"Oh taste and see that YHVH/the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh fear the LORD, you his holy ones, For there is no lack with those who fear him." vs. 8-9
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But YHVH/the LORD delivers him out of them all." vs. 19
I was up early this morning because after He spoke this Psalm to me, I couldn't remain in bed until I had read it and meditated on it. My husband asked me what it meant to me, and I said, "YHVH is good. We need to look for YHVH's provision, even if it's not what we expect to see."
The scriptures don't tell us that living for Him will be easy, but they do tell us that He is good. He doesn't say we won't face adversity, but that He is good, and He will provide for us. I want to look for His provisions knowing that He will provide, and that it might not (probably won't!) be in the manner I expect. So why expect a certain outcome? If we believe that YHVH/God is Sovereign Supreme, why not let Him provide in the manner that He sees fit?
Shalom, shalom.
Showing posts with label Yah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yah. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Week 2 ~ Day 1 - Growing Through Prayer
Growing Through Prayer (A 'Loving God Greatly' Bible Study)
January 18, 2016
Week 2 ~ Day 1
Read: 1 Timothy 2:8
SOAP: 1 Timothy 2:8
S:
I tell you that this day, as I’m looking at the
definitions for these words, there is a LOT standing out to me. “The men in every place pray” so
we are to pray without limit, no matter where we are. “Lifting up holy
hands”, hands that are free from wickedness.
How many times have I cast my worries and troubles, my words at the feet
of Him who sits on the throne, but there has been doubt niggling in the back of
my mind? Once, when we lived in
Pensacola, FL, our pastor there passed out scraps of paper and told everyone to
write down on that paper what was on their mind. Years later, I did this in a children’s
Sunday school class I was leading, following that example. I asked the kids to write down their biggest
worry. Then, just as the pastor had
instructed us to ball up the paper and throw it onto the altar, I asked the kids to toss theirs into
the middle of the room. It was freeing
to do so! The pastor had said to us,
“Now don’t pick it up! You’ve given it
to God – don’t take it back.” I said to
the kids, “You’ve given your cares to God, would you take it back?” Most shook their heads “no”. However, a few of the kids did what we, as
adults, don’t usually want to admit to: when given the chance, they went and
picked up their paper. They had watched
where their paper landed, and retrieved it.
This is what I see in my mind as I read this verse.
“I desire therefore that the men in
every place pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.”
O&A:
Pray: to offer prayers
Holy hands: of YHVH – undefiled by
sin, free from wickedness, pure, holy, pious, hallowed
Without: without any person or thing –
having NO association with; apart from; aloof from
Wrath: indignation – vehement
exasperation
Doubting: the thinking of a man
deliberating with himself; inward reasoning; hesitation; wavering in mind;
calling in question
Now here’s what’s really, really speaking to
me:
WITHOUT wrath,
WITHOUT doubting. Having no association
with indignation. Having no association with hesitation. Having no
association with inward reasoning.
Having no association
with wavering in mind.
There was a desire in me, all those
years ago, to leave my paper crumpled up at the altar, and yet I was torn
because I also wanted to retrieve it.
Even now, I sometimes have to force myself to leave it with my Melek, my
King, and not try to take hold of the care myself. It’s usually
easier to do so now, but let the concern be about money, and my mind wants to
run up and grab the concerns back, as if I have any power! But praise be to Yah, HE is able! I have even, at times, asked Him to not allow
me to think about it. “Take this concern
out of my mind, Abba.” I have requested of Him.
And He does. Not until it comes
to pass, or is resolved will He bring it back to mind. In this, I am reassured of His Sovereignty,
and of His ability: that He alone is my strength, and my fortress.
P:
Abba, YHVH, Sovereign King of the Universe, great and mighty in power
are You! Father, I ask that You would
forgive me my doubts, and my indignations.
I pray that You would forgive me of the times that I have not come
before You with undefiled hands, and that You would forgive my moments of not
willing to relinquish myself, my desires, my troubles, my cares, my angers, my
hostilities, my fleshly desires to You!
I pray that You would forgive my reluctance to pray openly when You’ve
called me to, in every place, with regard only to You, and not for location or
company. Abba, I pray that You would
continue in Your teaching me to not debate in my mind that which I bring before
You, so that I would be of one mind, and one accord with You, my beloved. Let me boast only of YOU! When I lift my arms to You in praise and
worship, let my hands and my heart be pure and undefiled so that they might be
acceptable to You, and able to go forth and do Your
bidding. When I reach out to You, You
answer, my Elohim. You have called me
out of the miry clay, and I praise You and thank You this day that You have
done so! I exalt You, and ask that we
would see our beloved family members, friends, brothers, and sisters called out
of their miry clay and into Your kingdom - to be crafted into Your vessels, to
do Your works, to be Your light. In Your
Son Yeshua’s blessed name, Amein.Friday, January 15, 2016
Week 1 ~ Day 5 - Growing Through Prayer
Growing Through Prayer (A 'Loving God Greatly' Bible Study)
January 15,
2016
Day 5
Read: Romans 15:30 &
Colossians 1:9
SOAP: Colossians 1:9
S:
“For this cause, we also, since
the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you
may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding.”
