Chaos Clarity
“I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; they did not repent of their ways. Jeremiah 15:7 NASB
Winnow – How much chaos do you find in your life? Do you think that it might be chaos on purpose? Do you think that maybe the upheaval and disorder might just be God’s way of separating you from the chaff?
The Hebrew word is zara. This metaphor captures a daily event in the life of the people. Just as they threw grain into the air to separate the good from the bad, God throws His people into turmoil in order to scatter them and separate the good from the bad. In the Tanakh, there are two purposes for this scattering. The first is for purification. The second, as in this verse, is for punishment. Both of these purposes come from God. Whether we are being scattered for purification or for punishment, God’s hand does the winnowing.
It is the natural inclination of human beings to resist scattering. We want to cling together with the ones who share our common beliefs and interests and passions. But God often has other purposes in mind. So He separates us. We are deliberately pushed apart because God wants us to depend on Him above all. And He has purposes that reach beyond our human need to stick together. He winnows in order to bring about His goals. Sometimes we need to get unstuck for God to use us.
How many times in your life have you resisted separation from your own background and culture and city and comfort zone? We serve the same God as Abraham. He was called “out” to a place God would show him. We have the same calling. “Leave that place of comfort behind and follow Me and I will show you a land that I have chosen for you.” God is taking us to new places because He knows that His plans call for scattering. Keeping ourselves in the safe place in our comfort zone will not accomplish His purposes.
Sometimes God needs to scatter us for correction. And sometimes He scatters for punishment. He breaks apart the bonds that keep us locked in sinful patterns. He destroys our old habits. He strips us of our human dependencies. All for good reason. He wants to bring us to the point of obedience and sometimes that means crisis and catastrophe in our lives. God’s punishment always has a purpose.
Are you open to His scattering, or do you try to tell God that you will only do what you think you should do or go where you want to go? God’s ways are not our ways. He has plans far greater than those we can imagine. But if we are going to fly on the wind of the Holy Spirit, we dare not be anchored to the earth.
Topical Index: winnow, zara, scatter, punishment, purpose, Jeremiah 15:7
The scary part (or exhilarating part) is that we must leave first and follow him, and THEN he will show us the land he has chosen for us. I’ve always wondered about Avraham’s first steps. Did he just close his eyes and pick a direction to walk? Did he pick a city that sounded interesting and head in that way? If we are to leave and follow, how do we know which way to walk? Or is there no right answer other than to just do something, anything?
I also like what you said about flying on the wind of the Holy Spirit we must not be anchored to the earth. Despite the upheaval and sifting of the last few months, my heart still feels heavy and anchored to earth. Yet, I know God has done amazing things (like providing through this community!). I’m ready to fly and laugh and delight in Him again. Oh heart, what confusion (chaos?) keeps your down? Abba, restore the joy of my salvation, restore my wonder. Remove my blinders so I can SEE you as you are and reveal your truth so I can understand and walk in your ways the way you want me to.
Amanda, I’m right there with you – the last 4 years make no sense in the physical to me at all….it has been nothing but seemingly chaos…although … as time goes by and more things develop … I see that HE took me out of the chaos….He is winnowing and separating all of us for the times ahead. Waiting is never easy – deciding which way to put one’s foot is also never easy….and I guess that is where ‘trusting in Him’ comes into play. Blessings and shalom to you!
This may seem trivial, but it is how God has always worked in my life. This year we could not arrange our life to go to the beach in August as we normally do. Mid September was all that would work. We relaxed in our beach chairs for 3 days, and then we had a change of people on our right side. Maryanne now on our right had resisted the trip to the beach, because she had just lost a daughter to cancer and her son in law had now denied her access to her grandchildren. My wife was able to council with her for three days, because we had experienced some of the same problems in our life several years ago when our family was devastated by the loss of one of our children to cancer. My belief about our hectic lives is to just relax, because God will put you where He wants you when He wants you to be there.
As far as I can tell, God never arrives according to our expectations and plans. He is not our slave. He comes when we aren’t looking and we are expected to be open enough to embrace His arrival. Which means interruptions are the most important events on the calendar
So true Skip – He has NEVER arrived when I thought He should! LOL…so now, I simply watch the calendar…make my plans and pray that He will interrupt them and set things in order … His order!
TRIVIAL- NO, NO! You seem to be walking the path of God’s people! I laughed at the Heavenly Father giving you three days rest in your way of relaxing, before He put your “work of being THE Blessing to this dear needy lady. Ripples will keep rolling off of God’s Blessings to her through you & your wife! Most of the time you will not even know the ramifications; however, if you live a very long life like me, in months and years when you have all but forgotten the incident, God will allow it in the most unusual way to come back to you, and you will be in AWE of The Goodness of the Lord anew! His Mercy, His Joy–are never ending!
When I lost my ten yr. old daughter, the Holy Spirit was with me and indeed comforted and ministered to me. I never stopped trusting God, was never angry with Him. But the pain is great and the void she leaves is vast, (though I know, praise God, that’s temporary, and we celebrate our future), and I couldn’t know how he could use that. But I have been able to minister to those I otherwise couldn’t have, and He plops them right next to me, and I’m tickled and blessed to perceive Him him working! I wanted to support what you are sharing with my experience.
Meta, thank you for verifying what I wrote. I sat here and reread it three times, and with great pain for you, I began to thank the Heavenly Father, that you determined to speak to that “person that was plopped down beside you” whatever the Lord had put in your heart through the Holy Spirit. He does not expect us to know how to explain it to them, He again through the Spirit of The Lord will do that and we as I stated may never know anymore about it!
May I say, at age 81 years, I can’t imagine losing a ten year old child, or any age child. But somehow I sense that you will be trusted to carry that great grief, “always looking above to the One who knows all about us.” And many people will be so blessed by your faithfulness! LaVaye Billings
Dear LaVaye, again I have been blessed with you.
Thank you, Skip, for that encouraging word! It’s so important to understand God’s ways, which are so different than ours. It’s so important to understand and embrace the PROCESS, painful as it is. We are entering such a critical time in human history, in the history of God’s people, that if we don’t understand these things we will be thoroughly confused and bewildered. It is time to stop being caterpillars that are limited to the up and down topography of the earth, and to allow the confining purposes of the Creator’s caccoon to prepare us to be the butterflies that can soar on the wings of the Spirit. We MUST make it our daily resolve to be closer to Him than we were the day before. Only then will He draw closer to us. He must become, and remain, our first love, or we, like the rest of the world, will be subject to ever increasing chaos and fear. Let us encourage each other more and more as we see that Day approaching, the Day of His appearing. Before then, though, His glory will indeed rise upon us and it will happen when thick darkness is covering the earth (Isa. 60:2).
NOW HEAR THIS
As our words DO matter, let us (the ones who belong to the Always Good Shepherd) please remember, A Good Father will always chastise (not punish!) His children! There is a world of difference between “chastisement” and punishment! Children are chastised..- prisoners are punished. (Hopefully with the goal of instruction and or rehabilitation.)
(Good news/bad news?) ~If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children at all! ~ (Hebrews 12.8)
“Our Father” we are taught to pray. – And then we are taught ~ fathers, (and mothers) chasten your children- while there is hope! (Yes, – early and often!) How cruel! – (some might say..). No. How cruel – not to!
A child left to himself (or herself) brings his mother to shame! Kids (or people) do not raise (or rear) themselves. As parents we are to- “train up a child” (to train up is to discipline!) in the Way he (or she) should go..
And as ABBA’s child, we also need Someone to show us the Way!
Enter the Ruach HaKodesh, – the Holy Spirit- the Breath of God. ~ This is the Way- walk ye in it. ~ (and?) ~ Straight is the gate and narrow is the Way that leads unto life ~ (and?) ~ I AM the Way ~
The Messiah, (our LORD and our God) is (according to His own words) “The Way-The Truth- and The LIfe.” – Who are we to disagree?
~ Who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded (created) will not say to the molder, (The Creator) “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the Potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?… ~ (p.s.- He does!) and? ~ He does “all things” well! ~
(therefore) Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD (Himself) is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (We will) Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. (We will) Give thanks to Him and bless His name.
(why?)
~ For (because) the LORD is (always) good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations ~
Sing to the LORD, praise His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day!
Praise Abba YHWH!
I was just thinking this morning about my and my wife’s living conditions at the present. After my father died in January, we moved out of the apartment and in to a condo. We wanted to remodel before we moved in so we hired a contractor. Well, apparently, this contractor was some sort of winnowing device. He did a terrible job. So terrible, in fact, that we fired him in mid-construction. I am now the contractor, the carpenter, the tiler, the painter, the everything. We were forced to move in to our new house that is very, very incomplete. In fact, we are living in our master bedroom and the hall bathroom.
Normally, it would be a terrible situation. However, considering the money we lost and the terrible work quality we faced, we decided this condition of minimalist living is better than the alternative, that is, living with bad and terrible work. (The tile work in the whole house except the bedrooms was atrocious!)
We decided to bite the bullet and do it ourselves. We are determined to improve our homestead. That way we know it will be done right and with great quality. (My ezer is very good at providing excellence and quality in things!) It is taking much longer and prolonging our ‘dessert/minimalist’ living, however, we are at peace in the midst of the chaos knowing that step by step we are progressing toward a desired life in our new home.
In this process of being far removed from our comfort zone we have returned to the basics in many ways. We have acknowledged the simplicities of home living and have become appreciative of things we have taken for granted in this modern world such as running water, plumbing, ovens, stoves (by the way, we have NO working kitchen appliances, just running water in the sinks!), somewhere to sit besides the bed we sleep on, room to simply walk, FINDING THINGS THAT ARE PACKED UP, and just the peace and tranquility a nice home tends to offer.
We do feel in the midst of the winnowing process somehow. Yet, in this midst, we are not unhappy, or frustrated or angry (well, not now, anyway!) We are enjoying each other in the midst of chaos taking each day as it slowly progresses toward a complete and comfortable home place. Walking on the dusty and pebbly concrete slab that is awaiting carefully selected tile reminds me to be thankful for all that we do have.
At our age we had anticipated everything going much more smoothly and enjoyably.
Actually, it is going smoothly and enjoyably. Just not how we had envisioned. Our Father is still teaching us to walk in his peace and confidence. It’s a nice walk even though I step on a few mortar bits in the middle of the night as I make my way to the hall bathroom.
Thanks, Skip, and all, for helping remind me through your words of all that he has provided for us. He continues to do so as we work to establish our new tent dwelling.
Michael C,
ABBA with you as you walk through this chaotic situation in trust in Him :- )
Shalom.
Thanks, Ester.
During this time I also made a couple of visits to the Emergency Room because, um, well, how do I say this nicely . . . er, um, since having to take on ObamaCare (“You can keep your doctor!”), well . . . I LOST my doctor. So, thus the two Emergency Room visits for an infection that needed massive amounts of antibiotics ! Anyway, I’m almost done with it and am back to about 90-95% efficiency now. Things are starting to progress more quickly now. Amen!
I’m reading the TW’s every morning but not much time to respond still. Maybe another 3-4 more weeks and we will be done. I’m hoping.
Thanks again for your concern.
That’s wonderful! Taking lots of Vit C in powder form will get you speedily to normal and better form asap :- ) Our fast on Yom Kippur is over soon, and looking forward to building our sukkah for Sukkot.
Blessings, and shalom!
Thanks
~ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but (AFTERWARDS!) it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it ~ (Hebrews 12.11)
and?
~ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; (shalom!) -its effect will be quietness and confidence forever ~ (Isaiah 32:17)
and that is where ‘perspective’ comes in …. if we look at circumstances from our own … it seems disastrous…if we look at it from HIS eyes….ahhhhhh … it all changes in perspective.
Years ago while praying with a small group of people, the Lord spoke to me and said, “You haven’t thanked me for my training program.” Your message today has been my life of walking with God. In the inner city you can’t control anything that happens or anyone. I have had so many crazy and tragic things happen over the years and I have found that many Christians have kept their distance from me and our ministry. I think they are afraid of what we have had to walk through. As happens a lot in the city, many like to come in with their strategies, which usually have to do with control and power.
After I heard the Lord say that to me, I said, “Lord, are you kidding me?” But then I laughed and thought about it. Then I started thanking HIM. The depth of relational community in our church and our care for each other is very deep. We have many that have such extreme issues. The Lord has broken me down so much. I came from an executive sales management position for a company to be transplanted in the city. God used my talents to draw me in, then showed me that much of what I learned won’t help me. I have to learn things HIS way. By breaking me, HE gave me eyes to see the “least of these”. When you experience what it feels like to be them, the last thing you want to do is control or oppress others. Looking back all these years, I can only thank HIM. I call it my ITP (Individualized training program). And HIS ways are best. I’m glad HE hasn’t done things my way.
Amen to that!
Oh, learning to stop trying to control things… boy, can I relate to that training… 🙂
Thank you once again Skip for a healthy dose of Biblical reality. I was just reading Hosea this morning (with Heschel’s “The Prophets” along side)
“Come, let us turn back to YHWH, for He has torn us but HE does heal us, HE has stricken but He binds up. After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, SO THAT WE LIVE before Him.”
Torn= to tear into pieces, ravening, prey
Stricken= to beat, to strike, to kill
I know in order to damper the seriousness of YHWH’s jealousy for us, we will immediately make this prophetic concerning Messiah. However this was written concerning the children of Israel. Only in retrospect can we make it Messianic prophecy. I thank YHWH that I have never experienced this from the Master, but it does let me see that He will do what He must to bring a covenant people back to Him. Even if it means punishment….punishment with restoration always in clear view!
