4o Days of Teshuvah🙏

We repent for the sin of subserviency to Bribery

(Striking deals with God)

When I was 7 years old, my siblings and I lived a few years in a small "holler" of the Appalachian mountains, with my grandparents. Oh my goodness, how I came to love those mountains!  The Vietnam war was in progress, and we had not seen our father for quite some time.  I loved my daddy so much, and was daily asking God to protect him.

One afternoon, my grandmother called all of my siblings and me into the kitchen and began cutting our hair.  I had long strawberry/copper locks of curls and frizz, complimenting my freckled skin. My daddy always referred to me as his goldilocks.

I took my place in the chair and grandma began to hack away.  I saw locks of curls hit the floor and my heart pounded rapidly.  When she had completed her task, I went to the bedroom and peered into the mirror.  My long locks were gone, and the little girl I saw in the mirror was a stranger to my eyes.  As I stared into the mirror, I could hear my daddy's words: "Where's my goldilocks?

I immediately began to cry and pull at the strands of hair just below my ears.  I began to beg and plead with God, these words:

"Please God, if you grow my hair out before my daddy comes home, I promise I will be a good girl.  I promise, God."

Bribery is no respecter of age.  We learn early how to manipulate and cut deals with others, and it doesn't take long for us to use those perverse skills against a Holy (set-apart) God.  We make Him into nothing more than a lottery machine, pulling at His righteous right hand of rescue to fulfill our desires.

How did we get here?  I can think of some obvious ways, but I would offend many people.  Instead, I will just say that we have arrived at this foolish, dangerous destination because we value ourselves more than our Righteous Ruler of the universes.  We twist His merciful arms and words to fit our personal wants and desires,  and then we attempt to drag others into this insane manner of thinking. 

We are not listening to Spirit of Truth. 

We are listening to another gospel, one that arises from a smoking pit.

Isaiah 66:2  

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word. ESV

We do not tremble at His word.

We must break away from the lies of the satan, and turn our inner ears to the One True God,  YHWH Elohim.

If there was a time to wake up, folks, it is NOW!

Not kidding .. WAKE UP!

♡

My dad did furlough for a short time, not long after that prayer.  He never spoke  a word about my hair, but continued to refer to me as goldilocks.

♡

You said, O YHWH,

"Seek My face"

Your face I seek, my Beloved One

Help me

🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

 We repent for the sins we sin against people when they knew it or didn't know it.

♡

This was a gut wrenching moment in our 40 days of Teshuvah, for many of us.  Reading the chats on the  chat board, I could feel the tremble of emotions fill each typed, clicked and tapped word from men and women all over the nation and world, repenting for the deeds of both the past as well as the present. 

Michele shared about a moment as a 12 year old, when she stole some library books.  At the age of 15, knowing what she had done was wrong, she repented,  returned to the school, spoke with staff at the school,  and made restitution by paying for the books.  In her case, she found forgiveness from the assistant principal's willingness to forgive the debt, but even as a young teen, Michele knew that she had to complete the act of repentance by paying for her poor choice. 

Michele's words of repentant freedom fell over the souls of each of us, and poured into us like rivers of unobstructed waters. We understood, clearly, that repentance does often demand a cost, and often with  repercussions;  we must make right what we have done wrong, in deception.

This lesson was not only about repenting for a wrong choice we made in secret, but also about the choices we make to gossip and harm someone's character, both openly or privately. It  was about disputes that arise in our lives, and holding grudges that often spill its poison into the sensitive wounds of others. And it was about a type of gang-bullying behavior whose intent is to further harm individuals through senseless lies, not knowing (or even caring about knowing) the facts or the truth, in order to build the one up, while purposely attempting to destroy another. It is about rejecting the call of 1 Corinthians 13, to love at all cost.

This was an intense day of shedding LIGHT upon our need for repentance, in every area of our lives, lived openly and in secret.  It was necessary for the cleansing of our Bridal attire, because as our  beloved Groom King said, He is coming for a bride with neither spot nor wrinkle.

I am so very grateful for this time of Teshuvah.  It has become more than an act of words before the LORD.

It has become a LIVING and breathing repentance.

Scriptures to re-awaken our souls to today's truth

Matthew 22:36-40

1 Corinthians !3:4-13

Matthew 18:15-!7

 🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!