pectoral muscles, the large muscles of the chest, were paralyzed and the intercostal muscles, the small muscles between the ribs, were unable to act. Air could be drawn into the lungs, but could not be exhaled. Jesus fought to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, the carbon dioxide level increased in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subsided.


The Last Words
Spasmodically, He was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the seven short sentences that are recorded. The first - looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice for His seamless garment: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” The second - to the penitent thief: “Today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” The third - looking down at Mary His mother, He said: “Woman, behold your son.” Then turning to the terrified, grief-stricken adolescent John, the beloved apostle, He said: “Behold your mother.” The fourth cry is from the beginning of Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He suffered hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, and searing pain as tissue was torn from His lacerated back from His movement up and down against the rough timbers of the cross. Then another agony began: a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart, slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart. The prophecy in Psalm 22:14 was being fulfilled: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” The end was rapidly approaching. The loss of tissue fluids had reached a critical level; the compressed heart was struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood to the tissues, and the tortured lungs were making a frantic effort to inhale small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues sent their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasped His fifth cry: “I thirst.” Again we read in the prophetic Psalm: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15 KJV). A sponge soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine that was the staple drink of the Roman legionnaires, was lifted to Jesus’ lips. His body was now in extremis, and He could feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. This realization brought forth His sixth word, possibly little more than a tortured whisper: “It is finished.” His mission of atonement had been completed. Finally, He could allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”


Death
The common method of ending a crucifixion was by crurifracture, the breaking of the bones of the leg. This prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; the tension could not be relieved from the muscles of the chest, and rapid suffocation occurred. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers approached Jesus, they saw that this was unnecessary. Apparently, to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. John 19:34 states, “And immediately there came out blood and water.” Thus there was an escape of watery fluid from the sac surrounding the heart and the blood of the interior of the heart. This is rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that Jesus died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.


Resurrection
In these events, we have seen a glimpse of the epitome of evil that man can exhibit toward his fellowman and toward God. This is an ugly sight and is likely to leave us despondent and depressed. But the crucifixion was not the end of the story. How grateful we can be that we have a sequel: a glimpse of the infinite mercy of God toward man—the gift of atonement, the miracle of the resurrection, and the expectation of Easter morning.

If you've read this far, I want you to know that Jesus endured the shame and all the while upon that cross you were on His mind. Jesus was thinking of the Joy beyond the cross and the eternity of joyous togetherness with us His Bride. Make positively sure that you know exactly where you will spend eternity if you were to die today. Physical life is fleeting. Eternity is infinity in one direction. Make sure you live with the One who loves you and not with the one who's main goal is to kill and destroy.

Leaning or standing?

 

Leaning or standing?

Remember the words from the old song “Leaning on the everlasting arms, safe and secure from all alarms…”and think about what that actually means.

Exodus 3:5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

When the people looked into the Ark of the Covenant, 1 Samuel 6:20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?"

Psalm 35:1ff A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for my help. 3Also draw out the spear, And stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation."

Psalm 89:28 My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Isaiah 10:15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!

Isaiah 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."

Zechariah 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

Malachi 3:2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderers' soap.

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Peter tells us in his first letter in chapter one that our trials are more valuable than gold. The tribulations we suffer as Christians, Jesus warned us about for He said that as the world reviles Him so shall it revile us. We are merely strangers in a strange land on this earth. Our true home is in Heaven. However, sanctifying is a process that we must travail. God sanctifies us through mental and physical works that He prepared for us to do which entails a lot of trails and troubles. How we suffer through this sanctification process is by leaning on the everlasting arms. We cannot withstand the wiles of the devil except through the power of Christ. We cannot stand by ourselves. This, then, is the most powerful lesson any Christian can learn. By leaning, we conquer. By leaning and in our weakness is His mighty strength. Life is much more livable when we allow Jesus to take our burdens and lift our loads.

Weary and heavy laden, come to Him. He will straighten the backs of those bent beneath their loads. Matthew 11:28 and Psalm 146:8.

Ambush at Hawijah

I was watching the series Combat Zone the Ambush in Hawijah. Thirty soldiers outnumbered more than 3 to 1 on a mission to investigate a protest in a town that had at one time harbored Sudam Husein. I don't care much for the photography. They try to give you the "effect" of boots on the ground with the soldiers rather than just being a spectator. That is okay for a minute or two, but the constantly erratic camera angles, zooming in and out, are searing to the nerves. Setting that aside, though, this is a MUST see episode if you want to see how your prayers for our soldiers are working.


I had asked God not too long ago if it were possible for me to be able to see how my prayers were working for our soldiers. It is astounding how God answers prayers. He never ceases to amaze me. For some reason, we are now getting the Military Channel again. It just appeared one day earlier this year, then disappeared... sigh. Then last week, it reappeared. I did a search and programmed to record some favorites. Combat Zone was one that I stumbled across. Or I should say, God handed to me on a silver platter.


