Priority #1 - My Elohim: Fresh Ideas

From Faith, Grace & Torah

At the conclusion of Yom Kippur this year, I came away with the feeling that I should get back to my old way of blogging.  I actually had a fairly successful blog on yahoo.360 back in the early 2000s.  Since that ended, I had been sort of flailing in the blogging department, with the exception of my Day Book, which my children think I publish just for them.  I do, but I don't like them to think about that.  LOL  My system for blogging before was to take one priority and just write about it for 15 minutes, whatever was on the top of my head about the subject.  It sounds crazy, but it actually worked for at least a couple of years.  It won't be PUBLISHED daily.  Actually, it was always published about every 5 days, but writing for 15 minutes a day gave me plenty of material.

So in today's blog (I've got 10 minutes left), I want to talk a little about what WE do on Yom Kippur.  Another Hebrew title for Yom Kippur is Yom HaKippurim.  That means the Day of Coverings.  Do you remember what Adam and Eve did in the garden?  They attempted to cover themselves.  I like to think of Yom HaKippurim as the day of UNCOVERINGS.

As I mentioned in my Day Book, on Yom Kippur, we went through the self-examination questions from T'Shuva Ministries.  This year, I only wrote down 1 or 2 from each of the Ten Commandments that I would like to work on.  I may go through it again before the spring feasts and do the same thing.  

2 Corinthians 13:5 ISR98 - "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living the life of trust. Test yourselves. Don’t you realize that Yeshua the Messiah is in you? — unless you fail to pass the test."

Although last year I took notes, this year I found myself writing less.  The reason is that we can  become so overwhelmed looking at our own inadequacies.  We can't possibly fix everything that needs to be fixed right away.  Sanctification is a process.  The self-examination questions are designed to show us where we cover ourselves and act as if it doesn't even matter.  

This year, my note focused on what I felt was the most significant area of each of the commandments that I needed to focus on.  One of the things that I thought about doing is to regularly write the 10 Commandments down to remind myself of what it is that I am supposed to be focusing on.  The Scripture is full of admonishment not to forget the commandments.  

Numbers 15:38 ISR98 - “Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners."  

I will admit, I am not all the way there on this one.  When I do decide to wear them, they need to be discreet and feminine since they have not traditionally been worn by women and in my heart, there needs to be a clear distinction.  Also, I know that some people wear them for "identification" so that someone else who is Torah observant can pick them out in a crowd.  If that's a by-product, great!  But that is not what their purpose is.  They need to be a visible reminder to the wearer.  

Deuteronomy 17:18 ISR98 - “And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites."  

I figure, if the king has to write the entire Torah, the least I can do is write the 10 Commandments in my own hand.  

Also, a favorite passage in the book of James 1:21-25 that reminds us not to forget what it is that we have seen in the word.  

"Therefore put away all filthiness and overflow of evil, and receive with meekness the implanted Word,1 which is able to save your lives.  And become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  Because if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what he was like.  But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah." 

This chart illustrates the differences in how the commandments are delineated.

Hebrew4Christians

This is how it is written in the Complete Jewish Bible (Exodus 20:2-17)

א 2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.
ב 3 “You are to have no other gods before me. 4 You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline.5 You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot.

ג 7 “You are not to use lightly the name of Adonai your God, because Adonaiwill not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.

ד 8 “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonaiyour God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11 For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why Adonai blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.

ה 12 “Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land which Adonai your God is giving you.

ו 13 “Do not murder.

ז (14) “Do not commit adultery.

ח (15) “Do not steal.

ט (16) “Do not give false evidence against your neighbor.

י 14 (17) “Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Blessings!

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Rosh Chodesh, Head of the 5th Month

Over this weekend, the new crescent moon was sited in Israel.  This signals the beginning of a new biblical month.  In the millennial reign of the Messiah, all the earth will worship YHVH on these appointed days.

These Scriptures mention the New Moon.

The fourth month, for our family, involved great transition.  My good friend Sister Do Bee mentioned the word chaos.  That hit the nail on the head for me.  On Shabbat, I mentioned Genesis 1:2 ISR98, "And the earth came to be formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters."  The greater the chaos, the greater demand to come to order.  That is what I am sensing that YHVH wants to do in my life in this season, bring it to order.  This saying has been floating around Facebook this weekend.  I think it accurately describes the place where I am standing.  I'm expecting beauty at the end.

Instead of highlighting only one priority in this, my monthly blog, I figured I would say something about all of them because I feel like every area of my life needs attention right now.

Priority 1 - My Elohim
My prayer life has grown in the past month.  I am thankful for that, but I have been neglecting a Bible study that I had joined.  Facebook stopped giving me notifications and I stopped doing it.  In addition to my daily Scripture READING, and following along with the study guides for Hoshana Rabbah for the current week's Torah portion, I need to make time to do this Psalm 119 study.  I want to make sure that I have the opportunity to apply the word.  It is in the application of the Word that it becomes real.  Those who don't apply the Word are spoken of in Scripture as those who are ever learning but never able to come into the knowledge of the truth.

Priority 2 - My Husband
Friend Hubby will be starting two new ventures within the next month.  I need to stay on top of his eating.  Now is the season to prepare breakfast burritos, mason jar salads, etc.

Priority 3 - My Children
My son's hours are getting like a typical college student.  I realize he feels more productive at night, probably because the house is quiet, but he is still going to need to get some exercise in.  He is also going to need to get his Eagle project done in the next 6 months before he turns 18.  I am going to talk to some of the advisors so I can help him to get a timeline together.

My youngest daughter is getting a head start on her academics for this school year, particularly algebra and chemistry.  She wants to learn more domestic crafts.  I would like to see her learn to sew and knit by patterns, not just off the top of her head.

Priority 4 - My Home
Friend Hubby and I have been doing a lot of talking about finishing projects we have talked about doing in our home.  For the past 6 months or so, I have been working 2 part time jobs, one as an employee and one as an independent contractor.  I had been mulling it over for quite some time and now feel that this is the season to step out on faith and leave the employee status behind.  The independent contractor position will allow me to be much more flexible with my time so that I can get some things accomplished.

I am also beginning to stock up for the winter.  Friend Hubby has informed me that the freezer is too full right now, so I think on my next shopping trip I will focus on the non-perishables.

Priority 5 - Myself
Since I won't have to rush to get to work in the morning, I can go ahead and get some exercise done at the beginning of my day.  I have been enjoying Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube.  My son put more in my stability ball so I would like to do some core work as well.  This week, I am going to go ahead and send off for my college transcript.  Friend Hubby will start class two evenings a week in a few weeks.  I should go to class at the same time as he does so he doesn't miss my presence.

I am also excited to begin writing to a few pen pals.  There is a group of Facebook for Modern Day 50s housewives.  I think it's going to be fun.  Maybe in the future we can do a recipe exchange with the pen pals as well.

I also want to do a definite upgrade to my wardrobe to include more skirts, matching partial head coverings (I have seen some styles and I just want to use my creativity to do my own thing).  I also would like to make some modest feminine looking tzittzit.  All the colors, all the coordination!  :-)

Priority 6 - Ministry
There are a couple of things I would like to do.  Sister Do Bee would like to have a craft day.  Maybe I can host something like a crafting bee and everyone can just bring their work in progress.

I would like to do a live Bible study, maybe at Chick-fil-A with some ladies, leading them through the study of Psalms like the online group has done.  Social media is getting old we me.  I think I need more physical interaction.

This looks like a lot to accomplish in one month.  Since I am putting it out there, I am eagerly anticipating all of things falling into place that this month will hold.

Rosh Chodesh Sameach!  



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Priority #1 - My Elohim: How Deep Do You Want to Go?

Proverbs 9:9 ISR98  "Give instruction to a wise one, and he is wiser still; Teach a righteous one, and he increases in learning."

My son and I are studying Algebra together.  Right now we are at a place that discusses functions.  The mathematical definition of a function is:  "A function is a special relationship where each input has a single output."  In other words, if you put something in, you will get something out.  If I give a dollar to an investor, then I expect to get $500 out.  If I give flour and sugar to a baker, I expect to get cookies back.

If I have a function equation that says y = x +1, then anytime I put a number in for x, I should get an expected result for y.  If x is 2, then y is 3.  If x is 50, then y is 51.  If x is 999, then y is 1000.

Proverbs 9:9 looks like a function to me.  If you put something in, this is what you should expect to get out.  

I have two or three essential tools that I like to use for studying Scripture.  One is BletterBible.com because if you look up a verse and click on the word TOOLS, it will break down the verse in its Hebrew components.  From there, I take a trip that is probably a little more convoluted than most.  Rather than using the dictionary at Blue Letter, I like to use lexicon from the Mechanical Translation by Jeff A. Brenner.  It's a personal choice.  It just reads better to me.  This lexicon is only based on the Torah, the first 5 books of our Bibles, so when I find a word in Blue Letter that I want to look up, I scroll down to the bottom to see where I can find this word in the Torah.  From there I get the definition in the lexicon.    

Follow with me through this.  Based on this, these are the definitions of the translated (not added for clarity) words in Proverbs 9:9.  Remember, go here and click on TOOLS.

GIVE
תן n.t.n Trans: GIVE(V) Def: To make a present; to present a gift; to grant, allow or bestow by formal action. To place in its proper position. Alt Trans: allow; made; make; set in place Str: 5414

WISE
ם hha-kham (m.) Trans: SKILLED.ONE Def: A person characterized by a deep understanding of a craft; One with the ability to decide or discern between good and bad, right and wrong. Str: 2450

KNOWLEDGE
ע y.d.ah Trans: KNOW(V) Def: To have an intimate and personal understanding; to have an intimate relationship with another person, usually sexual. Alt Trans: reveal self (when written in the hitpa'el [reflexive] form) Str: 3045

JUST
צדיק tsa-diq (m.) Trans: STEADFAST.ONE Def: One that makes or sets right. Conforming to fact, standard or truth. Str: 6662

INCREASE
ף y.s.p Trans: ADD(V) Def: To augment something by increasing it in amount or supply. Alt Trans: again (when written in the hiphil [causative] form) Str: 3254

LEARNING
ח (m.) Trans: LEARNING Def: Teachings and instructions that are received in the sense of being taken. Str: 3948

To me, what this verse is saying is that knowledge and wisdom is only as good as the person who receives it.  Matthew 9:17, “Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

So if you give (bestow, grant) skill, ability, and discernment (input) to someone who is already skilled, the output is a person who possesses an even greater level of "intimate and personal understanding."  If you look at the Hebrew in Blueletter the word for a wise person is just translated twice.  In other words, the wise get wiser.

If you take a person who is righteous or just (one who CONFORMS to the only standard of truth, the Word of Elohim), and you input learning (teaching and instruction), that person, like an investment banker, will increase it, grow it, exponentially.

What does this mean to me personally?  My personal application is to make sure that in my studying of the Word, that I pay closer attention to the vessel that I am putting that knowledge IN rather than just focusing on the pursuit of knowledge.  If in all my studying, I am not producing good fruit, the problem is in me, not the Word.

Matthew 7.15-27 ISR98
“But beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are savage wolves. “By their fruits you shall know them. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? “So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit. “A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, by their fruits you shall know them – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does them, shall be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not do them, shall be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.”

Did you catch the function?   “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does them, shall be like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

It's not just HEARING.  The function has to work so the right thing will come out.

We live in a very desperate and sad state of the Word right now, and unfortunately, very few of us (myself included) take the time to dig deeply into the Word to discover it's hidden truths.  I pray that as you read this, you will not be content to sit on the beach and stick your toes in the ocean of the Word of Elohim.  Go deeper!  Don't worry about the shallowness of others around you.  Get it for YOURSELF.  

My prayer:  Work on ME, Abba so that when Your Word goes in, what YOU desire comes out.

Jeremiah 15:16 ISR98
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For Your Name is called on me, O יהוה Elohim of hosts."

Priority #1 - My Elohim: Counting the Omer, Part 1

Ladies,

If you are following Our Heavenly Father's calendar, then you are well into the season known as The Counting of the Omer.

Leviticus 23:15 ISR98  "‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה."  

We know that this was the season that Yeshua's disciples were in following His resurrection of which He spoke in  Acts 1:8  “But you shall receive power when the Set-apart Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehuḏah and Shomeron, and to the end of the earth.”

As we count the Omer toward Shavuot/Pentecost, I want to meditate on the gifts of the Spirit found in I Corinthians 12, the first one being the gift of the word of wisdom.  

