Last fall, during Advent, I 'happened' to begin reading Beth Moore's book, Jesus, the One and Only, as part of my time with the Lord in the morning. As it 'happened,' the beginning of the book coincided perfectly with the timing of Advent (before Jesus's birth). It was 'spot on' for the Scriptures we were reading in church. Now that we are in a Lenten season, with Holy Week approaching...The Passover, the New Covenant, all that comes before our Lord's great sacrifice for us, it 'happens' that Beth's teaching is perfectly coinciding once again. I love the way the Lord crafts the tiniest details of our circumstances to assure us that His attention and care are even at the level of counting the number of hairs on our heads. [All I know is the grey ones are falling out faster!]
I want to encourage you to purchase this title right at this very moment (only$4.99 on Kindle) and jump into the Upper Room and dusty streets of Jerusalem with her. Her insights are fresh and new to me, despite decades of reading, listening, and learning about this pivotal, cataclysmic time in the history of our world. Don't start at the beginning, though. Start now with Part 9. (The Lamb of God) on page 266. You can go back to the beginning later. Trust me, it will be well worth the journey.
[Jesus, the One and Only
Beth Moore]
Julie
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
Always Seeking Deeper
Awhile ago, at our CEC women's retreat, I shared about Drawing Near to the Tender Heart and Hand of God. This blog entry is especially for the women who shared a cabin porch with me at those times, but also for those men and women who, like them, are seeking a continually deeper relationship with Adonai (Abba, Yeshua, and Ruach Hakodesh).
More Scriptures on which to meditate:
Isaiah 26:9 "Cause my soul to yearn for you in the night and to long for you in the morning."
Isaiah 45:3. "I will give you treasures hoarded in the dark, secret riches hidden away, so that you will know that I, ADONAI, calling you by your name, am the God of Israel."
John 17:3. "And eternal life is this: to know You, the one true God, and him, whom You sent, Yeshua the Messiah."
Colossians 3:1-2: "So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above,
where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God. Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God." {Ask Him to show you pictures of all the ways you are hidden in Him, including in the light of His being}
Colossians 3:10. "...[because you have] put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator."
We can gain both wisdom and purity, practical sense and innocence (Matthew 10), daily direction and long-term vision, just by spending time with Him. We don't dwell in an ethereal realm, but in an earthly one, where our jobs, relationships, and survival depend on wise, 'practical' actions. However, when we connect with our wise Father, spending significant chunks of time with Him each day in the realm of His Kingdom, we absorb His Personality, including His wise and discerning nature, as well
as His compassionate heart. We become not naive, but innocent; not cynical but discerning. We
walk in His Kingdom while we're walking on the earth, taking steps that bear fruit in people's earthly lives as well as their eternal ones.
*********************
The Hebrew word Shama means "listening with undivided attention." Do it. 😊
See if He sends you on a 'word' treasure hunt through His Love Letters, after You lose Yourself in Him for awhile.
Some were asking for more worship songs....Here are a few that foster sweet intimacy and draw you up to Heaven. Please add your favorites in the Comments section at the end of this blog entry, and remember to 'sing Him a new song' of your own.
More Scriptures on which to meditate:
Isaiah 26:9 "Cause my soul to yearn for you in the night and to long for you in the morning."
Isaiah 45:3. "I will give you treasures hoarded in the dark, secret riches hidden away, so that you will know that I, ADONAI, calling you by your name, am the God of Israel."
John 17:3. "And eternal life is this: to know You, the one true God, and him, whom You sent, Yeshua the Messiah."
Colossians 3:1-2: "So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above,
where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God. Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God." {Ask Him to show you pictures of all the ways you are hidden in Him, including in the light of His being}
Colossians 3:10. "...[because you have] put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator."
We can gain both wisdom and purity, practical sense and innocence (Matthew 10), daily direction and long-term vision, just by spending time with Him. We don't dwell in an ethereal realm, but in an earthly one, where our jobs, relationships, and survival depend on wise, 'practical' actions. However, when we connect with our wise Father, spending significant chunks of time with Him each day in the realm of His Kingdom, we absorb His Personality, including His wise and discerning nature, as well
as His compassionate heart. We become not naive, but innocent; not cynical but discerning. We
walk in His Kingdom while we're walking on the earth, taking steps that bear fruit in people's earthly lives as well as their eternal ones.
*********************
The Hebrew word Shama means "listening with undivided attention." Do it. 😊
See if He sends you on a 'word' treasure hunt through His Love Letters, after You lose Yourself in Him for awhile.
Some were asking for more worship songs....Here are a few that foster sweet intimacy and draw you up to Heaven. Please add your favorites in the Comments section at the end of this blog entry, and remember to 'sing Him a new song' of your own.
