Just for one moment…

dare to feel vulnerable…

Whether we are within four seemingly solid walls of a building or in a vehicle of transportation we feel protected, safe and proportionally significant to our surroundings.

We feel able to coordinate and work within and as much as is possible, able to control our immediate environment.

Everyone has a certain image of themselves whatever they claim.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder.

 In this instance it’s how we see ourselves in relation to God’s creation,

to our immediate environment and how we interact with what is around us.

Take away our boundaries, our walls, our secure zone; remove the walls and fences and protective insulating layers and reveal where you are.

In reality we a just a miniscule part of the whole creation.

A tiny dot

in the vastness of space

For it is a certainty that everything is connected and truly no man is an island.

Everything you see around you that is not part of nature, was made by humans and was made here on this earth.

All the elements that construct everything in your home, your vehicle and everywhere you go are made of the same basic elements that the earth and stars in the heavens are made of;

that includes our physical bodies which came from the DUST of the earth. (Genesis 1)

The nitrogen that is in our DNA,

the calcium in our nails and teeth,

the iron in our blood,

(The reason why rock and stones are red is from the iron content which is the same as the iron in our blood)

the carbon and minerals

in the food we eat.

We are made of the same elements and components that are present in the universe.

You could even say we are made from Star Dust,

from the interior of the very creation of the universe.

It’s time to get our eyes away from the TV, PC and cell Phone screens and look up and around at the panoramic iMax of reality.

Open our eyes Lord that we may see!

So let’s see ourselves as who we really are.

From above we look like an ant colony on a huge scale but 7 billion people are not visible from a mile up

And yet we can see further than a mile on the ground, so we are really small to not be seen from a mile away.

Our place in the cosmos is tiny in the vastness of his universe,

we are almost imperceptible but yet God knows every hair on our heads. That should be a very comforting thought.

Feel small yet?

We need to have a deeper appreciation of all that He was, all that He is now and all that He will be; and by the same token all that you are, and the promise of all that you will become by His spirit.

At that moment of daring to feel small alone and vulnerable its overwhelming, for we are ultimately powerless within the living environment that surrounds us.  Yet all of nature in itself does not require our assistance to continue its existence and progression.

Shockingly, we are dispensable to natures cycle of life and yet God created us from its essential elements, from the same dirt that the whole of creation is comprised.

The roots of the trees reach ever further downward and their trunks soar to the sky, may be even trying to reach the heavens to get closer to their creator.

Everything God created has living movement and the essence of life within it.

We are the pinnacle of his creation and it made the Angels gasp.

We are unique in everything that He made and yet we were not to be annexed from the creation He placed us in to guard and keep.

We are intrinsically connected not only to creation itself but also to one another, so we should not ever feel alone, isolated and small in its fine array of environments. It is not strange therefore, when we meet someone for the first time and feel like we’ve known them forever. We have!

From Desert

to Ice Shelf,

Mountain Top

to

Valley

Open Plain

to Forest

and

Woodland to Seashore.

waterfalls

to lakes

Vast Continents

to

Tiny Islands

volcanoes

to glaciers

and from

the immense vistas

to the secluded niches.

Nor have we any need to feel overwhelmed

by the gigantic

towering

redwoods

of California;

and feel humbled by the intricacies of the construction in the dragonflies wings,

there is no need to fear the waves of the rolling sea

 

because

the waters will become calm at a word from the master.

Our fascination of the hummingbird speed

and the scientifically,

non aerodynamic shaped bee,

who technically should not be able to fly, and maybe it is an indication to us,  a visual example of doing the impossible by faith.

In allowing ourselves to feel small, we see that we are truly part of the whole creation that He formed and it is here, right before us and He has placed us in this vast and magnificent environment.

In that moment of vulnerability, we are also the most secure in the knowledge of His unfathomable and unconditional love.

In all His living things,

the Flora and Fauna,

Animals, Birds and Plants,

the beauty of Blossoms

and faithfulness

and

 

affection

 

of the creatures we take into our homes and quickly

become as members of our families.

And in realizing the same Creator God loves us so much that He sent His son

to experience all that we do in this life and suffered so much more so that we don’t ever have to.

 

 He suffered and died in our place that we can be redeemed and

now the sin that resulted in the slow death of all that He made, can be reversed in our individual lives.

