Good morning Lord!
Thank You for today! Thank You for Your word ~ Your promises!
This morning in my study Your word speaks of:
Your creation ~ Genesis
Your power ~ Psalms
Your concern for Your children ~ Matthew
You have given people so much, all that we need! - but we focus on our "wants".
Please forgive us Lord, please open our eyes, our hearts and our spirits; soften our hearts that we hear Your voice, Your call - Let us learn to walk with integrity and righteousness, bringing to You first, pleasure in Your children and second, glory in Your workmanship.-
Let our love and worship please You Father, let it wash away the bitterness of our neglect.
In Jesus name~
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
In The Garden~
In the garden one morning I found a big fat tomato hornworm on the cherry tomato plant, the worm is pretty huge with a voracious appetite and would have been certain death for the plant if I hadn't found and removed it! It had already stripped the leaves from several stems.
A few days later when I went to the garden I found another tomato plant starting to wilt and not looking well at all! I started looking more closely at the plant expecting to find another tomato hornworm, but as I brushed a leaf I saw little, tiny white flecks fly up. It was little, itty-bitty leaf hoppers! Often a spiritual lesson is brought to me by things of this world that I observe; the small, still voice of God speaks to me and I learn lessons that transfer from life situations to spiritual situations.
The lesson that day was that people often feel only the big errors or sins, like the big tomato hornworm, are worth their battles or of any real threat to their spirit and that something as tiny as a snowflake, the leaf-hoppers can't be too dangerous.
We need to be vigilant even against the tiny sins. If we're not alert, we never even see some of the little sins slip in and suck the very life from our spirit! But there is even a scripture that warns to deal with the little sins so they don't ruin our fruit!
“Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!” Song of Solomon 2:15
A few days later when I went to the garden I found another tomato plant starting to wilt and not looking well at all! I started looking more closely at the plant expecting to find another tomato hornworm, but as I brushed a leaf I saw little, tiny white flecks fly up. It was little, itty-bitty leaf hoppers! Often a spiritual lesson is brought to me by things of this world that I observe; the small, still voice of God speaks to me and I learn lessons that transfer from life situations to spiritual situations.
The lesson that day was that people often feel only the big errors or sins, like the big tomato hornworm, are worth their battles or of any real threat to their spirit and that something as tiny as a snowflake, the leaf-hoppers can't be too dangerous.
We need to be vigilant even against the tiny sins. If we're not alert, we never even see some of the little sins slip in and suck the very life from our spirit! But there is even a scripture that warns to deal with the little sins so they don't ruin our fruit!
We need to understand that for the Christian, there are no big or little sins, God calls them all sin, period! The big worm was obvious and could eat the whole plant in just a couple of days, but the the little leaf hoppers went easily unnoticed until the plant started wilting and then it was a major battle! While I could pull the big worm off of the tomato plant and save it, I was not able to save the plant with the little leaf hoppers! I did try! I Googled leaf hoppers and followed all of the recommended steps, but the plant was too weak and the leaf hoppers too determined.
The spiritual moral to this story? While you still are able...take the little things/sins in life seriously, get rid of them!
We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Hebrews 12:1b
The spiritual moral to this story? While you still are able...take the little things/sins in life seriously, get rid of them!
We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Hebrews 12:1b
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Devotion, Not Sacrifice
Sometimes when you're reading God's word a new part will jump out at you and become alive! This happened to me with this verse~
I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know(chesed, hesed) me than burn offerings to me. Hosea 6:6 Good News Translation
Not that I have made any "animal sacrifices" because Jesus freed us from the need of sacrificing blood for forgiveness. Once and for ever His blood covers those who accept Him and follow Him as their Saviour, Redeemer and King!
Now back to my epiphany! It seems that the English language doesn't quite have the words to explain "hesed" or "chesed", the Hebrew word that is used in the original writing of this verse. The English language has limits that some other languages don't face because they have many words to describe different levels of the same thing, like "love". In America we can love something/someone or at best really, really love it or them! The Hebrew language has different words for loving in different degrees, or different subjects.
This may not hit anyone else like it did me, but what I have studied and found this verse, Hosea 6:6, to say is that God really wants us to faithfully, steadfastly, unalterably, unswervingly, unchangingly love Him and recognize His love to us. He wants us in a devoted, marriage like relationship with Him! No matter what! For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, He wants our devotion, just like any spouse would want!
