Puzzle piece; where does this fit? It’s been an interesting morning. Bob and I got up and went to the post office to pick up the last of my Christmas presents, a study kit from Jerusalem. You may think I’m crazy and you’re probably right, but for at least two years I’ve (secretly at first) wished that I knew the Hebrew language so that I could read original scripture without any watering down or changes. I have never been interested in the Greek. After all, the Hebrew language came first chronologically and historically.
Puzzle piece; this one is already in place. I often found myself on the most popular Hebrew site, http://www.aish.com/ There I was able to learn cultural information as well as study because there is a wealth of knowledge on the pages. Puzzle piece: this one fits into the one above. Many times, I’d click on segments of blessings and songs in Hebrew and listen to this mystical (to me) language. It was nice because I also had the pleasure of reading the translation, but sometimes I just soaked in the sound and it was all good!
However, as good as that was—it wasn’t enough—I longed to know more. So, Bob signed me up to learn Classical Hebrew. It’s an online course that meets weekly for 9 months. Puzzle piece: lesson one. This past Monday was my first lesson. There are 8 students meeting online from the states of Utah, Michigan, Louisiana, Virginia (that would be me) and New York, as well students from Jamaica and Canada. We are all beginners, of course.
Puzzle piece; you have this one and I’m not sure where you’ll put it. Anyway, with that said, I ask that you pray with me that I am able to learn and keep up with the studies associated with this class. Thanks!
The core of this devotion is from Oz Hillman and later down the page from Rabbi Freeman. I take the liberty of believing that everyone who is reading this truly knows the LORD JESUS as their personal SAVIOR. So when I study and share it is with that viewpoint in mind. There are some scritures to the side of this blog post, if you doubt your relationship with JESUS. May GOD bless you in your journey.
Read on…
The questions asked were, “Do your sails no longer have wind to move you? Is your engine broken? Does it feel like GOD has propelled you into the open sea only to stop midway with no options?”
Oz tells us perhaps HE is saying it is time to die in order that HE might live through you.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven (Ps 107:29-30).
WHAT IF—you began an exciting sailing adventure. You've been trained to navigate and sail on the ocean and be ready should trouble arise. You are confident you can handle the challenge. Then, midway in the journey your resources have dried up. It almost seems GOD has intentionally destroyed all the skills you have to deal with the weather and the obstacles and your sails are now damaged. Even your engine has broken down. And to make matters even worse, your oars were lost overboard. You are stuck in the middle of the ocean and there is no wind to propel your boat. You are, as they say, "up the creek without a paddle." All of this leads you to the end of yourself and you say, "Lord, I don't know why you brought me out here only to die." The silence is deafening.
Finally, the LORD speaks, "Yes, you are right. I did bring you out here. I did destroy your sails. I did break your engine. And yes, I do want you dead. Not in a physical sense, mind you, but in a spiritual sense. In order that you may LIVE."
You say, “WHAT?”
GOD says,
"You see my child, you are nothing without ME. You cannot do anything without my grace and power in your life." John 15: 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
The sailor (that is you) quietly yields. Suddenly, a gentle wave lifts the front of the boat. An easterly wind blows through the broken sail moving the boat in the right direction. You realize GOD is moving your boat! Your role now is to steer it.
Are you exhausted? Are you dragging in your spirit? What are you trying to do on your own? Is that really what GOD wants you to do? Are you sure?
Give the LORD total control today and you will see your life change in dramatic ways. Yes, there may still be times that you are tossed about but the difference is that GOD is in control and we can rest in HIS promises:
Then you will go on your way in safety, and y our foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster. Proverbs 3:23-25
Yet I am always with YOU. YOU hold me by my right hand. YOU guide me with YOUR counsel, and afterward YOU will take me into glory. Psalm 73:23-24
And that’s not all (I sound like an infomercial, LOL)… I was also reading from Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. He gives insight concerning the Torah, especially the first five books of Moses. Read on…
This Torah given to us is not of the world, neither is it something extraneous to it.
It is the hidden essence, the primal thought from which all the cosmos and each thing within it extends. It is not about the world, it is the world—but it’s the world as its Creator sees it and knows it to be. (This is not, perhaps, the world we see with its filth, and violence and sin piled on the surface. It is the original world GOD created with nothing added and only HIS goodness and grace for our senses to behold.)
The sages say that the Torah is the blueprint GOD used to design His creation. Even more, they say, GOD and His Torah are one, for His thoughts are not outside of Him. Now we must realize that they are not saying that Torah came first. Torah is the WORD of GOD. Torah is GOD!
So now, when our mind grasps a thought of Torah (of WORD), with utter clarity, we grasp that inner essence of the wisdom of GOD.
When our mind and spirit engages, we are completely absorbed in the process of thought, comprehension and application to our lives.
Our very self is being absorbed in infinite wisdom, in HIS essence! Wow! What a thought!
