The Official Site of Andy Boucher

1 Strengthen me, equip me for the fight—or better,pull me out of the fight (Your will be done), O Yahweh with these ill favoredhumans of violence.

Guard me and protect me—conceal me—fromthe unjust and violent oppressors.

2 They weavetogether fabricated plots of mischief, harm, and annoyance from the centre oftheir being.

Day after day they gather to engagein war

3 They sharpen theirtongues like snakes

They use their sharp words toinculcate others and deceive them like a snake

Their angry poison like a snake’sis found in their lips.

Stopand think about this.

4 Guard me around with a hedge of protection OYahweh, from the powerful hands of these actively bad people.

Protect and conceal me frombeing besieged by the violent people, who are out for unjust gain,

Those who have purposed andcontrived to overthrow and drive me away and trip me up.

5 The arrogant ones have secretly laid a snare;they have prepared to spring a trap to ruin me, a noose to tighten around me.

They have spread a net along mypath—a hook for my nose.

I pause to consider this.

6 I said to Yahweh, You are my Almighty God,

Broaden Your ear to the sound ofmy voice and my earnest prayers of entreaty, O Yahweh.

7 O Yahweh Adonai, the strength, force, andsecurity of my prosperous salvation and victory;

You have covered my head in theday of battle.

8 Do not grant, O Yahweh, the desires of thosewho are morally wrongs and wicked.

Do not let their plot succeed

Or they will l make themselvesproud and act presumptuously.

Pause for contemplation.

9 Regarding the captain of those who surround me,

Let the grievousness and toil oftheir own lips overwhelm them.

10 Let fiery hotcoals fall on them.

Let them be cast into the fire;

Into the abyss so they cantescape.

11 Don’t let one whotalks evil and slander be established and prosperous in our land.

Adversity, calamity, grief, and wretchedness will lie inwait and catch the violent and unjust oppressor and overthrown him—bringing himto ruin.

12 I have observed carefully and have seenthat Yahweh will follow the trial of those afflicted;

Of those who are depressed inmind and circumstances by need and affliction.

And the sentences that arehanded down on those who are in want and destitute.

13 Surely the man that is just, lawful, andrighteous will worship and confess thanks to Your name and renown.

Those who are just, equitable,and righteous will remain and take up habitation in Your Presence.

Para-lation of the verse given on the way from Miami toSantiago, DR, Isaiah 54:2-4:

2 Broaden and make wide open the space andterritory of your tent—the profile of your habitat that people can clearly seefrom a distance;

Stretch forth the boundaries ofyour shepherds hut.

Do not hold anything back,

Make the ropes you tether your tent with longer;

And seize hold of the states ofyour tent, and fasten them obstinately sothey will be secure and fortified against the elements.

3 For you will burst forth and be compelled tospread out to the right and to the left (to the south and to the north);

And your children and yourposterity will occupy and posses the nations;

And they will establishthemselves in the dying and abandoned cities they find there.

4 Do not be frightened and caused to be indread, for you will not be caused to be pale with shame or with disappointmentor because of delay;

Neither will you be wounded bythe taunts and insults or confounded and bewildered by conflicting situationsand statements that are made,

Because you will not be causedto be shamed or reproached or brought into you confusion.

For you will be oblivious of the shame and confusion ofyour adolescence,

And the rude and hurtfulexpressions meant to reproach and shame you that came as the result of yourwidowhood will no longer be bookmarked in anyone’s memory or even mentioned.

1 I will stroll around for eternity as aminstrel singing songs about the beautiful kindness and good deeds that Yahwehdoes!

I will verbally observe andrecognize the firm security of Your fidelity to all generations.

2 I have attested to the fact that the beautyof Your kind deeds will continue to be built up forever;

You have erected and prosperouslyestablished the firmness and security of Your fidelity in the heavensthemselves.

3 You have said, “I have made a covenant andan alliance with the one whom I have selected.

 I have sworn (repeating it 7 times toestablish it) unto David, My bondservant:

“I will fix and prosperouslyestablish your posterity for all time and I have surely given you children tobuild up your throne for all generation.”

Stop the music and think about what I’vesaid.

5 Let the heavens above revere and worshipYour marvelous and miraculous deeds with extended hands, O Yahweh;

And the firm security of Yourfidelity as well in the assembled company of Your holy ones!

6 Who is there among the celestial bodies whocould set themselves up to compare with Yahweh?

And who from among the gods caneven be likened to Yahweh?

7 Our god is to be abundantly dreaded and tocause others to shake terribly

In the council of the heavenlyhosts

In the council of the gods

And is reverenced anddreadfully feared by those who surround Him.

