Commentary

We live in an age where ironing is almost an archaic chore. Provided our clothes are removed from the dryer as soon as it’s finished, most clothes don’t need it. But if you prefer to use a clothesline, ironing is a must. I learned this old-fashioned skill from my Aunt Emily. And it’s one I still use today.

Whether we like it or not, some clothes still require ironing. We want our clothing, especially linen and cotton, to have a crisp look. A clothes dryer can’t do that. But an iron can. We can have them professionally done, but that requires not only a big expense, but also time to drop them off and pick them up.

It began in a cradle; its fulfillment came on a cross.

Such is the Story of Jesus, the Christ: the long-awaited, anointed- and- appointed, Promised Deliverer sent from God. For 4,000 there’d been prophesies of His Coming: and, for the past 2,000 there have been reminders of what happened after He came.

But, never before—or since— has there ever been anyone who’s affected the course of history the way Jesus did. And, even today, He’s still changing the lives of all who look to Him in Faith.

Yes, even in the Garden of Eden. . .where the parents of humanity lived and sinned. . .we see glimpses of this One Who would come (Genesis 3:15). Likewise, when God replaced Adam and Eve’s flimsy, handmade, fig leaf coverings with “coats of skin” (v.21), we see a picture of the coming “Lamb of God Who’d take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36).

From the first moment it was ever mentioned, it seems as if laundry has been one of the most dreaded tasks for the homemaker. But if you want your clothes clean and smelling fresh, you really don’t have any other choice – you have to do your laundry!

In the 1800s, it took two days to do laundry. Day one consisted of gathering it up and boiling it overnight. On Day Two you would have thought the clothes were headed to a torture chamber, as they were soaped, boiled again, scalded, wrung, and wrangled. This often took place up to three times.

From there they were finally starched, and then ironed with a slat iron that had been heated up in flames. It’s no wonder women dreaded this weekly household chore!

Ordering Terrorists Retur ned to Our Home Is Insane At the heart of our democratic form of government is the critical need for an impartial judiciary which directly springs from our Separation of Powers. An impartial judiciary is indispensable to the rule of law because, if we lose our case but believe we were granted a fair trial and “had our day in court,” we are willing to live with the results. That core principle is being undermined by a federal judge in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last week blocked an order of President’s Trump’s that is expressly based upon Pres. Trump’s authority as Commander in Chief and, specifically, on the Alien Enemies Act, to deport criminal illegals who are members of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang. (I note that Boasberg also played a key and controversial role in the TrumpRussia collusion saga as the leader of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.)

1:2 And he (Elkana) had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1:5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. 1:6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 1 Samuel The above are words about a family of people of God. What is recorded here is not only common in families but it is in life generally.

Those who have certain things believe that it is by their might and power that they have their possessions. Therefore, they look down on those who have not and mock them also.

Whereas, the Lord holds the keys and He opens doors for whoever He wants.

Hannah had no children.

In the same family, a wife had no child when the other had many! It was not the fault of the one having none. She had no power or might over her situation.

You really could call them a “professor,” not a “possessor.”

Yes, that’s probably be the best way ( Biblically) to describe someone who’s “Christian In Name Only” (C.I.N.O.). And, increasingly, nowadays there are more and more who claim to be a born-again believer, but act more like the devil than Christ during the week.

“That’s a pretty harsh, judgmental statement,” a reader says, “because Jesus said we’re not to judge each other.”

Well, that’s true to a point; however, He also said “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16, 20). Thus, if a person’s “fruits” more resemble Galatians 5:19-21 than they do vv.22-23, then the Bible’s the one that’s judging, not me.

Vanilla

If you’re like me, you may already be wondering what kind of handmade gifts you can be working on for this Christmas. For me, it means making a batch of Vanilla Extract. And now is the time to make it, as it needs to steep for several months before it’s ready to use.

But before I go any further, the initial expense of this is high, depending on the amount you want to make and the quality of the finished product. I use a lot of vanilla extract, and I know a lot of people who love to bake, so I make a huge batch of it.

Yes, we should let those names ( and the faces that accompanied them) al-ways be indelibly etched within our mind and memory: for this mother (Shiri) and her two sons—Ariel, age 4, and Kfir, aged nine months—were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and then later brutally murdered by strangulation the next month.

Then, when Hamas finally released their bodies two weeks ago, Israel discovered that Shiri’s body had been replaced with an unknown wo-man’s body. Thankfully, 24 hours later Hamas finally released her body to her husband, Yar-den— who’d also been taken hostage on Oct. 7, but separated from them during those almost 500 days and didn’t know they were dead until he returned to Israel.

“Peace At Any Price??”

It’s more than a battle between ideologies and religions.

It’s a battle against evil.

Such is definitely what’s going on ( and been going on) in the Middle East and other war-torn countries around the world. And, in reality, it’s been going on ever since Adam and Eve’s Fall in the Garden of Eden.

Yes, their sin of unbelief and disobedience against God (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17; 3:1-7) opened the proverbial “Pandora’s Box” of evil: resulting in disease, decay, deformity, division, destruction and death.

“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”

We’re truly one-of-a-kind.

Yes, Psalm 139:14-18 clearly tells us this, as do our fingerprints, DNA, retina scan, etc. And, that’s why we should live our lives for God’s Glory and others’ good: for that’s why He created us on purpose with a Purpose.

Like Adam and Eve, we’re all created “in God’s Image” (Genesis 1:27), which means we alone ( of all creation) have the ability to think, reason, feel and willingly choose to love Him or not.

King David, who wrote Ps. 139, didn’t have a college or seminary degree; neither could he write a dissertation on systematic theology, creation science, the cell’s genome or genetic code, etc. But, He did know God’s all-seeing Eye knows everything about us from the wombto- the-tomb.