Month: November 2017
Midweek Mannabite – Giving Thanks With A Grateful Heart
Giving thanks
always
for all things unto God.
Thankfulness for His love, protection and provision and for family and friends and all our many blessings.
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.
Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling which, when followed, results in Thanksgiving.Thankfulness for every new day;
for shelter and rest at night;
for our food, our health;
for love of family and friends;
for everything His goodness provides and continues to send our way;
and for all the things, such as our freedom, that we often take for granted.
For His love endures forever. Ps. 107:1 This week in USA is the day of thanksgiving to God when tradition remembers the harrowing TWO month, (60 days) journey, across 3000 miles of storm tossed ocean,
in a ship called the Mayflower.
An English ship that famously transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, or the Pilgrim fathers
from Plymouth, England to the New World in 1620. That’s only 397 years ago!!!
There were reportedly 102 passengers and a crew of 30 but the exact number is unknown.This voyage has become an iconic story in some of the earliest annals of American Historywith its story of death and of survival in the harsh New England winter environment.They established a small community in Plymouth, building homes from local materials.Historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth, it’s a town in Plymouth County, Massachusettes, United States. They departed from a town in England with the same name.It was the following year, a meal was shared by the Wampanoag Native American tribes
and the first settlers/ Pilgrims in Plymouth in the autumn of 1621. It originated as a Harvest Festival, (which undoubtedly has its roots in the 7 Feasts/Festivals/Gods Appointed Times of Israel. For further info., go to www.minimannamoments.com and type in Feasts of Israel in the Search box.)
It has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789.
Lets not relegate thanksgiving to just one day a year…. or get caught up in the commercial frenzy of the season…but remember the Lord’s goodness and provision with grateful hearts, full of thanksgiving, for all He has done and is doing each and every day all through the year.
May His Shalom be with you, whether or not you are celebrating.
Happy
Giving-Thanks
from all your family and friends at mmm!
BECAUSE 8
Because – Silence Is Beauty
1 Peter 3:3-4. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. Learning evolves out of communion but we should be mindful not to mix the two.Many times we are over anxious to learn or speak or get answers to our prayer requests.We will see the Lord most clearly in the silent still pool,
where we can hear the still, calm, small voice. Kings 19:11-13Here in this place, words are as pebbleswhich when dropped into quiet water,send out ripples and distort the image.He wants to minister to us in the beauty of the silence.In ways He could never communicate by words alone. Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.He desires to look deep into our souls and as He searches us out and knows us,His blessings will come in ways yet unknown to us. He desires we also minister to Him. We need to be still and wait quietly for His salvation. Lamentations 3:26. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.Time spent in His presence is never wasted for only He can touch us the deep in our souls.Our modern, technology oriented lives, have become too busy and too noisy.And we are too eager to impatiently move, to get up and go on with our lives and are easily tempted to dispel the perfect, calm, place in His presence because we’re too busy and so we can do what we need to do to move forward Like a child with a short attention span we want answers and action NOW!We leave our ‘shopping list’ of needs and requirements at His feet, and rush out of His presence, without any semblance of real or meaningful communication and expect home delivery without delay!We are often uncomfortable in the silence.
It takes practice and discipline to remain quiet before Him for any prolonged length of time;Yet it is for us to minister to Him from our inner desire, asking Him to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us. Ps 51:10The still waters of Psalm 23 where the sheep must drink, are those same pure waters, where we too must take in His spirit.Sheep are not happiest when drinking from fast-moving waterNo doubt sheep are afraid of the rushing water and rightly so because if they fall in, their wool would become so saturated, that they would drown with the extra weight pulling them under.
Likewise for us to receive the full benefit of His life-giving waterin the form of His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, we must be still and know that He is God. Psalm 46:10Because in the silence and stillness, that pool will reflect all that He is; and all that He will be in us; and all that we can become in Him.The more still that the water is, the more accurate the reflection, as with a mirror made of glass. Likewise the more we are still within, as well as externally, the better we reflect Our Father. We can only see our reflection in still waters otherwise what we see is distorted.Our cry should be, “search me and know me”. Psalm 139:1, 23Then after we are refreshed from the still waters of the pool and we touch that which has imbued us with life then, when the ripples go outward across the surface, it is symbolic of the giving out of ourselves.