FAITH “UN-ANCHORS” US FROM THE EARTH
Our “call” is the same as Abraham’s: GO!
Go in FAITH!
Go and unlearn having faith in yourself.
Go and learn having faith in God.
Welcome to the narrow road.
And remember Who’s on it with you: ” I will never
leave you nor forsake you.” Heb 13:5
Welcome to life with the Vinedresser.
And remember what’s He’s doing with you: “and every
branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more
fruit.” Jn 15:2
Welcome to the non conforming life.
And remember there’s a lot to learn: “And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rm 12:2
Welcome to the life of faith.
And remember how you got there: “Because of the Lord
Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen
you.” Is 49:7
Enjoy your “un-anchored” life!
Skip,
On this Day of Days for first fruits, I hope you will not mind me posting a short piece I wrote on Yom Teruah. I thought it might be meaningful especially to those readers of TW who may be new to the Festivals of Yah.
YOM TERUAH – God’s Festival Day of days!
The Rabbis do not understand this DAY very well. If they did, they would not call it a name not found in the Scriptures – Rosh HaShannah. O sure, it is not a bad title for the day as it is the “new year” on the secular Jewish calendar but Torah tells us that God appointed Passover season in the Spring to be the true beginning of the spiritual year.
Mainstream Christianity at large knows or cares little or nothing about this DAY. They do not understand it at all, so they do not place it on their worship calendar. If they did, they would celebrate it as Holy Festival Time and the churches would be filled with people blowing shofars, praising God and praying “may Your Kingdom come soon and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
It is ironic, as this Day is most probably the DAY that Messiah was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger as ‘the Lamb of God”. And so it is highly likely that He will return to earth once more to claim His Kingdom on this DAY
It is a special unique DAY for a special people – His chosen ones! His first fruits!
They know this DAY and eagerly look forward to it being fulfilled in their lives at the moment of the return of Messiah to claim His Kingdom and establish His Kingship over planet earth. The usurpers who currently rule the planet will be dismissed at that point. Revelation tells us that HaSatan and his demonic realm will be locked away for the glorious 1000 year reign of Messiah. And God’s chosen first fruit people will reign with Messiah as HE starts the process of restoring all things lost in Adam. This will be a time when God’s Spirit and God’s great Truths will cover the earth as the waters cover the deep.
Let’s look at the key Scriptures that give us confirmation of this reality. We will start in Paul’s first Letter to the Thessalonians:
“But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; 17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1Thess.4:13-18)RSV
There is some very helpful theology revealed by Paul here. Notice how he tells us that the saints who are dead –( Paul calls them “the dead in Christ”) are asleep. He uses the word “asleep” three times! These saints – the Patriarchs, the true Prophets of the Tanakh etc., along with the apostles of Messiah and all the faithful and true saints through the last 2000 years are all asleep in their graves awaiting the wake up call of the “trumpet of God”. Paul does not say anything of anyone being off in heaven! Though, I have reason to speculate that after this first resurrection, King Yahshua will take His saints up to heaven to present them to the Father as He had presented Himself to the Father after His own resurrection. It makes sense that the saints follow the pattern of Yahshua as the Word shows that the Father is very consistent in the patterns that He reveals to us. This will be a busy period. At some point Yahshua will conduct His “Bema “ judgment – the judgment of dispensing of rewards to the saints for their testimony, their faitjhfulness and their enduring to the end.
Next, let us look at Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians for additional insight. This is an inspiring section of Scripture because here Paul tells us more about the crucial theological importance of the resurrection and the “the sting of death” being “swallowed up in victory”! Resurrection is crucial! Paul says: “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN!” Here are Paul’s inspired words to the Corinthians:
“Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 “For God[a] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection under him,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.
29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why am I in peril every hour? 31 I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35 But some one will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is alike, but there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1Cor. 15:12-58) Emphasis mine
Notice that Paul teaches that in both the first and second resurrections everyone will be raised with an imperishable spiritual body full of glory and power. No more death! No more cancers! No more hearth disease! No more ebola!
Both the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel give further witness to Paul’s testimonies:
“ And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan.12:1-3)rsv
“They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev.20:4-6)
I hope it is everyone’s GOAL to be in that glorious and blessed first resurrection! It will be an experience and memory to be treasured for time without end! Celebrating the Festival of Yom Teruah every year should remind us of what a great future lies up ahead. We can have faith that the Father is going to accomplish his objectives, right? He inspired Isaiah to write:
I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:11)
Don’t mind at all. In fact, if I had it earlier and would have sent it out to everyone. Thanks
Thanks, John. A great day to be reminded!
