Life Updates And Just Random Stuff

So, earlier today I reshared a post I had made a couple years ago and I started thinking about stuff. First of all, I wanted to apologize to anyone who’s reading this, who was following what I’d written when I was posting stuff pretty regularly. I hate when people recommit to making posts and then never really turn it around so all that I’m going to say is that my life went through some pretty big, and exciting changes and my writing was apparently one of the first things to go. I’m hoping to try to post more regularly but I’m not going to make any promises because I’ve done this before and I don’t want to be a liar.

Some of you who are reading this know me personally so this won’t be a shock but, if you don’t know me on the day-to-day, then I’ll let you know that the biggest thing that changed is that I got married. The wife and I have been growing together and adjusting to all of the new living patterns. Sometimes the adjustments are pretty seamless and sometimes the adjustments are full of seams. Lots and lots seams. We’re still growing and every day we find new opportunities to learn a little bit more about each other. That being said, I don’t want to blame my wife for not posting anymore so I’ll blame myself by saying that in an effort to find more time to focus on spending time together I had to make choices about where to find the time, and some of that time came from this blog. And I don’t want to offend any of you but I’m not at all sorry that I found the time to let my marriage grow.

So, there, that’s the story about why I haven’t been telling my story.

Secondly (I think this is only ‘secondly’), I started thinking about Sukkot when I reshared that previous post about it and I just wanted to say that I really love Sukkot. This is a little selfish since the reason I love this Biblical festival isn’t necessarily because of anything in the Bible. I mean, yeah, I love digging into the Biblical significance of the Feast of Tabernacles (along with all of the other festivals) but I really just love the fellowship you get to have with other believers in Messiah. And I love the weather that generally goes along with being outside during the fall. And, yes, I love the idea of getting out into the outside world and doing a little camping. One of the traditional ways to refer this festival is “The Season of Our Joy”, and I totally, completely identify with this. I’m geeked right now just thinking about it. This year’s gonna have to go a little different, though, than the past couple years and I’m trying to figure out ways to make it just as exciting. Unfortunately, the wife and I have to take our vacation a couple weeks after Sukkot instead of during so we’re just going to have to do our best to find new/different ways to take advantage of this most joyous time. I’m not really too disappointed about the change in vacation time this year, because it’s for a super-awesome reason (potentially, more to come on this soon) but it does mean that we’ll be doing things differently.

There’s really no reason for this post other than to give you a bit of an update and to tell you how much I really love the Biblical Feasts and especially this Feast of Tabernacles. I hope that you’re able to find your way to celebrate our Messiah over the coming week.

Grace and Peace to all of you!

Psalm 84

We sing the song, but do we mean it? Do we even understand what we’re saying, if we’re not living it out?

Let’s look at it and see what we see:

How lovely is Your dwelling place, LORD of Hosts. I long and yearn for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God. Even a sparrow finds a home, and a swallow, a nest for herself where she places her young -- near Your altars, LORD of Hosts, my King and my God. How happy are those who reside in Your house, who praise You continually. Selah Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a source of springwater; even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; each appears before God in Zion. LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer; listen, God of Jacob. Selah Consider our shield, God; look on the face of Your anointed one. Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of wicked people. For the LORD God is a sun and shield. The LORD gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity. Happy is the person who trusts in You, LORD of Hosts! (Psa 84:1-12 HCSB)

Let’s start with the one that everyone knows, “Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else” (Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.) Take that in. Read it again. Do you have it now? What we’re saying when we read this verse (or sing that song) is that, no matter what I could do in a thousand days (almost three years) I would rather just have one day where I could be in the presence of God.

Forget that there’s not time in heaven because it’s eternal, we’re literally saying that all of the things that we could accomplish in 2 and ¾ years are nothing compared to being near God for one day. And, while this should absolutely be our attitude, how many of us go out and live our life that way when we’re finished singing the song? I’m just as guilty here as anyone else, so I don’t want it to seem like I’m coming down on anyone other than myself. I have my devotions every morning (ok, fine, most mornings) and then I get ready for the day and by the time I hit the car to drive to work I’m usually so entrenched in “the world” that I’ve forgotten what my devotions were even about. And then by the time I get to work I’m lucky if I even think of the Bible, and I work in a bookstore that sells Bibles!

This is so deeply convicting to me that I’m surprised that I’m writing it.

It’s time for an attitude adjustment. It’s time for a compass realignment.

How lovely are Your dwelling places, O יהוה of hosts!

I read the Bible and I seek out understanding, but do I really understand what the dwelling places of God look like? It’s possible that this psalm was written specifically about the physical Tabernacle of God, but the text seems to indicate that we’re talking about the spiritual reality of the places where God dwells and the praise and worship that goes on around Him. Since we’ve already brought up one song, I’ll mention here that another song comes to my mind: “Open the eyes of my heart, LORD, I want to see You.” Again, we sing the song, but how much do we go out of our way to truly see God?

My being has longed, and even fainted, For the courts of יהוה; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living Ěl.

We live so far removed from a time when there was a Temple where God actually resided that we don’t know how to treat our bodies, which are now the Temples where God resides. Look at how much reverence is given to God’s dwelling place here, and we eat at McDonald’s. This is the holy synagogue of the Creator of the universe, and I treat it like it’s a bag of bones which gets me from one place to the next.

Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she has put her young ones – Your altars, O יהוה of hosts, My Sovereign and my Elohim.

Jesus talked about birds, “"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”(Matt 6:26)” They don’t need to sow or reap or gather because they’ve nested, and put their faith, on the altars of God. But we (I) strive so hard to make the most out of what we’ve got. Why not let God make the most out of what He’s given us (me)? The convicting continues…

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, They are ever praising You. Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Your Highways are in their heart.

