Embrace the Within no. 72

"Lord, Thou knowest what is best, confident in this I’ll rest, till I dwell with all the blest, and with Thee in heaven."

William Ebel

Father, there is much for which to be thankful.

I thank you for all the obstacles and challenges I faced this past week. Your Grace and Truth have helped me hurdle those obstacles and face those challenges. Allow me to focus on all the good that is within my life and the thankfulness and praise that lie beneath every small kindness within my life. Let me be thankful that sicknesses, obstacles, and challenges are within your control. Let me be thankful that even though I may not see the way that You have already provided the path through. Help me, Lord, to know that there is nothing impossible when it comes to life. Allow me to be thankful for the time I have on this side of eternity to witness Your Power, Your Grace, Your Mercy, and Your Truth.

Thank you for showing me that since nothing I do matters in my salvation that everything I do matters in life. The pointless actions of a broken nephesh can never redeem my transgressions. You provided a way that relies not on my deeds BUT the sacrifice of Your Son in a plan for perfection. Thank you for providing a path to salvation and atonement that all can achieve through Your sacrifice.

Help me to remember that all are Your image bearers. Help me to remember that all humanity are my neighbors. Help me to live a right example of the relationship I should have with You, myself, and my neighbor. Help me to pause in Your Presence before merely reacting with a broken spirit. I thank you for all the understanding that I have gained through studying your Word and building a better relationship with You. I thank you for allowing that opportunity through Your Way and not my way.

I pray this week that those that are suffering from physical, mental, and spiritual weakness will find Your strength. I am thankful for the healing that awaits all of us this side of eternity. I thank You for showing me the power of prayer and the healing that can occur with faith and trust in Your power over this mortal world. And I look forward to an eternity to learn even more about You.

As I move forward with the ending of this week and the promise of a new week ahead, I ask that You look over my community. I pray for Your Church and all those that work for your glory in my community. I pray that Your Church is strengthened with resolve and commitment to spreading your love and grace to all in the community. I pray that you pour out more blessings for Your Church than they can hold. Help us all to live a life that is a beacon to those in our community and help my words and actions be a blessing to Your glory. Help us and those we meet along the way to see Your vision of the world to come, Your Truth in all those interactions. In all this I ask that it is Your way and not my way.

Hear, O Israel: YHWH, our Elohim is One! And I will love and worship and thank and praise my YHWH, my Elohim with all my nephesh!

Amen.

Shabbat shalom. Shavua tov. Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #NoKingButChrist #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows

Embrace the Within no. 71

"We can speak peace to our hearts, because God hath spoken peace to us….O keep that peace, by looking up to Jesus Christ every moment."

George Whitefield

There is peace in a right relationship with YHWH. That is the witness I am called to walk each day. A walk of peace in spite of and despite the world that rages around me with so many manufactured distractions and insurmountable terrors. Among all those scary and spooky realities, I have peace in the Way of the Lord. Peace is a powerful witness.

Too often I allow the passions of the situations that surround me trouble my spirit. Too often I see the spirit of a situation begin to change my response. Too often I allow the pervasive spirit of this world to redirect my path. When I recognize those influences, I need to reflect on the peace that grows out of wisdom and experience in my walk with YHWH.

I am often overcome with a spirit to rush to action when I should pause and reflect. As I walk along this path I need more time to reflect and pause. I think we all need that moment of Selah. We all need that moment to pause and reflect on what The Lord is teaching at that moment. We need a moment to pause in His presence.

Maybe we wouldn’t rush to embrace the spirit of division as much. Maybe we wouldn’t rush to embrace the spirit of pride. Maybe we wouldn’t rush to embrace all the passions that surround us in this world that are meant to knock us out of alignment. Maybe, just maybe, I should instead pause in His presence.

And instead of rushing, through that pause and reflection, gently embrace the spirit of the Lord. Embrace the fruits of the Ruach HaKodesh. I am reminded to look back on the words in one of the finely crafted letters of instruction that, “. . . the fruit of the Spirit [Ruach] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control: against such there is no law. And they that are Moshiach [Messiah]’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit [Ruach], let us also walk in the Spirit [Ruach]. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:22-26 NMV).

So, I am going to embrace love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control by finding the self-control to pause. Through that pause I will act in alignment with the love that I am commanded to have for my God and my neighbor that bears His image. There is joy that comes from aligning my thoughts, my nephesh, and my muchness to His peace. There will always be a long wait and a lot to suffer to help others BUT I will approach that endurance of character with the gentleness and goodness I receive from faith in the Lord. And being meek enough to know that all those character traits, all those abilities, all those gifts, come not from myself but from His grace.

Lord, help me to pause today. Help us all to take a moment in Your Presence before we get caught up in the wrong spirits.

Shavua tov. Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #NoKingButChrist #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows