Embrace the Within no. 26

I know that you, God, are never pleased with lawlessness,

and evil ones will never be invited into your house.

Boasters collapse, unable to survive your scrutiny,

for your hatred of evildoers is clear.

You will make an end of all those who lie.

How you hate their hypocrisy and despise all who love violence!

Psalms 5:4-6 TPT

Song of the Steadfast

For the Pure and Shining One by King David

The Advice to Flee

1My faith shelters my soul continually in Yahweh.

Why would you say to me:

“Run away while you can!

Fly away like a bird to hide in the mountains for safety.

2For your enemies have prepared a trap for you!

Can’t you see them hiding

in their place of darkness and shadows?

They’re set against all those who live upright lives.

3What can the righteous accomplish

when truth’s pillars are destroyed and law and order collapse?”

The Answer of Faith

4Yet Yahweh is never shaken —

he is still found in his temple of holiness,

reigning as King Yahweh over all.

He closely watches and examines everything man does.

With a glance, his eyes examine every heart,

for his heavenly rule will prevail over all.

5Yahweh tests both the righteous and the wicked.

God’s very soul detests lovers of violence.

6He will rain down upon them judgment for their sins.

A scorching wind will be their lot in life.

7But remember this: Yahweh is the Righteous One who loves

justice, and every godly one

will gaze upon his face

Psalms 11 TPT

Fearless Faith

David’s poetic praise to God before he was anointed king

1Yahweh is my revelation-light

and the source of my salvation.

I fear no one!

I’ll never turn back and run, for you, Yahweh,

surround and protect me.

2When evil ones come to destroy me,

they will be the ones who turn back.

3My heart will not fear even if an army rises to attack.

I will not be shaken, even if war is imminent.

4Here’s the one thing I crave from Yahweh,

the one thing I seek above all else:

I want to live with him every moment in his house,

beholding the marvelous beauty of Yahweh,

filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace.

I want to contemplate in his temple.

5-6In the day of trouble, he will treasure me in his shelter,

under the cover of his tent.

He will lift me high upon a rock,

out of reach from all my enemies who surround me.

Triumphant now, I’ll bring him my offerings of praise,

singing and shouting with ecstatic joy!

Yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh!

7Hear my cry. Show me mercy, and send the help I need!

8I heard your voice in my heart say, “Come, seek my face;”

my inner being responded,

“Yahweh, I’m seeking your face with all my heart.”

9So don’t turn your face away from me.

You’re the God of my salvation;

how can you reject your servant in anger?

You’ve been my only hope,

so don’t forsake me now when I need you!

10My father and mother abandoned me.

But you, Yahweh, took me in and made me yours.

11Now teach me, Yahweh, all about your ways and tell me what to do.

Make it clear for me to understand,

for I am surrounded by waiting enemies.

12Don’t let them defeat me, Lord.

You can’t let me fall into their clutches!

They keep accusing me of things I’ve never done,

breathing out violence against me.

13Yet I believe with all my heart

that I will see again your goodness, Yahweh, in the land of life eternal!

14Here’s what I’ve learned through it all:

Don’t give up; don’t be impatient;

be entwined as one with the Lord.

Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope.

Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you

Psalms 27 TPT

There are so many scriptures that have meant so much to me the past twelve hours that I just can’t condense them too well. I really love the book of Psalms because it runs the whole gamut of human emotions toward God. And over the past day, I have run through a lot of those. The great thing is that no matter what my feelings, no matter what my mood, no matter what my circumstance, God is the same. And that is my reassurance at all times.

I didn’t want to have a knee problem. It made life very humbling. I have folks treating me like the old man I resemble in the mirror. Folks carrying things to my car. Folks opening and holding doors for me. Folks waiting for me to arrive. Folks asking me questions. I can look at these things as inconveniences to others or I can focus on the unselfish acts of others and find faith that God is working through them even if they are unaware.

That’s one of the many great things about God. I don’t have to even believe in God or follow God or trust in God to be working for God’s end goals. I mean all those years I was doing my own thing and finding my own truth were all part of God steering me back to Christ. I don’t know how or why and I never have to know. That is way above my paygrade. What I do need to know is that I am back where I belong and I am going to fight like the third monkey trying to get on the Ark to keep this relationship and grow more in that relationship.

I am not going to let my circumstances decide my relationship status. And I think we see that a lot with all the divorces, separations, alienations, partisanship, and splitting in the world today. Folks let their situations determine their love. I was a victim of that many times in my past. I let myself get in the way of what God wants. I need to love God and my neighbor. There are no conditions on that statement.

You can go look it up. God doesn’t say love God and your neighbor when you feel like it. It doesn’t say when days are good, when you are happy, when you are sad, when you are looking at the sky, when you are getting paid, when you are doing anything. It isn’t conditional. We are conditional.