O&A
Truthfully, this passage makes me
ask two questions: “For what cause?”
and “heard what?” Reading up a few verses answers those
questions. “Since the day you heard and knew the grace of
Elohim in truth” and “having heard of your faith in Messiah Yeshua, and of the
love which you have toward all the holy ones”.
There is also the mention of this: “whereof
you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News, which has come to
you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and
growing”. I don’t want to go off on a
tangent but it proves that good words must be followed with
good works (fruit).
Focusing on the specific scripture of
verse 9, “don’t cease praying and making requests for you” really stands out to
me. He is saying this not just for
himself, but those in the Spirit, “WE” have not paused in praying for you, have
not quit praying for you, have not restrained their prayers, and have not been
released from praying for them, nor have they been released from making
requests for them.
How many times have I prayed for something, and because there is not an
immediate response, I’ve said, “Well, Abba, I guess that wasn’t for me (or
them, or whomever)”…?!? Using as an
example here, if I pray for a grieving mother (this is so near and dear to my
heart), and I ask the Father to comfort her, and her family, yet they still
grieve, do I stop asking Him to comfort them?
No! Do I assume that comfort is
not for them? Definitely not. If I ask Him to give them shalom/peace in
their hearts, knowing that they will see
their beloved in the kingdom, and they still cry for the loss, am I to take it
to mean that my prayers are futile?
Yah/God forbid. I press in, and
do not cease praying for them!
I love that Sha’ul/Paul lines out
what he is making request of from YHVH, rather than what I do more often than
not which is to tell people, “I’ll pray for you” or on Facebook,
“Praying!” He is specific in his prayers
and requests, and not ashamed to voice them.
Sometimes (a lot of the time, actually) I struggle with praying
publicly. I worry that my words aren’t
enough, or that if I ask Him for something and it’s not given, that it’s a
reflection somehow on me. (Which of
course, it’s not – He is Sovereign!) I
also don’t prefer to pray so that everyone can hear me, rather, I like to pray
privately in my prayer closet, according to Matthew 6:5-8.
“When you pray, you shall not be as
the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may
be seen by men. Most assuredly, I tell you, they have received their
reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut
your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly.”
I sometimes worry that if I pray
openly or publicly, that it could be perceived such as this. I am still learning to discern between the
times to pray privately or when to share the prayers. So to post prayers here is something He is
teaching me to overcome. The key to it,
as I understand, is asking “am I doing it to be heard, or according to His
leading?” If I am only doing it to make
my voice heard, woe to me. At which
point, I check in with YHVH (as I’m doing now) and allow Him to correct me
according to his word (totally edited a lot by doing this!).
P:
Abba YHVH, I pray that You would examine my heart and purge it of any
vanity. I pray that You would cleanse me
of myself, and wash me in the purity and selflessness of Yeshua, our Messiah,
our Savior. I am struggling today as my
flesh fights against Your Ruach/Spirit within me. The closer I draw to You, and into Your word, the more
difficult the struggle. I want to be empty of myself, and my desires, and yet I
can feel the carnal/fleshly being trying to press in!
I pray that we would remember to
press in in prayer, for others, for ourselves, for Your will to be done, unless
otherwise instructed by You. Rather than
pray my own prayer, Abba, please allow me to use the example from today’s
Scripture.
I pray that we would be, as Sha’ul
prayed, filled with the knowledge of Your will, YHVH, in ALL spiritual wisdom
and understanding; that we would walk worthily of You, pleasing to You in all
respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of You;
and that we would be strengthened with all the power according to the might of
Your glory, and for all endurance and perseverance with JOY! Thank You, Abba, for giving us these examples
in Your word, and allowing me to pray for us that which Sha’ul has prayed for
others.
Abba, bless us as You spoke to
Moshe/Moses, “Speak to Aharon and his sons, and tell
them that this is how you are to bless the people of Isra’el: you are to say to
them,
‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai/YHVH v’yishmerekha.
[May Adonai/YHVH bless you and
keep you.]
Ya’er Adonai/YHVH panav eleikha
vichunekka.
[May Adonai/YHVH make his face
shine on you and show you his favor.]
Yissa Adonai/YHVH panav eleikha v’yasem
l’kha shalom.
[May Adonai/YHVH lift up his face
toward you and give you peace.]’
“In this way they are to put my name on
the people of Isra’el, so that I will bless them.” (
In Yeshua’s name,
Amein.
Today is prep day for Shabbat, beginning at sundown tonight (Friday evening).
Shabbat Shalom from our family to yours!
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