The Treasures of Darkness, Part 2

A Lawyer's Prayers

Diamond from Crater of Diamonds State Park, AR, Author Robert M. Lavinsky, Source http://www.mindat.org (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

We continue with an examination of the treasures of darkness.

Secrecy

“Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Ps. 139: 12).

Nothing can be hidden from the Lord.  No secret plot, no hidden motive by others can harm us, if God does not allow it.

Whatever may befall us, God will use for good (Rom. 8: 28).  He has numbered the very hairs on our head (Luke 12: 7).  We are safely in His care.

Security is, therefore, the fourth treasure of darkness.

Evil and Sin

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness…” (Isa. 5: 20).

We may…

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The Treasures of Darkness, Part 1

A Lawyer's Prayers

“I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel” (Isa. 45: 3).

Diamonds are one of the hardest natural substances known.  Billions of years old, diamonds form deep in the earth, under tremendous pressures and temperatures [1].  They are considered among the most valuable gemstones in the world, and are mined only with great difficulty.

Diamonds from Catoca Mine, Angola, Author Helgi (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

But the treasures of darkness which God promises us are infinitely more precious.

Literal and Figurative Darkness

The word “darkness” can be interpreted both literally and figuratively.

Strong’s Concordance informs us that darkness is not only to be found in mines (Job 28: 3).  Darkness was over the surface of the deep at Creation (Gen. 1: 2).  Darkness was…

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Christ Our Life In The Story Of Two Trees.

A parable.

Life beyond the walls

“²⁰I have beencrucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and thelifewhich I now live in the fleshI live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave Himself for me.“ Gal 2:20 NKJV �

Maina 2020

Recently I noticed some development at the initial stages of a phenomenon I had observed earlier over a stretched period in my younger years.  In those days, it was just something interesting to observe, but this time round, it spoke to me so much about Christ who is our life, I had to share it here…

In the earlier observation, there was a huge tree at a very prominent place in the homestead I grew up in. The tree used to supply the family with poles from its branches for use in the farm.

Whenever a branch was cut, another…

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10.24 -Audience

Tangled Threads Publishing

Kaldr walked swiftly forward into the chamber, his chain dragging on the ground behind him. “My Lord, I pushed my ship as fast as she could go.”

“The journey from Lundholm should be possible in half the time it took you to arrive.”

Kaldr stopped. His Thane was evidently in no mood to be reasonable: it was, in theory, possible to cover the distance that quickly. If you had a following wind the entire way, and if you pressed your crew to row the entire distance. The wind had not been so kind, and he had been unwilling to drive his crew to either mutiny or exhaustion – the two most probable results of such a demand. “The winds were unfavorable, my Lord.”

Ulfr snorted. He still lounged across his father’s chair, which always made him look like a petulant teenager despite the gray in his hair and the wrinkles…

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10.23 – Return to Raenshold

Tangled Threads Publishing

Kaldr knew he should have been glad of a quiet journey back to the capitol. Unfortunately, every man aboard knew what was happening, and so the mood of his ship was as rough as the waves in his head. No-one suggested treason – not openly, anyway, or at least not where he could hear – but Kaldr could see the anger simmering just under the surface. A fight at least would have allowed his men to work off some steam.

As it was, he kept his usual calm demeanor as an example to his men, and watched the horizon for the cliffs of Breidelsteinn.

There were no guards waiting at the harbor to escort him before their Thane: that was something, at least. It seemed as though, while the harbormaster obviously expected his return, no-one else knew anything at all was out of the ordinary. Kaldr was pleased, on one…

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10.22 – The Fall of Urek

Tangled Threads Publishing

“Another weakling from the rebels? You are nothing more than flies. We should have squashed you ages ago.” Urek did not give Einarr time to retort: the hammer was already singing through the air, and for what felt like ages all Einarr could do was dodge.

“Funny thing about flies,” Einarr gasped out while they were in the clinch. “Enough bites will still kill a man.” He leapt out of the clinch to the side and drove forward to strike at the weak spot with Sinmora.

Urek grunted as a blow struck him across the ribs a second time. More importantly, Einarr thought he heard the grinding of metal links. Urek glared down at him from one eye. Einarr sprang back before his opponent could try to take him in a bear hug.

“I’d like to see you try, little fly.”

Rather than answer that, Einarr slipped back in under…

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10.21 – Frothing Urek

Tangled Threads Publishing

The sweat on Sivid’s brow was only partially to do with the fire. He had found himself face to face with the man they called Frothing Urek, and decided to test his luck. If it were not for the fire, he thought he would be doing better. As it was, he found himself hemmed in by a beast of a man before him and licking flames to either side. The bulwark was far too close to his back for comfort, as well.

He ducked another swing of Urek’s hammer and lost another half-step of ground. I have two choices. Neither of them is good. If he tried to vault over the man’s head, there was an excellent chance he would take a hammer to the head. It might or might not leave the contents intact, but he didn’t want to take that gamble.

His other option, Sivid thought, was to…

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10.20 – Berserker

Tangled Threads Publishing

Einarr heard the warriors aboard the trapped wolfling ship give a battle roar only moments before they swarmed over the boarding lines. The ship swayed under the weight of reinforcements even as the fire spread from the arrows along the deck boards.

Einarr set his mouth in a grim line. They needed to take out the wolflings quickly, before this became an inferno. And if they escape, Lundholm is done for.

Their line was solid: he stood shoulder to shoulder with his own men and the men of his father’s ship – it was still odd that those were two different things now. The first boots were pounding across the blackening deck boards. “Brace yourselves!”

Einarr lowered his shoulder. A heartbeat later, the wolflings collided with their shield wall. Einarr stabbed through the gap between his shield and Jorir’s and Sinmora’s tip came away wet with fresh blood.

The wolfling…

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10.19 – Ebb and Flow

Tangled Threads Publishing

Two more of the pocket of wolflings fell before Sinmora’s blade. The others looked shaken: perhaps, then, he could get through to them. “Surrender and quarter will be given.”

The man in front of the others hardened his jaw, although his eyes were still wide with fear.

“Are we not countrymen?”

The man in front found enough of his spine to spit on the deck and answer. “You rebel scum are no countrymen of mine.”

So that’s how it was going to be, was it? Einarr’s jaw hardened in turn. He had tried: there were witnesses to show he had tried to save these mens’ lives. “Then fight like men!”

Einarr did not give in to the battle fury, although the wolflings could be forgiven for thinking he had. With a roar he brought his blade up again overhead.

The men broke and ran. Einarr shook his head: these were…

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10.18 – Three Captains

Tangled Threads Publishing

Kaldr spent a long, weary night locked in combat in his own mind. For Lord Ulfr to call him back like this could only mean one thing. And yet, the more he thought it through, the more he was convinced that he had done nothing to regret. Certainly nothing that should have gotten him recalled in disgrace – or even castigated on his return, provided he was successful. The rebels were undermanned and poorly equipped, but not so undermanned that they could be caught without significant losses. And for trying to save the strength of Breidelstein, I am humiliated? He rolled over under his blanket, but still sleep eluded him.

The atmosphere on deck was tense, as well. From oarsmen to lookout, he could hear dissatisfied mutterings from his men. That, too, was troublesome, and the corner of his mind that did not gnaw on his abrupt summons like a…

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