And our conditions put limits on God. And that’s where we fail. We fail because we want God to fit in a box and folks to fit in a box too. That box is determined by how we feel at that moment. BUT God is good all the time. And our love for God and our neighbor needs to be good all the time too. So, that’s what I am going to take away from the past week and change. I am going to realize and internalize that my condition is not running things. I get to choose what to do with the thoughts that enter my mind. I am going to remember that my condition is transitory BUT God is permanent. And my love of God and my love for my neighbor is permanent as well.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 25

“God, you are my righteousness, my Champion Defender.

Answer me when I cry for help!

Whenever I was in distress, you enlarged me.

I’m being squeezed again—I need your kindness right away!

Grant me your grace, hear my prayer, and set me free!

Listen to me, you elite among men:

How long will you defame my honor

and drag it down into shame?

Will you ever stop insulting me?

How long will you set your heart on shadows,

chasing your lies and delusions?

May we never forget that Yahweh works wonders

for every one of his devoted lovers.

And this is how I know that he will answer my every prayer.

Tremble in awe before the Lord, and do not sin against him.

Be still upon your bed and search your heart before him.

Bring to Yahweh the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in

him.

Lord, prove them wrong when they say, “God can’t help you!”

Let the light of your radiant face

break through and shine upon us!

The intense pleasure you give me

surpasses the gladness of harvest time,

even more than when the harvesters

gaze upon their ripened grain

and when their new wine overflows.

Now, because of you, Lord, I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at

once,

for no matter what happens, I will live unafraid!”

Psalms 4 TPT

Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].

1 Corinthians 1:20-25 AMP

It took me a while to figure out that I was not alone.

Fourteen days ago that seems like an eternity now, I started this process of getting healthier out of fear of what the government could do. I was afraid that my family would not eat because things could get locked down and shut down. I was afraid because my supply chain was not local. I was afraid because my health was not at all what I thought it was. So, I began this journey during those fourteen days and those fourteen days continue to govern my path forward.

I am definitely regarded as being foolish or crazy. That has been a burden for the bulk of my life. The chastisement and judgment of others for doing what is principled and right even without being a true follower of Christ. After walking my journey of the past fourteen days and getting myself physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy, I have found that the weird and foolish thoughts of decades were the path to get me away from worrying about the thoughts of people and more focused on my relationship with the Father through Christ. I started looking for a church that I liked better than the one in which I was raised. That search then led to a replacement for Christianity which led me through many paths of philosophy and politics. It led me outside mainstream thought and worry about the world of folks. And it led me to sovereignty of self. I was responsible for all my choices. And the first choice I was going to make in this new journey was to not be afraid of the circumstances of life. I was no longer going to outsource my freedom.

So, that led to me taking my whole nephesh seriously. I started a routine of working out every morning. I replaced my drinks with salted water. I replaced my processed foods with identifiable creations of nature. I started a garden. I started moving that garden into a whole sustainable venture with rabbits and chickens. I began blogging my thoughts as I worked the process all devoid of spiritual health. And then, one day, as I was walking this path of getting healthy, God just clicked. I had been spending my time not really giving the God of my youth a chance. I thought back on how I was really ignorant of The Bible while growing up for years with one in my possession. I was really ignorant of a lot of what was in the scripture because I had treated God like a Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night activity and not a way of life. And my spiritual health began with adding a detailed and organized routine of actually reading and studying scripture every day. That started with a commitment to read everything from Genesis through Revelations. That process has expanded to my completing the additional books included in Ethiopian and Catholic versions as I continue a new organization of completing the remainder of the scripture.

And all of this was never possible on my own because I was never alone. God was there from the beginning. Not just the beginning of the fourteen days, not just the beginning of my life, BUT always there at the beginning of everything. And it was through God that I could walk this path of physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. God was allowing me to prove that it was my nephesh and my choice. My personal responsibility for my family and my fear for what might happen led to action on principles. Those principles, though secular in their formation, were ultimately spiritual in their destination. The mysterious ways things work through God.

Some of my routine is derailed right now with the swelling in my knee BUT the path of these past fourteen days is never getting off the tracks. My journey looks foolish and crazy to the world. I ride a tricycle to the farmer’s market and churches around my house. I have worked on simplifying things to my community. I have worked on getting a better relationship as a steward of what God has granted me. A better steward of myself as an image bearer and a better steward of the nature I am trusted to work. It’s been an interesting fourteen days. And through this journey it would be easy for my old self to look at what I have done. I know that the only reason I could do any of those things, the only reason that I could change my focus, the only reason that I am not afraid, the only reason for all those things is that God took away my fear and replaced it with trust. And through God, I get to work God’s plan for my life. I get to work God’s truth and wisdom. And that may look foolish to others BUT it works great for God and me.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin