so i've been slowly working my way through the Bible - slowly is an understatement. I've been reading for a year and I'm about halfway through Isaiah, haha, but it's been good.
so God's been teaching me stuff this past week and i get excited about it you know? here's some cool stuff from this week:
On worship:
Isaiah 29:13 - "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.' "
These rules of men:
Isaiah 28:10 - "For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there."
when God meant for it to be rest -
Isaiah 28:12 - "to whom He said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose" - but they would not listen."
Isaiah 30:15 - "This is what the Sovereign LORD (Yahweh), the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.' "
on trust:
Isaiah 28:16 - "So this is what the Sovereign LORD (Yahweh) says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.'"
-- this is Jesus. God's measuring line is justice - His plumb line is righteousness (28:17) - on my own I fall short, but Jesus, when Jesus is my foundation, His righteousness, His justice - covers me. He's sure, He's tested, He's precious. The cornerstone, for which the whole structure relies on to keep it standing, keep it from falling apart - that's Him.
Isaiah 26:3-4 - "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD (Yahweh) forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."
Isaiah 25:9 - "In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him and He saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"
on being poor and needy:
Isaiah 25:4 - "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat."
Isaiah 29:19 - "Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
on who my God is:
Isaiah 25:1 - "O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."
Isaiah 25:6-8 - "On this mountain, the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken."
Isaiah 28:5-6 - "In that day, the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His people. He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate (the most vulnerable part of the wall)."
Isaiah 28:29 - "All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom."
Isaiah 30:18 - "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!"
Isaiah 30:19 - "O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you."
Isaiah 30:26 - "The moon will shine like the sun and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted."
The goodness of the Lord is magnified in light of my rebelliousness and disobedience. I am an obstinate little Israel most of the time - to the point where, like them, I say "stop confronting [me] with the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 30:11)" sometimes. I am the one who has turned things upside down - who forgets that the Lord is my Creator - that He is God and I am not. that He knows better than I do, that He's enough - I don't have to add or take away from anything He's done.
Isaiah 29:16 - "You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?"
No. My God is perfect. He is Sovereign. He knows me, He longs to be gracious towards me.
I am my Beloved's and He is mine.
<3
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, October 3, 2008
a teddy bear vs a lover.... redefining intimacy
this is embarassing... but here it is: i still sleep with a teddy bear... and not just one...but two.
in my defense they're both very sentimental and have ties to my Oma... so that makes me feel less pathetic.
anyways... i know teddy bears. I worked in Build-A-Bear for crying out loud... I know, along with every other human being, that teddy bears are soft, cuddly, cute and many find them comforting... especially little kids. There's a sense of intimacy associated with teddy bears I think.
Little kids sleep with them, they cart them around, they drool all over them ((or in my case I tended to puke on them... man it just keeps getting more embarrassing for me :) ))... they're personal with their teddy bears (or blankets).
Kids aren't the only ones who associate teddy bears with intimacy. Countless boyfriends, fiances, and husbands came into the store to stuff bears for that "lucky girl" in their life. They went through impressively embarrassing links to stuff the bear too... jumping up and down, wishing on red hearts, announcing to the whole store that they loved this girl.
I've known that the Lord isn't a "Teddy bear" God... He isn't always soft and cuddly, there's an element to Him that is fierce, jealous, even wrathful. Of course He is gracious and merciful, but not at the expense of justice or righteousness. He's not "the Big Guy upstairs waiting to squash you" but He isn't a door-mat you just walk over either. So I've known, even told others, that the Lord isn't a teddy-bear God... but He hit me with something this week that was somewhat crazy... I'll share.
In Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, they refer to God as LORD in all caps. This is significant, because they aren't calling the Lord "Adonai" but they're calling Him "Yahweh". "Yahweh"... God's name was sooo great, too great, that they didn't dare say it, or even write it. They used LORD as somewhat of a euphemism for it, for lack of a better word. I could be wrong about this, but that's just the info I have on hand, so test it... test all of what I say in this btw, and cling to what's good (if any is) ((1Thess5). Nowadays, "Yahweh", although it isn't common for us to say, is said, even sung, so it doesn't seem like such a big deal... but it hit me this week. I wonder, what it would be like to be in the presence of the LORD who was too... too holy, too righteous, too awesome, too fierce, too gracious, too loving, too merciful, too sovereign... you get my point... and to not even be able to utter His name because my lips aren't even worthy, they can't even form the name "Yahweh"??? What would that look and feel like.. to have such a reverent fear of God Almighty that I wouldn't even be able to write the Holy name of Yahweh?
Israel had a big view of the LORD when they had their eyes on Him. Those that sought Him had a fear of Him... not a fear like "I'm afraid of the dark" but a reverent fear, a genuine AWE of the Lord.
In so many ways I am a little Israel. I am stiff-necked, stubborn, prideful, and unfaithful... but the Lord is faithful to His word and covenant with me... He desires me... all of me. I don't understand it. BUT this week God has been kinda hitting me over the head with His name throughout the Psalms as I've been reading. I had read Ps 81 last week and the intimate desire of the Lord to fill us, to satisfy us, to have us listen to Him, open wide our mouths and expectantly wait for Him to fill them... was crazy. I started thinking about Yahweh, and how I just feel soo unjustified in saying it, because all of these "greats" in the Bible didn't even dare utter it... that's how crazy God is. Moses couldn't even see His face He was that awesome. I know that my relationship with the Lord is like a marraige, that He wants to know me intimately and I want to know Him intimately, but I realized Sunday that there's a shift that's happening (hopefully) in my life and my walk.
The Lord doesn't just want to be a teddy bear to me... something I fall asleep next too, that gets kicked around or put at the end of the bed, that's left when I go out of town (sometimes), that's on the outside of me... He doesn't want that kind of intimacy, if it can be called that... He wants to be a jealous lover. Not only does He not want to be a teddy bear... I want more than a teddy bear. I want the childlike faith that kids have, but I don't want my God to be small enough for me to drag around and only as close to me as my grip to Him is tight.
The differences between a lover and a teddy bear are vast... I'll let you think of your own and of the obvious ones. The Lord wants to be in me, wants to be one with me, wants to be more than the lifeless thing at the foot of my bed when I go to sleep. Is He gentle? Yes. Is He cuddly? Maybe. Is He trustworthy? Well, His word says He is and He has never failed, so I'd say yes. Is it scary? I'm freaking out. Why? Because He's the Living God, Yahweh, All-Knowing, jealous, Alpha, Omega, Creator, Judge...He's holy, righteous, and fiercely loving. He's compassionate, faithful, patient, good, just, slow to anger but quick to be gracious and merciful. He's overwhelmingly huge, and yet He's made it so simple for me to be in a relationship with Him. There's something exciting and a little bit frightening to think that the God who is all of those things wants to be with me.
I know how to handle teddy bears... but this is all new ground.
So I'm waiting... I don't know what's going on, but there's this excited/afraid/anticipation welling up within me... and I like it.
<3
in my defense they're both very sentimental and have ties to my Oma... so that makes me feel less pathetic.
anyways... i know teddy bears. I worked in Build-A-Bear for crying out loud... I know, along with every other human being, that teddy bears are soft, cuddly, cute and many find them comforting... especially little kids. There's a sense of intimacy associated with teddy bears I think.
Little kids sleep with them, they cart them around, they drool all over them ((or in my case I tended to puke on them... man it just keeps getting more embarrassing for me :) ))... they're personal with their teddy bears (or blankets).
Kids aren't the only ones who associate teddy bears with intimacy. Countless boyfriends, fiances, and husbands came into the store to stuff bears for that "lucky girl" in their life. They went through impressively embarrassing links to stuff the bear too... jumping up and down, wishing on red hearts, announcing to the whole store that they loved this girl.