- Roy Fields: Less of Me, Fill This Place, Majesty, In the Presence of Angels
- Fernando Ortega: Come Down, O Love Divine; Give Me Jesus.....any of his
- ***Julie True: Let My Life Be Worship, Father's Heart; Angels, We Invite You; Healing in Your Presence; and any others
- Michael W. Smith: Take Me Over, Deep in Love With You, Son of God, Agnus Dei...
- Kari Jobe: Beloved, Beautiful; The More I Seek You; Here.....more, more, more
- Kirk Dearman: All Creation Worships You...
- Chris Rice Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)...
- Selah: Depth of Mercy; Draw Me, Lord; ....
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Revealing the Father
We all know well Yeshua's call: "Come to Me, all you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). We may forget it from time to time, but we know it by heart. What I have never really noticed before, is that this promise follows immediately after an integral statement about our Heavenly Father: "Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him." (Verse 27)
Yeshua always leads us to ADONAI, to our Abba. He embodies the Father to us and is the Bridge of open access to His heart. He carries us and lays us upon His chest. As Yeshua reveals His Father to us, we are immersed in a Love so great, so indescribable, that all the cares and struggles and concerns of our lives pale, recede, diminish, disappear in His Shalom that surpasses every bit of intellectual understanding we possess. He is so much greater, so much bigger, so much more powerful than our problems. We are the 'apple of His eye.' What can the world truly do to us that matters more?
Yeshua always leads us to ADONAI, to our Abba. He embodies the Father to us and is the Bridge of open access to His heart. He carries us and lays us upon His chest. As Yeshua reveals His Father to us, we are immersed in a Love so great, so indescribable, that all the cares and struggles and concerns of our lives pale, recede, diminish, disappear in His Shalom that surpasses every bit of intellectual understanding we possess. He is so much greater, so much bigger, so much more powerful than our problems. We are the 'apple of His eye.' What can the world truly do to us that matters more?
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Known
Recently I was reading in Thessalonians and came to Jesus' return 'in a fiery flame' with His angels....when we who are still on the earth and who believe and trust in Him will be there. I pictured myself in the grateful audience. Yet He turned to look at me tenderly. He knew me. He looked at each one of us personally, one by one, knowing and recognizing each individual who loved and trusted in Him. We weren't a giant mass of humanity to Him but rather a huge group of beloved ones. It was as if a movie camera zoomed in, focusing on each detail....each wrinkled line on a face, each gleam in an eye, each quirky smile, each look of love. We were Known. He had come for us....come to take us Home, where we belonged. He was untouchable in His glory but reachable in the domain of His heart. "That's my Bridegroom!" we each shouted with proud and grateful abandon. "The One who loves me! Who's come to rescue me and take me home!" Home to be His bride, His friend, His confidant, His beneficiary, His sister, His brother, the Love of His life!" On earth we were not ashamed to declare our love for Him. Now He was proudly claiming us for His own before all the world and His angels and before the very eyes of the Evil One, who was helpless to stop Him. Nothing and no one could separate us from Him or from the love of our Father found in and through Him. How lovely that we don't have to wait until His second coming to experience that love...nor to declare ours for Him.
(Romans 8: 31-38)
"Rejoice, rejoice believers and let your lights appear!
The evening is advancing and darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising and soon He will draw nigh.
Up, watch in expectation! At midnight comes the cry.
See that your lamps are burning; replenish them with oil
Look now for your salvation, the end of sin and toil
The watchers on the mountain proclaim the Bridegroom near;
Go meet him as he cometh with alleluias clear.
O wise and holy virgins, now raise your voices higher,
Until in songs of triumph ye meet the angel choir.
The marriage feast is waiting, the gates wide open stand;
Rise up, ye heirs of glory! The Bridegroom is at hand.
Our hope and expectation, O Jesus now appear;
Arise, thou Sun so longed for, O'er this benighted sphere!
With hearts and hands uplifted, we plead, O Lord, to see
The day of earth's redemption, and ever be with Thee!
-- Laurentius Laurentius, 1700; music (Greenland) by Joseph Haydn written for later translation in 1819
(Romans 8: 31-38)
"Rejoice, rejoice believers and let your lights appear!
The evening is advancing and darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising and soon He will draw nigh.
Up, watch in expectation! At midnight comes the cry.
See that your lamps are burning; replenish them with oil
Look now for your salvation, the end of sin and toil
The watchers on the mountain proclaim the Bridegroom near;
Go meet him as he cometh with alleluias clear.
O wise and holy virgins, now raise your voices higher,
Until in songs of triumph ye meet the angel choir.
The marriage feast is waiting, the gates wide open stand;
Rise up, ye heirs of glory! The Bridegroom is at hand.
Our hope and expectation, O Jesus now appear;
Arise, thou Sun so longed for, O'er this benighted sphere!
With hearts and hands uplifted, we plead, O Lord, to see
The day of earth's redemption, and ever be with Thee!
-- Laurentius Laurentius, 1700; music (Greenland) by Joseph Haydn written for later translation in 1819
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