Embrace the Within no. 208

“Now, my son, may Adonai be with you and give you success as you build the house of Adonai your God, in keeping with what he said about you. May Adonai give you common sense and understanding, and may he give you his orders concerning Isra’el, so that you will observe the Torah of Adonai your God. Then you will succeed, if you take care to obey the laws and rulings that Adonai ordered Moshe concerning Isra’el. Be strong, be bold; don’t be afraid or become discouraged” (Divrei-HamYamim Alef (1 Ch) 22:11-13 CJB)! When we follow God we should remember to, as David commands Solomon, “Be strong, be bold; don’t be afraid or become discouraged!” This isn’t our own mastery of fear BUT our assurance that God is in control. Because God has His plan, there is no reason to be afraid. I can walk boldly and take strength that all will work out. Faith is an action. Hope is my confidence. Courage is trusting in Him.

He is who He says He is. He does not lie about who He is, “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mattityahu (Mat) 11:27-30 CJB). He will give us rest. He is gentle and humble. His yoke is easy and His burden for us is light. He did all the heavy lifting in defeating death.

Even when He was leading them out of slavery and not into the fulfillment of His promise, “All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth. For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Messianic Jews (Heb) 11:13-16 CJB). We have a better kingdom to proclaim. We have a better hope in a perfect king that is not ashamed of us. And there is no need to be afraid. Faith is an action. “Be strong, be bold; don’t be afraid or become discouraged!” Hope is my confidence. “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world” (Yochanan (Jhn) 1:29 CJB)! Courage is trusting in Him.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 207

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy (2 Ti) 3:16-17 CJB). With His Word through His Spirit, we can all fulfill His calling to be ministers for His Kingdom.

As I have continued walking in my journey, I have spent a lot of time in His Word. There is no substitute for personal study of His Word and building a personal relationship with Him through prayer and study. And that was something I didn’t take seriously before the plague. I had a survey style understanding of the Word that was rather shallow and broad. I had enough knowledge to be dangerous to myself and others BUT no application and understanding. BUT it didn’t have to be that way. That was the way I chose for it to be.

When I made the decision to change, He had a plan for that. The Bible is not an instructional manual. So approaching it as a guide from that perspective is not all that helpful. I mean I see folks treating it like a set of rules and taking pieces from here and there and then smashing them together and chucking away the rest. They seem to be doing alright with building a life that way BUT I don’t see it that way.

The Bible is wisdom literature. I need to know what is in the whole thing to understand what God wants. The Tanakh informs the prophets and inspires songs and poems and then is reflected upon in the Good News. A bunch of writers and one author giving a unified vision for understanding God and His plan. And just grabbing a piece in isolation isn’t that.

The scripture is multifaceted in teaching, convicting, correcting, and training through His Spirit. The links between all pieces come together as I read and study further. So, rather than having a shallow and broad understanding of He will take you as deep as you can go.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH