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My Journey - Part 1

6/29/2015

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I have not written in a while. The Father has been working on me. It has been rough. I believe I am coming out on the other side, though there is now the work of learning and operating in the new way of being. Whole. What does this mean? 

As an adjective, whole is used to designate the full amount, the entirety of a thing, its completeness, undivided, unbroken, undamaged. In noun form, the word indicates something that is complete in itself, with all its components or elements operating as a unit. We know this idea from the teaching of Scripture on the body. Although, the physical body has many cells, organs, limbs, it operates as a unit, a whole. Similarly, we are told that the body of Messiah works the same. Many members, each with a specific function, all working together to produce something that the pieces parts on their own can never achieve.  

The Hebrew word echad relays a similar concept. Consider the declaration from Deuteronomy 6: Shema Israel, YHVH eloheinu, YHVH echad. Hear Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is one. In Genesis 1:26, YHVH refers to himself as a plural unity: Let us make man in our image. This is not the time or place to go into trinity theology. Suffice it to say that YHVH is not three gods in one, but rather uses manifestations of Himself for specific situations. He is One in different forms at different times. We have this word, echad, used in the shema, and indicates once again, the wholeness, completeness, perfection of the Creator of the Universe. 

This image we are created in, is used repeatedly as a metaphor in YHVH’s Word. Basar echad. One flesh. This is the term used to define marriage. Two people (of the opposite sex) coming together to become a new form of echad. Each on his/her own is echad, but coming together like this, they become echad in a different way. Two parts uniting for new purpose. This is a way of being that is intimately connected to the One who created all things. There is no room for independence.  

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PERSPECTIVE

9/15/2014

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I spent some time this weekend with my eldest son. Both my boys are pretty amazing, but then I am their mom and absolutely biased! My marriage to their father did not make it. What does Scripture say? Hardness of heart . . . on both our parts. Working through my part has been irritating, frustrating, and absolutely humbling for many years. Would that a level of maturity could have been attained earlier, but sadly, no. 


The difficulties of our relationship affected the boys. This weekend, I sat and listened for the first time to some of those issues from my oldest son's perspective. He was in a place to share and I was in a place to receive. Interesting how something looks through another's eyes, emotions, and maturity. I am reminded of the tale of the blind men who are each led to a different part of an elephant and told to describe the part they are able to feel. Each perspective is correct as far as it goes - one says of the tail that an elephant is like a rope or cable, another of the leg that it is like a strong tree trunk, etc. 


Part of what the Father is doing with me right now is opening up perspectives. As I continue to 'see' my spiritual roots from YHVH's perspective as opposed to say, mine or tradition's or bad teaching, I pray that my eyes are being opened, my heart being broken, my ears hearing what HE has to say to me about me in order to become truly HIS. Am I able to let go of my limited perspective(s) and make more whole evaluations based on allowing different perspectives to be brought together to create the big picture? 


How I behave in any given situation has as many perspectives as people it affects. That is sobering! I have behaved badly. I have also behaved well. Sometimes the good behavior is seen as inappropriate because of perspective and vice versa. The only perspective that matters really, is YHVH's. Humbling myself before Him and others if necessary, by confessing my bad, apologizing and asking forgiveness is His perspective. May I be able to see it more and more, do it more and more, become mature in His ways and leave behind my limited perspective. 
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It Is Not Good . . .

7/13/2014

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Adam has been given his job description and has named the animals.  What happened between Genesis 1:31 when it was ‘very good’ and Genesis 2:18 that it had become ‘not good’? YHVH does not make mistakes, so what is going on here? There are any number of commentaries and speculations as to why this suitable helper had to be brought forth and some make sense while others are, in my opinion, products of fanciful imaginations. In some cases ideas that are generated out of myths and opinions have been forced backward into the narrative to prove specific doctrinal bias. May I propose an idea that is supported by the text but not generally talked about?

 Let me start by addressing the ‘who sinned first’ issue. We are taught (or at least I was) from the time we can think that Eve ate first and therefore she brought the sinful state to mankind and had to be punished - or variations on that theme. Scripture is used, including creation and Genesis 3:16 to ‘prove’ that she is the problem and needs to be controlled. I propose that sin did not enter because of Adam and Chavah’s disobedience. It was already there. The rebellion of the angels had already established sin, which by definition is disobedience to YHVH. Let's look at the phrase in Romans 5:12 - for by one man sin entered. The word in the original Greek for entered is: eisdechomai which means to open to or enter in and does not carry the idea that this is where sin began; that if not for Eve and Adam’s disobedience there would be no sin. Perhaps a better way to say this would be “Adam opened the door to sin, which was already sitting outside and could be just as rightly be stated "for by one man the door was opened to sin,’ which correctly establishes sin as previously existing, as opposed to the biased translation that supports man and by extension, woman as the first sinner. This would be the first time humankind sinned, but according to Scripture's own definition, not how sin entered the world.

