Embrace the Within no. 65

"If my heart is right with God, every human being is my neighbor."

Oswald Chambers

Everyone is my neighbor. Everyone is an image bearer of God. Probably something that I do not consider enough when I walk around this side of eternity. A lot of times it is only in retrospection right now that I realize I am out of alignment with these concepts. And that leads me out of alignment with The Way of the Lord.

There are no other ways about it, The Way of the Lord is about love and service. It is acknowledgment of the reign of YHWH and the service to His creation. It’s all about finding the Garden among the Wilderness and I am definitely still working on the Garden.

It’s easy to fall into the spirit of this age. It’s easy to get caught up in the anger and division and animosity toward fellow image bearers. To see the flaws in each other and miss the work with which we need to enact in our own lives. I am really good at seeing flaws in others before I see the faults in my own life. And that is something I look forward to working on fixing and realigning as I further this journey in The Way of the Lord. “Love works no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law”(Romans 13:10 NMV).

Love is always the answer BUT it is often difficult this side of eternity when we are misaligned. And that is why starting the day with the spirit of love and truth is an important foundation as we move forward. My morning study and prayer does so much to set the tone for the day ahead. The consistency of knowing that I am going to start my day with the best choices sets an expectation that I can make better choices.

Ending my day with study and prayer bookends the expectation that I am going to make better choices. It is always about choosing how we are going to set ourselves up for success and failure. I can take the time each morning to set the positive tone I want or I can let life run off the rails and get totally misaligned.

BUT daily I must choose that alignment with love. I have to practice love every day in order to get better at love. I have to practice service every day to get better at service. I have to pray every day to get better at speaking to YHWH. I have to study The Word every day to get a better understanding of YHWH. I have to put in the time to practice. You have to talk about practice because what you practice is what you become. You don’t walk out to the sportsball field and become a success without practice. You don’t become an artist without practice. You don’t become a better follower of The Way of the Lord without practice. In none of these situations can you just show up on Sunday without doing the practice the rest of the week.

So, I am going to keep putting in the work. Each day I am going to keep practicing what I want to achieve in the hope that someday I will have it mastered. And every day is a day forward aligning myself on this side of eternity. Working out that practice as long as I am allowed.

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 #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows

Embrace the Within no. 64

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Moshiach Yeshua: Who, being in the form of God-The Father, thought it not robbery to be equal with God-The Father: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the stake (cross).

Philippians 2:5-8 NMV

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God-The Father through our Lord - Kurios Yeshua Moshiach: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God-The Father. And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God-The Father is shed abroad in our hearts by the Ruach HaKodesh which is given unto us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Moshiach died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God-The Father commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Moshiach died for us.

Romans 5:1-8 NMV

Be you therefore followers of God-The Father, as dear children; And walk in love, as Moshiach also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God-The Father for a sweet smelling savour.

Ephesians 5:1-2 NMV

All conflicts are internal conflicts. My internal conflict is starting to feel like an eternal conflict. Daily there is a struggle at certain times to abandon love and surrender to bitterness. There is a time when I fall back into the rut of swinging like the third monkey trying to get on the Ark while the rain begins to fall. And I have to let that swinging go. There is a lot more I need to learn about embracing that what others bring to me is about their internal conflict as well. And letting my internal conflict get in the way of what they bring forward is a disservice to the image of God they possess.

And I believe that is the perspective I need to find with swinging and internal conflicts. We are all image bearers of God whether we embrace that discipleship or not. We can’t deny the image we carry and the image that is visible in the face of each of our neighbors whether saved or struggling. We all are family.

And there are a lot of important pieces I have gathered from the readings above. The first is about service to others. I never feel more close to YHWH than when I am doing something in service of another image bearer. Whether it be picking up trash, cleaning up dinner, helping with homework, explaining a difficult question, giving insight into a text, or just listening to an important story, there are many ways to be of service to other image bearers daily. And when I make a concerted effort to stop worrying about what I think I need to do and focus on what I should be doing in service, I can feel that I am aligned with the Way of the Lord.

Moshiach died for us before we were saved. Moshiach was our servant unto death. He bore the image of God for us to accomplish something we could never do. And he did this in service for all of the image bearers of God. So many times YHWH could have given up on Moses, given up on the tribes, given up on David, or given up on us BUT He never did. He served us as we are to serve each other.

There are many more takeaways from today’s verses, however, I think service is above all and foremost on my mind today. Service to others moves me out of my way and back into The Way of the Lord. And the more I can align with what YHWH wants for my life and the less I can align with what I want, then the better I can serve others in love. And rather than swinging at others like that third monkey trying to save itself, I can sacrifice so that others may be saved.

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 #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows