Where do I even begin?
His Word changes everything.
Everything! Actually, let me back
up a bit…
YOU COMING INTO AGREEMENT WITH HIS WORD changes
everything.
You see, I wasn’t raised going to any particular
church. I went to church a few times,
but it was mostly to get out of the house on a Sunday or Wednesday. So, whatever church I found myself in, would
be a different flavor each time. I
really didn’t know what to believe.
Most of my early years, like some of you, were spent
‘wandering aimlessly’ and making a mess of my life. And since my days were spent that way, LIFE
was elusive, always beyond my grasp.
Was my life to be ENDURED or ENJOYED? I just didn’t know. I managed somehow to hold out hope that
surely I’d find joy or peace, or whatever it was I seemed to always be
lacking…someday. My highs and lows kept
me in a tailspin. I held onto the
thought ‘someday I’ll be happy’ even
to the extent of hoping that by the
milk’s expiration date, I just might be happy!
Someday.
Sounds desperate, right?
I was.
My husband’s job kept us moving for many years. My husband is a loyal, loving, giving
provider for our family. He also travels
quite a bit. With all these moves,
trying to find a ‘church home’ and a place to fit in while raising 1,2,3 and
then 4 babies was really, really tough.
I found myself on my bed one day, with my first two little
ones crying in the background. I was
crying right along with them. I had The
Word of God cracked open and things were very fuzzy to me, spiritually,
emotionally. I had so many
questions! Where’s all this ‘close communion’ with others that I’m reading in
these pages of The Bible? I sure didn’t
feel it…even though I went to church. I
was lonely. I had the occasional good
feeling when I was at church. But, I
couldn’t hold onto it…something always happened. I had to go home. To me. I couldn’t escape me!
I remember also reading that day about how I’m supposed to ‘love the LORD God with all my heart, all my
being and all my resources’ (Deuteronomy 6). I was so angry! I was like, ‘Ummmm, I’m supposed to love YOU like that? I don’t even know if I like You! I don’t even know if You are. And, IF YOU ARE, WHAT ARE YOU going to do
about this?’
Something incredible happened that day. First of all, HE didn’t kill me. I in fact lived to tell about it. And come to find out, HE had been waiting on
me to express to HIM how I really felt…and what HE already saw. HE LOVED ME.
HE PUT UP WITH ME. HE DESIGNED
ME. And mostly, HE wanted to change me
into the Kingdom Woman HE prescribed that I be(come)!
Fast forward to today, some seventeen years later. I’m convinced it was because of my BEING
COMPLETELY and TRANSPARENTLY RAW before my Father on that day that HE DID
something LIFE-ALTERING!
It was out of that darkness and despair that HE set me on The
Journey of Freedom. It was
because of that darkness that I sought out and found LIGHT in His Word, by His
Ruach (Spirit). I began to gobble up His
Word in every translation I could get my hands on! I had countless Bibles laying all over my bed
that I returned to periodically throughout the day as I cared for my little
ones. Whatever ‘quiet time’ I had, I
returned to those books contrasting and comparing the translations. I discovered they were each a little
different, although they basically carried similar thoughts. Why? I wondered.
So, I kept searching, digging…
When Yeshua, tired and hungry - though HE was God - was
tempted in the wilderness by our Adversary, HE told him ‘It is written, man shall not
live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of ADONAI”. Jesus, God, The Living Word (Torah!) Himself was
quoting directly from The Torah (Deuteronomy 8).
Let His Ruach feed your starving soul.
I’ve been studying and/or teaching ‘Torah’ now for about 14
years. Torah is the ‘First Five Books’
of our Bible. But, ‘Torah’ is so much
more! Torah literally means
‘instruction’ and it comes from the root word ‘yarah’, which is an archery term
meaning to HIT THE MARK. There is much
to be discovered, my Friends, in the Hebrew that is completely missed in the
English.
Think of ‘Torah’ as God’s Instruction for you (that’s what
It is!), from Genesis to Revelation.
God’s Instruction BRINGS YOU LIFE.
When you HIT THE MARK, you’re walking that narrow, difficult path that
LEADS TO LIFE. When you miss the mark,
you MISS OUT. (You don’t walk this
journey alone by the way!) Digging deep into this Living Word does something to
you. It directly confronts you with
Truth that’s designed to SET YOU FREE.