 Next, I would like to point out that the Adam (humankind pre separation into man and woman) had been given instructions. One of those instructions was to guard or protect the garden. From what? The animals were content at this time to cohabit with one another. Abba and the Adam were in fellowship together. My question is this: What was Nachash (the shining or luminous one, translated as serpent) doing in the garden?  Had the human already been less than attentive to the guard duties before the separation occurred? Was there a door that had been left unprotected, unguarded? 

To understand this, the phrase- ezer kenegdo - needs to be defined. We will be looking at it from the original language and how Scripture itself uses these words and how they establish a purpose or function that could not be fully realized outside of the separation of the Adam into man and woman.

to be continued . . .

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Scary Stuff

7/6/2014

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Today I am sharing a posting from a brother whose work I highly respect. It is critical that we discover the difference between looking like something and actually being something, between what we profess with our mouths and what we do with our lives, between what we think is in our heart and what YHVH finds there. Read and consider and do what you must.

Contingent Destiny

Posted on July 6, 2014, updated on July 6, 2014 by Skip Moen

I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:10 NASB

Results – Frankly, this verse scares me.  There are a few others that give me equal fright, but this one might be at the top of that list.  Jeremiah, speaking for God, tells me that God rewards according to results.  Oh, my!  I so want God to reward on the basis of His benevolence, His mercy and His compassion.  To be rewarded on the basis of my results is terrifying.  I think of all the times when I have not lived up to expectations, when my efforts or lack thereof did not produce the results God wanted.  In fact, I am quite sure my résumé of failures is much more extensive than my résumé of success.  If God rewards “according to the fruit of” my deeds, I am surely lost.  I will arrive in His presence empty-handed at best, but more likely with thorns and thistles rather than olive branches or grapes.

What’s worse is that God searches my heart. It really doesn’t matter if I show well on the outside. Does God care about the size of my bank account, the number of Bibles I have on the shelf, the record of my charitable gifts? If He searches my heart, He may find that those “successes” were motivated by pride or appeasement. Failures! The “fruit” isn’t just the observable result. Paul makes this abundantly clear. Heart and hand must go together if it’s going to be counted by the Lord. Perhaps that’s why this verse does not say, “I search the tax record or the theological statement or even the mind.” (By the way, the word “mind” in this verse is a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew kilya’ which means “kidneys.” It’s the Hebrew way of saying “the innermost secret parts of a man.” It has nothing to do with cognitive functions.)

In Hebrew, the word translated “results” is peri. You might recall this word from the blessing of the wine during the Shabbat meal. It is the word for “fruit,” not “results.” The “fruit of his deeds” is the produce of his practice. Notice it is singular. Just like Paul’s comment on the fruit (singular) of the Spirit. It isn’t the deeds that are measured. It is what the deeds produce. We scramble around trying to do all the deeds perfectly, but that isn’t what God is counting. It is the fruit of those deeds that matters. In other words, it’s not the practice of Shabbat. It is the fruit that the practice produces. If you do everything properly during Shabbat but the fruit is dissension in the household, anxiety over responsibility, concern about social expectations or legalistic separation from others, then the fruit is a failure. The actual practice may be in accordance with the traditions of Shabbat, but the net result is ungodly.

If you attend services, say the prayers, study the Scriptures, follow Torah as best you can, but the produce from your labors drives others away from the Lord, causes family members to dread your theology, disrupts your compassion toward strangers or creates animosity, then the fruit is sour no matter how sweetly planted the vine.

Oh, and by the way, you are not the measure of the quality of your fruit. Only the fruit tasters, the ones who are supposed to benefit from your produce, are the rightful judges of your labor.

So I suppose I should take a confidential survey. I should be asking, “Have my efforts had a positive impact on you?” After everyone has answered I might feel a bit better but I will still need to ask the same question to God. Then I will know what I probably can already guess.

It’s still scary.

Find more @ http://skipmoen.com/

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CONUNDRUM 

7/3/2014

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This post is the first of several looking at the doctrine of female submission. I have been told I am a glutton for punishment. It's probably true, otherwise, why would I be taking on this subject? I am going to try, to the best of my ability, to look at what Scripture says, and not what I have been told and/or taught it says. Please, bear with me. I do not claim to have it all figured out, but I do know from personal experience that there are enough problems and contradictions with this way of thinking to warrant a serious re-thinking of it. Let’s try real hard not to impose post creation paradigms to this. Just for the sake of humoring me, let’s pretend that all we have is what we are told in the first two chapters of Genesis. Here we go . . .

During the week of creation, YHVH separated. He separated the water from the water, the water from the land, and the light from the dark. YHVH finishes His creation work and pronounces it “very good.” He gave instruction to the Adam to cultivate the land, and to keep (shamar - to watch, preserve and guard over) the garden, and to not eat of a specific tree. In Gen 2:18 YHVH says, “It is not good for the Adam (humankind) to be alone.”  What is meant by this? He was not “alone”. Adam had one-on-one intimate contact with YHVH. Adam had relationship with the Creator and they fellowshipped together. This word (alone) in the Hebrew is from the root 'bad' and means separation; a part. Hmmm. Interesting.

 What most seem to dismiss is that the Adam was man/woman unseparated (Gen. 2:23). The “man/woman” became man and woman only when they were separated. Did YHVH make a mistake in creating one being with both attributes? The text says He created this being “in our image.” Based on this, what can we understand?  The Adam (complete humankind) was created in the image of YHVH and included in the Adam was the possibility of separating the Adam into different manifestations - man and woman. I believe it can be logically observed from the text that when YHVH said it is not good for the Adam to be alone that it could also mean - it is not good for the Adam to be unseparated. 

 Just as YHVH has different manifestations in his Echad (oneness), he created the man in this likeness. The different manifestations of YHVH include His physical manifestation in Yeshua and the manifestation of His Ruach (Spirit) which dwells within His children. This is NOT three gods in one, it is One God with different manifestations.* I believe that at the time of the separating of the man/woman, there was a prophetic inkling of the possibility of YHVH separating Himself into humankind as The Messiah and a short time later as a way of putting His Spirit within us. 

 Did the separating make one manifestation less than the other? Are not both manifestations still the Image of YHVH? The idea of creation establishing a hierarchical order for men and women simply cannot be supported if we believe that Adam, literally humankind, inclusive of man and woman, was created in YHVH’s image. Either they both are the image of YHVH and as such equal bearers of that image or YHVH lied. 

 More to come . . .



*Semantics. Could be, but one of the things I am coming to terms with is the way language is used and abused. The three gods/persons-in-one concept is not Scriptural in relation to YHVH. 

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TRUTH or CONSEQUENCES

6/27/2014

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I think I have mentioned this before. I am a live-in caregiver for my aunt, my dad’s sister. I love her dearly, but anyone who has done this job knows it comes with many challenges. A group of ladies meet here every friday for “bible study”. This is actually a misnomer as we do not actually study the bible. We get books and read them chapter by chapter and gather from week to week to discuss the material in the books. 
 

We are presently reading Philip Yancy’s  The Jesus You Never Knew. Throughout my time with my aunt, I have participated in these studies and have formed some interesting friendships with these lovely ladies. I appreciate that the ladies who come allow me to interject an ‘Hebraic’ understanding and yet I do not see that it has made much of an impact. 

Case in point is the chapter we went through today. Chapter 9 titled: Death: the final week, dealing with the week just preceding Yeshua’s death on the stake. Sometimes, it is such a struggle. I mean the writing is from a totally ‘christian’ perspective without so much as a shred of context that has anything to do with why or how the events unfolded as they did. 

There are speculation and opinion and statements made that cram the events into a “christian” paradigm which did not exist until the 4th century. Until that time followers of Yeshua were known as followers of The Way - a sect of Judaism that was recognized as Judaism. Now, there were leaders who didn’t like The Way, but never was there a question that those who believed that Yeshua was their Messiah were anything but Jewish in their practice and belief. Similarly today, we have Baptists and Methodists and Pentecostals, and although they have differences in the way they practice their belief, not one of these groups would state that the others were not christian. 

I commented that the waving of palm branches at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was not, nor has it ever been a Pesach tradition. It was customarily done at the Feast of Tabernacles and is laid out in Lev. 23:40. The people waving branches just before Yeshua’s death were under the impression that the kingdom of YHVH was being ushered in and Yeshua was the Messiah/King/Anointed One who was to rule; the time when YHVH would once again “tabernacle” among His people, a thoroughly “Jewish” concept!