4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5 Also there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord being served. 6 And there are different modes of working, but it is the same God working them all in everyone. 7 Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. 8 To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; 10 to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses. 12 For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. 13 For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 For indeed the body is not one part but many. (CJB)

The Hebrew word for wisdom is "chokmah"  The first time it is mentioned in Scripture is in Exodus 28:3 ISR98 in reference to Aaron, the High Priest, "And you, speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the garments of Aharon, to set him apart, for him to serve as priest to Me."  

The Mechanical Translation of the Torah:  Lexicon of Hebrew Roots and Words, edited by Jeff A. Benner, defines this word as "The ability to decide or discern between good and bad, right and wrong."  Can you see how worldliness wars against this spiritual gift?  

Isaiah 5:20 ISR98 says,  "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  How do we stir up this gift within us?  

Romans 12:2 ISR98, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim."

The second of these gifts is the word of knowledge.  The Hebrew word for knowledge is "da`ath."  A synonym for this word is discernment.  

The first time it is mentioned in Scripture is in Genesis 2:9 at creation, "And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."  

The above mentioned lexicon defines this word as "The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.  It is also used to describe an intimacy with a person, idea, or concept."  

We are told in Romans 1:21  "because, although they knew Elohim, they did not esteem Him as Elohim, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened."   Proverbs 9:10 ISR98, "The fear of יהוה is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Set-apart One is understanding."

Of the prophet Daniel it was said, "because an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding, interpreting dreams, and explaining riddles, and solving difficult problems were found in this Dani’ĕl, whom the sovereign named Bĕlteshatstsar. Now let Dani’ĕl be called, and let him show the interpretation.”  Daniel 5:12 ISR98  

In this season of the Counting of the Omer, let us all earnestly pray for a fresh outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit upon our nation, and ask Our Father to stir up these gifts within us as well!  

2 Timothy 1:6 ISR98  "For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of Elohim which is in you through the laying on of my hands."

 



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Priority #1: My Elohim - Happy New Year!

Shana Tova (Hebrew for Happy New Year)!  

Do you remember the last time you anticipated something so strongly that it affected your sleeping, your eating,your ability to focus?  That's how I feel about coming into the New Year. The world celebrated it's new year in the midst of darkness when all the world is seemingly dead.  The new year of our Father and my brethren in His Kingdom began when the sliver of the moon was sighted over what Yeshua declares in Matthew 5:35, "The City of the Great King."  

My Father's New Year is filled with the promise of refreshing, renewal, and resurrection.  Psalms 81:1-4 ISR98 - "Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; Raise a shout to the Elohim of Yaʽaqob.  Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, The pleasant lyre and with the harp. 
Blow the ram’s horn at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our festival day.  For this is a law for Yisra’ĕl, And a right-ruling of the Elohim of Yaʽaqob." 

I am shouting for joy!  Today is the New Moon and two weeks from now will be Passover, a solemn Feast.   We will celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lamb of Yehovah who takes away the sins of the world. He who has delivered our souls from bondage and put His name upon us, given us a new manner of life, freedom for our chains, joy for our sorry, community for our isolation, unity in place of assimilation.  
This has been a particularly difficult winter for me.  Don't get me wrong.  I have certainly known much harder winters than this.  I'm thankful that this winter didn't involve any funerals as so many of my winters have.  I think this winter I was just so frustrated with ME.  Have you ever gotten on your OWN nerves?  LOL 

I'm ready to start over.  I want to be better.  I want the opportunity to do get it right where I seemed to have continuously and repetitively gotten it wrong.  I told a friend a few weeks ago, only Yah is good and I fail Him every day.   

A young person that I love at one time seemed as if they were walking on sunshine.   They were setting goals and achieving them one after another, but confusion stepped into their path and they seemed to hit a wall.  Finally, after a couple of years of they seem to have caught their second wind and are running to make up for lost time.  That's why this change of season is so anticipated for me. I need to catch a second wind!  

I am reading Elizabeth George's A Woman's Call to Prayer.  She talks about praying about OUR personal needs.  I spend a lot of time praying for others, but sometimes it feels like going to remodel a neighbor's house while your own looks like an episode of Hoarders.  These are the things I need to commit to prayer for ME.  

Health and energy -- Zig Zigler said, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."  I have been afraid to set goals for my health and fitness.  I am way closer to 50 than I am to 40.  I can't afford to take good health for granted.  

Attitude -- I want others to see the fruit of the Spirit in me. Psalms 128:3 ISR98 - "Let your wife be As a fruit-bearing vine within your house, Your sons like olive plants all around your table."  When my husband and my children come to me to pick fruit, will they find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, self-control?  