But wait… it is not that we have grasped it (GOD's essence and HIS wisdom). It is that it has grasped us!
In truth, we become part of that essence and that essence is GOD. In that thought and in that truth, we are one with GOD! Hallelujah! I can now see how Oz Hillman and Rabbi Freeman’s messages can work together for my learning and benefit...
When I am a child, everything is about me. “Feed me, clean me, sing to me, and take care of me! These are my demands and everyone knows when I am not happy. Boo Hoo!"
With Oz's message, it appears that we take on tasks in this life without giving GOD a thought. We don’t look for HIS guidance or blessing. It’s all about us! It’s all about me! Then we get into some tight spot, but still many times we become so proud that we believe that we can do it without GOD (or I believe I can do it all myself). Some of us even think that we are so tiny and insignificant in GOD’s eyes that HE doesn’t want to bother with us (or poor pitiful me, I’m nothing). That is a lie from satan! Don't buy into the lie!
Get real, people! GOD gave everything up as a sacrifice for us! HE gave HIMSELF in the form of JESUS that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Why would we think that we are not important to HIM?! (Or why would I think that I’m not important to HIM?!)
After we get over our selves and repent of pride (or after I get over myself and repent of pride), we can truly trust GOD (or I can truly trust GOD). Then we can begin to understand what the Rabbi is trying to say to us…
The WORD is GOD and when I learn the WORD, truly learn the WORD, then GOD can truly dwell within me and within you! Hallelujah!
Don’t we remember this?
Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said… (The WORD)
John 1:1 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Only when we study and seek HIM will we find HIM.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Seek out the WORD and we will find it and the meaning of it for us.)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Wow! What power GOD gives us! But we usually can only glimpse a small portion of it now and then. Would to GOD that we could be in a spiritual position that we could see it at all times! Let that be part of our prayer… that we see HIM in HIS power and glory at all times!
My prayer:
Heavenly Father, May it be YOUR will, that all those we earnestly pray for come to know you and YOUR power and glory in their lives and in the lives of others around them. May it be YOUR will that we may all be a testimony of YOUR majesty.
ETERNAL ONE, Our GOD and the GOD of our ancestors, May it be YOUR will to lead us toward peace, direct our footsteps and guide us so that we reach YOUR desired destination for our lives.
May YOU see the love that we have for one another and help us to love even greater than we do now. May we show greater love each day so that the world will know us as YOUR children and YOU may be glorified through it all.
May YOUR heavenly angels guard and protect us on our journey in this life from the enemy as YOU have directed them...
May YOU rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush, bandits and wild animals along the way whether in the natural or the spiritual worlds. May YOU rescue us from all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth in the natural world and in the spiritual world.
We pray to YOU, honor YOU and worship only YOU.
We pray to YOU, honor YOU and worship only YOU.
May the coming evil pass over YOUR children just as the death angel passed over the doors in Egypt saving YOUR households from grief and loss.
May YOU send continual blessing in all our every handiwork and may we remember to honor YOU for it.
May YOU grant us peace, kindness and mercy that the eyes of all who see us will know that YOU are our FATHER and that walk in this world to honor YOU.
May YOU grant us peace, kindness and mercy that the eyes of all who see us will know that YOU are our FATHER and that walk in this world to honor YOU.
May YOU hear the sound of our supplication and worship because YOU are the GOD who hears prayer and YOU are our GOD who accepts our worship.
May YOU help us to become unified in the body of CHRIST so that we may magnify YOU above everyone and everything for YOU are worthy to be praised! Hallelujah!
Blessed are YOU, FATHER, ETERNAL ONE, who sees our tears and hears the groaning of our spirit and knows just what to do about it.
In JESUS’ name, Amen
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Be careful how you pray, friends. You may be praying at cross purposes and that shows confusion and disunity amoung us. Let us pray in wisdom. We know because of the words in the LORD's prayer, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" that we can pray that there be no sickness, disease, hurt, etc. because these things are not in heaven and we can pray for individuals that "thy will be done." Pray GOD's will in each situation, not our will.
Pray with your co-workers, not for them. Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Prayer and fasting... maybe, just maybe our prayer is not enough... Luke 2:36 And there was one Anna... 37 and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
and Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
staff/faculty-- contemplating major knee surgery
staff/faculty-- concern of paper work regarding career
staff/faculty--continued prayer for those and/or family members we have had on the sick list
staff/faculty--another batteling cancer that exhaustion deminish and that treatment is successful
staff/faculty--continued prayer for several on our staff with family members who are still looking for work and those who have setteled but are not happy in their current positions
continued prayer for our government servants and our place as active citizens
continued prayer for all who are without the security of our LORD JESUS, that they come to know HIM and serve HIM unashamed
continued prayer for one another that we be strengthened by the HOLY SPIRIT to do GOD's will everyday...
continued prayer for those who teach us, preach the word, watch for us and will some day give an account to our HEAVENLY FATHER. Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Love and Prayers, Monica
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