Uncomfortable silence. Furtive glances back and forth. Here she goes again. One of the women said she did not know this and thought it was interesting. One wondered why the author would come from any other perspective than a christian one since he was a christian writing to christians. I open my mouth again. Why would you not want to see these events in the light of their original context instead of trying to force it into a paradigm  established three to four hundred years after the fact?!?!


All the doors are shut, now. You can just hear the wheels turning - I like it the way I like it and am NOT going to listen to this. I am familiar with this place. I know that the Father uses me in a way that provides people with an opportunity to do the right thing. 

Years ago, I was led to put together a challenge to a large Denver area school district. It dealt with the psychological teaching methods being used which had been proven to be damaging to the adults subjected to them let alone foisting them onto unsuspecting children. In the car on my way to the hearing, I heard the Ruach say, “This isn’t going to change anything.” In my calm and gentle way - NOT - I pounded on the steering wheel and asked rather rudely, “Then what am I doing it for?” The answer I got was to forever change the issue I had with the way Abba has chosen to use me. He said, “Because they will not ever be able to say again - I didn’t know.” From this point forward, they are not being led down the proverbial primrose path without knowledge. They now know that what they are doing is causing damage and they will be held accountable for their participation, if not by the “law”, most certainly by YHVH. The end result of this encounter was a letter from the district stating that they understood the potential risks but were not going to change anything because what they were doing was not against the law. 

I will continue to allow the Father to speak through me, even though it means uncomfortable silences and eye rolling and even rejection. I remember how hard it was to come to terms with the fact that a lot of what I believed was a lie, but it never occurred to me to reject Truth to stay in the lie. This is what I struggle with: when the agenda of a school district is more important than the children’s lives, when your comfort level in what you currently believe is more important than the Truth. . .

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The Bridge or the River

5/17/2014

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Picture
A while back, the under shepherd of our little congregation used this picture to emphasize a point he was making. I have been thinking about it ever since. Look at it carefully. It is a picture of a bridge and river. It is real and has not been photoshopped. 

 In 1998 Hurricane Mitch ravaged Central America. 5,600 people died in the storm and more than 12,300 were injured. Over 150 bridges in Honduras were destroyed but the Choluteca Bridge was engineered and constructed so well it survived intact. The Japanese company that built the Choluteca Bridge was so proud of their workmanship they put a photo of the bridge on their company brochure. The storm was so severe it actually shifted the river, which now flows around the bridge instead of under it. It is a very sturdy bridge to nowhere, without any useful function. A ton of applications could be made, but I will go the way I am led. 

 For years, I have studied to determine my purpose and function as a woman of YHVH according to Scripture. It is not meant to be disrespectful, although to some it seems that way. I am not trying to be a feminist, although I am often labeled so. It is not my intent to argue or convince anyone. I just want to know the truth. Am I, as a woman of Yah, bound to interpretation of Scripture that cannot sustain itself? Is the call on my life any less important than that of a man? And yet . . . I have often been confined to certain spheres of influence. I don’t mind these at all, but to say that because I am a woman I cannot exercise my influence beyond a specific point is unscriptural, unsupported from Jewish history, and doesn’t fit with Yeshua’s ministry. Contradictions within the very passages used to support this doctrine abound and must be reconciled for YHVH is not the author of confusion.

All ancient literature is read with an understanding of its original context, language, and type. The Scriptures must be read this way as well, if we are to get any kind of understanding of what it is trying to tell us. Lifting sentences or passages out of their defining context to support what it does not say is to violate the intent of the author - in this case - YHVH. Scripture must be read with an understanding of when it was written and what it was addressing for that time if we are to correctly apply it to our lives today. 

This is an ongoing issue for me. I will continue to elaborate as I am led and hopefully bring some light into a situation that causes frustration for not only women, but men as well. Will we be the unmoving bridge of doctrine and tenets of faith with limited function as proscribed by tradition OR will we be the River of Life that flows unimpeded according to the will of the Father as He established in His word?




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Passionate and Sustained Pursuit of YHVH

2/25/2014

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What is this holy fire of passion?  Where does it come from?  How can we keep it burning?