Faithfulness -- I'm a good starter.  This year, I want to be a good finisher.  The race is not given to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but to he that endures to the end.  

Finances -- Just like my health, if I don't set any goals, I won't get anywhere.  

Work -- One of my jobs has been the source of my anxiety lately so I He blessed me with a second job (I have 2 part time jobs now).  Not having to totally depend on the first job has lifted MUCH stress.  I want to learn to be faithful to do what I am supposed to do.  Like Yah told Cain, “If you do well, is there not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it.”  Ultimately, I don't work for any man.  I work for my Father, so I need to be sure and give HIM my best.   

Wisdom -- Donalacasa's theme verse is, Proverbs 24:3-6 ISR98 - "By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. Mighty is the wise in strength, And a man of knowledge strengthens power; For by wise guidance you wage your own battle, And delivery is by a great counselor."  I have accused others of demonstrating more of what they are against, than of what they are for.  My son, in his study of wisdom, shared a couple of weeks ago about how knowledge is just facts.  As a classical homeschooler, this is the grammar stage.  Understanding is like the dialectic stage.  You ask questions, based on your knowledge to gain understanding. Wisdom is like the rhetoric stage. It is the demonstration of your understanding through speech or writing.  I have to start, however, with knowledge. I want to spend more time studying things I don't know.   

Relationships -- I would like to see some healing in relationships with extended family.  I have seen it in other family relationships, but I would like to see more.   

Abba, may I fulfill all your expectations of me in this season!   

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Priority #1 My Elohim ~ The Shema

This blog has been long neglected.   Since I use Donalacasa's Daybook every week after Shabbat, I thought that I'd dust this one off to use from one Rosh Chodesh to the next Rosh Chodesh. 

Isaiah 66:23 ISR98 - “And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” declares יהוה."

Since Sukkot, I have been saturating myself with the subject of prayer.  I'm reading books on prayer. 

I'm listening to messages on prayer,  but most importantly, I'm praying.   Since last year, I've been instructed by Yah to rise earlier and earlier to pray.  Note the similarities between the habit of the Virtuous Woman and The Messiah.  

Proverbs 31:15 ISR98 - "She also rises while it is still night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her girls."

Mark 1:35 ISR98 - "And having risen very early in the morning, while still dark, He went out, and went away to a lonely place, and there He prayed."

Initially, I had started getting up at 6:45, but Abba made it clear that that was not early enough, so for the past 6 weeks or so, I have been getting up at 6:00 a.m. to pray.  From a chronic insomniac, I would say that this is quite an act of God.  

Since last year, He has been speaking into my spirit:  "Don’t deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it!"  James 1:22 CJB.  

I begin my morning prayer with the Shema.  What is the Shema, you ask?  

Mark 12:28-29 CJB, "One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important mitzvah of them all?” Yeshua answered, “The most important is, ‘Sh’ma Yisra’el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, O Isra’el, the Lord our God, the Lord is one],"

From a paper entitled “Praying Like Jesus: The Shema”, In contrast to the modern Shema in Judaism which has added additional scriptures, originally it consisted only of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 CJB, 

“Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one]; and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources.  These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates."

The author of the paper goes on to divide the Shema into 4 parts:  

A. “Hear, O Israel”

The first is the command: “Shema Israel” (“Hear, O Israel”). Etymologically the term

“shema” invokes not only hearing, but also learning, following, even obeying. ( U. Rüterswörden, “ע ַמ ָשׁ‚ ע ַמ ֵשׁ ‚ הָמוּע ְשׁ ,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. John T. Willis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 15:254).  

Where it involves listening to the spoken word, this term implies an engagement with the mind, an attentive listening, even a sense of “heed by acting” or “putting to practice.”( K. T. Aitken, “שׁמע,” in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, ed. Willem A.

VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 4:175-178).  

When God calls Israel to hear, he expects more than just a listening. He expects action. The term “Shema”appears ten times in the larger text here, and beckons us to not only hear the words of God, but to take them into the very center of our being and doing.  (See Wyse, “Loving God,” 24-29).  

In other words, God expects a listening with a view toward doing. 

B. “YHWH Alone”

Among the myriads of other theological discussions that this point of the Shema could bring, the one that stands out to me is "that this part of The Shema is an affirmation of the first two commands of the Decalogue, that YHWH is God and Israel is to have no other (Exod. 20:1-4).  The opening line of The Shema has the force of calling Israel to cast off all other gods—like those they encountered in Egypt, Canaan, and Philistia—to worship and serve only YHWH.  In this sense, I think a better translation reads: “Listen, Israel: YHWH is our God, YHWH alone.”  The golden calf incident die-cast Israel into a foreign-god-worshipping kind of mold, and The Shema was a twice-daily discipline to keep this temptation at bay. At the heart of The Shema is a call for the people of God to worship “YHWH alone.”  (For For a compelling case for translating echad as “alone” rather than “one,” see Jackie A. Wyse, “Loving God as an Act of Obedience: The Shema in Context,” in Take This Word to Heart: The Shema in Torah and Gospel,” ed. Perry Yoder (Elkhart, IN: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2005), 48-51, esp. n. 79; Dean McBride,  “Yoke of the Kingdom,” 291-297).  

C. “Love YHWH Your God …”

Another thing The Shema teaches us is that our doing is inextricably tied to our loving. The

Shema calls us to “love YHWH our God” with all of our being. In Deuteronomy the command to “love YHWH” is always set alongside obedience to his commands, or rather, obedience to the commands that YHWH give is the way to love him. Consider the following examples:

Deuteronomy. 11:1: “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge,

His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.”

Deuteronomy. 11:13-14a: “And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments

which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all

your heart and with all your soul.”

Deuteronomy. 11:22-23: “carefully keep all these commandments which I command you

to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to

Him.”

Deuteronomy. 19:8b-9: “if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I

command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways.”

John said it this way: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not

burdensome” (1 John 5:3). 

Do you remember Jesus saying, “If you love me, then keep my commandments” (John 14:15)? (Perhaps there is a subtle claim to deity in Jesus’ statement there.) The way to love God—and the way to love Jesus—is to obey his commandments.  Love for YHWH has nothing to do with feeling and everything to do with action. The commands that The Shema has in mind are specifically the Ten Commandments repeated by Moses right before the recitation of The Shema. “Deuteronomy 5-6 functions as a literary unit, a unit that purposefully connects the Decalogue to The Shema, and vice versa. The implication is that obedience to God’s commands (embodied in the Decalogue) and loving God (embodied in The Shema) are actions intricately bound up with one another.”( Wyse, “Loving God,” 36.)  

The Shema and the Ten Commandments go hand in hand (The interconnectedness of The Shema and the Decalogue is further evidenced by the Nash Papyrus (c. 150 B.C.), which contains the Ten Commandments and The Shema as a guide for daily prayers), so that to live by the Ten Words is to demonstrate love for God.  Contextually, the result of all of this commandment-obeying and God-loving is life!  Over and over again the Old Testament (in part, owing to what we’re about to discover next) lays out two ways that we can all choose: the path of life, or the path of destruction. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it only leads to death” (Prov. 14:12). It’s embodied in Psalm 1:  “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked … but who delights in the law of the LORD” (Ps. 1:1-2). Jesus said it this way: “Wide is the road that leads to destruction, and narrow the way that leads to life” (Matt. 7:13-14).  And so it is in Deuteronomy. There are two ways set before the people, one of obedience and life, the other of rebellion and destruction

Deuteronomy. 30:16: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in

that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to

keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and

multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to

possess.”

Deuteronomy. 30:19b-20: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;

therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you

may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling

to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.”

That’s what The Shema is doing in the larger context of Deuteronomy: calling Israel to

remember her history and to obey His commands as a sign of love for Him and His deliverance

from their captivity in Egypt. 

D. “With All Your Heart, Soul, and Strength”

The author of the paper expresses this portion of the Shema in modern terms we can all understand.  "The Shema is calling us to do: love God with ALL OF OUR BEING.  With all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength, with all my work, with all my computers, with all my Facebook, with all my wallet, with all my home, with all my time. This is what it means to “love YHWH your God.”

Well, I guess I'm done.  Posting this article blessed me and confirmed what I have been being led to do by the Ruach HaChodesh (Holy Spirit).  I hope it will bless my readers as well.  

Priority #1 - My Elohim: Great is Thy Faithfulness

While cleaning her room, Princess Butterfly came across an old diary once belonging to my firstborn Dancing Angel (1989-2003).  Like everything else Dancing Angel and My Diva owned as little girls, the diary was Lisa Frank.  I had read it before, but it had been many, many years.  It made me laugh. She never could finish a paragraph. She starts telling a story of how I yelled at her for no reason, but didn't finish it. She mentions meeting her two best friends for the first time and had planned to bring them some gum.  She didn't date anything, but even though few pages are written on, it spans a few years, from life in Okinawa as an Air Force brat to moving to Texas.  It's a treasure. I'm so glad we have it.

I laughed while I read it, and then cried like a baby until I fell asleep. There is not a moment that goes by that I don't wish she were still here.  The following morning after reading the diary, I thought I would get up depressed, but I got up remembering that His mercies are new EVERY morning. GREAT is His faithfulness. I'm thankful for every one of my loved ones who have passed on, but I'm not going to lose one minute of the joy of being with the ones that I have with me. "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Bless His name!

As soon as I got on my computer, I saw a video posted of my cousin giving her testimony in church recently.  She and I have lost two shared relatives this year, but on her mother's side she has lost so many more, back to back.  It has been rough.  

I will let her testimony be the completion of my blog today.  

Priority #1 - My Elohim: Too Busy not to Pray

I have been thinking about getting back to my original format of blogging.  I enjoy the Simple Woman's Day Book format, but I may start a different blog just for that purpose.  I miss my priority planning blog.  This method of ordering my thoughts has been with me for so long that I feel so scattered without it.

My prayer list is getting longer than my arms these days.  So much so, that whenever I don't take the time to sit in Yehovah's presence, it seems that all Gehenna breaks loose.  There have been so many deaths and so much sickness.  I'm sitting here at this moment in shock at the sudden passing of a young man who visited my home only a few weeks ago.  I have lost an uncle, a great-aunt, and a grandmother this year alone and it is only May.  A cousin of mine has lost five family members this year, including the two that we share.

At the same time, I have seen much answered prayer as well.  I continue to hear the words of the Messiah ringing in my heart, "But you, when you pray, enter into your closet and lock your door, and pray to your father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public."  Matthew 6:6 ABPE

I am seeing answers to prayer that no human has heard me utter.  

I like to pray in my closet (literally), but I also like to pray when I am alone in the car.  I am easily distracted, so I set a timer and pray at least a minute for each prayer request.  It doesn't sound very spiritual, I know, but but I can go from "Bless my husband" to "I wonder how long it will take for my child to notice I have not cleaned up her mess" in 60 seconds or less.  

Since my journey into Hebraic roots, I see that prayer, in the time of the temple, took place at specific times of the day.  At 9 in the morning, noon, and 3 in the afternoon.  I see it repeated in the book of Acts (3:1, 10:30).  Some attempt to continue that practice at those exact times, but I'm thinking that they were connected with the daily sacrificial system and since there is not temple and we are not living on Jerusalem time, my goal is to pray three times a day, but not necessarily at those exact times.  

"Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice."  Psalm 55:17 AMP

"Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." Psalm 141:2  AMP

"And another angel came and stood over the altar. He had a golden censer, and he was given very much incense (fragrant spices and gums which exhale perfume when burned), that he might mingle it with the prayers of all the people of God (the saints) upon the golden altar before the throne."  Revelation 8:3 AMP

"At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances."  Psalm 119:62

"And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed."  Mark 1:35 AMP

"And Isaac went out to meditate and bow down [in prayer] in the open country in the evening; and he looked up and saw that, behold, the camels were coming."  Gen. 24:63 AMP

"And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone."  Matthew 14:23 AMP

In addition to the time of prayer, do we know the DIRECTION of prayer?  

"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously."  Daniel 6:10 AMP 

I Kings 8:22-61 is Solomon's prayer of dedication to the Temple.  The temple is no longer standing; however, we know that one day The New Jerusalem will come down as a bride adorned for her husband.  In faith, we continue to pray in that direction, believing that He who has promised is faithful.   

So the conclusion of the matter is that I need to set aside time at least three times every day with my hands spread (different than the clasped, folded or palms together hands, isn't it?) towards Jerusalem, and let my voice be heard by the Most High and lay all my burdens at His feet.  

My favorite verse is:  

"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]."  Hebrews 11:6 AMP