4o Days of Teshuvah🙏

We repent for the sin we have sinned against the LORD, with idle chatter

What is idle chatter?

It is useless, vain, lazy, unfruitful, non-productive and un-profitable words.

James 1:19 instructs us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.

We are all guilty of talking too much, and listening too little.

  I am always amazed at people who can carry on a conversation while typing, texting, dictating, and reading a recipe (that last one would be a recipe of disaster for me).

One person who never engaged in idle chatter was Jesus of Nazareth.  He was always listening, and speaking only what His Father spoke.  He was doing only what His Father did.  How was He able to sustain that discipline while here on earth?  He was the Spirit of God in flesh.  Does that let us off the hook with our many foibles?

Absolutely not.

The scripture says that Yeshua was in every way a human, just as we are.  He knew who He was at an early age, and knew what He had come to do.  The Spirit of YHWH  came upon Him at His baptism.  Those present proclaimed that the Spirit, as a dove, came upon Him, and the sky opened up, with a voice from the heavens  saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased".  Later, at the Transfiguration spoken about in Matthew 17, A voice is heard from a bright cloud saying "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him."  How can we hear Him if we are always talking?

Have you ever gone to the cinema with friends or family,  and at least one or two people are always chatting throughout the film, or visiting the snack bar and then asking you what they missed, or what just happened?  They are so busy chit-chatting, that they miss the whole point of the show, and cause you to miss it too.  I have learned to either go with respectful people, or alone.  And sometimes I just wait for the DVD to be available.  It is better that we not be annoying, and learn how to respect others.  I know there are times when we all have so much we need or want to say, and a short time to say it, but perhaps finding more appropriate times to do that can become a balm to our souls, rather than an irritant to another's ears.

The Scripture has warned us that we will account for every idle word we have spoken.

That would feel very defeating, except for the knowledge that YHWH also has promised to forgive those who cry out to Him with ➡️sincere⬅️ hearts.  

It would benefit all of us to spend more time in silence.  It is amazing how much more we can accomplish when we aren't rattling off our mouths constantly, and engaging in foolish  chatter.  

Have you ever paid attention to Finches?  They are so precious!  But they can do some chattering!  The difference is, that they have a purpose in their communication with each other.  That is not always the case with us.

We should  measure our words carefully, and  stop talking to fill up the time and empty spaces. MB (mostly)

I leave you with some scriptures to study from our lesson today:

James 14:10;  Matthew 12:36;  Proverbs 17:27;  Ecclesiastes 5:2

Speak, but be gentle and hopeful - always.

Say what you mean, and mean what you say.  

Words can be beautiful and healing.  

Did you ever play the children's (and all ages, really) card game, Go Fish?

Let's play! You go first.

"Got any gossip?"

"Go fish"

We repent for the sin we sin against the LORD, with our eyes

(prying eyes, evil eyes)

 "Sometimes eyes speak louder than words, and hurt just as much." MB

👀

Eyes speak.

They speak hatred, disapproval, jealousy.

We pass judgement without getting to know the person we judge,  as we give them the "evil eye" of self-righteousness.

We want what we cannot afford, and yet we see people and cast judgement on them by the way they look, and the stuff of earth they have collected or have nothing of.   

"Eyes are powerful communicators,

they speak without saying a word." MB

Our eyes can covet, lust, and increase disdain.  This wickedness enters through our eyes, races past our wicked hearts, bypassing our common sense and exits from the tongues of our mouth gates. 

Proverbs 10:10; 23:6; 28:22  speak of sorrows that come with the winking of the eye, and failures of foolish lips.  They warn not to eat bread with evil eyed persons, and cautions us not to run after wealth, lest we fall into poverty. 

With our eyes, we can show disrespect to our parents, and abuse to those who are recipients of our "evil eye".

Our eyes are meant to be a light to our bodies, but can become darkness to our souls,  if we allow such.  We can use our expressive eyes to bless as well as curse.  We must guard our eye from evil, and protect others from its harm.

It is said that the eyes are a window to our souls.  What would someone see if they peered through our windows?  Would they have to brush away the crust left from a lifetime of fallowed attention to cleansing?  Would they see life behind those green, blue, brown, gray,  or hazel beauties, or would they have nothing but a  shroud of death staring back at them?

This is a lot to think about, to ponder on, to consider and to reckon. 

👁

Mark 8:18 NLT

‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?

(I pray all of us remembers this!) 

We repent for the sin we sin before the LORD, through the sin of haughtiness and arrogance

 Proverbs 11:2

When pride comes, disgrace follows,
but with humility comes wisdom. BSB

♡

Isaiah 2:11

The proud look of man will be humbled,
and the loftiness of men brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. BSB

 Don't throw in the towel yet!  I bet you are wondering if we will ever arrive at a place where we are finally emptied and poured out, sort of like a trash bin on garbage pick-up day.  You might even feel as if you have become one with that stinking pile of garbage by now, and it has touched a sentimental chord in your life, making separation more difficult (think giant wad of gum on the sole of your shoe).  How much more repentance is required of us?  How much deeper must we dumpster-dive before bends strike us, and we struggle to rise up from the deep? 

Well, I hope you had a good diving instructor,  because we are not quite ready to shed the coveralls.  On the other hand, the shallows are becoming a bit more transparent, the more we loosen our grasp on our dive treasures.

So don the goggles, gloves and  nose plugs, and let's keep diving.

Michele left us with quite a few scripture passages today, dealing with haughtiness and arrogance.  Now stop rolling those eyes (that will be dealt with tomorrow) and own your portion of refuse.

Did anyone ever tell you that haughtiness is rebellion against God, and contempt for His people and other people?  I didn't think so; I had not been told that either.  It does make sense, however, knowing that YHWH is Holy. 

Jeremiah 48:29 speaks of an arrogant people group, and an arrogant heart of lofty pride that bled throughout the city streets.  Moab made himself great against YHWH. and he reaped destruction.

Strife follows pride, but wisdom follows those who take advice, as Proverbs 13:10 instructs us.  If we desire to fear (reverence) YHWH, we will hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).

So how do we combat this rebellion against God? 

We  walk in humility.  Yeshua (Jesus Christ) is our example of humility.  He has shown us what is good, and what the LORD requires of us.  We must become as children in our trust of Yeshua.  Therein lies humility.  We must die to self, and what follows will be immeasurably grand in our lives, even though we can't see it yet.

Here are a few more scripture references for your dive:

Proverbs 16:18;  James 4:10;  1 Peter 5:5-6;  Matthew 18:4;  Matthew 23:11-12;  Philippians 2:8

"Humility is key to our spiritual growth, because it allows us to make room in our life for other people, and for God." MB

(I like that)

For ALL of us have betrothed ourselves to sin, before the Qadosh One (set-apart One); every one of us has defiled ourselves.

But YHWH Elohim has laid on Himself, by way of His only beloved Son (Yeshua the Messiah - Jesus the Christ),  the sins of every single one of us.  

Believe!

Repenting for the sin of selfishness and greed

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.  Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.  Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.  Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.NLT

This is a difficult thing, the reckoning of wealth and poverty, greed and generosity.  It is difficult because it goes beyond the haves and the have-nots, the givers and the hoarders; we put the heart on notice as to our motives and intentions when we are placed in a position to give out of our abundance or our lack of. 

In my observations of people, when I have had the honor to serve at a soup kitchen or food pantry, I have watched certain persons that I knew to be stable financially,  fill bags with foods and drinks they were not in true need of, and later boast about their booty.

And then there was the mother quietly whispering to her child to put some items back on the shelf for others to claim, fully conscientious of the needs of another, accepting less so that someone else could have more. Having known lack and hunger, she had become generous in her poverty.

Define "poor"

I "double-dog dare" you to slow down (as Michele says), ponder the term, and define the word.   

 (and you are not allowed to use a dictionary or wikipedia)

💰Money💰

Isn't it an odd word?  Words are funny and intriguing to me at times, usually at times like this when I seek to understand why certain things control and hypnotize us into acting so foolishly, and sometimes generously.

  Try this one,  "digital currency".

Now how did we get to a place where some invisible nothing is assigned to each of us in accordance to what we, as a human being, or a skill we might possess, have been valued .. or not valued.