But unless we first fill up; there will be no substance in our outward reach to the lost and hurting world around us.Jesus, lover of my soul
Jesus, I will never let You go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay
You’ve set my feet upon the rock
And now I know. I love you, I need you,
Though my world may fall, I’ ll never let you go
My Saviour, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end…There is no salvation without purification, so the need to have God create in us a clean heart, is essential for maturity as a believer.
We have to have an inner cleanliness. For Jesus himself reminded us, the pure in heart shall see God. Matt 5:8Everyday we should take a mental mikveh/ a bath for our minds and determine to be honest with ourselves and then, to think on, whatsoever is pure, etc., as referenced in Scripture. Phil 4:8Our minds stray, our hearts wander, but let’s not lose our souls but instead discover the living Word Himself and plant Him deep within us, to purify our hearts as only He can (James 4:8); by the washing of the water of His Word . Eph 5:262 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Because in the silence of His presence there is holiness and the fullness of His Shalom. When Jesus said My Peace I give to you. John 14:27He was talking about Shalom which cannot be translated into just a single word..
When there is Shalom there is tranquility,
there is an absence of disorder and violence,
there is justice, sufficient food, clothing and housing. Divine Health no sickness.
There is absence of conflict, lack, hatred, abuse, bribery, corruption, pain, suffering, immorality and all other negative forces.
That is what Jesus was meaning when He said, ‘My peace I give unto you.’ This place of Shalom, is being still and knowing He is God.Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.
Because there is beauty in the silence and in the stillness of His shalom.
~~~~~
Mikveh or mikvah (Hebrew: מִקְוֶה / מקווה is a bath used for the purpose of achieving purity
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Shalom to each and everyone.
Where’s Home?
Heaven is our home and we’re in Seventh Heaven?!
Shamayim: heaven, sky יִםשָׁמַ֫
Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-mah’-yim)
יִםהַשָּׁמַ֖ haš-šā-ma-yim the heavens.
This is the word used in the expression, the heavens and the earth, or the upper and lower regions. Genesis 1:1
The usual Hebrew word for heavens is shamayim, a plural form meaning heights, elevations (Gen. 1:1; 2:1).
The Hebrew word marom is also used (Ps. 68:18; 93:4; 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, high places, heights. Used for heaven in (Psalms 18:16; Isaiah 24:18; Jeremiah 25:30). Properly speaking it means a mountain, as in (Psalms 102:19; Ezekiel 17:23)Heb. galgal, literally a wheel, is rendered heaven in Ps. 77:18 (R.V., whirlwind). like a spiral galaxy?Heb. shahak, rendered sky (Deut. 33:26; Job 37:18; Ps. 18:11), plural clouds (Job 35:5; 36:28; Ps. 68:34, marg. heavens), probably means the firmament.
In the last post we looked at the universe and our place in it.We saw some of the amazing images sent back by Hubble.
The night skies have always fascinated mankind, who has always been searching for a way to get a closer look at those twinkling points of light in the heavens above.History records many who invented and built telescopes for that very purpose; including a 17th century Christian, German astronomer, Johannes Kepler. (1571-1630). He used mathematics to calculate the path of the planets and discovered three laws of planetary motion, amongst other discoveries.Johannes had a friend who denied the existence of God and maintained the universe came into existence by itself.
This troubled Johannes, so he construct a model of the solar system. When he showed it to his friend, the friend exclaimed how beautiful it was and wanted to know Who had made it?
Cryptically Kepler replied that no one had, it had made itself! ‘Nonsense’ replied his friend ‘just tell me who made it’. Kepler proceeded to say to his friend that if he believed the model could not have made itself, which was but a simple imitation of the great universe, how could he believe the universe could make itself!It seems to be a silly statement, in light of what we know today. Johannes Kepler’s model could no more have made itself than a car could manufacture itself.
However according to many scientists, the universe came into existence by accident and so did human life!!!
Rest assured that your life was not an accident and God has a purpose for you.
You’re here because of Him and there is hope and a future. I know the plans I have for you plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you the future and hope. Jeremiah 29:11You are created from the high purposes of God.
Heaven is our home and one day we will be there with Him.
How to translate bikeseh hashimayim in Deut.30:4 which most English translations render as the outermost parts of heaven.
Are we talking about space travel here? Or is it just a metaphor?
Remember, nothing is placed in the Bible by accident.
Every note and detail has a reason for it being placed there. So there must be a reason why God is speaking of gathering the nation of Israel from the outermost parts of heaven. Bikeseh comes from the root kesah and has the proposition Beth (in or on) in front of it and literally means “in the end or extremity.”
The following word “hashimayhim” is from the root shama’ which means heaven.
The word has a definite article Hei at the beginning and a plural ending and we would render that as the heavens. So we are not referring to our final resting place and the celestial city but most likely it is used to describe the sky or outer space. If the writer wanted to depict God gathering the Jews from the ends of the earth he would have said kesevi eres. So why does the writer say the heavens or sky? Here is where opinion comes into play. We creating an opinion that makes sense and we are left with just a metaphor, a poetic expression and a wonderful one at that. God will not only search out every corner to restore the ones He loves, but He will even look in the most unlikeliest places and if necessary in outer space.
God cares for and is mindful of everything in His creation.
Taken from a study on the sparrow falling. In the Aramaic language, you say that God is aware of everytime a sparrow lands. He is not only aware when a sparrow dies, He is aware when a sparrow lands and they do a lot of landing. Again another verse to show how aware God is of every individual He created and how He longs to draw them to Him. He knows every corner and every rock on earth; and every place in the sky and the universe, we just cannot escape His noticeIsaiah 66:1 Heaven is my throne and the earth my foot stool.
Heaven is ‘as the chair’, to God.Because that’s where He dwells and the stool is the earth.
By nature He doesn’t dwell there but He does touch it with the ‘feet of His presence’ as part of His footstool. It is therefore under ‘His feet’ and under His control and His perfect will and plans and purposes.
According to Ephesians 1:22, all things are under Messiah’s feet and under ours too!
The constellation in the picture above is called the hand of God.
When we have a friend we spend time in each other’s company, we have the same interests and talk about them together. So we should be the same with God. His home is in heaven as well as in our hearts; and we are already invited for a future event where He lives.
The marriage supper of the Lamb.
Home is where our hearts are fixed and focused.
Meanwhile we have His spirit with us and He never leaves us or forsakes us. Hebrews 13:5. Jesus told us, I am with you always. Matt. 28:20
However our human curiosity wants to know what heaven is really like.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:2, he thought it was the third heaven.
Just how many are there?The Hebrew language gives seven words for heaven and the ancient model in the form of drawings illustrates what Genesis describes; and the meaning of the seven Hebrew words; and how they saw everything fitting together.This is the root of where we get our idiom to be in the seventh heaven.The word in Genesis, in the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The word heavens is plural; it is not singular, meaning, that there is more than one heaven.
God is the God of the Heavens El HaShamayim’
שָׁמַ֫יִם = heavens
2 Corinthians 12:2 (2 Cor. 12:7)
The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24).
According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens,
Shechakim “expanses,” with reference to the extent of heaven. (33:26; Job 35:5) Pauls’ expression “third heaven,” 2 Cor. 12:2, had led to much conjecture. Grotius said that the Jews divided the heaven into three parts:
1) The First Heaven: Earth & Man. The air or atmosphere, where clouds gather. The firmament, as “fowls of the heaven” (Gen 1:26 2:19; 7:3, 23; Ps. 8:8 etc.), “the eagles of heaven” (Lam. 4:19)
2) The Second Heaven: Space and Stars* The firmament, in which the sun, moon and stars are fixed;The starry heavens (Deut. 17:3; Jer. 8:2; Matt. 24:29).
(Isaiah 13:10)…(Isaiah 14:13)
Astronomy is the scientific study of the individual celestial bodies (excluding the earth) and of the universe as a whole.
Astrology is the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs. (a form of prophecy but is false prophecy, false predictions, demonic, a diversion away from God’s truth).
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