Tefillah

Tefillah, the Hebrew word for prayer, means to “self evaluate”. Prayer by this definition, is a time to examine oneself against the Holiness of God, to reflect and compare everything in our lives as it relates to God.

We just need to be careful that we do not miss the intent here. Living a life of freedom in Christ is fixing our eyes, our souls’ focus on Jesus. It is not living by a list.

Sweet Lord, You are not a rule, You are The Ruler. Not harsh, or overbearing, but gently and lovingly leading us in life…if we choose You.

It is a daily, moment by moment choice of attitude, reliance and dependence. So many look for a list, some earth bound tangible guide. They want a “ruler” they can measure with, but You laid the measurements for all creation. You are our immeasurable Creator God, the Holy One ~ Our Ruler. And when You live in us, our only measure.

Send out your light and your truth;
    let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you live.

Psalm 43:3 ~ NLT

{emphasis, mine}

How we worship, how we live for Christ, how we go about our days is as unique as how we were created.  God formed each of us, wrote our days in our DNA ~ to question the design, is to question The Designer.

Flower petals and butterfly wings…

The twinkle of fireflies and the Milky Way…

A baby’s sigh and The One Who gave it breath…

We can choose to live in awe, looking for Him in every whisper…or not. For me, I choose the whisper and am so very grateful that we live in the great expanse of freedom that Love created. He gives us His creation to find Him in, to seek after and follow Him in, as we offer our Tefillah, prayer

…Then God promises to love me all day,

sing songs all through the night!

My life is God’s prayer.

Psalm 42:8 ~ The Message Version

Jehovah Elohim Yeshua

An online devotional I was reading (which now I can’t locate!) had a phrase that really caught my attention. It said something like, “despair being the vacuum of an idol”. I really like that visual. It is normal to be sad over something, to feel lost and upset by a change of season in our lives. Adjustment and understanding can be hard work! But it is normal to feel a little out of sorts at first…what isn’t healthy, or intended by God is for us to pitch a tent and move in to a place of despair. That space left behind by a broken dream, a hope, a person that we still look toward. That vacuum pulls the life out of us and suspends us in the middle of our own focus. Despair can cause us to drift from the Truth ever so gently, that we never see how far the vacuum, “idol”, has taken us. There is no compelling, no movement, no air for our soul to breathe ~ only an empty idol of our own making.

God never intended this pain to be our center of attention. When our hearts, minds and souls are centered on Christ, HE brings us thru…HE is The Healer, Our Father who loves faithfully and forever. When HE is our focus and our Focuser, there is no despair, no place for a vacuum.

Jehovah Elohim Yeshua

Lord God of my salvation.

In doing a devotion about the names of God, this one made my heart jump. HE is just that, and when we know this, know Him, all those empty idols reveal themselves for what they really are, empty.

Our God is The God of Creation, 

of every season in our lives ~

He moves us to 

Places of Life not loss…

Clarity not clutter…

Fullness not faithlessness…

Hope-filled not hopeless.

He knows our steps, our hopes and His plans for us far outstretch our dreams. His Fullness, the Fullness of Christ is the lifter of our heads, the joy in every moment when we look to Him, our Jehovah Elohim Yeshua

Expose all who drift away from your sayings;
    their casual idolatry is lethal.
You reject earth’s wicked as so much rubbish;
    therefore I lovingly embrace everything you say.
I shiver in awe before you;
    your decisions leave me speechless with reverence.

Psalm 119:118-120

Oil Lamps

"Oil Lamps", my first thought when I woke up this morning. The Lord gave me a beautiful picture of a lovely lamp, full and that I am not the one who fills the lamp, no need to go looking for oil ~ or the means to get it ~ He fills it and keeps it that way.

 

We don’t have to worry about the “how” of letting our lives be light to others, because we are already filled and being filled by Him. We were never intended to live a life flitting around looking for “just” the right thing to do in order to please Him. All we “need” to do is offer this vessel, our body-His lamp, to Him. We put ourselves before Him every morning as a fresh offering to start the day…He will do the rest.

Our offering is our willingness to live and serve Him. What that looks like, where that is and how it is done is all His doing.

It is in the offering, the open heart, the willingness that He fills His lamp, that’s us, to overflowing with the Holy Spirit in order to be His Light Bearers in this world.

Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10 ~ NIV

Where the World Hangs

Everything flows from this verse in Matthew, doesn’t it? This teaching from Jesus…

”Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion, and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set along-side it. ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

Matthew 22:37-40 Message Version

It’s where our world hangs from ~ how well, or how wrong things go, are already determined by the love that motivates and is incorporated completely into anything we do. Without God’s Love, we cannot do anything to the fullness of His intention and when we “love” our activity or attention more that those around us, it is emptiness.

God’s work, His purposes for us, will always ultimately lead us to others ~ Just as His “work” for Himself led Jesus to us.

JOY

J esus first

O thers second

Y ou last

This is true JOY. ~ Lois Kelly,

Kindergarten teacher

Oh, how the “shoulda, woulda, couldas” of life can rob our intended joy and steal our peace, the gifts of God.

When our dreams are stolen and our hearts are broken we need not stay there ~ that is what we do when our minds linger there, when we day dream over the shouldas and our words carry in them, a wistfulness for yesterday.

God allows all that happens in our life and He carries us forward, when we choose His path for us. He moves past, over, around and thru the could-have-beens and brings us to the openness of now ~ The empowered, with-God days, where Joy resides.

In Him all things are possible ~ all healing and purpose are found. The heart break and hurts that are so deep, are the very well-spring that we serve from. Living in them, instead of offering them up for service, is where our bondage traps us. There is no Life there, only sorrows of the past.

Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10 ~ NIV

Joy was never meant to be self-serving, ‘me’ oriented. Joy, real joy, the JOY of Jesus is all encompassing. When we look at our circumstance, our feelings and see them only from a ‘what’s in it for me’ perspective, we’ve already missed it. But, when we put Jesus first and His desires for others next, our hearts are filled to overflowing! Really, what’s more joyful than sensing His presence in a situation and seeing real JOY released into the lives of others!  As for being last? We’re never last in God’s eyes. HE is the One Who directs our steps, plans our days and invites us to enJOY every moment with Him…in all things.

Our God, King of kings, Lord of lords is the Light in the darkness ~ we need only step towards Him and lean into Love’s Joy and allow ourselves to heal…to learn the unforced rhythms of Grace, as He lives in us and thru us. ♥

But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 42:8 ~ New Living Translation