These soldiers walked into an ambush one day in 2004. The protest they were sent to investigate dispersed within a minute or two of their arrival giving rise to the suspicion that it was a ruse to get them there. After moving into position, all hell broke loose and bullets, IEDs, and rocket launched grenades began flying and bursting all around the men. With little cover, they inched forward, trying to push the insurgents up against the canal that divided the town.


Snipers on roof tops, AK47s aplenty, alleys filled with insurgents met them at every corner. A team of just 8 men reached an intersection with no cover but a concrete flower planter. Then when they pushed past this point, one of them was shot in the shoulder and in the leg which effectively stopped forward movement until medics could remove the wounded man. After a team moved into position to help them and the Humvee with medics made it to their position, they moved forward to complete their mission.


The mission was supposed to be an in-and-out with little more than an hour or two in the town. It turned into an 18-hour ordeal with not enough water and little or no food. Our finest, best of the best, dug in their heels and accomplished their mission with no casualties and just a few injuries. That was thirty men against 100 insurgents with basically unlimited firepower and ammunition. That is astounding in itself.


The miracles abounded that day. Just to name a few:
1. Flower box cover -- no injuries. Eight men left the area and flower box in crumbles.
2. At one point, the only cover four men had was a CARDBOARD box. "Somehow" the bullets made swiss-cheese holes in the cardboard, but never touched any of the four men.
3. A bullet ricocheted off a man's Kevlar up through his helmet knocking him to his back and his helmet five feet away. No scratches on him. He said there was no way he should be alive right now, except Someone up there was watching over him. (I make bold enough to say, and lots of Christians are praying for our soldiers.)
4. A grenade landed within two feet of eight men and did not explode.
5. Bullets splayed the concrete walls lining the streets and alleys, splayed the dirt at their feet but ricocheted away from all of them.
6. When it was over and our men, the finest soldiers on earth, had subdued the insurgents, AK47 ammunition casings littered the streets and alleys like sand on a beach. Our side had Zero casualties and just a few injuries. 


That was God at work being mindful of our prayers for our soldiers. Miraculous! 


Prayer works.

Warnings to Christians about unbelievers

We should definitely be wary of the wolf in sheep's clothing. The great pretender is Satan who tries to disguise himself as an angel of light, but is actually the darkness and depths of the pit.

There are many who do profess Jesus, but who do not possess Him and the Holy Spirit does not indwell them. They are those who pretend to be in the body of Christ, but who are people that Christ does not recognize. (This is not to say that these people will never know Christ, just that the wickedness they commit and stir up only produces rotten fruit.)

1 Corinthians 13 is the Christian plumb line. It is a description of agape kind of love which only comes from the Father and is gifted to us to pour out on others as we become more and more full of the Holy Spirit. Agape is active and is quite literally, love in action. Which is why Peter had such a hard time understanding what Jesus was asking in His question, "Peter, do you love Me?" Jesus was talking about full-blown love displayed by the action of feeding His sheep. Peter was insisting that He loved Jesus Himself, and Jesus wanted Peter's proof of love with actions.

Hebrew 3:12 Watch out, brothers, so that there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God.

This is a warning to Christians to keep their congregations pure from the world. Because of several other verses... Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled [clean] from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

Where does the true heart come from? Only from God. Man cannot achieve it alone.

Psalm 17:3 You have tested my heart; You have visited by night; You have tried me and found nothing [evil]; I have determined that my mouth will not sin. [Or [evil]; my mouth will not sin] David claims God found nothing evil in his heart after searching it... yet, David did commit adultery. The lust in his heart for Bathsheba was not always there. David should have been with his army fighting that battle instead of reclining by the fire and eating bonbons. But there is one thing to cling to 1 Samuel 15:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD took control of David from that day forward. The black sins of murder and adultery were events in David's choices, but they do not define him. David was the apple of God's eye.

But David still sinned with Bathsheba. David still prayed for God to keep him safe from evil. Psalm 141:4 Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or wickedly perform reckless acts with men who commit sin. Do not let me feast on their delicacies. It is only the foolish that live godlessly and the wicked that God hates. Prov 3:32 for the devious are detestable to the LORD, but He is a friend to the upright. Isaiah 32:6 6 For a fool speaks foolishness and his mind plots iniquity. He lives in a godless way and speaks falsely about the LORD. He leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

Another example of a warning to believers against unbelievers in their midst is the letter to Pergamum 14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the sons of Israel: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth. Them, not you. Interesting.

An example of warning to unbelievers is the letter to Laodicea. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. I believe this is to unbelievers because according to Jesus and the writers of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit lives within us and He becomes one with us (John 17) and in doing so, God creates a completely new creature. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things [Other mss read look, all new things] have come. Galatians 6:15 For [ Other mss add in Christ Jesus] both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; [what matters] instead is a new creation. To spew out of the mouth means that it never went to the stomach. It was intimate, but the relationship never developed into full agape love.