8 O Yahweh, the God of all the armies of Heaven,

Who is as strong and mighty likeYou, O Yahweh?!

Your firm, secure, fidelityencircles You on every side.

 15 How blessed and highly favored is the tribethat knows His battle cry from experience, who cry out with joy for Him,

They shall walk about, O Yahweh,

And be conversant in theluminance and clarity of Your Presence.

16 Who spin around in the violent emotion ofjoy because of Your name, honor, and the reputation of Your character all day,

Who are lifted up and exalted inYour prosperous rightness, rectitude, justice, and virtue.

17 You are our glorious strength and ourhonorable force, and the majesty of our praise;

And it is Your delightful favorand good pleasure that exalts our strength and power.

18 For Yahweh is our shield and protector(Yahweh gives me a thick skin),

And the superior Eminent One ofIsrael.

19 In the past You arranged things to speakYour oracles in dreams and visions to Your saints, those who are godly,declaring and certifying:

“I have adjusted things in orderto bring aid to those who are valiant.

I have raised up and promotedthe young men from among the people.

20 I caused David to be brought forth; Ibrought forth David My bondservant;

With the richness of My consecratedoil I have anointed him,

21 In order that My powerful hand or means anddirection will be fixed on him rendering him sure and prosperous;

And My outstretched arm as wellwill confirm him and establish him with obstinate strength and courage

22 His adversaries and those who hate on himwill not torment him or treat him cruelly with taxes or by exacting dues fromhim;

Neither will those who are theproducts and builders of iniquity and perverseness unjustly look down on him,browbeat him, or try to chasten him or deal hardly with him to hurt his prideor to weaken him.

23 I will bruise and violently strike thosewho trouble him, who are opposed to him, and who try to create a place toonarrow for him to live and walk, causing them to loose their composure and tobe crushed into pieces before his eyes;

And I will trip those whopersonally hate him and who consider him to be odious and will make themstumble.

24 My firm security and the stability of Myfaithfulness and the beauty of My favor and kindness will accompany him,

And based on the authority of Myname and My reputation he shall rise and be promoted in strength and power.

13 Any and all people who possibly call uponor invoke the Name of the Lord will be saved and delivered [from eternaldeath].

14 In what way willthey call upon Him if they have not put their faith [in Him]?

And how is it that they will put[or entrust] their faith in Him if they’d never heard of Him?

And how is it that they shouldhear of Him except there is a herald or crier [who proclaims Him]?

And how is it that the criershould proclaim Him if the criers are not set apart and sent out on the mission[of proclaiming Him]?

15 For it has been written:

“How timely and profitable and what a beautiful sight are the feet ofhim who announces the good news of prosperous peace and who declared thearrival of good things.”

33 Aim my life, O Yahweh, that it will flowalong the course of the customs and laws you’ve enacted,

And I will guard them, maintainthem, and protect them to the end as a great reward

34 Give me the ability to distinguish andunderstand with diligence, cunning, and eloquence and I will keep Your Law byguarding it, protecting it, and maintaining it, obeying and preserving it!

It is true! I will becircumspect, and take heed to its instructions and their consequences, and obeythem with my whole heart.

 35 Pointme like an arrow in a bent bow down the beaten path of Your Divine Law.

I am pleased and delighted withthem because I am inclined to them and have a bent to favor them.

36 Stretch my heart and bend it (from the verycenter of my being) toward the record and evidence of Your Laws,

And not to seeking plunder, unjustor dishonest gain.

37 Redirect my eyes (which are the fountain ofmy thoughts) so that they may be alienated from gazing on and visually experiencinguseless and ruinous things of evil and idolatry and the skilled deceit that goeswith these vain things.

Revive and restore me to life inhow to tread Your road, and living life according to Your course, and acting asYou desire.

38 Make the things You command clearer andabiding to Your bondservant, ordain and perform these things to me so that I may exceedingly fear and revere You because of the confirmation of them!

39 Fend off and help me escape the reproach,shame, disgrace, and contumely (rude expressions intended to hurt or offend)that I dread.

40 See how I have longed for and desired Yourmandates.

Revive me and restore my life throughthe prosperity of Your rightness, rectitude, justice, and virtue.

1 When, at the beginning of all things,Elohiym selected, cut and formed, and created the heavens above and the earthbeneath out feet. 2 the earth beneath our feet was a wasted,desolate and worthless thing, an undistinguishable vacuum.  Darkness obscured its surging mass ofwater.  When it was in this condition,the Spirit of Elohiym, the unsubantiatable breath of God brooded over thiswatery void.

3 And Elohiym declared:  Light!

And illumination—bright and clear—appeared.  4 Elohiym observed Light and sawthat it met His satisfaction.  Then Heseparated the light from the darkness.  5And Elohiym addressed Light as “Day”, and the darkness He addressed as“Night”.  There was an evening and amorning and together they became the first day.

---

24 And Elohiym declared: dry ground, bringforth breathing creatures of various kinds and species, strong, fresh, andalive!  Bring forth large animals—quadrupeds—likecattle and such; and reptiles and things that creep; and various breathingcreatures of the earth in their various kinds and species.  And it was so.

25 Elohiym made all the breathing things ofthe earth in their various specifies of quadrupeds, and all the various kindsof creeping things and reptiles on the earth, and Elohiym saw it all andobserved that it was all done well.

26 And Elohiym declared:

We will make human beings in ourresemblance as a representation of us. An illusion to resemble us in ourcharacter and natures.  they will havelegal power and authority over the fish of the seas and the birds that fly inthe sky above, and all the animals, and over absolutely all the earth and overabsolutely all reptiles and creeping things that swarm, glide, and crawl on theearth.

27 So Elohiym crafted and formed the humanspecies as a spirit or phantom to resemble Him and represent Him, patterningthem after Himself, Elohiym fashioned and created them.  He fashioned them as male and female.  28 And Elohiym blessed them andgave them these instructions:

Bear fruit, increase, multiplyabundantly so that your children will fill the entire earth and by doing so canconquer it.  Your rule extends over thefish of the sea and over the birds in the air, and over every breathingcreature that glides, crawls, swarms, and creeps on the earth.

 ---

31 And Elohiym saw absolutely everything thatHe had made and observed and behold, it was wholly good—excellent in every way[NLT].  And there was sunset and sunriseand they together were the sixth day.

1 Peter 3:8

So finally I conclude with this:

all of you be like-minded and harmonious (like music that is please to the ear), feeling and expressing mutual sympathy, support, and loyalty back and forth to each other; be fond of each other with a brotherly love and have a deep awareness of and sympathy for each others suffering; and have a humble opinion of yourselves and a deep sense of your own moral littleness apart from Christ.

1 Peter 4:7 & 8:

Since the conclusion and termination of all things is approaching, you should certainly therefore be of a sober and sound mind, self-controlled in your opinions and passions, being marked by prudence, modesty, and wise self-restraint so that you can be earnest in your prayers and worship.

And more important than anything else, make your highest priority in everything to hold yourselves to be constantly intentionally, purposefully, and fervently intense in your self-sacrificing love and benevolent affection among the whole lot of you, because self-sacrificing love and benevolent affection covers over and hinders the knowledge of an indefinite number of sins, offenses, errors, mistakes, and unmet expectations.

(1) Because of what I just wrote about judgment in the church and about suffering, I want to call aside the presbyters (elders) who have been put in position in your local church and beseech them and implore them from where I sit as a co-presbyter (I too am an elder) as well as a witness of the hardships, pain, and emotions of our Messiah and as one who will also share the apparent glory when it is revealed:

(2) Tend to the flock of God which you are positioned among—supervise and feed them and beware to take diligent oversight of this flock.

Not because you are compelled to do so,

But because you have willfully volunteered.

Not because it pays well or advances your social status,

But with liveliness and eagerness of mind.

(3)And also without being domineering and subjecting the flock under your care like worldly overlords do,

Because these people are the portion of God’s flock that He has assigned to your care, be a model for them to follow.

(4)  And when the Head Shepherd comes and manifests Himself, you will be reward the honor of a crown of dignity and praise—the glory of which will never fade.

This look at Ephesians 4:11-13 is my part in examining those questions and trying to find answers to them. I would love any reader’s thoughts and feedback and additions and critique.

(11) Christ adventured to bestow on local churches:

1. those who are His delegated commissioners and messengers who are sent out by Him with miraculous powers on His mission to establish new works for Him on this earth;
2. as well as those who He has enabled to see His plans for the future and to clearly and eloquently speak His mind into specific situations;
3. and those He as enabled to preach the Gospel to those who have not heard the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ;
4. and those to whom He has given His heart for that local body of believers to care for them as shepherds care for their sheep;
5. and those He as enabled with knowledge and insight and understanding of both His Word and those in the congregation and the ability to instruct the body of Christ with that knowledge.

(12) Christ has given these to the church in order to:

1. completely furnish His chosen people for the toil and labor of serving and assisting others in ministry;
2. And for the planning, designing and construction of the infrastructure and all that is necessary for the Body of Christ to exist and function.

(13) All of this needs to continue until:

1. all of us reach the point where we all have attained unanimity and oneness in our commons faith;
2. and where we all fully know, recognize, and discern the Son of God;
3. and until we have together become as a man who has completely matured in his mind and moral character; a point of spiritual maturity where we are all properly aged in all that it means to be mature in Christ.

(14) We need to be spiritually mature, so that from this time forward, we will no longer insist on being immature like little children who can’t speak for themselves or aren’t allow to speak because they are immature and simple-minded. people who are like little children fluctuate back and forth like the tides of the sea and are like wayfarers who are carried here and there by winds of doctrine and teaching that blow in from the four corners of the earth and from every which direction of religious beliefs. They are carried away by religious illusionists who create erroneous doctrines that look true. And by those who develop invalid arguments that are ingenuously designed in their methodology with the hope of deceiving people and in their fraudulence to lead people away from what is orthodox and from living righteous lives that result from a reverence for God.

(15) Instead of being deceiving illusionists, those who Christ as given to the local church as apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors are to each live genuinely with self-sacrificing love and affection and are to teach what is true and not concealing any of the truth so that everyone in the Body will increase in their spiritual maturity and relationship with Christ.

Christ is the head of the body which is the church. In His body everything is closely-joined and fitted together and knit together with each connecting ligament (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) contributing its own part and support and working to the highest efficient that each is designed for. As each part performs its part with self-sacrificing love and affection, the body’s infrastructure grows according to its design and purpose.

This is the fasting (abstaining) that I’ve selected as acceptable and therefore require of you:

Loosen and open wide the painful fetters caused by your wickedness and iniquity;

Untie and shake off the yoke that you have strapped on;

Let those who are discouraged; bruised, and oppressed from their struggles be free from care;

And tear off every single yoke that burdens you and those under you.

It is to distribute your food to those who are going hungry;

To fetch the lowly, poor, humble and depressed who have been cruelly and inhumanely treated and cast out of their homes and them into your house;

And when you come across someone who doesn’t have clothes, provide them with what they need to be adequately clothed;

And do hide yourself and your generosity from yourself and your own kinfolk.

If you do this, then as a result, you will shine forth and your brightness will be made to break through your circumstances like at dawn the sun breaks through the darkness of night,

And the soundness of your health will promptly sprout and the duration of your service will be prolonged for a long time.

The prosperity of your natural, moral, and legally right, equity will precede you before the face of God

And the glory and splendor of Yahweh will haunt you and protect you from behind.

Then when you call out to Yahweh and bid Him to hear you,

Yahweh will pay attention and respond.

When you cry out for help, He will expressly answer you saying,

“Behold, I am here!”

If you pluck away and remove the heavy yoke of work and the unjust use of authority,

And the accusatory pointing of the finger,

And the troublesome and empty talking that brings to good with it but only wickedness

And if you provide your soul vitality to those who suffer from hunger,

And to fill up and satiate the soul vitality of those who are browbeaten, depressed, and afflicted;

It is then that your brightness will shine forth out of the darkness, misery, ignorance, and obscurity and provide spiritual insight as it spreads forth;

And it is then that the darkness and misfortune around you will be changed to the brightness of the sun at noon.

Yahweh will regularly and constantly lead you forth; transporting and guiding you as you go forward.

And He will fill your soul and vitality to satisfaction during times of drought.

He will equip and strengthen the substance of your life and arm you for the fight.

You will be like a well-watered garden

And like a spring of water whose water never fails.

If you do this you and your people will begin to build up and have children who build up and repair the ancient places that have been laid waste and made desolate and abandoned to decay.

You will raise up and cause to be raised up and strengthen the foundations that will be established for the sake of generations to come.

Your reputation and title will be the one who repaired and closed up the wall (Repairer of Broken Walls);

And the one who cleared the paths and streets to restore usefulness so people could once again live in their houses and open their shops for business (Restorer of Inhabitable Neighborhoods).

Oh that you would turn your feet back and return from breaking the Sabbath by busying yourself and going about your own busyness and purposes on the Sabbath—the day I’ve set apart and hallowed rather than My business.

Consider and refer to the Sabbath with delight

And as a sacred sanctuary Yahweh has created and set apart to be full of honor.

So honor Him and this holy day by making it your custom to not go about your own business and keep your own pleasure on this day,

Or see the Sabbath as a day that exists and has value only for your own pleasurable purposes

Or talking only about things that interest you rather than My things.

Change your attitude, perspectives, and actions regarding My Sabbath, then you will find that Yahweh will be your luxurious and gratifying delight.

And I will officially dispatch you to ride on the mountain tops of the land and to receive great honor;

And I will give you your allotted inheritance, a church endowment, and estate to occupy as your own with all of its assets and accompanying heirlooms passed down to you from your ancestors (specifically your father Jacob).

I, Yahweh, have declared this with My own mouth.