In some ways, this post has nothing to do with my seemingly abandoned theme for this Blog (The book of Genesis); and in other ways. it has everything to do with the Blog...
I have been wrestling with a lot of things today and lately; and I am well aware that i am not the only one; but still, in the midst of the storm one's own trials are always more apparent than those of others. My own battles are but common struggles; my solutions, are a little less common... Dreams vs Realities... Spiritual vs Terrestrial... God vs The Images Man Has Built of Him....
I know what I want out of both this life and the next... I know what He wants as i continually study the Scriptures and the Dreams He has placed in me... What I don't know is how to make this all happen or where to go that it become reality beyond a dream...
God keeps bringing Ecclesiastes 9 to mind for me...
"Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now accepts your works. Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity: for that is your portion in this life, and in your labor which you take under the sun."
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go."
"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all. For man also knows not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them."
I feel often feel like I am sinking... with weights tied to my hands and feet.. fighting the loosing battle to bail out a sinking ship... and the battle ensues, "To fight for what I have dreamed... or to embrace the fate that circumstances have dealt unto me"...
But Nay... nay, I cannot accept this; for my God has brought me through such severe storms already! I cannot believe that this which pales in comparison shall be my undoing... there has to be another day on dry land, another day at sea, another day before I sail with Him upon that Crystal Sea...
And to the gods of this world and their prophets, I share in the testimony of Daniel, that his faith lift me in the absence of my own: "...we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up...”
Though the Battle Rages On, the War has long since ended... I pray my strength not to fade before the sun doth rise again... I pray my life to blossom still and not be strangled by the thorns... I pray my faith like a Forest of Oak hold His ground against the armies of this 'eve... I pray the storm rage even more that when it settles and when its through when I stand against the moon, the morrow's sun reveal to all that in spite of all the greatest strivings of the devils, demons, and men against me... I pray that when the dust doth settle and the morrow's sun doth rise that His strength still flow through me as I lift my gaze to meet His eyes to give Him glory for the entire night...
All these things have happen all that's been done... has not been meant to break His son... and though "... It is Finished!... " has been sung, the Final trumpet has not yet rung... I pray that though I hunger and though I thirst... though I long and pray day after day... to see Thee come, to see Thy face... to live for You... to bask in Thy grace....
Matthew 6 ...
"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen"
And even if I live not to see the end of this storm on this 'eve... O, LORD, still my knee shall bend to You alone!... May Thy Will Be Done!...
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The Power of a Name
We remember from Geneis 1 that Adam was created in Ha-Shem's likeness and image and was given a divine appointment as steward and keeper off all the Earth. Here is Genesis 5 we read, "...male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam..." did you catch that? "He called THEIR name Adam." The ones we know as Adam and Eve, by Ha-Shem's own lips were given 1 name to share between them. They were so close that they shared a name; and as the Hebrew word "yada" implies in Genesis 4, they were so intimately close that their souls danced and were indistinguishable one from the other. It is very important to undersand the relationship man and woman were intended to have - a relationship to complete, a relationship to share - all held in place and together by Ha-Shem's presence and identity in their life. It is the same relationship Ha-Shem shares with Himself as both King and Queen... as both Father and Mother... As we read in Deuteronomy 6:4 "...Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one..." and what we don't see in the English is the Hebrew word "Echad" which translates to "One". But this is not merely the number "One" but Rabbis have expounded on the meaning that what should really be understood is "... the LORD is united and complete in all of His many parts..." and Ha-Shem "Yada" Himself - Ha-Shem's many parts dance with each other in an eternal relationship in such a way that no element of the identity of Ha-Shem can truly be distinguished from another... The Father... The Spirit... the Son... all bear each other's traits and as Ha-Shem are truly indistinguishable and indivisible...
Have you ever noticed how much work relationships are? Why is this so? when did Ha-Shem place this curse on man? The answer is that He didn't curse man with this; it is another example of the Serpent slithering into our lives... Of Sin ensnaring and devouring us, And Why?... Because we let it! How much more like Ha-Shem can we get than His very likeness and image!
This was the relationship Adam had before falling to the Serpent's rule... The moment that Ha-Shem was no longer ever present with Adam, hostility arose between man and woman as fingers were pointed and fault was assigned. Ha-Shem's curses constantly reminding Adam what they had lost... what they gave away and cast tot he swine... Day after day, we see as the result of Sin's prowl, the rift between Adam and Ha-Shem growing greater and greater. As Adam drifts further from Ha-Shem so to has he drifted from himself... Without Ha-Shem there can be no unity between them and they grew so far apart that where Ha-Shem called them Adam, they were now Adam and Eve…
As people living in the western world, we don't tend to place the stock in the power of a name or the power of one's lineage, and because of this we can miss so much in the book of Genesis, especially here in chapter 5 where we are reading of Adam's descendants. But remember for it is by no other name that we have power at all than the name of the Messiah who bled Himself that He could testify to Ha-Shem, calling you innocent, redeemed, and free!... their is no name in Heaven or Earth aside from "Jesus" our "Emmanuel" that bears this magnanimous power to give you and I such image and likeness that it should be said of us "... on this day, you were born here on My Mount Zion..."
"... and Enoch walked with God ..." Here is the power, because Jesus restored Adam and all their lineage to Ha-Shem, we can be encouraged, for a mere man was able to achieve a state of being that had not been seen since the Garden of Eden. This tells me that just like the story of Jesus' life, ministry, etc. a life of sanctification is still possible for man to live. It tells me that Ha-Shem's command, "... Be ye holy as I am holy..." is not impossible to follow and live. Enoch did not die, he simply went straight away to be with Ha-Shem just as is the case with Elijah. THis is not to say that if you live a life of holiness then Ha-Shem will sweep you from this world into His realm, but that we too by the power of Jesus blood that now flows through our veins are able to live holiness.
"... Noah, saying the same shall comfort concerning our work and toil ..." the first hints at the events and aftermath of the flood; before man even had inklings that the Great Deluge would actually happen; within a name a promise was given in which Ha-Shem would give man mercy in His judgement... The very thing that man is given to punish him for eating the fruit of knowledge; he is now given a promise that there will be comfort, there will be release....
Some thoughts and questions to guide our meditations...
I want you to spend a little time thinking about your name. Maybe even do some internet searches on it and find what your name means... what its significance is... What is in a name? My name? Ha-Shem's name? what clues does this tell me as to the His will and direction in my life?
Where is Ha-Shem in my life? How does this affect me and my relationships with those the He has placed in my life? My spouse? Parents? Siblings? Children? Am I being drawn nearer to those in my life or driven away from them? Why?
What is the goal I have for my life? How does it compare to the map laid out for us in the lives of people such as Enoch, Elijah, or Jesus? what am I doing that is bringing me closer to that goal? What am I doing that is distancing me from that goal?
Where do I find comfort in life? What things in my life keep me from these comforts? What things bring me closer to them? What is Ha'Shem's role in my discomfort? In my comfort? in my strivings? In my success? In my failings?
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
Have you ever noticed how much work relationships are? Why is this so? when did Ha-Shem place this curse on man? The answer is that He didn't curse man with this; it is another example of the Serpent slithering into our lives... Of Sin ensnaring and devouring us, And Why?... Because we let it! How much more like Ha-Shem can we get than His very likeness and image!
This was the relationship Adam had before falling to the Serpent's rule... The moment that Ha-Shem was no longer ever present with Adam, hostility arose between man and woman as fingers were pointed and fault was assigned. Ha-Shem's curses constantly reminding Adam what they had lost... what they gave away and cast tot he swine... Day after day, we see as the result of Sin's prowl, the rift between Adam and Ha-Shem growing greater and greater. As Adam drifts further from Ha-Shem so to has he drifted from himself... Without Ha-Shem there can be no unity between them and they grew so far apart that where Ha-Shem called them Adam, they were now Adam and Eve…
As people living in the western world, we don't tend to place the stock in the power of a name or the power of one's lineage, and because of this we can miss so much in the book of Genesis, especially here in chapter 5 where we are reading of Adam's descendants. But remember for it is by no other name that we have power at all than the name of the Messiah who bled Himself that He could testify to Ha-Shem, calling you innocent, redeemed, and free!... their is no name in Heaven or Earth aside from "Jesus" our "Emmanuel" that bears this magnanimous power to give you and I such image and likeness that it should be said of us "... on this day, you were born here on My Mount Zion..."
"... and Enoch walked with God ..." Here is the power, because Jesus restored Adam and all their lineage to Ha-Shem, we can be encouraged, for a mere man was able to achieve a state of being that had not been seen since the Garden of Eden. This tells me that just like the story of Jesus' life, ministry, etc. a life of sanctification is still possible for man to live. It tells me that Ha-Shem's command, "... Be ye holy as I am holy..." is not impossible to follow and live. Enoch did not die, he simply went straight away to be with Ha-Shem just as is the case with Elijah. THis is not to say that if you live a life of holiness then Ha-Shem will sweep you from this world into His realm, but that we too by the power of Jesus blood that now flows through our veins are able to live holiness.
"... Noah, saying the same shall comfort concerning our work and toil ..." the first hints at the events and aftermath of the flood; before man even had inklings that the Great Deluge would actually happen; within a name a promise was given in which Ha-Shem would give man mercy in His judgement... The very thing that man is given to punish him for eating the fruit of knowledge; he is now given a promise that there will be comfort, there will be release....
Some thoughts and questions to guide our meditations...
I want you to spend a little time thinking about your name. Maybe even do some internet searches on it and find what your name means... what its significance is... What is in a name? My name? Ha-Shem's name? what clues does this tell me as to the His will and direction in my life?
Where is Ha-Shem in my life? How does this affect me and my relationships with those the He has placed in my life? My spouse? Parents? Siblings? Children? Am I being drawn nearer to those in my life or driven away from them? Why?
What is the goal I have for my life? How does it compare to the map laid out for us in the lives of people such as Enoch, Elijah, or Jesus? what am I doing that is bringing me closer to that goal? What am I doing that is distancing me from that goal?
Where do I find comfort in life? What things in my life keep me from these comforts? What things bring me closer to them? What is Ha'Shem's role in my discomfort? In my comfort? in my strivings? In my success? In my failings?
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
Friday, April 12, 2013
On the Prowl
As I have traveled through life, it has been drilled into me that even before I breathed my first breath, I was and ever will be a sinner... that even though the eternal chains have been made as though they never were, I am still a slave... that I have no choice at all in the matter and I will always be the victim of sin and I will never overcome it. For this reason, Genesis 4:7 really catches my attention, "...Sin is crouching at your door; and it desires to have you, but you MUST master it." This is Ha-Shem speaking to Cain, just after He refuses the gifts given by Cain, in favor of those given by his brother Able...
The whole idea of Sin crouching at my door paints the picture of laying in wait to catch me off guard with my vulnerabilities in full exposer. Ha-Shem told Cain exactly what was waiting for him and commanded him to take domain over it. There is that word again from Genesis 1, "domain"... Sin made out to be a living, breathing entity within the world we live in, within the world that is bound to our domain by divine ordinance. And as a living thing, Sin and all its components MUST bend to our hands as we follow Ha-Shem's direction for our lives. Ha-Shem does not tell Cain that it is pointless and he has no hope of overcoming his tormentor, but rather directs Cain to take charge over the sin and overcome it. Ha-Shem delivered this prowling predator into Cain's hands just as He did the lion, bear, and Goliath into David's... Just as He did Jericho into Joshua's... Just as He did all Sin that ever was and ever will be into Jesus'...
We tend to think of Sin as a state of existence or an action against Ha-Shem. What if it is more than that? Could it possibly be something we can evade or even defeat as if it were a lion on the prowl? Paul talks about making the flesh a slave of the Spirit that all one does is holy and righteous in Ha'Shem's sight. But he also talks about the war within between what we desire to do and what we desire not to do. The war within reveals to us two different paths... On the one hand, we have the Tree of Life and on the other is the Tree of Death. It is the same decision first made by Adam, and their sons Cain and Able... and now the choice that we too must make. You see, we are no longer slaves as it is often drilled into us, but rather we are set free and the battle has been delivered into our hands before it ever began. Ours is not to fight the war but to make a choice: The Tree of Life or the Tree of Death.
As we continue through chapter 4 of Genesis, we come to find Cain's response to Ha-Shem's ordinance to overcome Sin, and rather than choose Life, he laid himself down to forfeit the war which Ha-Shem had already won... Genesis 4:10 "...What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground..." The Hebrew word there is "Domim" or "Domiym" it literally means bloods; and there is an interesting Midrash on this. It is believed that when you kill a man then you are guilty of more than just his death; when you kill a man you are guilty of the deaths of all of his descendants for all of time; likewise, if you save a man you have not only saved him, but all of his line throughout all of time... In Genesis 3 we received the 1st promise of the Messiah who will restore all of mankind to the presence of the Ha-Shem. And here in chapter 4 we receive a bit of a glimpse as to how this will happen.
Jesus died but once, but because of His death, His life, His ministry, His mission; we are all redeemed. For he came and restored Adam and through this, there was a ripple down into every single person who was born of Adam's line; and Jesus' blood began to flow through Adam's veins... and through their children's veins... from generation to generation all who live lives of faith and holiness inherit this gift... that it is no longer sinful blood that flows through me, but the blood of Jesus which restores me to Ha-Shem's presence that He should call me "Son", "Brother", "Friend"... Because Adam is redeemed, so too are all of their son's and daughters for all of time... And as we read in Romans 5, Just as through one man Sin was given power in this world; so too through one man was all of Sin's power stripped away...
As the blood of my brother seeps into the ground it too, like Able's, cries out to Ha-Shem... claiming my sin, testifying to HIm that His blood flows through me and it is mine that seeps into the ground... That with His death, my sin is gone... With His death, I am Holy...
Some thoughts and questions to guide our meditations...
Man has free will to direct His life as He chooses... Why does Sin get the blame for my mistakes, when it is I who surrender my birthright to it rather than "Master it" by the hand and direction of the Father? What must be done in order that I reclaim my birthright as a child of Ha-Shem... a brother of Jesus?
What directions have I received from Ha-Shem and ignored or failed to follow? How have I, like Cain, fallen prey to the Sin, and how have I like Able overcome it? Am I the victim or the offender? Was I ambushed by the deceiver? Did I follow him willingly?
Where is Ha-Shem directing me to go? What is He directing me to do? How do I get there? I grew up with my parents teaching me "Delayed Obedience is Disobedience"... How swiftly do I pursue the Ha-Shem's direction? How is my sluggishness keep me from obedience to the Ha-Shem's direction? How does it lead to me being feasted upon and consumed by Sin?
So often we act out of rage and slavery to our emotions or feelings instead out of Holiness and service to Ha-Shem. When we act out of anger and disobedience the Scriptures equate these actions to 1) hardening our hearts against Ha-Shem, 2) Building ourselves up as idols to be worshipped above Ha-Shem, and 3) Cold Blooded Murder... What is the hardness in my heart? Where did it begin? how does it relate to the Sin that lies in wait by my door? Who have I killed? Where is the blood of my brothers which I have spilled? Who are the victims of my own actions? What can I do to right these wrongs? If anyone should ever discover what I have done, will Ha-Shem protect me as He did Cain, or shall I become Sin's next meal?
Is the Tree of Life or the Tree of Death at the heart of my aims each day? Do I strive to embrace the victory Ha-Shem has already given me through His son, Jesus? Do I forfeit Ha-Shem's gifts and lay myself down for Sin to consume? Do I take domain where Ha-Shem directs or do I give it away recklessly?
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
Saturday, March 23, 2013
From Life into Death and Back Again (Genesis 3) - Revised... ...
Much like Ha-Shem spoke into the formless and empty universe, He speaks into each and everyone of us and says, "You are MINE! ... you are My Image,,, My Likeness... My Child..." Jesus tells we who follow the Father in holiness, "you are My Brothers... My Sisters... My Mother..."
"How can this be?" one might ask. It is easy to take note of the vast difference between we mere humans and Jesus who is supposed to be our way back into the presence of Ha-Shem... even the very Words uttered from His lips... the Perfect Image... the "True Human"... We who cannot see a way that we could ever be something more than what we see need to realize something... something long since lost to mankind... something the Serpent tries daily to conceal from us... Exodus 33, Jeremiah 1, and Hosea 13 all share something in common with us here in the word "Yadatika" whose root is "Yada" which means "to know" ... It is the deep connection "knowing" that comes from only the most intimate of relationships... "...Before you were in the womb, I knew thy name..." "... when you suffered in the wilderness, I knew your trials; and I called thy name..."
It is revolving around the fall into sin that a tale from Rabbinical Judaism relays to us the story of Ha-Shem giving Adam and Eve a promise of comfort... There are those in Judaism that believe this to be the origin of the Messianic Promise... "...One day I shall send you one who will restore you to my presence..." As Christians, we realize that this has happened... with the tearing of the curtain guarding the Holy of Holies. we were restored to Ha-Shem's embrace as the last breath faded from Jesus at His crucifixion... How do I let this promise of restoration guide my walk with the Ha-Shem? How do I stray from this walk? What is standing in the way, what is keeping me from living this promise of being a restored creation?... a true Image Bearer in His Likeness...
When Ha-Shem creates, He does not merely mold, shape, and sculpt His works of art in such a way that onlookers can see exactly what He did and how He did it, but rather He does so in a manner that observers cannot see even the slightest trace that this masterpiece before them was ever anything but what they see before them.
Ha-Shem did create all we see from nothing; but more than that, He created all there is so that there is no trace that the universe was ever a different masterpiece than the one we now are a part of. science, physics, history, philosophy, etc. all work together to tell us that there is no point at which man was anything other than man, the Earth any place other than Earth, and Ha-Shem any god other than Himself...
But for many hope abandons us in Genesis 3... where the serpent tempts and persuades man to eat that which Ha-Shem cautioned him not to. We remember from Genesis 1 that Ha-Shem ordained Man with the power of dominion over all the beasts of the field, including the serpent... The serpent who should have had no power at all over man, managed to "beguile" or lure him into eating of the fruit of knowledge.
In Genesis 1 we learned that man was created with the power to rule over the earth and all within it as a part of Ha-Shem's identity, a part of Ha-Shem's likeness. How is the serpent attempting to beguile me today? where are my weaknesses and vulnerabilities? How have I fallen to the temptation of the serpent; what lies have I fallen prey to? Have I chosen the fruit of life or the fruit of knowledge?
To the Serpent "...cursed art thou above all cattle and all the beasts and of every animal of the field..."
To the Woman "... I shall greatly increase your sorrow/toil/pain/worry in thy conception..."
To the Man ".. Cursed is the ground for thine sake..."
It is at this point that we can realize just how deep the dagger of sin really struck into Adam, for when once their name was "Adam" now their names were Adam and Eve and each piece of him suffered their own curse for their transgression.... Not only had Man been separated from Ha-Shem and His eternal glory, but he was separated as well from himself. And eventually, removed from the Tree of Eternal Life as well.... Ha-Shem's promise of death had been fulfilled: Physical, Relational, Spiritual...
The point is not to get lost in how far we have wandered from the embrace of He who breathed into us our very first breath, but rather to realize that even with as far as we have wandered from His embrace, we still have hope that what He began He will not be abandoned and we will not be overcome with despair... Philippians 1
The heart of what I have to say tonight is that anything that overwhelms us at all... in any relationship at all, be it: Marriage, Children, Parents, Siblings, Friends, Strangers, etc. The problem like that between Adam and Eve that created the first division in the first person does not start between you and me; it begins between Me and Ha-Shem... and between you and Ha-Shem... When there is division between we and the Father than their will inherently be division between we and all others, for it is in our relationship with the Father that Jesus becomes our brother... and it is in that kindred embrace that you and me can find kinship with each other; and if at all possible become whole persons once again as we were before disobedience and sin tore our soul in twain....
"How can this be?" one might ask. It is easy to take note of the vast difference between we mere humans and Jesus who is supposed to be our way back into the presence of Ha-Shem... even the very Words uttered from His lips... the Perfect Image... the "True Human"... We who cannot see a way that we could ever be something more than what we see need to realize something... something long since lost to mankind... something the Serpent tries daily to conceal from us... Exodus 33, Jeremiah 1, and Hosea 13 all share something in common with us here in the word "Yadatika" whose root is "Yada" which means "to know" ... It is the deep connection "knowing" that comes from only the most intimate of relationships... "...Before you were in the womb, I knew thy name..." "... when you suffered in the wilderness, I knew your trials; and I called thy name..."
It is revolving around the fall into sin that a tale from Rabbinical Judaism relays to us the story of Ha-Shem giving Adam and Eve a promise of comfort... There are those in Judaism that believe this to be the origin of the Messianic Promise... "...One day I shall send you one who will restore you to my presence..." As Christians, we realize that this has happened... with the tearing of the curtain guarding the Holy of Holies. we were restored to Ha-Shem's embrace as the last breath faded from Jesus at His crucifixion... How do I let this promise of restoration guide my walk with the Ha-Shem? How do I stray from this walk? What is standing in the way, what is keeping me from living this promise of being a restored creation?... a true Image Bearer in His Likeness...
When Ha-Shem creates, He does not merely mold, shape, and sculpt His works of art in such a way that onlookers can see exactly what He did and how He did it, but rather He does so in a manner that observers cannot see even the slightest trace that this masterpiece before them was ever anything but what they see before them.
Ha-Shem did create all we see from nothing; but more than that, He created all there is so that there is no trace that the universe was ever a different masterpiece than the one we now are a part of. science, physics, history, philosophy, etc. all work together to tell us that there is no point at which man was anything other than man, the Earth any place other than Earth, and Ha-Shem any god other than Himself...
But for many hope abandons us in Genesis 3... where the serpent tempts and persuades man to eat that which Ha-Shem cautioned him not to. We remember from Genesis 1 that Ha-Shem ordained Man with the power of dominion over all the beasts of the field, including the serpent... The serpent who should have had no power at all over man, managed to "beguile" or lure him into eating of the fruit of knowledge.
In Genesis 1 we learned that man was created with the power to rule over the earth and all within it as a part of Ha-Shem's identity, a part of Ha-Shem's likeness. How is the serpent attempting to beguile me today? where are my weaknesses and vulnerabilities? How have I fallen to the temptation of the serpent; what lies have I fallen prey to? Have I chosen the fruit of life or the fruit of knowledge?
To the Serpent "...cursed art thou above all cattle and all the beasts and of every animal of the field..."
To the Woman "... I shall greatly increase your sorrow/toil/pain/worry in thy conception..."
To the Man ".. Cursed is the ground for thine sake..."
It is at this point that we can realize just how deep the dagger of sin really struck into Adam, for when once their name was "Adam" now their names were Adam and Eve and each piece of him suffered their own curse for their transgression.... Not only had Man been separated from Ha-Shem and His eternal glory, but he was separated as well from himself. And eventually, removed from the Tree of Eternal Life as well.... Ha-Shem's promise of death had been fulfilled: Physical, Relational, Spiritual...
The point is not to get lost in how far we have wandered from the embrace of He who breathed into us our very first breath, but rather to realize that even with as far as we have wandered from His embrace, we still have hope that what He began He will not be abandoned and we will not be overcome with despair... Philippians 1
The heart of what I have to say tonight is that anything that overwhelms us at all... in any relationship at all, be it: Marriage, Children, Parents, Siblings, Friends, Strangers, etc. The problem like that between Adam and Eve that created the first division in the first person does not start between you and me; it begins between Me and Ha-Shem... and between you and Ha-Shem... When there is division between we and the Father than their will inherently be division between we and all others, for it is in our relationship with the Father that Jesus becomes our brother... and it is in that kindred embrace that you and me can find kinship with each other; and if at all possible become whole persons once again as we were before disobedience and sin tore our soul in twain....
Eden's Nightmare
What does this mean for us today? could all our relational trials really be a part of the death we suffer as a result of the "fall"? Is it really a part of the death promised to us in Genesis Chapter 2 as punishment for seeking after the fruit of knowledge? Which fruit have I chosen to nourish my life? the fruit of knowledge or the fruit of life?
The beauty of Ha-Shem over every other deity out there, is that He blesses us with the choice to follow Him or not... there are many choices we make everyday that are either choices made for the Him or against Him... what choices have I made today and where are they leading me? What are the consequences of those choices I have made?
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
What does this mean for us today? could all our relational trials really be a part of the death we suffer as a result of the "fall"? Is it really a part of the death promised to us in Genesis Chapter 2 as punishment for seeking after the fruit of knowledge? Which fruit have I chosen to nourish my life? the fruit of knowledge or the fruit of life?
The beauty of Ha-Shem over every other deity out there, is that He blesses us with the choice to follow Him or not... there are many choices we make everyday that are either choices made for the Him or against Him... what choices have I made today and where are they leading me? What are the consequences of those choices I have made?
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Which Way Will You Choose? (Genesis 2) - Revised... ...
"...Thou Shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die..." Genesis 2:17... though it is not an attractive promise, it is a promise. To fully understand the term "Muth" which is the Hebrew word here for death. It means to die, to be killed, or to be executed. The promise is that in the day which man chooses to take the fruit of knowledge over the fruit of Ha-Shem which is life; that man shall be executed. Disobedience is Sin and sin is punishable by death: “... for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life…” (Romans 6) why is this so? what does it mean to die? Many times Jesus refers to the dead as merely sleeping rather than being expired. I think to understand what death really means then we need to understand 2 things: 1) the nature of Ha-Shem and man's relationship and 2) Heaven and Hell… JRR Tolkien describes the universe as a grand orchestral arrangement, of which we are all part. Each individual represents a single note, or word... a line or a chorus... a small glimpse as to the grandeur of the complete arrangement. The relationship of it all was a complete harmony, peaceful, eternal, "Very Good".
We stand here within the tale of 2 pills, 2 doors, 2 roads... which do we choose? Do we follow our own skepticism into worshiping finite knowledge that amounts to little more than trivia or do we spite our own flesh to understand questions about the Infinite source to the image and likeness we were designed to bear and exercise?
With Ha-Shem at the center of man's vision, all the treasures and the abundance of the Throne Room were showered down upon them - not unlike Peter’s ability to walk on water only so far as He kept His sight set on Jesus. To take the fruit though, implies that the relationship will be ended; that man will be separated from Ha-Shem, for Muth would immediately follow. We can clearly see from what is written that man continued to live for many years after partaking of the fruit... What I believe is promised involves the source of our souls, that is the Breath of Life, which flows into us from the very lips of the Father in Heaven. What I believe is promised is the drawing out of the breath that Ha-Shem first breathed into Adam and again into each one of us as we grew in our mother's womb. That is to say that to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is to choose to breathe slowly corroding poison rather than the life giving essence of Ha-Shem.
Judaism has an interesting tradition involving the pursuit of knowledge; in which the questions we ask are more important than the answers we find to those questions. Which fruit have you chosen to nourish your life? the fruit of knowledge or the fruit of life? Realize that to pursue a question rather than an answer is to realize that there are realms of understanding beyond the finite limits of mankind; and the true gift of the question is to realize that our inability to find answers reveal the magnitude of His power and glory...
The Garden of Eden is believed to be a reflection of the Garden in Heaven; which could mean that the Tree of Life is really the Breath of Life... and the Tree of Knowledge is the Gate to Hell... Truly it is that Hell is the one place where Ha-Shem's presence is withdrawn from, for even in our sin He is still there all around us... We can look at these 2 trees as doorways into 2 worlds: 1 - The Throne Room and 2 – The Dungeon... In Hell, true death occurs, and man is torn from every last smidgen of Ha-Shem's presence for it is the one place in all of existence in which He does not dwell.
Let us think of this in more contemporary terms.... Agnosticism, Atheism, Denominationalism, Philosophy, Scientology, or Theology,... Man chooses his "God" as knowledge and uses knowledge and physical achievement to replace Ha-Shem; whereas, those who still follow Ha-Shem choose eternal life with eternal rewards and achievements rather than the physical ones... The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are both still around in our lives today calling and beckoning us to choose to follow Ha-Shem or our own ideals… Realize that there are crimes in Scripture that Ha-Shem tells us are punishable by death:
1) Giving offering or tribute of any kind to idols is punishable by Muth…
2) Serving or worshiping an idol of any kind is punishable by Muth…
3) False Prophecy is punishable by Muth…
4) Practicing necromancy, sorcery, and all other occult pursuits of power is punishable by Muth…
5) Blaspheming - that is taking any action at all against that which is Holy is punishable by Muth…
6) Dishonoring the Shabbat is punishable by Muth…
7) Rape of any kind is punishable by Muth…
8) Incest is punishable by Muth…
9) Adultery - any sexual act with any individual to whom you are not maritally bound is punishable by Muth…
10) Homosexual behaviorisms are punishable by Muth…
11) Beastiality - any sexual act involving an animal is punishable by Muth…
12) Prostitution is punishable by Muth…
13) Murder is punishable by Muth…
14) Cursing, Speaking Ill of, or Physically Attacking your parents is punishable by Muth…
15) Perpetual Disobedience is punishable by Muth…
16) Kidnapping is punishable by Muth…
17) Bearing False Testimony and Contempt of Court are both punishable by Muth…
To choose any way other than Ha-Shem's is Idolatry which is punishable by "Muth"... Which "God" do you choose to follow? where is the greatest amount of your time being spent each day, week, month, year? it is the things you give your time to that you are elevating to the status of "gods" in your life... we all have these idols in our lives, these things that we tend to turn to before we turn to Ha-Shem.... What are yours? How does your behavior reflect a pursuit of Life or a pursuit of Death?...
Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18 all talk about it being easier for a camel to pass through the part of the city gate known as the "Eye of the Needle" than it is for a man who has much to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven... What baggage are you clinging to that is only hindering your own entrance through the eye of the needle? How are your own strivings and yearnings affecting your decisions between the Trees of Life and Knowledge? How are they drawing your to or from your own death?
As Christians we have already chosen the tree from which we will eat and in our commission by Jesus to answer the calling of the Prophets and to follow in His footsteps to be His Disciples, a path that has all the power Jesus demonstrates during His time among us "...and even greater..." power. As discussed in my last post, the promise in the creation of man is that the entire realm of Earth was to answer to the leadership of man, and was bound to man's dominion - more than that, the Earth is also bound to our Sin… As Christians we are restored to this seat of power and promise where "...anything you ask for in my name..." shall be brought to fruition in our lives...
If we believe what Paul says in Galatians and Philippians about our old selves being crucified with Jesus and now living only as Jesus' pure embodiment; then then whose image and likeness are we bearing? How has our behavior illuminated the god whose image we choose to serve and bear? What does this mean for our relationship to Jesus as well as His relationship to the Father?
Have you feasted on knowledge rather than life eternal? How-so? What of your own death in the midst of this? What of your life?
Now this last bit will be a bit controversial to most every professed Christian because it goes against the grain of man made theology and doctrine involving Sin… We were not created in the image of men, demons, or otherwise; but we were created in the Image and Likeness, that is we were created to be flesh and blood, living statues of Ha-Shem that the created order might know who He is through us. To say that we are inevitably sinful both remoes us from our divine purpose and denies us the chance to choose Ha-Shem before we are condemned - This paints Ha-Shem as a tyrant instead of the all-loving and all-powerful and ever-merciful Ruler that He is… It is our choice of which tree we eat from that places us into or protects us from Sin; we are accountable only for our choices not the choices of our fathers and mothers and fellow human beings… The sin is not in the failure, but rather it is in the refusal to answer the conviction of the Spirit of Ha-Shem when you are informed of your mistake… No man can “accidentally” be condemned to Muth in Hell because it is their own choices that place them there and not their Divinely-crafted and inspired image...
“... and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed…”
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
We stand here within the tale of 2 pills, 2 doors, 2 roads... which do we choose? Do we follow our own skepticism into worshiping finite knowledge that amounts to little more than trivia or do we spite our own flesh to understand questions about the Infinite source to the image and likeness we were designed to bear and exercise?
With Ha-Shem at the center of man's vision, all the treasures and the abundance of the Throne Room were showered down upon them - not unlike Peter’s ability to walk on water only so far as He kept His sight set on Jesus. To take the fruit though, implies that the relationship will be ended; that man will be separated from Ha-Shem, for Muth would immediately follow. We can clearly see from what is written that man continued to live for many years after partaking of the fruit... What I believe is promised involves the source of our souls, that is the Breath of Life, which flows into us from the very lips of the Father in Heaven. What I believe is promised is the drawing out of the breath that Ha-Shem first breathed into Adam and again into each one of us as we grew in our mother's womb. That is to say that to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is to choose to breathe slowly corroding poison rather than the life giving essence of Ha-Shem.
Judaism has an interesting tradition involving the pursuit of knowledge; in which the questions we ask are more important than the answers we find to those questions. Which fruit have you chosen to nourish your life? the fruit of knowledge or the fruit of life? Realize that to pursue a question rather than an answer is to realize that there are realms of understanding beyond the finite limits of mankind; and the true gift of the question is to realize that our inability to find answers reveal the magnitude of His power and glory...
The Garden of Eden is believed to be a reflection of the Garden in Heaven; which could mean that the Tree of Life is really the Breath of Life... and the Tree of Knowledge is the Gate to Hell... Truly it is that Hell is the one place where Ha-Shem's presence is withdrawn from, for even in our sin He is still there all around us... We can look at these 2 trees as doorways into 2 worlds: 1 - The Throne Room and 2 – The Dungeon... In Hell, true death occurs, and man is torn from every last smidgen of Ha-Shem's presence for it is the one place in all of existence in which He does not dwell.
Let us think of this in more contemporary terms.... Agnosticism, Atheism, Denominationalism, Philosophy, Scientology, or Theology,... Man chooses his "God" as knowledge and uses knowledge and physical achievement to replace Ha-Shem; whereas, those who still follow Ha-Shem choose eternal life with eternal rewards and achievements rather than the physical ones... The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are both still around in our lives today calling and beckoning us to choose to follow Ha-Shem or our own ideals… Realize that there are crimes in Scripture that Ha-Shem tells us are punishable by death:
1) Giving offering or tribute of any kind to idols is punishable by Muth…
2) Serving or worshiping an idol of any kind is punishable by Muth…
3) False Prophecy is punishable by Muth…
4) Practicing necromancy, sorcery, and all other occult pursuits of power is punishable by Muth…
5) Blaspheming - that is taking any action at all against that which is Holy is punishable by Muth…
6) Dishonoring the Shabbat is punishable by Muth…
7) Rape of any kind is punishable by Muth…
8) Incest is punishable by Muth…
9) Adultery - any sexual act with any individual to whom you are not maritally bound is punishable by Muth…
10) Homosexual behaviorisms are punishable by Muth…
11) Beastiality - any sexual act involving an animal is punishable by Muth…
12) Prostitution is punishable by Muth…
13) Murder is punishable by Muth…
14) Cursing, Speaking Ill of, or Physically Attacking your parents is punishable by Muth…
15) Perpetual Disobedience is punishable by Muth…
16) Kidnapping is punishable by Muth…
17) Bearing False Testimony and Contempt of Court are both punishable by Muth…
To choose any way other than Ha-Shem's is Idolatry which is punishable by "Muth"... Which "God" do you choose to follow? where is the greatest amount of your time being spent each day, week, month, year? it is the things you give your time to that you are elevating to the status of "gods" in your life... we all have these idols in our lives, these things that we tend to turn to before we turn to Ha-Shem.... What are yours? How does your behavior reflect a pursuit of Life or a pursuit of Death?...
Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18 all talk about it being easier for a camel to pass through the part of the city gate known as the "Eye of the Needle" than it is for a man who has much to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven... What baggage are you clinging to that is only hindering your own entrance through the eye of the needle? How are your own strivings and yearnings affecting your decisions between the Trees of Life and Knowledge? How are they drawing your to or from your own death?
As Christians we have already chosen the tree from which we will eat and in our commission by Jesus to answer the calling of the Prophets and to follow in His footsteps to be His Disciples, a path that has all the power Jesus demonstrates during His time among us "...and even greater..." power. As discussed in my last post, the promise in the creation of man is that the entire realm of Earth was to answer to the leadership of man, and was bound to man's dominion - more than that, the Earth is also bound to our Sin… As Christians we are restored to this seat of power and promise where "...anything you ask for in my name..." shall be brought to fruition in our lives...
If we believe what Paul says in Galatians and Philippians about our old selves being crucified with Jesus and now living only as Jesus' pure embodiment; then then whose image and likeness are we bearing? How has our behavior illuminated the god whose image we choose to serve and bear? What does this mean for our relationship to Jesus as well as His relationship to the Father?
Have you feasted on knowledge rather than life eternal? How-so? What of your own death in the midst of this? What of your life?
Now this last bit will be a bit controversial to most every professed Christian because it goes against the grain of man made theology and doctrine involving Sin… We were not created in the image of men, demons, or otherwise; but we were created in the Image and Likeness, that is we were created to be flesh and blood, living statues of Ha-Shem that the created order might know who He is through us. To say that we are inevitably sinful both remoes us from our divine purpose and denies us the chance to choose Ha-Shem before we are condemned - This paints Ha-Shem as a tyrant instead of the all-loving and all-powerful and ever-merciful Ruler that He is… It is our choice of which tree we eat from that places us into or protects us from Sin; we are accountable only for our choices not the choices of our fathers and mothers and fellow human beings… The sin is not in the failure, but rather it is in the refusal to answer the conviction of the Spirit of Ha-Shem when you are informed of your mistake… No man can “accidentally” be condemned to Muth in Hell because it is their own choices that place them there and not their Divinely-crafted and inspired image...
“... and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed…”
If the Scriptures truly are the Breathed Word of Ha-Shem then every element within is His Promise, every element within has His power to sculpt the whole of the world around us, and if we so choose, they have the power to sculpt us as well...
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