So what happens to the word 'money' once it is no longer a tangible item? The value we allowed it to have in our lives has just been 'spent'.  We can no longer hold it, flaunt it, count it or pass it on.  But we will have to prove we have value, once again, by having the invisible currency tethered to us in one form or the other- by way of card in our hands,  or hand, as our card (so the ones taking charge of us, tell us).

What happens to greed or generosity when the "thing" on the other end of the invisible digital currency apparatus determines for us, how generous or greedy we are?

Does moral obligation disappear as well?

Ask yourself,

How did we get here?  

Why didn't we stop it before it got this far?

Define "poor" 

♡

My comfort is my faith (trust) in the LORD of all of creation.  I cannot imagine living through these present days, and the days to come, without my hope in Yeshua Messiah.  There would be no reason to breathe .. absolutely none. 

🌍

When I was in college, someone told me that I live in a utopian world.  Honestly, I am a realist, but I still trust in the goodness of most people.  I still believe in loving-kindness, butterflies and metamorphosis.

🐝🐝

I spotted bees mating in mid-air once, while friends were knit-picking someone's choice of clothing and hair trend (that actually happened, and it gave everyone a hearty laugh, including me).

One friend said "How did you see that!?  My response:  "I can zone out of my moment very easily!". 

Those are the things I would rather invest my energies in while I yet abide on this amazing planet, created by the hands of a loving Savior.  Show me a dancing leaf tethered to an invisible strand of spider silk, and I am hypnotized for the duration.

🏞🏚🏞

  I will continue to stop for turtles and injured critters, and do what I can to help them.  Nothing gives me a greater sense of belonging than the mountains .. the high places, and the mountain people.  I cherish the moments I have had with them, learning from them and being honored to love on them.  I anguish with them over their loss of those beautiful mountains due to mountain top removal (strip-mining).  And for what?  A few minerals?  Devastating destruction, poisoned watersheds, and continual loud blasting sounds replace the serenity that was once Appalachia.  Those mountain tops can never be replaced, and the people know it.

This is what greed and selfishness does.  This is the love of that stuff we call "money".  

I love deeply, therefore I hurt deeply.  This is a deep, sorrowful wound in the hearts of my brothers and sisters of the mountains, as well as for me.

If this is my utopia,  then let me continue my journey here.  It is a far kinder place than the one I just described above, the one that is soon to become our dark. stark reality while we yet breathe.

I keep looking up ⬆️ and listening for that loud shout and trumpet.  My soul longs for the great "twinkling" ..  when I can finally say I am HOME!!

That might sound a bit utopian?

It is about choices, choices to believe or not to believe, to believe in, or not to believe in, and I can certainly do that.

Slow down and stop.  Take a deep breath and contemplate what really matters to you.  Where are you?  What do you care about the most? What or who do you put your trust in.  The things of this world are always changing, and very quickly.  What do you have left when it is all gone, everything that you considered made you who or what you are now?  We just had a massive hurricane barrel through our nation.  Lives were brought to a close, and the total destruction of houses and lifestyle upended.  

Think Think Think

If you do not have this hope, do not waste one more breath.  Trust in Yeshua (Jesus) with all of your heart.  Don't try to analyze Him to your understanding.  In all of your ways, acknowledge Him as your Savior, and He will direct your path.  Believe on Him, and He will embrace you as His own.

♡

"Money can hold us, or we can hold money" MB

I agree with you, at least for now, Michele.

.

We repent for the sin we sin against the LORD by scorning Holy things of God

Today's  instruction should be quite frightening to all of us.  It ought to make us tremble in our boots.  We have discussed the Holiness of YHWH Elohim enough during these days, that to offer anything less than honor and praise to Him would be to our own demise.  To cross that red line in the sands of time, is to jump from a cliff that has no end.

Mocking Holy things of God can take many forms, from coarse jesting  and jokes about the God of all of creation, to entertaining ourselves on multimedia sources that contain crude mockery of Jesus  Christ and Ruach Ha'Qodesh (Hebrew for Spirit of Set-apartness) or Holy Spirit.