       

Anger                   Anticipation               luxurious                 desperation                lips       

Sighing                 marriage                    kisses                      bosom                         fire

Desire                   secret                         trust                          Devour                        Consume    

Spurned                hatred                        whisper                   Pleasure                     burning

Flattery                  deception                  attention                  crushed                      jealousy

Heart                     beauty                        Delight                      tears                          Joy  

distress                 bed                              heart throb               anguish                    Abandonment 

    

 All these terms or ideas are from the Psalms. They all pertain to intimate relationships and convey physical and emotional aspects of what we call love.

We were created for fellowship, that is: companionship; intimacy; familiarity. There is something about the words of David and later, John, that reflect a level of intimacy with YHVH that we don’t see anywhere else in Scripture.  A personal understanding of the very heart and emotions of the Living God.  

Were they the only ones to experience this?  Is it only for a select few?  Does YHVH want this for me?

1 Samuel 13:14  tells us that David was  a man after YHVH’s own heart, in Hebrew - lev - the seat of awareness and understanding, tenderness. He desires us to enter into and identify with Him on this level.

What made David different? Examine the following insights into David's heart and desire.

Psalm 63 >  O, God, You are my God;  I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.  My soul clings to You.  

Psalm 16 >  I have set YHVH continually before me, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices.  In Your presence is fullness of joy and in Your right hand are pleasures forever.

Psalm 36> I drink my fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give me to drink of the river of Your delights.

Psalm 27>  One thing I have desired – to behold the beauty of YHVH.  In the secret place of His tent, He will hide me

Psalm 42. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You O YHVH , My soul thirsts for You

David’s emotions are laid bare in these passages. He is not embarrassed because  He is acquainted with YHVH’s emotions and His love and compassion.   YHVH was able to share with David His very heart – to trust him with his heart.  I want that in my life.

 David exercises opportunities to be serious, to vent, share his excitement, and has personal discussions and conversations with his God. This secret place of intimacy provides supernatural release of his own passions and desires as well as YHVH’s power in his life. It is a revelation of a God who takes pleasure in and delights in His people, even in weakness and immaturity.

David was a student of YHVH’s emotions. He sought to know what was burning in YVHV’s heart. He wanted to know his God.

Ez. 11:39 tells us we all receive new, soft heart when we say “yes” to Yeshua. 

A hard soul/heart is full of anger, rejection, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, results of events/circumstances/perceptions. It creates a barrier preventing the new soft heart from being displayed or revealed. The barrier must be torn down to actualize total intimacy  and transparency – soul healing brings a level of maturity and agreement between soul and Spirit. It is sanctification which opens us up to connect with our Creator naked and unashamed

One thing associated with David was his obedience – obedience without corresponding revelation of YHVH’s heart brings frustration and shame when we fall.  David had personal knowledge of this – he failed on a number of occasions, but never lost his connection with his God.  He never doubted YHVH’s passion and delight in him – regardless of his failures and weaknesses.  

Often we assume YHVH is angry with failure and weakness because we don’t or can’t see the truth about how He feels about us.  Scripture tells us it is not failure and weakness but rebellion that stirs YHVH’s anger.  It is his kindness that leads us to repentance.  When there is a “yes” to Him in our spirits it makes Him glad.  If we do not get this, then we will run from Him when we fail or stumble instead of to Him as David did.

 Why can’t I seem to keep the fire going?  New believers have zeal and passion which flares up and eventually fizzles out. Most of us enter into another phase of our relationship with YHVH which includes sanctification, healing, learning obedience and this is a fire of a different kind and lasts longer than the first, but still ultimately loses its intensity. 

Fascination with Yeshua/the Word/Spirit is the only fire that can replenish and sustain us for the long haul.  We were created to be fascinated with Him – to drink from His rivers of pleasure.  Only when we know what YHVH’s heart looks like can we know what we look like to Him.  Only then are we able to stop being self-consious, and focus wholly and completely on Him.

Yhvh is anxiously waiting and beckoning to all who would enter this place of reckless abandonment and fearless devotion to Him.  David is a picture of what Yeshua wants in His bride.  Lovesick, giddy, passionate and totally enthralled.  This is true worship. 








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Getting it Right Day 6

2/19/2014

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This poem was written ten years after the initial poems in this exchange. A long time, or so it used to seem. I did a study once on time and tried to understand the unusual concept that YHVH does not operate within the time/space continuum. A day is as a thousand years to Him, a thousand years as a day - at any rate put that way so we get, to some small degree, the differences between Him and us.  As I understand it, YHVH doesn’t measure time, He measures progress, direction, obedience. We are the ones who make time limits - perhaps because we are so limited. 

