Faith is....

Hebrews 11:1 is vastly misunderstood, partly because of the language differences in the Greek and our understanding of similar words in the English language and partly because people take them out of context and do not read before or after the verse.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Looking at the original language and meaning/concepts of their understanding, this verse, more accurately translated would read... Faith is a firmness of mind in the expectation of what God has promised, the doubtlessness or sureness that has come, by way of testing, of matters or facts not understood or discerned.

We understand HOPE to mean a wish or want for something to be true or to happen; the strength of our hope is directly connected to the strength of OUR desire. However, biblical Hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised with the strength of that hope based solely on HIS faithfulness.

After that verse, the Bible lists the people, who by faith, accomplished many things. Each account tells the story of a person who had faith in what God showed them or told them as it relates to them personally. It was their experience that tested and proved their faith in God to perform His promise. Faith, in this verse, is not saying that we can ask God for things that we hope to be true or for things that we wish to happen...it is not about out desires, it is about God's faithfulness to perform His Word. The stories in Hebrews are about God performing His corporate Word, as with Able and Cain or His personal Word, as with Noah and Abraham.

The modern church has failed the body of Christ in that it does not teach an accurate translation of God's Word. So many are confused, and rightly so, because what they have been taught does not seem to work. The result is that they lose “faith” in God..however, it is not the God who wrote the Word that they are losing faith in....it is an image that has been taught. God says that you will find Him when you diligently seek Him....that is on each of us; a personal challenge. That is His promise.....if we want to find God, we must do the seeking ourselves.....through prayer, through digging in His Word, through praising Him....it is a personal journey, a personal walk with Almighty God.

This walk with God is not without trials, or heartache, and there are costs to following Him and His Word. However, the peace and calm while going through the storms of life cannot be matched by anything this side of Heaven. God also tells us that He is angry about the abuse of His children just as we get angry about it. He also promises us that, if we leave it up to Him, He will avenge the wrongs that have been perpetrated against us. He is also a comfort for the times when tragedy happens that we do not understand, ie the death of my dad on the eve of my favorite holiday, Christmas and the death of my first son. We all have events in our life that have scarred us, left us raw, confused, angry and resentful. It is time spent with God that helps the sting of these events fade and our hearts and minds to be restored.

God is good...His ways are Best, even when we cannot understand them.

Vengeance vs Revenge

“Vengeance is Mine says the Lord”

Where does this quote come from?   Is it in the Bible?      If so, where?

Do you know, or even care about, the context in which these words were spoken?   To whom they were said or why they were uttered?      Does it even really matter?

Is it quoted as the entire verse?      Or has it been edited a bit for maximum effect?

The context of every verse in the Bible actually does matter....a great deal!

We, as believers, have been taught to listen to the pastor, minister, priest or teacher and NOT question their interpretation of a passage of scripture. However, the Bible teaches us to do the opposite of that; we are to search the scripture for ourselves. To simply rely on a mere man to seek God on our behalf is to revert back to a Pharisaical mindset....the mindset that Christ came to destroy.

Vengeance is defined by the Webster Dictionary as:

The infliction of pain on another, in return for an injury or offense.

Such infliction, when it proceeds from malice or mere resentment, and is not necessary for the purposes of justice, is revenge, and a most heinous crime.

When the infliction proceeds from a love of justice, and the necessity of punishing offenders for the support of the laws, it is vengeance, and is warrantable and just.

Deuteronomy 32:35

Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip;

This is the verse that is referenced when people say...Vengeance is Mine says the Lord.

The context in this passage is God speaking of avenging His people, as a nation. This was a promise of the destruction of their enemies and oppressors. This is not referring to an individual seeking justice for the wrong done to them by another individual.

In the passage, God also shows that He has compassion for the sinner in that He wishes for their conversion. He is ready to help them as soon as they choose to help themselves. God, in His infinite wisdom, understands that the heart of man, left unchecked, is wicked. Therefore, God will check the nation on their evil behaviors, giving the nation the opportunity to change their ways. God has the power and the right to judge a nation...that vengeance is His.

For the individual, He tells us in Romans 12:18-19, to never take our own revenge but to leave room for the wrath of God. Okay, so we need to understand what revenge is if we are expected not to take our own.

Revenge is defined as inflicting pain or injury in return for an injury received; doing so contrary to the laws of justice and humanity. To exact revenge would then be one going outside the laws to inflict pain/injury as retribution for an injury received. This is not permitted nor acceptable according to God's Word. However, God has set forth commandments and laws to which individuals can be held accountable for their actions. It is via these laws that the individual heart is “checked” giving the individual the opportunity to repent, to turn from their wicked ways. This is yet another opportunity given to the evil-doer by a merciful God. God is all about saving the sinner through repentance, a changing of an evil way.

God is merciful. He has compassion on His creation. He is faithful to avenge His children. He is just.

In my study of the Word and the scriptures that tell us about God's vengeance, I believe that holding the individual accountable for their evil ways is showing them the love of God. Without this, the opportunity for repentance may never again be given to the individual and their soul may be forever lost.

God expects those who claim to be His followers to be held accountable for the wrong that they inflict. I believe this to be part of His Vengeance, wrapped in mercy, leaving room for His wrath.

To Take in Vain...

Exodus 20:7

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, 

for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Most of us were probably taught the ten commandments in Sunday School when we were younger.  Well...we were taught to recite the words of the commandments anyway.  This is the third commandment given to Moses, the first two being that we are not to have any other God before Him.

Have you ever stopped to think just what this verse is saying?  If you were like me, growing up in a mainstream denomination, you were most likely taught that this verse simply meant that you were not to swear...yes, that's right...I was taught that taking His name in vain was saying His name as a swear word.  As a young, trusting child, I accepted this to be the extent of the meaning; and like most Americans, as I grew older, I did not see the need to re-examine what tradition had taught.

Let me take you on a quick journey to the heart of the Father regarding this verse...

Take = nasa = to lift, bear up, carry, be exalted

Name = shem = reputation, glory

Vain = shav = emptiness, falsehood, lying, worthlessness (of conduct)

                     this word is from the root word show, which means ruin, waste, devastation

Guiltless = naqah = not to be free from obligation, not to be exempt from punishment

To reword the verse using the meanings from above:

You shall not lift or bear up the reputation of the Lord your God in worthlessness of conduct or falsely, for the Lord will not hold him free from obligation who carries His reputation with emptiness.

This gave it a whole new meaning to me!  Taking His name in vain is NOT about using His name as a swear word, as I was taught.  Rather it is proclaiming to be one of His without any conduct to back that up.  That is what I see running rampant in the American churches today.

There are masses of people that believe that they are "saved" because they raised their hand in church one Sunday and repeated a prayer while everyone else closed their eyes and bowed their heads!  That is NOT taking His Name in a worthy manner....this is not lifting up His Glory in a way that exalts His Majesty.

God is telling us that we need to count the cost before proclaiming our allegiance to Him.  We are expected to conduct ourselves worthy of His Name, His reputation, His Glory!  There is to be fruit of our conversion as well as fruit of our continued commitment to this Holy God.

The fruit is to be how we behave...how we conduct our selves....how we choose His Ways over our own.  As we grow in the Faith, our choices are to reflect more and more of Him and less of self.

Are you growing in Faith?  Are you conducting yourself in a manner that says "I belong to God"? Or are you satisfied with your decision one Sunday to raise your hand and repeat a prayer?

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The Lord made it clear when He gave the words to Moses.....He is the only true God and we are to serve Him (not with mere words) in a manner worthy of His Name and reputation.....not our own.

May you be willing to allow Him to challenge the traditions that you have been taught and replace those with His glorious Truth....

Flowing together with Jehovah....

Psalm 34:5

This is a relatively short verse but it is packed with incredible meaning!

Come with me as I take you on the journey of pulling this verse apart to see what "knowledge nuggets" we can find...are you ready?  Okay....let's get started!

"They looked unto Him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed." 

 Yup, that is all there is to this verse...not very long at all but once you begin to take a deeper look at it, your eyes of understanding begin to see the treasure hidden in the English wording.

First, let's see what the Hebrew words were and what they mean...
   
nabat = looked....meaning is regard, pay attention, consider
nahar = lightened....meaning is to shine, beam, be radiant, to flow, stream, flow together
chapher = ashamed....meaning is to be ashamed, be confounded, feel abashed, cause embarrassment
paniym = faces...meaning is face, faces, presence

What is interesting is that the word "nahar" is used only 6 times in the entire Old Testament!  The word is translated to mean "flow together" five out of the six times it is used; it is translated to be "lightened" in this verse.  But what if we translated this word to be the same in every verse it was used?  What or how would that change the tone of this verse in Psalm 34?   SO glad you asked!

Let's put this verse back together using what we found hidden in the Hebrew meanings...

"They that paid attention and considered Him flowed together with Him and their faces were radiant and not ashamed."

This translation has a bit more depth to it than the translation in the modern versions of the Bible!

Jesus said to the Samaritan women by the well in John 4 "...but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  Also in John 7:38 "Whoever believes in Me, as scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

Jeremiah 2:13 says "...for My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters..."  God refers to Himself as the fountain of living waters!  How incredible that the verse in Psalms tells us that those who pay attention to Him will "flow together" with Him...

The image of flowing down the river of life with the Father is one that gives me hope....He is the fountain of living water and from that He offers it to me...He offers to become the source of the spring that flows from within me.  It is up to me to choose which fountain I will allow to feed my spring....choose this day whom you shall serve...blessings or cursing...life or death.....the choice is left up to me.   Do I choose to take from the cup offered by Jesus and so have my life-spring connected to the Living Fountain?  Or do I choose to deny His cup?

The same choice is presented to you today......

If you are troubled and have felt like you have tried everything but things are still out of control....stop and ask yourself this - Have I truly been paying attention to God?  Have I considered His Way of doing things over my way?

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that life will be easy once we give our lives to God.  However, He does promise us Peace in the midst of storms and a place of quietness among the chaos....when we surrender to His will and pay attention to His ways and consider Him.  

When we do that, our journey down the river of life will not seem so much like rapids but have a wonderful calm to the rocking of the boat ;)

May you take the time to pay closer attention to the One who Created all that you see and everything you cannot see.....may your journey take you closer to His Heart than away from it....and may you choose to drink from His cup and experience the Living Waters of life....

The treasure found in Psalm 34

Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.

Okay....this verse has much more meaning and depth after stopping to really look at and attempt to define the English words.  Also, the Hebrew words add to our understanding of what God is telling us; they are as follows:
  Sought = to resort to, to seek with care, to frequent, to consult
  heard = to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout, to dwell, to sing, utter tunefully
  delivered = to snatch away, rescue, to recover, to be torn out or away
  fears = what is feared, terror, fear

The verse begins with a statement  "I sought..."  so let's seek to find the definition of the word "sought":

English definition...to go in search or quest of, to try to discover, as by studying, to search or explore.

The Hebrew word used here is "darash" and is a primitive root word.  The meaning is ... to resort to, to seek with care, to frequent, to consult.

Okay, there is an action on our part associated with this word...a repeating or recurring action, not just a one time, or occasional happenstance.  David is saying that he went on a quest, that he studied to discover...he explored (he went searching and looked with purpose)...he frequented Jehovah!  

We have been given the living Word of Jehovah to explore...to study...and we can frequent Him when we talk to Him (prayer) and while we are studying and exploring His Word!   The Lord tells us through King David one of the keys to living our walk of faith....we frequent Him to consult Him about our day.  We seek Him continually with purpose!

As we do our part, The Lord tells us His part.....Jehovah "heard"  Now at first glance, this could seem like God simply "perceives the sound" of our voice.  However, upon closer examination - or exploration - we find that this word has deeper meaning!  The Hebrew word is "anah" and means to answer, respond, speak, shout, testify, to dwell, to sing, utter tunefully.

YES...God responds to us as we explore Him :)  Jehovah's part is an active response to our effort of searching for Him.  He does more than hearing the sound of our voice....He answers...He responds!  What is His response?  He delivers us!  

The meaning of "delivered" here means to snatch away, rescue, save,to be torn out or away, to recover. The English definition is to bring to or transport to the proper place.  How comforting is that notion!  The Creator answers us  and He snatches us away or brings us to the proper place!.

The verse states that Jehovah delivers us from all of our fears - those things that we fear, real or imagined. This verse gives us hope! 

To re-word this verse in light of what we have learned, it would sound something like this:

I frequented the Lord as if I was an explorer on a quest to study in order to discover Him and as a result, He heard me. Jehovah answered me and He snatched me away from those things in my mind that cause me to be afraid.  He brought me to my proper place by rescuing my mind, my emotions and my will.

We can be rescued from those things that torment us - from those things that cause us unease in our mind and emotions.  We can be brought back to our proper place of thinking as He renews our mind.  We simply have to go on a quest as if seeking treasure.  What is this treasure? you may ask.....great question!

The treasure is His gift of PEACE!

May you be compelled to go on your own quest....may you be encouraged as  you go searching for Jehovah...and may you not quit until you experience His response! 

Being Still.....

