LGG: Truth Over Lies ~ Week 6, Monday

READ:Ephesians 6:11-17

SOAP: Ephesians 6:11

S: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

O&A: Verse 13 says, "Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand." There have been so many times that I have only been able to stand. Not actively fight, but just STAND. In the armor of Adonai. Thayer's Greek Lexicon has this elaboration: "also of one who in the midst of the fight holds his position, against the foe". 1 Peter 5:8 speaks of the roaring lion, seeking to devour. Thayer's Greek Lexicon elaborates that seeking: to seek (i. e. in order to find out) by thinking, meditating, reasoning; to inquire into. The adversary, haSatan, is checking out our armor. Am I missing something? Is it strong enough? I have studied armor (not extensively, but with homeschooling my 2 sons, of course we examined medieval armor, lol). What about when I lift my arms in praise - have I offered him a view of vulnerability in the gap of my chest armor, my armpit has been exposed. In medieval times, the goal to harming someone covered by armor was to "go for the gaps". The universal weaknesses of plate armor are the visor, the armpits, the elbow, and the 'seat area' where the body touches the saddle - the buttocks, the back of the thigh, the back of the knee, and the groin, the neck. I believe that this is what haSatan does spiritually. He looks to see where we are lacking, and goes for it. He is our foe! 

I believe that we fight differently. We do not try to learn his weaknesses, as he does ours. Instead, we keep our eyes on Yeshua, on God, and learn HIS strengths. In learning HIS strengths, I learn more of my own weaknesses, and have been blown away by how His strength overcomes my weakness. I don't have to regularly worry about if my knee is exposed, because my entire being, my entire spirit is covered in the blood of Yeshua - HE is my chain mail, if you will. HE covers my weaknesses, and my faults. That doesn't mean I can slack in the other areas of armor, though. I still NEED the utility belt of truth buckled around my waist, the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted my feet with the preparation of the Good News of shalom; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which I will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

"with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the holy ones:" <~ This part right here... I am not only looking out for MY armor, but in prayer, I am covering others in the armor. At our Messianic synagogue, at the end of our service all the men with a tallit (prayer shawl with tzitzit/tassels on it) lift their tallit and put it over their wife, children, sometimes even over single women to bring them under the covering, as our Messianic Rabbi sings the Aaronic benediction. We are being covered both physically and spiritually. When we pray for others, it is like we are extending the tallit over them, offering Abba's safe place, His refuge, while they are in the midst of a fight. 

One brief story here, a real-life application, if you will. A few weeks ago, my husband and 2 sons were trying to help a brother get a large, heavy armoire up to the second floor of his home. It wouldn't fit up the stairs due to the way the stairs curved, so they decided to bring it up over a ledge on the second floor. (EEK!) So my husband and 18 year old son were standing on a table downstairs lifting the armoire up while the brother and my 13 year old son were pulling it up by ropes from the second floor. Then my husband runs upstairs to help, and my 18 year old is holding this thing by himself. (!!!) They get ahold of it upstairs, and husband has 18 year old come up, too. So now 4 strong men trying to bring it up, and one of the ropes slips. I couldn't watch, and then my husband, realizing that this isn't going very well, tells me, "Sweety, get far away from this thing, leave the room." So I go huddle in the laundry room with the sister (the brother we're helping's wife, so my sister) and their very young son. I can now hear them and it's not sounding good. The report is sounding bad. As they begin exclaiming that it's too heavy, my husband runs back downstairs to get under the furniture, lifting it alone. He shows me a vision of Aharon/Aaron and Hur holding up Moshe's/Moses' arms in battle (Exodus 7:11-12). I can't even help it, my arms lift up as I pray, asking Abba to help them. "Abba, keep this thing up, and everyone safe and unharmed!" I hear them still, saying, "I'm getting weak", "I can't keep holding this", "My arms are trembling". Can you imagine how terrifying this is??? My husband calls my 18 year old back down to get the piece back on the floor. My arms lift as high as they can go as I plea for Abba to sustain them, to keep it up, no one hurt. My heart is pounding, tears are in my eyes, and I know that HE is the one keeping them safe. They get the furniture back down safely, no one was hurt (except that my husband pulled a back muscle, and he's now recovered, halleluYah!). Our friends' 10 year old son said to me a few days later, "Thank you for holding your arms up." He wasn't in the room with me when I was doing it. No one told him I had done that. I don't know how he knows, except that Abba revealed it to him. (Turns out that wasn't as short as I thought it would be... sorry!)

But that is what prayer for others is and what it does: the action of intervening on behalf of another. When Yeshua gave His life for us, He intervened on our behalf, so that we *could* be clothed in His armor, and our weaknesses strengthened by Him. But it is still up to us to don the armor each and every day, BEFORE the battles have begun. We have to be diligent and not lazy, never thinking that there isn't a war going on, because there absolutely is. Unlike the physical armor of medieval times, the armor we put on has weight to it, but I believe it is much like our Master's yoke and burden - it is easy and light; it is not too heavy for us, but we must still be responsible for our portion. His word says in spirit and in truth... 

P: Avinu Malkeinu, my Father and my King, Your strength and glory are incredible! Abba, You are just so incredible. You show me through Your Word and through Your Son, and by Your kadosh/holy set-apart spirit just how awesome You are. With You, I don't have to worry about not being covered. I don't have to worry that I'm not enough, because YOU ARE ENOUGH. Help me be strengthened and more rooted in Your ways, in Your word, and in fulfilling the calling You have for my life. In Yeshua's name, Amein.

Week 6 ~ Day 5

GROWING THROUGH PRAYER (A 'LOVING GOD GREATLY' BIBLE STUDY)

February 19, 2016

Week 6 ~ Day 5

Read:  Romans 8:26-27

SOAP: Romans 8:27

S:

“He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the holy ones according to God.”

O&A:

Who searches the hearts?  Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? I, YHVH, search the heart, I try the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

“The  heart  is  crooked^r  above  all,  and desperately sick – who shall know it?

“I, YHVH, search the heart, I try the kidneys, and give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (The Scriptures)

As usual, Abba brings things from my life to my mind as I read His word.  Verse 26 mentions ‘groanings that can’t be uttered”, which is understood as ‘groaning, or a sigh’.  Have you ever been so overwhelmed that you had no words, and could only  (sigh)?  Of course I had to go to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. 

SIGH, verb intransitive To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual and immediately expel it; to suffer a single deep respiration. He sighed deeply in his spirit. 

SIGH, verb transitive

1. To lament; to mourn. Ages to come and men unborn Shall bless her name and sigh her fate.

2. To express by sighs. The gentle swain-sighs back her grief.

SIGH, noun A single deep respiration; a long breath; the inhaling of larger quantity of air than usual, and the sudden emission of it. This is an effort of nature to dilate the lungs and give vigor to the circulation of the blood, when the action of the heart and arteries is languid from grief, depression of spirits, weakness or want of exercise. Hence sighs are indications of grief of debility.

(Begin story portion of today's edition in 3,2,1...)

A few years ago, it was discovered that our eldest son has a cyst on his brain.  Apparently, it’s been there since birth, but up until the day he got hit in the head with our metal front door (he was going out, little brother was coming in – door flies open as he is leaning in to pull it open – collided with his noggin), we had no reason to take a digital peek at his brain.  That night was one of the nights that the Ruach/Spirit interceded for me, because I had no words.  At all.  We didn’t know if he was going to need surgery, all we knew was there was something on his brain.  (It’s called an arachnoid cyst, and it’s in the left temporal area of his brain.)  He didn’t need surgery, praise YHVH!, although we do have to monitor it, and him, make sure it doesn’t get bigger, doesn’t start exhibiting signs or symptoms, etc.

Also a few years ago, our youngest had his tonsils and adenoids taken out.  Standard procedure, they said.  Will heal right up, they said.  In the recovery room, he looked so pale.  I kept asking the nurses about the little bits of bright blood I was seeing on his pillow, spraying out like a mist when he coughed.  I asked questions about everything, because he didn’t seem to be doing too well.  I was relentless in asking the nurses to check his throat.  They did and said they would page the Dr.  He came in, and without examining my son, said that a little bit of blood was okay, no need to worry.  I raised my voice a bit and firmly asked him to look in my son’s throat, and he did, and immediately jumped into action, calling out orders to get him back in the OR STAT, page anesthesiology, etc.  As soon as he walked out, my son opened his mouth, and blood started pouring out of his mouth and nose.  He was terrified, and so were we!  He desperately cried out, “I love you Momma!  I love you Daddy and Nate!” (He told me later that he thought he was dying.)  And with his blood all over my hands, they wheeled him out, back to the OR.  They had to pump blood out of his stomach from where it kept draining, because he had a major bleed going in the back of his throat that was almost not visible.  He was in the OR longer to fix that than he was for the initial 'standard' procedure.  I praise our Father, because He totally orchestrated the way everything came into alignment with the medical and OR team.  Again, there were no words.  I had no strong prayers, just crying out for my son.  The Ruach/Spirit interceded for me.

(Story time has come to a close.) 

Abba sends the Spirit, ministers by the Spirit, so of course He knows the mind of the Spirit.  The Spirit can only do these things according to the will of YHVH.  Sometimes we have NO IDEA what to pray for, or how to pray what is in our heart, in our mind, in our Spirit.  Sometimes we are so weak physically, emotionally, spiritually, or feel detached from a situation, or are even so deep in a situation that we can’t see the past the end of our nose to know what to pray!  This is an awesome time (and way) for the Spirit to intercede for us, to communicate with our Father on our behalf.  Maybe it’s just me, but it’s almost like an auto-drive, if that makes sense..?  We can communicate through our tears, through our cries, through the sighing and groaning, and let the Spirit speak to Abba while we let it out.

P:

Abba, I thank You for supplying us with a multitude of ways to communicate with You, to commune with You, to honor You, to lean on You, and to love You.  Thank You for being with me in the good, the bad, the ugly, and the mucky times, and for loving me into the person I am today, and the person You will grow me into tomorrow.  Thank You for being the same, for not changing on me as I get to know You.  Help me to be like water, ready to flow where and how You move me.  I am so thankful that You are the know-er, and the try-er of my heart, and not I, so that I wouldn’t be deceived of myself. 

Help me to remember that I don’t need the perfect words, or put-together thoughts in order to speak to You or to call on You. 

Thank You even right now!  I can’t get what’s in my head and in my heart out in words, but You know, even if I don’t.  Your Ruach haKodesh/Holy Spirit is interceding for Your children all around the world, even at this moment, and that is just incredible to me.  There is none like You, and I bless You, my King.  Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu!  I bless You, YHVH!  Melek ha olam!  King of the Universe!  In Yeshua’s name, Amein!

#‎LoveGodGreatly‬ 

Week 6 ~ Day 1

GROWING THROUGH PRAYER (A 'LOVING GOD GREATLY' BIBLE STUDY)

February 15, 2016

Week 6 ~ Day 1

Read:  Romans 5:1-2

SOAP: Romans 5:2

S:

“Being therefore justified by faith, we have shalom with Elohim through our Adon Yeshua the Messiah; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  We rejoice in hope of the glory of Elohim.”

O&A:

Through: of him to whom that is due which any one has or has done; by mediation; by means of

Access: Access or approach, like introduction à specifically to YHVH, that friendly relation with Abba whereby we are acceptable to him and have assurance that he is favorably disposed towards us

The peace we have that surpasses all understanding is the peace that we have of our access by faith to Abba.  One way that this makes sense to me is as an Eema/Momma.  If a person came up to me and was speaking to me in a familiar manner, and I didn’t know them, I would have to assume that they had heard of me from someone, but that wouldn’t mean that I knew them.  Now if that same person approached me and said, “Hi Mrs. Smith, I’m so-and-so, your son’s friend,” then I would be more open to speaking to them because of the acquaintance with and mention of my son.  Even better is if my son introduces his friend to me.  He has just become the mediator between his friend and his Eema – the introducer.

Another example that I’ve used with our sons is with a celebrity, or well-known person.  Let’s use Kari Jobe as an example.  If we saw Kari Jobe in a store and ran up to her, she would probably be polite, but wouldn’t know who we are, even though we know who she is.  We might know all about her, where she was born, what she likes, etc. (I’m not a Kari Jobe stalker, just to be clear), but knowing those things ABOUT her isn’t the equivalent of KNOWING her personally. 

That’s where the personal relationship with Yeshua, and with YHVH, comes in.  Yeshua is the mediator between Abba and us.    He is the one who says to Abba, “Here’s my friend/brother/sister ______,” so that when we stand in their presence, we have already been introduced to the King of Glory, and He knows us personally, and by name.  Yeshua won’t say, “Depart from me, you who work lawlessness; I never knew you.”

An addition: Our family observes Pesach/Passover, not as the Hebrews did in Exodus, but because we are told to continue the observation. Last year during the Passover event, the Father led my husband to teach about our personal Passover - when the angel of death passed over US, which is the time that we accepted Yeshua as our Messiah. We were no longer destined for death, but for life in Messiah!

P:

Abba, thank You for sending Your Son Yeshua, the Messiah, to be mediator on our behalf, so that we can rejoice in hope of the glory of You!  Thank You for loving us so much that You found it just to call Him to be a living Torah for us to see, and to love, and for Him to lay down His life for us.  “No greater love hath a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.”  And this friend of ours has introduced us to You, my King, and still mediates on our behalf.  Help me to learn more of Your grace, Your mercy, Your shalom, so that I might be able to embrace it more fully in ways that You have yet to reveal.  Help me in my times of disbelief, and speak confirmation where necessary, and denial if needed.  Speak to me plainly, Abba, so that I would have no misunderstanding of Your Word, Your meaning, and Your purpose. 

Abba, I lift up prayers of healing for A.S., D.R., and L.J. right now, and for Mae, and for the young lady up in Garland, and for the ladies of our LGG group and their families, for the leaders of countries and states and cities, for all in positions of leadership and decision-making.  Abba, there are so many prayer requests, petitions, and mediations to be made; yet You know them all.  I lift them to You, and ask You to be righteous in Your ruling, for healing, for comfort, for peace/shalom, for all things; I ask this in faith, so that they/we may rejoice in hope of the glory of our Elohim – so that our boasting would not be in medical professionals (whom You have given incredible abilities, but life and healing are still in Your hands), but our boasting will be always in You.  In Yeshua’s name, I praise You for keeping my husband safe today, and keeping our sons safe.  Amein.

#‎LoveGodGreatly‬