 You will see that what began ten years before is still in progress. What has changed? I have moved from recognizing there is a problem, to identifying the problem, to applying truth to the problem, and now (2007) to a new paradigm of operating within my Father’s boundaries. 

Discovering my intended function and purpose as a woman has been a difficult and sometimes terrifying task. Breaking out of the small, confining, and destructive image created in the minds of males (and sadly at times, other females) is no small feat. I heard at every turn that I was rebelling against God by refusing to accept that I was less than, second class, deficient somehow, the cause and continuation of the world’s ills, all because I was woman. 

 I am ezer kenegdo! I am eshet chayil! As a very special new friend confirmed recently - I am awake - not perfect - but definitely awake! I am in process, moving forward, and not looking back. I am becoming what my Creator intended. And I am in excellent company! Praise YHVH for sisters and brothers who are willing to recognize there is a problem, to identify the problem, to apply TRUTH to the problem, and accept a new paradigm of operating within the Father’s boundaries.



BECOMING                     by Sherri Rogers, 2007

 Dissolving in my tears that flow unimpeded
            from somewhere so deep I’ve never been,
                    The pain is excruciating.
                                I cry out in anguish as the chasm deepens
 And the trickle becomes a raging torrent
             Gushing from places I didn’t know existed,
                      Carrying with it flux and debris long entrenched
                                 Like huge boulders mostly buried in mountain rivers.

 Massive ideas and perceptions, abuses, 
              That shaped my soul into what I thought was me.
 O, gentle eroding water-Word
               O, insistent, persistent Spirit-wind
                          How frustrating, how uncomfortable,
                                    how thorough, how welcome.

 And I wonder how much my impatience increases my pain.
             My inability to wait quietly
                        Accepting the process
                                  Allowing it to do the work, and yet . . .
 I have been told to seek, to push, to come up higher, to delve deeper.

 Teach me O, Breath of God, Spirit that is my life
             what is my work and what is Yours and
                       Who I am and what I am to become.

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Getting it Right Day 5

2/18/2014

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The poem I share today came out of the realization that most of us don't have a clue. Our relationships have no depth -even married people. Things, how we look, who we know, what we know, where we go, the make of our car, the neighborhood we live in, whether you have seen the latest movie, who won the super bowl, how many 'friends' you have on facebook - these dominate our conversation. I use the word conversation to define not only how we talk but in the biblical sense of how we live. 


Our Torah study group has been in the chapters of Genesis that give the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. A couple of weeks ago, the facilitator brought up the curious case of Ethan Couch, the 16 year old Texas boy who got ten years of probation for driving drunk and killing four people. Affluence and lack of proper parental guidance was the defense. Ezekiel 16:49 tells us that this was a key element that brought down the horrific judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. 


Mercy always precedes judgement. The root or base sins of pride and selfishness were at the core of the depravity that became a way of life for the cities of the plain. Clearly Lot made some bad choices, but his "conversation", his concern for the well-being of strangers was a thorn in the sides of the affluent and spoiled I-will-do-what-I-want citizens of this beautiful place. Was the visitation of the angels and Lot's response to the situation in essence one last opportunity for the people of Sodom to do the right thing? Think of Ninevah. 


There is a lot of discussion about the judge's ruling in the case mentioned above. Is it really about our opinion of what should have happened, or are we being shown something? Are we being granted mercy in the form of a judgement pronounced on a sixteen year old that we all need to study and learn from?


We are being challenged to take an inventory. We do not study for the sake of study. We study to LEARN - to put into practice what we have studied. How does my life need to change to reflect Torah, the will of my heavenly Father, instead of the world and my superficial worldly connections?


OUT OF TOUCH    by Sherri Rogers   (1998) 


The rooms of the houses are full to overflowing
but they are empty and cold
void of that which money cannot buy.

They sit in their rooms full of things,
accumulations of security
that do not love or touch or cry.

Basking in the glow of artificial light
and superficial friendships
that pass like ships in the night

Feeling manufactured love that doesn’t warm
and is slipped on and off
like a jacket for a storm.

The heart is so hard, the walls are so high
the bondage to things so difficult to be broken
The mind of reason must give way
to the Spirit of God through the word He has spoken

A heart of flesh for a heart of stone
transformed by the blood of the Lamb
The idols smashed, the alters torn down
cleansed and perfected by the Great I Am.





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    Napoleon Dynamite makes me laugh. The mountains are home.  I really hope there will be chocolate in eternity. I don’t have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have are spectacular! More than anything, I want to please my Creator. 

    How you live your life defines who you are. 

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