Stretching

Getting together to rejoice in the knowledge of Yeshua and to further your understanding of His past, present, and future is breathtakingly energizing, isn't it?! This evening I was fortunate enough to witness Him in such an amazing and beautiful way -


A particular women who gathers with us - she's had a very rough life...her entire life through, and it has left her with a certain mannerism, temperament, and hygiene that is not always accepted by those around her. My parents have taken this women under their wing, doing her laundry, taking her out for coffee, giving her an overall sense of purpose. Proudly I contend that not everyone is as stretchable as my parents. So, my family and I had been discussing whether the people getting together this evening would continue to pallet this women's idiosyncrasies or whether they'd eventually shy away from her... The general consensus was that everyone getting together would more than likely sustain a certain level of tolerance and prayerfully that tolerance would last and last. And in that hopefullness we went to our gathering - 
 And God showed up.


The people didn't gasp at her snide joking, but played right along, teasingly calling out - good evening ornery! Not only did they ignore her odoriferous aroma, but they embraced her with warm hugs of affection. They didn't slip into a corner to gossip about her matted hair, but pulled out a comb and lovingly maneuvered the comb's prongs through the knotted strands, all the while complimenting and encouraging her femininity.Of course, she lavished in the attention, flourishing with every drop.
Yes, God was there. And it was beautiful.

Love Me?

Believing in a Creator always poses the question: Why? Why create a being ingrained with self-reliance and freewill? Why create a being knowing they'd sin and be hidden from Him? Why have so much power and show such restraint? 

But what if the being without a beginning and without an end, whose dwelling is in a sustenance without borders or laws, decides -
                      He wants to be loved?

He knows He can create a life form that loves Him, but only out of fear, He knows with His omnipotent power He can form a conscienceless creation who provides for His every need...
                                but what if He wants to be loved?

He decides to create a being with decision making abilities, and then gives them a choice. The choice was simple 'love me and know me or decide you want more'. The completed beings decided they wanted to not only know Him, but to be Him...
This was not a surprise to the Creator... in fact, this was His plan from the beginning. Now their minds overflowed with choices, choices of good and evil, greed and compassion. The Creator knows if He wants to truly be loved He can only be known in part. If the creation knows its full creator, fear would take the place of love, want would take the place of need, and the Creator would again be without a companion.
So in desperate need to simply be loved the flood gates of His presence remains restrained upon the earth. His swooning for His creation though, is as a geyser, uncontainable, submerging life in His affection. So there He waits in His longing... wanting so desperately to win her love. 
You...
      are the creation...

created for one purpose...
                                    to be His love...
                                                    if it is your choosing...   

Set Apart

The description I wrote down for my blog when I first started it was 'Christian, faith, Christ, Christian living' so I thought it important to jot down a few things to help define what it is I am referring to....

The God I believe in and am reverent to is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I believe God's chosen people are Israel; the strangers who exited the land of Egypt with Israel were under the same covenant as Israel, just as those who exit the darkness into light and serve Elohim are they themselves in covenant, the bride of Christ, God's chosen people. (Lev 19:34 and so many other verses...)

Elohim gave His people for their success a set of directions we know as the Ten Commandments.

He also gave days of Holy convocation(set apart gatherings) to set His people apart so they may make known their love and engagement to Him. (Lev 23)    

I believe Elohim entered the dimension we know as earth as a human being, born of a virgin into the Jewish lineage. Yehoshua walked the earth as a man, enduring as a man, remaining sinless. He was crucified as the Passover lamb making the sacrifice for all sins.  

He arose from the dead on the third day. His spirit now is dwelling with us.

And it is in His spirit that I hope we can commune with one another and proclaim His greatness... and that in essence is the structure for this blog.  

Providence

Worrying about the provisions in one's life is to assume that any provision ever acquired was without divine providence. And that assumption would be false.

Pursuit of Happiness

If I could just marry the right person...
If I could just land the right job...
If I could just make enough money...
If I could just live in the right location...
If I could just wear nicer clothes, have better things...
If I could just be smarter, taller, thinner...
If I could just _____...my life would be what I want it to be...

Dear Striving,
I am happy to inform you that contentment is fully obtainable. The need to pursue your happiness has been woven into your being from the beginning. Here is one synopsis of a perfect life, you have your own variation - graduate from high school, go to a good college, get a job you love, marry the right person, have a nice family, make lots of money, retire at 65, travel the world, and die well-loved and accomplished. Right? What if you get to the end and realize you didn't actually ever really acquire contentment? As I stated at the beginning contentment is fully obtainable... and I don't mean 50 years from now and not only if your life hasn't gone awry at some point and then another...  The void you're longing to fill is as a keyhole with only one key. You may try to force other things in, but only the right thing will fit. The happiness you strive for, the contentment you need is only available through
the one who created you.
If your thought just now was - been there, done that or I've tried Him, but He didn't do anything for me... you weren't introduced to the real thing... Think on these things for just a moment: the one who created you took so much care and thought into your existence that He made your eyelids to blink involuntarily so that your eyes wouldn't dry out, and would be protected... He created salivary glands to produce saliva in your mouth to cleanse your teeth, moisten your throat, help you to taste... He created the organs in your body to work together without your prompting... He placed the sun in the sky to warm you... He causes food to grow to feed you... He placed beauty all around you to awe-inspire the thoughts of His love towards you... He is who I'd like you to meet. He is who your soul is longing for. Forget everything you've been told about Him, look at what He has made for you and discover Him for yourself. 
I believe in and am in love with the creator of the universe, the one who set the stars in the sky, the one who formed the earth, and breathed into existence life. The void without Him is too grave for any thing or any amount of things to fill. Only just think on HIM and be fully contented.

Concerning the Garden of Eden

 I was always taught that God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would surely die, but the serpent told them they wouldn't and when they ate of it 1) they didn't die physically, but they did die spiritually or 2) they from that time began dying and their seed from then on degenerated and that's why people gradually lived shorter and shorter lives... But what if the death that is referred to is the elimination of the ability to see the spirit world? What if before they ate of this tree they could physically see angels... and God...
 After they ate of the tree their innocence was gone and they were aware that they were naked... But I got to thinking - - if my husband and I were the only two people on earth, I don't think I'd be bothered too much about being naked... But if I had physically seen angels moseying around in the garden with me... I probably would cover up with fig leaves just as they did. I don't think from the very beginning God had ever intended for Adam and Eve to live forever; if He had why would He say in Gen 3:22 "...And now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever..." So if they were always intended to partake in the cycle of life which includes death, wouldn't it make sense that what did actually die was the interaction with the dimension of what we refer to as 'spirit'? 
 In a practical sense, with that sight or ability to see gone we are only able to receive the revelation of God through His determining. He is still as ever-present as always, but we are unable to see Him -- for now.