Freedom is progressive…but so is
slavery.
‘Why didn’t someone teach
me this?’, I wondered in these early
years of ‘hearing Him speak’. There’s
another archery term ‘chata’ that means to miss
the mark. That word shows up for the
first time in Genesis 4:7
Hebrews 11:6 says this:
Hebrews 11:6 - NAS – And without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of
those who seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 - WH – χωρις δε πιστεως αδυνατον ευαρεστησαι
(5658) πιστευσαι (5658) γαρ δει (5719) τον προσερχομενον (5740) {Variant #1:
[τω] } {Variant #2: τω } θεω οτι εστιν (5719) και τοις εκζητουσιν
(5723) αυτον μισθαποδοτης γινεται (5736)
Do you see that tiny word ‘seek’? It’s actually
‘ekzeteo’ (Greek) and it means ‘crave, demand, require’. THIS is the kind of faith
that our Father God REWARDS! And don’t
worry if you don’t CRAVE HIM like that.
You will. As you keep digging
deeper, your craving grows! It
transforms from a worldly unsatisfying craving to a most fulfilling Heavenly
Craving. The more your craving of His
Living Word grows, the more LIFE you receive!
It’s mysterious Kingdom LIFE in the Spirit! It’s not on the other side of the milk jug’s
expiration date. It’s HERE. Now.
Waiting for you to TAKE HOLD OF.
In my quest for happiness on this earth, I found my purpose in The Living Text. In fact, PURPOSE is the root of all true ‘happy’ (blessed) fruit. I’m here, you’re here
to ‘be conformed to the Image of Yeshua’ (Romans 8:29) by bearing much fruit
(John 15:8).
HE desires ONENESS with us because our role as Kingdom Women
is of MUCH importance! Stay close.
And today, I still search.
I still dig. I understand who I
am only because HE’s taught me Who HE is.
HE’s still teaching. I’m still learning…but not alone.
And yet we don’t come into agreement with His Word all
by ourselves. We do so within
a group of trusted friends and companions who each understand their
Spirit-filled role, which is to ‘tend, feed, and nourish’ others within the
flock. It’s a Titus 2:3-5 shepherding
calling.
Remember Lazarus? (John
11) Yes, the one who stank after four days of death and whose sisters were
highly upset that Yeshua didn’t show up in time to prevent this tragedy? What happened? Yeshua raised him up FROM THE STENCH OF DEATH
and could’ve easily added ‘Be unbound!’ and those disgusting linen strips
would’ve fallen straight to the ground.
But HE didn’t do that, did HE?
No, HE looked at the community and said ‘Unbind him and let him go!’
That’s what YOU are called to. You’re CALLED-OUT to be raised from death, unbound
at the hands of another, and then return the blessed favor in the power of His
Ruach (Spirit). There are many bound
souls in our midst!
So, how many days since you died? How many days since HE raised you up? And furthermore, why are you still bound in those
smelly strips of linen? Hopping around blind ain’t fun! Perhaps you’re still bound because you refuse
to let anyone touch your strips of linen?
That certainly requires a bit of necessary humbling and vulnerability.
Our high calling as Mereas is to continue UNBINDING one
another as we ‘grow in faith and increase in love’ (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
Oh, I still have bouts of sadness and some anxiety from time
to time. (I have four kids and one
husband!) BUT, I KNOW THE TRUTH. I confront myself with Truth daily in order
to live freely. And thus, I’ve learned
to COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH YESHUA, ‘TORAT CHAYIM’ (The Living Word) and not my
emotions. This, my Friends, IS
FREEDOM. This, Mereas, is ‘choosing
right, choosing well that I may hold my head high’! (Genesis 4:7)
When you COMMIT TO GOD’S VOICE,
you COMMIT TO YOUR GOOD.
In essence, FREEDOM IS THIS:
Coming into AGREEMENT WITH GOD’S
WORD, mastering that which desires to master you, and allowing the faithful
hands of trusted companions to UNBIND you strip by funky strip…
This is what ‘being conformed to the Image of Yeshua’
is. Join the JOURNEY.
Falling in love with God’s Word and falling in love with
God’s people is AN EXPERIENCE you were designed for.
And I haven’t even mentioned ‘The Beginning’…
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