I've known that the Lord isn't a "Teddy bear" God... He isn't always soft and cuddly, there's an element to Him that is fierce, jealous, even wrathful. Of course He is gracious and merciful, but not at the expense of justice or righteousness. He's not "the Big Guy upstairs waiting to squash you" but He isn't a door-mat you just walk over either. So I've known, even told others, that the Lord isn't a teddy-bear God... but He hit me with something this week that was somewhat crazy... I'll share.
In Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, they refer to God as LORD in all caps. This is significant, because they aren't calling the Lord "Adonai" but they're calling Him "Yahweh". "Yahweh"... God's name was sooo great, too great, that they didn't dare say it, or even write it. They used LORD as somewhat of a euphemism for it, for lack of a better word. I could be wrong about this, but that's just the info I have on hand, so test it... test all of what I say in this btw, and cling to what's good (if any is) ((1Thess5). Nowadays, "Yahweh", although it isn't common for us to say, is said, even sung, so it doesn't seem like such a big deal... but it hit me this week. I wonder, what it would be like to be in the presence of the LORD who was too... too holy, too righteous, too awesome, too fierce, too gracious, too loving, too merciful, too sovereign... you get my point... and to not even be able to utter His name because my lips aren't even worthy, they can't even form the name "Yahweh"??? What would that look and feel like.. to have such a reverent fear of God Almighty that I wouldn't even be able to write the Holy name of Yahweh?
Israel had a big view of the LORD when they had their eyes on Him. Those that sought Him had a fear of Him... not a fear like "I'm afraid of the dark" but a reverent fear, a genuine AWE of the Lord.
In so many ways I am a little Israel. I am stiff-necked, stubborn, prideful, and unfaithful... but the Lord is faithful to His word and covenant with me... He desires me... all of me. I don't understand it. BUT this week God has been kinda hitting me over the head with His name throughout the Psalms as I've been reading. I had read Ps 81 last week and the intimate desire of the Lord to fill us, to satisfy us, to have us listen to Him, open wide our mouths and expectantly wait for Him to fill them... was crazy. I started thinking about Yahweh, and how I just feel soo unjustified in saying it, because all of these "greats" in the Bible didn't even dare utter it... that's how crazy God is. Moses couldn't even see His face He was that awesome. I know that my relationship with the Lord is like a marraige, that He wants to know me intimately and I want to know Him intimately, but I realized Sunday that there's a shift that's happening (hopefully) in my life and my walk.
The Lord doesn't just want to be a teddy bear to me... something I fall asleep next too, that gets kicked around or put at the end of the bed, that's left when I go out of town (sometimes), that's on the outside of me... He doesn't want that kind of intimacy, if it can be called that... He wants to be a jealous lover. Not only does He not want to be a teddy bear... I want more than a teddy bear. I want the childlike faith that kids have, but I don't want my God to be small enough for me to drag around and only as close to me as my grip to Him is tight.
The differences between a lover and a teddy bear are vast... I'll let you think of your own and of the obvious ones. The Lord wants to be in me, wants to be one with me, wants to be more than the lifeless thing at the foot of my bed when I go to sleep. Is He gentle? Yes. Is He cuddly? Maybe. Is He trustworthy? Well, His word says He is and He has never failed, so I'd say yes. Is it scary? I'm freaking out. Why? Because He's the Living God, Yahweh, All-Knowing, jealous, Alpha, Omega, Creator, Judge...He's holy, righteous, and fiercely loving. He's compassionate, faithful, patient, good, just, slow to anger but quick to be gracious and merciful. He's overwhelmingly huge, and yet He's made it so simple for me to be in a relationship with Him. There's something exciting and a little bit frightening to think that the God who is all of those things wants to be with me.
I know how to handle teddy bears... but this is all new ground.
So I'm waiting... I don't know what's going on, but there's this excited/afraid/anticipation welling up within me... and I like it.
<3
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