Scripture tells us that we will account for every idle word we speak .. EVERY idle word.  That includes gossip and lies about others, bringing them hurt and humiliation.   

Matthew 12:36-37 says:

And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” NLT

If we desire to be made righteous before a Righteous judge, we have no other option except to repent and teshuvah (turn away from, and back to the One who created us for much more than this).  He laid down His life on that stake of suffering death for us; that ought to send us to our faces on the floor or ground before us. We must toss away all things that separate us from Him, from LIFE.  We cannot set anything before our eyes and ears that could not stand the test of Holy. 

Throw it all away, the scorning and mocking of our Holy One, and walk in newness of life in Yeshua the Messiah. There will be a great price to pay, if we do not heed the Words of Truth.

🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

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!

 The sin we sin against YHWH when we allow our flesh to control us

Galatians 5

Do you want a share in the kingdom of God?

I do

We were reminded today, through Michele and the scripture, that in order to fight our flesh, we must put our old nature on the stake.  To do this, requires that we spend daily time in the Word of God and prayer .. and take time to really listen to Spirit of Truth speak to us.

We must fight the urge of the flesh to become prideful, haughty, disconnected with the issues that destroy human life (such as abortion, sex trafficking, and euthanasia), putting satan's agenda over YHWH God's agenda, hanging on to hate, bitterness, unforgiveness and offense.  We must not bring strife and division into the personal family unit as well as the body of  Christ.  Certainly these are but a few of the ways we can take control of our flesh, and live in the abundant grace that our LORD has poured out upon us, as He poured out His blood and water.

If we continue to feed our flesh with the poison of the satan's plate of filth and lies, then we are ignoring the blatant warning from the Word of God that states we will, in no way, inherit our share in the kingdom of God.

Are you thirsty?

Drink from the fountain of LIFE, which Jesus Christ (Yeshua) offers.  It may take time to untether ourselves from our decaying flesh, but one thing is certain,

we will never thirst again!

His water is LIVING water!

He is enough!

 🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

Repenting for our sin against YHWH with the sin of vulgar speech

Isaiah 6 (Emphasis 6-7)

Isaiah's vision of the LORD

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said:

 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.ESV

Isn't this one of the most amazing few verses in the Word of God?  Oh my goodness, every time I read it my soul seems to transcend to another realm.  The great mystery behind these bits of Truth send the cogs of my brain whirling like Ezekiel's "wheel within a wheel" chariot!

I don't think I want my lips parched, but I certainly desire my heart to be purified.  However, if it takes the fires of red-hot coals to burn out the dross of perverse speech that arises from my heart, past the gates of my mouth and teeth,  and flapping from my unharnessed tongue, then so be it.  I would rather have the smoke of purification rising out of my mouth and nostrils, than have a sick heart of  corruption and rebellion simmering in the slow-cooker of my heart.

🙏

I just want to stand clean before You, my LORD.

Thank You for showing me my wicked heart.

Thank You for taking MY place on the altar of sacrifice, and cleansing my soul in YOUR blood.

Amazing!!!

🙏

If you think Isaiah's vision is captivating, take a look at Ezekiel's!

(and to think some of us read these scriptures as if "oh well, just another day in paradise")

 No human words to describe this phenomenon.

🛡 

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

This day we repent for the sin against YHWH, the sin of foolish speech.

We have all done it, spoken words we regret.  Whether in coarse jesting or a smear campaign against another, we have all participated in foolish speech.  Sometimes we knew instantly that we were wrong to participate in a group verbal "tar and feathering", with or without the knowledge of the victim being perpetrated against; at other times, we unfortunately found out that we had become the target of unharnessed tongues.  

How very sad that this is even a subject of conversation, especially for those of us who claim to be followers of the Christ.  

I reckon that this tongue disease is more than petty gossip and unbridled speech.  It is a metastatic disease that has metastasized deep into the heart of our souls.

It is the absence of love.

Oooo...that hurts, doesn't it?  And it should hurt.

We should all be deeply ashamed for using the gift of speech to darken the spiritual as well as physical atmosphere around us.  

Masking up does not cure the issue of a corroding heart.  It only suffocates us more, giving our next gasp of air even more power to release an exploding mix of damaging decay.   Only by understanding that we are in need of a savior, can we be cured from this deadly disease.  Only through spending time in the living Word of God can we rehabilitate our dying souls.  

We must practice praise, with an earnest heart.  Praising our mighty Father does not always come easily.   Circumstances often circumvent our honoring of God with our tongues, but we must praise him regardless.  As we continue practicing praise on our darkest days, the darkness and heaviness seem to lighten.  We begin to experience the hope, with bits of joy, as we lift our own voices to the heavens, and offer a sacrifice of praise to our King!

Let's practice praise until it becomes a natural response to every situation we encounter.  

And let's offer our hearts to the One who created them, allowing Him to recreate us into His perfect vessels of worship and praise.

Then we will find healing in our diseased bodies and souls, and the words from our mouths will bring life to ourselves and others, rather than death.

This is the sacrifice that our God desires.

🎶

Tar belongs on the roadways.

Feathers belong on birds and fowl of the air.

A song of praise belongs in the heart of our Father!

 Thank you, Michele, for reminding us of this most precious Truth today.  You stir us to find joy .. in our mourning.

And in our mornings of praise!

🛡 

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

♡

Today we repent for the sin we have sinned against YHWH Elohim, by desecrating His Holy, qodeshi (set-apart One) Name.

 How have we desecrated the Name above ALL names?

We have done so by not showing reverence to His Name in our lifestyles.  When we do not obey His commands, we show irreverence to Him.  When we act any way that opposes His character, in word or deed, we mock Him and desecrate His Name.

Matthew 5 speaks to us:

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. NLT

Our lives must reflect our words.  We must bear a pure understanding of YHWH's character, so that we can be joined with Him in a genuine relationship.  He challenged us to be perfect in the way that He is perfect.  This is by no means a self-righteous act.  It is, however, walking in His footsteps.

When I was a tot, I loved getting my momma's shoes and walking around in them.  I was often looking for a particular peachy-pink colored lacy dress/gown she would wear on occasion.  It was very pretty to my young eyes, and momma looked strikingly beautiful in it.  I wanted so much to be beautiful like my mommy.  She surprised me one day, and let me wear her lovely dress, along with her pretty shoes. Clip-clopping around the house in those high-heeled satiny shoes and ball-gown, I felt like Cinderella.

This is how I hope to be with thoughts of my heavenly Father.  I long to put on His garment of righteousness, and bear His beautiful image for all the world to see.  Although  I have often fallen in that desire, and missed His mark by great strides, I still clip-clop along, knowing that one day, if I continue in His Way, I will finally know what it is like to sit in His brilliant shadow, becoming as a reflector that enhances the warm glow of His Light to the world.  I long to be as a prism, refracting the Light of Yeshua into brilliant colors of prismatic joy!

We can do this together, if we commit our ways unto the Lord, and we won't have to live in regret for being bearers of darkness to the world.

clip-clop -- clip-clop -- clip-clop ...

🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

The Sin of exercising power (or its misuse) to lord over another person

God gives each one of us a certain amount of power, demanding a mature understanding of that power and authority.

Today,  Michele guided us into a certain understanding of the power and authority that has been given to servant leaders.  That kind of leadership calls the servant leaders to do what God has called them/us to do.  However, putting authority into the hands of immature believers is very dangerous, and can lead to serious damage of the body of Christ.

We were given power to advance God's kingdom, as Jesus did when He healed the sick, and blessed the broken and poor in spirit.  His example is our leadership and servant manual.  Yeshua also rebuked those in power who misused that power for their gain of self-righteousness and the building of their own kingdoms.

Matthew 23:23-28 

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.  Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! 

 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!  You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.  Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. NLT

So how are we to use power?

Acts 1:8

 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”NLT

Romans 15:18-21

Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.

 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.  I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must intervene."  Elie Wiesel

The sins we sin against the LORD  through contempt and disrespect.

The 1960's sexual revolution left our nation with the scabs and scars of rebellion.  Its purulent stench has flowed down from that social dilemma wound, and on into our personal lives today, leaving waves of contempt and disrespect oozing throughout our homes, schools, places of employment and communities.