Thank-you! I believe this is an answer to prayer for me. Correct me if I’m off, but I gather that you are coming from the direction of Messianic Judaism, which I was immediately drawn to, but don’t know where to begin, there is no such thing out here in the swamp!
Everyone, all these comments are so helpful. Here it is, Feast of Trumpets, and we are all alone. There is no one else within miles and miles with whom to observe this day. And yet, here are all of you!
And here is another thing about winnowing. You’re separating the chaff/husks/beards/pods/cobs from the grain or legumes within. The sun-ripened grain, the colorful beans, the kernels of life…you would never see them if they weren’t separated. That of great beauty is what the Almighty is after.
It is strange to our eyes the way the LORD works. Four years ago this month we packed up and move halfway across the country because we felt called to…in six weeks everything came together the loss of one job, two much better job options far away the money to move and permission from the courts to take my step children out of state with well wishes from the judge. And then…
Life fell apart everything that was suppose to be “our” new life was torn apart all our saving was gone and I became so angry with God. Why if we where following him and doing everything “right” did this happen??? HE convicted me it was because of my fear…we had chosen to go to a “normal sunday church” because the one thing we had been told we could not do was change my step children’s religion and in fear of man’s rulings we went. We thought we could make up for it by teaching at home the truth but we were oh soo wrong. As I prayed for peace in our home everything fell apart.
The very thing we did out of fear was used against us as the childrens mother who had sent them to sunday church for years testified that she was an atheist and the children were being brainwashed. Now that she has custody she has them very involved in sunday church. I have found in life over and over again that the very things I give into out of fear are the things that are used against me by Ha satan.
We are back at home now, currently living with my mother, a woman I grew up fearing due to her anger, but we have boldly continued to walk our faith out here. And today with Yom Teruah the ability to share with my mom about why we celebrate the festivals and not traditions of men.
Each day here has been a day of winnowing, a day of painful separation from our worldly beliefs and behaviors. But living in HIS perspective, the training is making our faith stronger. Sometimes the winnowing of the heavenly Father takes place at the threshing floor of your worldly father. I’m sure there is more about discipline versus punishment I could share, but I don’t think it is for today.
Blessings
I’ve been listening/viewing various teachings on the Feast of Trumpets, by Jews and Jewish Rabbis. It is quite extraordinary, and there is so much we can learn before jumping to the NT applications. It seems that we rather speedily discount and dismiss the rabbis, and the Jewish way of celebrating days appointed by YHVH, and given to Israel. As a result, we proceed away from what there is to learn from the Jews.
One little thing I heard in a teaching about today is that it is actually “Head” of the Year rather than “New” Year (the explanation of the difference is interesting). Also, this is the day each year when the Jews once again coronate YHVH as KING of the Universe, another majestic reason for blowing the shofar. The story of Hannah and her prayer for a child (Samuel) receive some stunning attention too, especially why Hannah’s prayer is the template for Jewish prayers, and also the prophetic reference to a coming Mashiach. These are things I never learned in Sunday School, and most definitely not in the context in which the Jews have been taught for years, and there is so much more.
Maybe we could come along side the Jews and truly learn how they’ve come to celebrate the Holy Days, maybe even join in. Now that would be a beautiful thing, especially without being compelled to tell them “how it really is”, or what “they” are missing. If some, or even most, is tradition and not specifically Scriptural, they are at least trying to honor the days YHVH commanded be set aside for HIM, and there are specific instructions they do follow, which most of us completely ignore regarding HIS Holy Days.
I do wish this group could have a holy convocation and hear the blowing of the shofars. It is lonely on this road. I know many of you experience the absence of close kindred spirits within reach also. YHVH is with us, and this too is the kindness of YAH. So, we’ll keep following.
I sincerely hope I haven’t offended anyone. I barely know anything. Actually, I don’t know anything, but I’m trying to learn.
“May you each be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year.”
Marci
Marci, for myself, you just taught me a lot, and gave me an even better example. Hearing where your heart is makes me happy! Thank you!
Hello Laurita ‘Happy Heart’ Hayes.
You just made my heart smile too. Thank You!! Marci
Please bear with me in my ignorance, I am new to this site, but I’m a little less ignorant already! Thank-you, you are a blessing to me, and I hope to be a blessing to you.
“He wants to bring us to the point of obedience and sometimes that means crisis and catastrophe in our lives.” ABBA in His purposes, will guide us to where He wants us to go, as we wait to hear His still small voice in our spirits. The crisis and catastrophe He leads us through demand a right response to the situation, otherwise, we go through it again.
Shalom.