This realization makes my heart melt even more towards my Heavenly Father! He wants our devotion, our attention....in a marriage relationship, how do you expect your spouse to treat you? You want to be greeted daily with love! You want to be cherished and respected! You want to be more important to them than anything else in life or the world! You want their choices to have your concern in mind before anything is chosen! You want them to talk to you before they make that choice!
This sounds really basic, but have you really let it sink in? Most people take more time finding and choosing a spouse than they do in thinking about what it means to make God their "God".
God is a "hands on" kind of God, He wants to be in every area of our lives. Many want to accept the idea that He is their God and then put Him on a shelf....how would that work for you in a marriage? Not so well! It's the same for God, except He is loving, patient, kind, long-suffering...so He let's you go your way, ignoring Him for awhile...until, if you're lucky, you find yourself in a situation where you need Him and you go running back to the shelf to dust Him off and talk to Him.
We've all been guilty of going about our lives thinking we've got everything lined up...everything going our way. And we've all been guilty of putting God on a shelf while we handle our lives, making our own choices. What we need to recognize is this is not the way God wants our relationship with Him to be. He wants in on everything! I love Him so much and it makes me so happy to think of that! It makes me smile as I sit here typing this, the joy bubbles up in my heart! God wants to be my constant companion, my comforting BFF(Best Friend Forever), my wise Mentor!
I think I have neglected this side of God because I have grown up more focused on the "fear of the Lord" side, and yes that is important, but the God that put the word "Chesed/Hesed" in the scriptures wants a personal, close, devoted loving-kindness from me too.
I hope that this word and understanding stirs your heart to a new level of devotion to the One that has created you, cherished you, pursued you and died to be resurrected again....all for you! What an amazing God!
My research included these sites~
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Chesed/chesed.html
http://www.bible-researcher.com/chesed.html
I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know(chesed, hesed) me than burn offerings to me. Hosea 6:6 Good News Translation
Not that I have made any "animal sacrifices" because Jesus freed us from the need of sacrificing blood for forgiveness. Once and for ever His blood covers those who accept Him and follow Him as their Saviour, Redeemer and King!
Now back to my epiphany! It seems that the English language doesn't quite have the words to explain "hesed" or "chesed", the Hebrew word that is used in the original writing of this verse. The English language has limits that some other languages don't face because they have many words to describe different levels of the same thing, like "love". In America we can love something/someone or at best really, really love it or them! The Hebrew language has different words for loving in different degrees, or different subjects.
This may not hit anyone else like it did me, but what I have studied and found this verse, Hosea 6:6, to say is that God really wants us to faithfully, steadfastly, unalterably, unswervingly, unchangingly love Him and recognize His love to us. He wants us in a devoted, marriage like relationship with Him! No matter what! For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, He wants our devotion, just like any spouse would want!
This realization makes my heart melt even more towards my Heavenly Father! He wants our devotion, our attention....in a marriage relationship, how do you expect your spouse to treat you? You want to be greeted daily with love! You want to be cherished and respected! You want to be more important to them than anything else in life or the world! You want their choices to have your concern in mind before anything is chosen! You want them to talk to you before they make that choice!
This sounds really basic, but have you really let it sink in? Most people take more time finding and choosing a spouse than they do in thinking about what it means to make God their "God".
God is a "hands on" kind of God, He wants to be in every area of our lives. Many want to accept the idea that He is their God and then put Him on a shelf....how would that work for you in a marriage? Not so well! It's the same for God, except He is loving, patient, kind, long-suffering...so He let's you go your way, ignoring Him for awhile...until, if you're lucky, you find yourself in a situation where you need Him and you go running back to the shelf to dust Him off and talk to Him.
We've all been guilty of going about our lives thinking we've got everything lined up...everything going our way. And we've all been guilty of putting God on a shelf while we handle our lives, making our own choices. What we need to recognize is this is not the way God wants our relationship with Him to be. He wants in on everything! I love Him so much and it makes me so happy to think of that! It makes me smile as I sit here typing this, the joy bubbles up in my heart! God wants to be my constant companion, my comforting BFF(Best Friend Forever), my wise Mentor!
I think I have neglected this side of God because I have grown up more focused on the "fear of the Lord" side, and yes that is important, but the God that put the word "Chesed/Hesed" in the scriptures wants a personal, close, devoted loving-kindness from me too.
I hope that this word and understanding stirs your heart to a new level of devotion to the One that has created you, cherished you, pursued you and died to be resurrected again....all for you! What an amazing God!
My research included these sites~
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Chesed/chesed.html
http://www.bible-researcher.com/chesed.html
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