Today, we see the results of that catastrophic union of evil and ignorance in our children and higher education institutions.  This was, in essence, a rebellion against God's divine order.  When we rebel against His divine order, we produce chaos in every area of our lives.

Do you know how very dangerous it is to walk out of God's divine order?  

Michele spoke of the chaos that satan brings, through contempt and rebellion, into our society, churches, families and personal lives.  She highlighted contempt and disrespect of parents and teachers, and how those attitudes and actions are sin. She admonished that God has placed that authority in our lives.  Only because of the blood of Jesus, have we escaped the judgement that comes with rebellion.

Michele went on to say that the breakdown of respect to parents and teachers corrodes the moral code of society.  We are to honor our parents; to deny that honor, brings consequences personally as well as corporately.  

YHWH wants to free us from the bitterness and unforgiveness of those in authority who have disappointed, as well as harmed us, so that we can move forward to build healthy lives for ourselves and our families, peers, the church, friends and etc.  Michele insisted that we must maximize every opportunity to learn from spiritually mature followers of Christ, to enrich our lives in Him.

I desire to live in full freedom.  I hope that you do too.

Remember, God brings order.  Satan brings chaos.

Thank you, Michele, for your strong voice and healing words.

🛡

Armour up, Beloved of the Father

This is WAR!

We do not stand shoulder to shoulder in service to God ...

"We will all serve God as One shoulder."  Rabbi Pesach Wolicki

(Ponder that)

The lesson for this day of Teshuvah:

Sin of a "cut n paste" Bible

(sinning willfully and carelessly while we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to obey, and what parts we do not want to obey)

 Michele explained that we want the blessings of the Word, but we don't want the "if" factor:

"If" my people...humble themselves, pray, seek and turn,  then I will hear, forgive and heal"

Some will say "oh, but we are not under the Law".  This, however has nothing to do with being under the Law.  The law that we have been freed from, according to the scripture, is the law of sin and death. Michele goes on to say, nowhere does it state that we are no longer under God's  teaching and instructions.  To say that, is merely a misinterpretation. 

1 John 3:4 reminds us that everyone who is sinning is violating the Word. If we are to be counted among His followers, we need to follow Him, follow His Word.

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness."ESV

Michele adds that in James 4:17, we choose by our own will.  We sin when we do wrong, but we also sin when we know to do right, and fail to do it. We can claim ignorance to the Truth, however, there is absolutely no excuse for us to continue in sin, especially for those who live in nations that have not band the reading of the scripture .. and Bibles period.  

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. ESV

Romans 6:20-23 says when we are joined to God, we are made Holy.  God is making us Holy, set-apart to himself.  The Hebrew word for Holy is Ruach (set-apart). The wonderful end result of being made Holy, is eternal life!

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.  So then, what outcome did you have that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.  But now, having been set free from sin and having become enslaved to God, you have your fruit resulting in holiness. And the outcome is eternal life. For sin’s payment is death, but God’s gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. TLV

Michele also stresses that partnering with God, moves us away from the things that bring us death, and leads us to those things that bring us life.

Now there is the matter of 'unintentional' sins, mistakes we make out of carelessness.   Michele explains that from Romans 6:23 we deduce that when we willfully sin, we join ourselves to death; when we carelessly sin, we also, out of ignorance, carelessly put ourselves in a position where we reap the consequences that lead to death.

♡

The LORD purges out the bad and puts in that which pleases and honors Him, that which brings life to our bones and life to our purpose and families.

Don't you just love Him!

What an awesome Father we have!

None of us deserves Him.

(This was a great lesson today)

♡

    In every generation, the LORD raises up kings and men to carry out His purpose and His work.

His ways are perfect.

From Galatians 5

The sin of vices in our lives

Anything less than the fruits of the Spirit, can become a vice in our lives.

Merriam Webster defines VICE:

A vice can be a general term for any imperfection or weakness, but it often suggests violation of a moral code or the giving of offense to the moral sensibilities of others.

It goes on to say that a vice is a blemish, defect, fault or spot.

Vices are negative habits in our lives.

  According to Michele Bachmann:

80% of what we do are manners

20% of our actions run on the laws of the land

 We give permissions to ourselves to make our own decisions concerning our obsessions (appetites) transgressions etc.  Vices are not necessarily crimes; they can, however, destroy our lives by distancing us from our righteous  LORD.

How do we prevent ourselves from being caught in vice?

We must stay away from groups of people discussing and acting out in negative and lewd behavior, since bad company corrupts good morals.  Rather, we must associate with overcomers.  We can still love our enemies, without participating in their blemished activity.  We can and must focus on the fruits of the Spirit of our God, making application to them daily, all day long.  We must invite the mind of Christ to be in us.

You can get a spot of mud on your nice wool clogs, but when you attempt to wash it out, the initial dirt stain spreads  throughout the neighboring fibers of wool, spreading the "dirty" even throughout the foundation.  You can allow the initial spot to dry, untouched, and then gently brush the dirt out of the fibers.  For the most part, the dry mud will more easily be removed, and if your shoe needs a little extra care, the cleansing process will be quicker and less intensive.  

If we do not free ourselves from our vices, the filth bleeds throughout our lives. tainting every fiber of our character.  But if we let that vice dry up, we can, with the help of Spirit of Truth, brush that filth from our lives so that we can live in freedom and spotlessness before our LORD.

A vice is meant to hold something in place until it is removed.

We have a Savior who has come to set us free from our vices, wash the "dirty" away, and replace our filthy stains with spotless robes of pure white.

This is our HOPE!

 🍿INTERMISSION🍿

Micah 6:8 

The sin we have sinned against our LORD, with the sin of insincere confession 

 We repeatedly return, like a dog to its vomit, to the sins we know are absolutely abhorring to our God.  We have become habitually phony when we disregard the commands of YHWH.

"We say we are sorry, but go back;  when we go back, we are a fool. We might can kid ourselves and others around us, but not God". MB

🛑Stop🛑 committing the sin, NOW!

Regret the sin, and see how painful that sin is to YHWH; never repeat that sin again.

Isaiah 1:16-18

Finally, we must apologize to others when we sin against them.  Then we can come before our KING with clean hands, and a pure heart.

LORD, give us clean hands and a pure heart, that we might never sin against You.  We don't want to continue to regurgitate our rebellion against a Holy God.

🍿Intermission 🍿

Something to give us hope!

Perhaps it will happen in our lifetime!

I sure hope so!

Maranatha!

Today's teaching highlighted another  sin against the LORD God:

the sin of wronging a neighbor.

What kind of neighbor am I?

What kind of friend should I be?

Would I be willing to lay down my life for someone I don't even know?

Do I see my neighbor as someone to assist me in a successful venture?  Or do I see that neighbor as someone I can assist in their own personal needs.

Do I even SEE my neighbor?  Or am I caught up in my own little world of "me"?

Who IS my neighbor?

I thought John MàcArthur's message to the Church held up well, concerning this truth of our "neighbor".

I feel that we must have a true understanding of Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan, in order to understand how we fail our neighbor and sin against our God in that failure.

The difficult parts of loving your enemies...

Psalms 139:1-4

 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

The Sin of our Inner Thoughts

(Garbage in - Garbage out)

Romans  8:6-9

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 

We can't be controlled by God's Word when our nature is hostile to God. MB

Anyone who doesn't have the Spirit of the Lord inside of him, doesn't belong to God.  That's why we need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. MB

Hostile thoughts begin in the mind, and then flow into the heart, pouring  out of the tongue, resulting in the defiling of the spirit. MB

mind ➡️heart➡️tongue➡️defilement

Matthew 15:18-19

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. ESV

How do we manage this extremely serious issue?  We have been discussing some of the most detrimental teachings in the scripture, being admonished and warned of the dangers, as well as the consequences.  There is truly only one way we can manage it, and that is through repentant prayer and fasting.  We are talking about warfare against the God of creation; hostility does not align itself with YHWH Elohim, therefore it wars against Him.  

I get a knot in the pit of my stomach just thinking about that.  We are literally warring against the One who has given up EVERYTHING for us, and we have to be told to

"can it, and tighten the lip of the lid while at it".

Wow!

Speaking of "canning it", I have recently canned 10 quarts of muscadine jam and jelly.  The process included picking the wild grapes from the vine, washing them multiple times to rid them of residual stems and debris, boiling them down while mashing the pulp out of them, straining them ladle by ladle through a wire mesh strainer until desired clarity, and then repeating the boiling process with the extracted and strained juice, following the addition of fruit  pectin, lemon juice  and a pat of butter (to reduce the foaming ). Once the juice is brought to a rolling boil, sugar is then added while continually stirring, until  the mixture is brought to the final rolling boil that must be timed for one minute.   At that time, the mixture is removed from the heat, wherein the next process begins.

Carefully ladling the hot mixture into sterilized jars, adding sterilized lid combos,  the hot lidded  jars of goodness are placed into a water bath to simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on your location.

Finally,  the jars of beautiful deep plum colored jams and jellies are removed from the water bath and placed on a rack or towel to cool.  As the jars begin cooling, the hopeful "popping" sounds of lids sealing is music to the ears .. and  then Voila!  You now have a table or countertop of yummy joy!

Why am I talking about canning muscadine jam and jelly? Why go into such detail?

Because Spirit of Truth just awakened my mind, while tapping away at this post, to the analogy of muscadines and non-hostile thoughts.

We are to deal with our thoughts in a manner as to carefully pick the ripened, wormless thoughts,  wash them in the Word of God, process them by fire with mashing and straining,  adding the "good stuff" of the Spirit that adds sweetness to our lives, while removing and discarding the bitter debris that ruins our spirits .. and then canning and savoring the fruits of the Spirit in our hearts and minds. 

After  bathing in the waters of Truth,  we transform into a mature royal purple delight, fit and pleasing for the King!

(Sweetness in - Sweetness out)

A bonus video for the days of trouble, to help us stay on our mark.

🛡

Psalm 139:6-8 

We repent for the misuse of knowledge.

(What I learned today)

Knowledge can be used to deceive.  It can be used to harm people around us, personally and in the community of the body of Yeshua.

Knowledge can be used in perverse ways,  resulting in hurt.  It can be used to control people.  It can be used to embarrass or demean.

In its prideful form, knowledge can be used to impress others, such as in flaunting of college or university degrees. 

Lording over others with a "know-it-all" attitude, and diminishing their character by making them look uneducated and ignorant, is a sin. On the other hand, knowledge can be used as a blessing to others.

(How I consider things)

Boasting in knowledge can actually backfire on the self-serving individual. 

YHWH is no respecter of persons, and His eyes search the servant who has a pure heart and faithful spirit.  His eyes are always searching out the poor in spirit, poor in body, and the obedient.  Yeshua is the judge over all of the universe.  He alone has the authority to judge the heart, motives, intentions and condition of an earth-bound soul.  A piece of paper lauding a person's accomplishments means no more to Him than a widow placing her last penny into the offering plate.  On the contrary, He sees her service to Him and mankind with more kingdom value.  

Knowledge can be used to build a person up, rather than to humiliate them.  It can be used to help or assist a person in need, medically, financially, spiritually and mentally, among other things. 

Knowledge can help us to  reckon truth vs lies, when guided by Spirit of Truth.  

♡

I enjoy fixing broken things.  I use the knowledge of others around me,  and  the internet to assist and guide me.   I use the knowledge of my sisters to guide me in unique and fun crafting skills, or computer issues etc.  They are amazing at those skills, among others.  I enjoy  Foundation paper-piece quilting, and teach other women the craft.  These skills bond people together, like thread bonds fabric, and a beautiful human mosaic is painted.

The value of the knowledge of the LORD our Righteousness extends far beyond all sense of knowledge and skills.

To KNOW Him is Life, 

The fabric of our lives become, for us and Him, a joy and delight, when we set our hearts at knowing Him.

Tightly woven together, with the threads of 

Faith, Hope and Love,

this beautiful tapestry becomes even stronger than a cord of three strands (which is not easily broken).,

 It bares an eternal bond of relational knowing that

He is ours .. and we are His.

That is the knowledge we can boast in,

Messiah Jesus .. alone!

♡

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,  that no flesh should glory in His presence.  But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, 

“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”