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<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">“<b>TWO
ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Jim
& Marie Watt</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Tel:
<a href="tel:253-517-9195" target="_blank">253-517-9195</a> - Email:
<a href="mailto:jmbetter@gmail.com" target="_blank">jmbetter@gmail.com</a></b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Web:
<a href="http://www.2rbetter.org/" target="_blank">www.2rbetter.org</a></b></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">May 29, 2013</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><br>
</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
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</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>NOV
9 - ECCLESIASTES 6-8 - QUEST BY PRACTICAL REALITY</b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>1.
6:12 (6:1-12, ESV) VARIOUS VANITIES: ATTEMPT AT UNDERSTANDING.
<font size="3">“For who knows what is good for man while he lives the
few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can
tell man what will be after him under </font><font size="3">t</font><font size="3">he
sun?” </font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-weight:normal">Man
apart from God lives in frustration and apprehension. There is no
peace, says my God, for the wicked. Father, this is </span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">not</span></u></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
the testimony of the man in Jesus! O teach us to submit to Your Son’s
mild reign. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Hallowed
be your :name!</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">2.
7:2 (7:1-14) VARIOUS PROVERBS AND ADVICE. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“It
is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of
feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay
it to heart.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Unadvised
festivity can be a snare. Life apart from trust in God is
meaningless. Father, we will take these insights to heart. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Your
:kingdom come!</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">3.
7:20 (7:15-22) VARIOUS VANITIES: TEMPERED BY MODERATION. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Surely
there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
</span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">In
our flesh dwells </span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">no
good thing</span></u></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">!
Only </span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">You</span></u></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
in us is good, Father. We choose to have no confidence in the flesh,
only in </span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">You</span></u></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">,
and the wisdom You give. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Your
:will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">4.
7:29 (7:23-29) VARIOUS PROBLEMS: SOLVED BY WISDOM. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“See,
this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought
out many schemes.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">It
seems Father, that man purposes to wander from You from the moment of
his birth. There is an innate rebellion in our heart that finds
difficulty in submitting to Your Kingdom and the rule of Your Christ.
Purge us from this spirit of rebellion. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
:daily :bread Give us this day.</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">5.
8:1 (8:1-5) VARIOUS WISE COUNSELS REGARDING LEADERS. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">Who
is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A
man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is
changed. </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Our
wisdom Father, is submitting to Your Kingdom and Lordship, whether
heavenly or earthly. Blessed is the man who has this truth written on
his heart. Purge us from the spirit of rebellion. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
forgive us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our :debtors.</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">6.
8:8 (8:6-8) VARIOUS PURPOSES: T</span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">H</span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">EIR
OWN TIME AND JUDGMENT. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“No
man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death.
There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who
are given to it.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">How
weak and powerless we are in our humanity, Father! Even the strong
rebel is weak before You. Blessed who understands these things and
submits to Your wise rule. </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
bring us not into temptation.</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">7.
8:11 (8:9-17) VARIOUS VANITIES: THEIR UNDERSTANDING UNSEARCHABLE.
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Because
the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart
of the children of man is fully set to do evil.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">The
fear of JEHOVAH, that is wisdom, and knowledge and understanding. The
heart right with You Father, is better than the head full of facts.
We turn to You in our complete trust! </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">But
deliver us from the evil </span></i></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">one!</span></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><u><b><font style="font-size:11pt">N</font><font style="font-size:11pt">O</font><font style="font-size:11pt">T</font><font style="font-size:11pt">E</font></b></u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>:
7:8 (7:1-14) AN INSIGHT IN WISDOM. </b></span></font><b><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Better
is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit
is better than the proud in spirit.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">This
is a strange but important book. Father: may we seek out till we
understand Your purposes in it for us. May we walk in the truth of
this verse!</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">C.H.
Spurgeon Quote: “Christians are sheep” - </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">“Some
Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude; but believers are
not compared to bears, or lions, or other animals that wander alone:
but those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they
love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God’s people.”</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
Psalm for the Day: 129:1-2 (129) </span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">THEY
HAVE AFFLICTED ME FROM MY YOUTH. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Greatly
have they afflicted me from my youth” - let Israel now say - </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">2
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Greatly
have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed
against me.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
</span></span></font><u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-weight:normal">rightly</span></font></u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
we place our trust in You, for in </span></span></font><u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-weight:normal">Your</span></font></u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
right time you </span></span></font><u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-weight:normal">always</span></font></u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
deliver us! We may not always understand You, but we can </span></span></font><u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-weight:normal">always</span></font></u><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
trust You! </span></span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Title:
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">“A
Song of Degrees.” </span></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">I
fail to see how this is a step beyond the previous Psalm; and yet it
is clearly the song of an older and more tried individual, who looks
back upon a life of affliction in which he suffered all along, even
from his youth. Inasmuch as patience is a higher, or at least more
difficult, grace than domestic love, the ascent or progress may
perhaps be seen in that direction. </span></span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">129:1.
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Many
a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say. </span></i></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">The
song begins abruptly. The poet has been musing, and the fire burns;
therefore speaks he with his tongue; he cannot help it; he feels that
he must speak, and therefore “many now say” what he has to say.
The earliest years of Israel and of the church of God are spent in
trial. Babes in grace are cradled in opposition. No sooner is the
manchild born than the dragon is after it. “It is,” however,
“good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,” and he shall
see it to be so when in after days he tells the tale.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">129:2.
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Yet
they have not prevailed against </span></i></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">me.
</span></i></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Cast
down, but not destroyed,” is the shout of a victor. Israel has
wrestled and has overcome in the struggle. Who wonders? If Israel
overcame the angel of the covenant, what man or devil shall vanquish
him? </span></span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">129:4.
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">He
has cut asunder the cords of the wicked. </span></i></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Never
has God used a nation to chastise His Israel without destroying that
nation when the chastisements has come to a close: He hat</span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">e</span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">s
those who hurt His people even though He permits their hate to
triumph for a while for His </span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">ow</span></span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">n
purpose. If any man would have his harness cut, let him begin to
plough one of the Lord’s fields with the plough of persecution. The
shortest way to ruin is to meddle with a saint: the Divine warning
is, “He that touches you touches the apple of His eye.”</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">129:5.
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Let
them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. </span></i></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Study
a chapter from the </span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Book
of Martyrs</span></i></font></b><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
and see if you do not feel inclined to read an imprecatory Psalm over
Bishop Bonner and Bloody Mary. It may be that some wretched
nineteenth century sentimentalist will blame you: if so, read another
</span></span></font><b><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">over
him.</span></i></font></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">129:6.
</span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Let
them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers afore it grows
up. </b></span></i></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">One
of the fathers said of the Apostle Emperor Julian, “That little
cloud will soon be gone”; and so it was. Every skeptical system of
philosophy has much the same history; and the like may be said of
each heresy. Poor, rootless things, they are and are not: they come
and go, even though no one rises against them. Evil carries the seeds
of dissolution within itself. So let it be. </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">129:7.
</span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Wherewith
the mower fills not his hand; nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.</b></span></i></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">
Easterns carry their corn in their bosoms, but in this case there
was nothing to bear home. Thus do the wicked come to nothing. By
God’s just appointment, they prove a disappointment. Their fire
ends in smoke; their verdure turns to vanity; their flourishing is
but a form of withering. No one profits by them, least of all are
they profitable to themselves. Their aim is bad, their work is worse,
their end is worst of all. </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font style="font-size:11pt"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">129:8.
</span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Neither
do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we
bless you in the Name of the Lord. </b></span></i></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">We
dare not use pious expressions as mere compliments, and hence we dare
not wish God-speed to evil men lest we be partakers of their evil
deeds. See how godly men are roughly ploughed by their
adversaries, and yet a harvest comes of it which endures and produces
blessing; while the ungodly, though they flourish for a while and
enjoy a complete immunity, dwelling, as they think, quite above the
reach of harm, are found in a short time to have gone their way and
to have left no trace behind. Lord, number me with Your saints.
Let me share their grief if I may also partake of their glory. Thus
would I make this Psalm my own, and magnify Your Name, because Your
afflicted ones are not destroyed and Your persecuted ones are not
forsaken. </span></font><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>(From
“The Treasury of David” by C.H. Spurgeon, abridged by D.O.
Fuller)</b></span></font></font></p>
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