I love my Creator, but can I truly say that I live in His house? How much do I step outside and sleep in the yard? That’s what it feels like. I want to be close to Him, but I also want to step away and do MY thing whenever I want to. Why do I still want to do my thing? Why is my thing not His thing? Why is this even a thing?

Passing through the valley of weeping, They make it a fountain; The Teacher also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, Appearing before Elohim in Tsiyon.

The Valley of Baca (or, the valley of weeping), was a desert which pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem for one of the Feasts would raise up so many praises to their Lord that that dry place would seem like an oasis. Especially now, with the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we bring the Temple of the LORD to the rest of the world. Wherever we go, there He is. But do I really live that out? When I’m walking through the dry places, do those around me get nourished with the Living Water which comes from Jesus? Or, do I let the dry places control me and my words and actions? I have to admit, it’s mostly the latter. We’re marching on our way to Zion, we (I) have to keep that in the forefront of our thoughts. We will shortly see our King and our God. That alone is reason enough for the smile that’s on my face as I’m typing this.

O יהוה Elohim of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ! Selah.

We can rest easy knowing that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does hear our prayers. We have been born far from Zion but the Feast is approaching and we’re on our way home. The LORD, our God, can hear our prayers, and He can hear our praises. Let this desert become a lake, in the renewal our God can bring!

O Elohim, see our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed.

Back when this was written the shield would’ve been in reference to the king, but the final King of the Jews has died and risen from the grave, bringing us back into covenant with God. So when we ask God to see our shield and look upon the face of His anointed, we’re doing the one thing which will give us access to His presence. Because Jesus, our shield and the anointed of God, has died for our sins we can now present ourselves as justified before God. And because we have been justified, we can now be seen as righteous before God. Now let’s finish the race…

For a day in Your courts Is better than a thousand days. I have chosen rather to be a doorkeeper In the House of my Elohim, Than to dwell in the tents of the wrong.

There it is again, but this time let’s take a closer look at the second half of the verse: “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Do we truly live like this? Would we rather hold the door for those going into the presence of God than have a place to sleep, even if it was around those who seek out wrongdoing? If I’m honest, this is a struggle for me. But every day that goes by, every week that passes, I’m moving out of that tent of wickedness. Keep your eye on the prize!

For יהוה Elohim is a sun and a shield; יהוה gives favour and esteem; He withholds no good matter From those who walk blamelessly.

When we’re traveling through life, let God be the light the allows us to see our path. He won’t light the wrong path, and He will illuminate the stones in the path so we can avoid them. His Spirit will help us walk in the purity which will keep us blameless. Yah be praised!

O יהוה of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Though the pilgrimage is still far from over, the path is getting lighter and journey is getting easier. The yoke I was pulling is no longer on my shoulders. What’s on my shoulders now is easy, and getting easier.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Mat 11:28-30 ESV)

Life Is Messy

(1 Thes 5:23, John 16:33, Galatians 5:25)

Life is messy. Every day huge messes interrupt our lives and we do our best to deal with them, but life is messy.

I guess, for me, the next logical question would be, “what is life?”

Well, it should be no surprise at this point that when I try to figure this stuff out I first search it out through the Bible. So what does the Bible have to say about “life”?

The first time we see the word ‘life’ (in the KJV, at least) in the Bible is in Genesis 1:20: “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Now, admittedly, most other translations will translate the original Hebrew words as ‘living creatures’, but I think the KJV translation will work in this instance because living creatures really are life. But let’s dig a little deeper…

What is the Hebrew word in this verse which is translated as ‘life’? Interestingly, there are actually two words in that verse which are added together to be translated into that one word. Two words, you say? Yep, even defining ‘life’, it appears, is going to be a bit messy. The two words which make up ‘life’, or ‘living creatures’ are ‘nephesh’ (H5315) and ‘chay’ (H2416). I’m not going to list out the entire definitions to these (though, I’ve provided the Strong’s reference numbers [or you could use the Brown-Driver-Briggs, if you want to get a little better understanding of the words] if you want to look them up); I’m going to do my best to give a concise paraphrase.

Nephesh: Breathing creature or vitality. This is the soul.

Chay: Beast or living thing. We’ll call this ‘a body’.

This actually is a really cool pair of words for us to use. You can’t have ‘life’ without a soul, but you can’t have ‘life’ on God’s green earth without a body. Life is a body and a soul. But it goes deeper than this. Yes, man has a body and a soul, but man also has a spirit. Now this can get into some pretty deep theological territory, but I think we can sidestep the whole concept of properly aligning our body, soul and spirit (although, if you would like to look into this, you’re in for an amazing time) and we’ll keep it on a more personally applicable tone. You can’t have life without the spirit.

Or, more accurately, you can’t have life without the Spirit.

There have been enough moments in my life that have felt like life was spinning out of control. In hindsight I can say that these have been times where I’ve focused too much on my body or my soul, and not my spirit.

I guess what I’m getting at is that life in control (not spinning out of control) is life lived focused on the spirit. And your spirit is how you are connected to the Holy Spirit of the Living God.

Now, I don’t want to promote the idea that if you’re “right” with God then you’re never going to get depressed, or anything like that. In fact, the Bible explicitly tells you that you’re going to have trials and tribulations. But the best way to live “life” is to stay “in the Spirit”. I know, the Christianese can get confusing (or, at least, annoying). But if the spirit is the part of ourselves that makes us more than breath and a skin-bag of bones and guts, it only makes sense that this is the part of ourselves that we should be focusing on when we’re trying to make life better, right?

So when life starts to get messy, take a step back and put a little focus on your spirit life. Life may not get less complicated but it’ll get a whole lot less messy.