Let me ask you a very simple question....are you ever still?  When you sit, do you fidget or are you simply still?  Let me rephrase that question......Can you be still?  Most people find it very hard to simply sit...still; yes, I mean motionless....no fingers drumming, foot tapping, knee bouncing, hair twirling, lip biting....no motion.....being still.  Now ask yourself this...Why are you not still?  The answer may surprise you!

God says to us "...be still and know..." that He is God....what is He saying here?

The Hebrew word for "still" is raphah...in this verse it is the hiphil imperative verb which means:  to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain, forsake:  to let go:  to refrain, let alone:   to be quiet.  The imperative verb here is meant as an order or command.  Therefore, God is commanding us "to be quiet" !

I think it implies that we are not to complain or grumble as the Jews did while wondering in the desert; we are to be quiet...to refrain from what may be natural....to let go of our desire to criticize and relax in the midst of our troubles.  When we can control ourselves long enough to NOT walk in the flesh...we will "know" that He is God.

The word "know" in this verse is the Hebrew word yada`....in this verse it is the Qal imperative verb which means:  to know: learn to know: to perceive: to perceive and see, find out and discern: to discriminate, distinguish: to know by experience:  to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess: to consider.

Once again this is an order or a command.

God has given us the answer to why many find it difficult, and even painful, to be still.  It is when we are still....when we relax...that our spirit is allowed to learn to know and to discern that He IS!  How incredible is that!  

Although this is an incredible concept, it is a very difficult task to accomplish.  When we cease from our motion/actions, we are able to perceive that God is there....and that can be a bit uncomfortable for some and down right scary for others.  However, this is when He reaches down from Heaven and touches our brokenness....this is when His Hand takes ours and He leads us to Himself.   The journey is different for each of us yet the result is the same....if we allow Him to touch us in that moment, He will begin the process of restoring us to before we were broken. 

BEFORE we were broken...this is the point in your life before your heart was hardened, broken, shattered, calloused, abused, misused, etc.  You may not be aware of when this happened specifically, but the One who knitted you together and knew you before you were born knows exactly when it occurred.

It is not a coincidence that the One who knows that very moment in your life is also known as Jehovah Rapha....the Lord your Physician!

So again...when was the last time you dared to "be still"?  May I remind you that  this is not a suggestion but rather a command ;)

A Healthy Fear

Psalm 34

This psalm is about the happiness of those who trust in God. Verse 7 struck me this morning as it says "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them."

"The angel of the Lord" is simply that - a representative or messenger of Yehovah.
"encamps" has the meaning of to encamp, to pitch a tent. 
"all around" means on every side, circuit.
"fear" in this verse the main usage of the word actually means afraid, to fear, fearful
"delivers" is to remove, to draw out, equip (for war), arm for war, rescue

This gives us the sense that God's representatives have come to us and have "pitched their tents" all around us...they have literally encircled people....but not just anyone; the qualifier, if you will, states that those who FEAR Him will be encircled and drawn out or rescued or equipped for battle.

I have heard it taught that the fear of the Lord is a reverent fear...one of honor but not to be mistaken with being afraid of the Lord. However, in this verse it is plain that, Yes, those that are afraid or have a healthy fear of Yehovah shall have His representatives sent to encircle them and to deliver them.

So the question is.....do you actually fear God? Are you afraid in the slightest of what the consequences are for your actions? Or do you believe that "we are under Grace" so it does not really matter? and if so, how is that working out for you?

This verse is in the Old Testament, but it is clear that we are not only to honor or have reverence for God but to have a healthy fear of Him as well....after all, He is Holy and has called all those who have claimed to be a follower of Him to also be Holy. 

1 Peter states that we are to be holy for He is holy and to "pass the time of your sojourning here in fear". Sojourning there refers to your dwelling in a strange land; we are not citizens of this world once we have been born again. Fear in this verse refers to dread, terror or fear.

There is more to living out our life of Faith than simply giving it lip service...we should have a real fear of the holiness of the God we serve!  If we do not have such a fear, I dare say that we need to re-examine our relationship with God.  Who is the God that we say we serve afterall?

It is in each individuals best interest to delve into the Word of God and to seek Him personally!  It is not enough to attend church services or read books about what others believe about God.  NO!!!  Take the time and effort to study His Word yourself and to seek Him until you find Him so that He can tell you and show you His Heart.

This life of Faith that we each walk out is a personal walk with a Holy Being that we can call friend....however, a friend is someone that we have invested time in and with not simply someone we have heard about.

So today, I urge you to re-examine your relationship with God.  

He is gracious and merciful and is waiting for each of you to seek Him individually so that you can have that "one-of-a-kind" relationship with your Father!



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