This letter also says that these people are naked, blind and poor even though they do not know it. Believers are not naked. Matt 22:11 And the king having come in to view those reclining, saw there a man not clothed with clothing of the marriage-feast, 2 Cor 5:3 if so be that, having clothed ourselves, we shall not be found naked. There are lots of verses that describe Believers as rich and as having Spiritual 20/20 vision and discernment.

Jesus says He will spew them out of His mouth. What we have here is a warning to the pretend Christians. Those who go to church and go through the motions of being Christian, who live a public life beyond reproach but their hearts are black with sin, never being circumcised and therefore insensitive to the Holy Spirit, even perhaps insensitive to their own conscience. They are absolutely miserable, and don't know why they are miserable. They think because they are wealthy according to the world's standards and go to church, they are saved.

Not so.

It is these black hearts that we must be wary against because they live a make-believe righteousness that is sickening to God. These are the misguided ones and can cause quite a bit of strife amongst God's children.

Hebrew Name study...

The Hebrew propensity for character analysis through a person's name is indicated by God when He changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah.

I haven't studied this enough to discern a difference between The Name HaShem, and His Covenant Name. I think God revealed Himself as much as He trusted mankind to know... a little at a time, especially since Adam rejected Him for Eve.

Years ago, I ran across a study about what the names of the ancestors of Jesus meant. I lost it, but have sort of recreated it here from the lineage of Joseph, husband of Mary. If you read down the list, the meanings create a sentence about God's promises finally ending with our Savior.

Adam - Red Earth

Seth - appointed, substitute

Enos - mortal man

Cainan - possession

Mahaleel - praise of God

Jared - descent

Enoch - initiated

Methuselah - man of the dart (he dies and the flood is sent)

Lamech - strikerdown, wild man

Noah - rest

Shem - Name; Ham - warm and hot, Japheth – wide-spreading

Arphaxad - son of Shem

Salah - sprout

Eber - beyond

Peleg - division

Reu - behold a son!

Serug - branch

Nahor - snorting, snore, nostril

Terah - wanderer, loiterer

Abram - exalted father, Sarai - my princess

Isaac - laughter

Jacob - deceiver, Esau - red

Israel - The prince that prevails with God

Judah - I will praise, Er - watchful, Onan - strong, Shelah - petition

Perez - breach

Hezron - surrounded by a wall

Aram - high

Aminadab - one of the Prince's people

Nahshon - enchanter

Salmon - garment

Boaz - fleetness

Obed - serving

Jesse - wealthy

David - well beloved

Solomon - peaceful

Rehoboam - enlarger of the people

Abijah - my father is Jehovah

Asa - physician or cure

Uzziah - strength of Jehovah

Jotham - Jehovah is upright

Ahaz - possessor

Hezekiah  - the might of Jehovah

Manasseh - forgetting

Amon - the mysterious

Josiah - whom Jehovah heals

Jehoiahchem - whom Jehovah has appointed

Shealtiel - asked of God

Zerubbabel – seed of Babylon, Prince of Judah

Abiud - father of praise

Eliakim-raised up by God

Azor - a helper

Sadoc - Just

Achim - the Lord will establish

Eliud - God his praise

Eleazar - help of God

Matthan - gift

Jacob - supplanter

Joseph - increase

Jesus - Savior, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, Son of Man, I AM...

Please note that Mary's lineage is given in Luke. Where it branches is between the two sons of David: Solomon and Nathan. Down from Solomon is Joseph, and down from Nathan is Mary. (I do not know why Joseph is listed as the son of Heli.)

Nathan - giver

Mattatha - gift of Jehovah

Menan - numbered; rewarded; prepared

Melea - supplying; supplied

Eliakim - raised up by God

Jonan - grace of God

Joseph - increase

Judah - praised, celebrated

Simeon - heard

Levi - joined

Matthat - gift of God

Jorim - whom Jehovah has exalted

Eliezar - God is his help

Joses- exalted

Er - watchful

Elmodam - measure

Cosam - diviner

Addi - ornament

Melchi - my king my counselor

Neriah - Jehovah is my lamp

Shealtiel - asked of God

Zerubbabel – seed of Babylon, prince of Judah

Rhesa – head

Joannas – perhaps a derivative of Johanan – gift of God

Judah – praised, celebrated

Joseph – increase

Shimei – renowned

Mattathias – gift of Jehovah

Maath – small

Naggai – illuminating

Esli – near me; he who separates

Nahum – consolation

Amos – burden

Mattathias – gift of Jehovah

Joseph – increase

Janna – flourishing

Melchi – my king, my counselor

Levi – joined

Matthat – gift of God

Heli - ascending