His ultimate goal for us to be in close relationship with Him and it’s available to each and everyone of us,

right here,

right now.

So enjoy feeling small in the vast array of His Grace

and

Glory

and take a moment to drink in His presence

encapsulated within the enornmity

and magnificence of His creation.

For you are more precious to Him than all the images above and He gave His life for YOU not them.

How marvelous, how wonderful is our Saviors love for each and every one of us.

Know you are greatly loved and therefore blessed beyond measure.

To Dwell a little longer on His Creation go to Homepage and under Pages-Title- Subjects List click on

AHH musing minimannamoments or simply

click link below

AHH-musing Mini Manna Moments

May the fullness of His Shalom fill your hearts and minds continually.

 

 

 

 

REASONS TO BELIEVE:

The most common answer to the question ‘why’?, often starts with the word

‘because’,

denoting a reason.

According to the In the Merriam-Webster dictionary;

the word BECAUSE means:

for this cause / for this reason/

by reason of/ for the reason that

 

There are so many reasons to believe and so many Scriptures that contain the word because.

So, ‘for this reason’, there will be one of the ‘BECAUSE’ series added into the blog from time to time and archived in a separate page for reference.

~

BECAUSE my God is my shield and my exceeding great reward I will not fear (Genesis 15:1).

Also My Shield, Maginni,

in the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 22:3

Maginni in Hebrew is magen or meginnah:    a shield  מָגֵן

Transliteration: magen or meginnah
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-gane’)

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, 
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

In some verses, the KJV alters the word to ‘defense’ or ‘buckler’, (an old word for a shield).

A variation on this name of God is,        Shield of your help.

Strong’s Concordance number: 4043

Bible references:

2 Sam. 22:3; Pss. 7:10; 18:2; 28:7; 33:20; 115:9-11; 119:114; 144:2

HEBREW AND TRANSLITERATION

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

A•char had•va•rim ha•e•le ha•ya d`var–Adonai el–Av•ram ba•ma•cha•ze

אַַחר הְַדבִָריםָ הֵאֶלהָ הָיה דְַבר–ְיהָֹוהֶ אל–ַ

Fear not, Abram; I am your shield, and your reward will be great.

le•mor al–ti•ra Av•ram Ano•chi ma•gen lach s`char•cha har•be me•od.

–ִתיָרא אְַברָםָ אנִֹכי מָגֵןָ לְךְׂ שָכרְָךַ הְרֵּבהְ מֹאד:

No doubt many of us have already made New Year’s resolutions.

Everyone has good intentions but they often don’t last very long.

As the calendar turned over from 2016 to 2017

it always seems a good time to try to make changes.

However New Beginnings

don’t come from a calendar

and
neither should we wait a whole year before trying to make changes in our lives.

For believers it should be a daily exercise to challenge ourselves and to continue to change. Our goal is to become more are more like the one we declare that we love and follow.
It takes

commitment,

dedication,

and

determination

as well as

courage

and consistency

to keep those resolutions.

Is easy to say, but much harder to do, the words are cheap, it’s our actions that speak much louder.

It’s hard sometimes to admit, that for all of us as believers, none of these resolutions will even get off the ground without the help, direction and support of His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh. The scripture tells us that the power of Adonai Elohim/Lord God, comes, not by power, not by might, but by His Spirit, and only in His strength, can we do what we have committed to do.

As we have been looking at Chanukah in the last posts, interestingly there is a connection both to:

The Olive Tree

and to the Menorah

in the Vision of Zechariah 2:14–4:7

(which is In the scripture usually read at chanukah).

Zechariah speaks of an earlier Chanukah when the menorah of the second Temple was inaugurated.

The leader of the nation was Zerubbabel, scion/offspring, of the Davidic dynasty and the prophet who conveyed this vision was Zechariah.
The prophet begins by looking ahead to the times when all the world will lack knowledge. Israel is priority as God’s chosen people and leadership of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of David.
Then the prophet turns to Joshua who was the victim of the same sin that plagued much of the nation in the wake of the Babylonian exile. His sons had married gentile women and Joshua had failed to chastise them.
‘Then he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord , and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him…. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.’ Zechariah 3:1-5

In his vision Zechariah sees the Satan/adversary/accuser, condemning Joshua for this lapse, which was symbolized by the soiled garments he was wearing.

In this passage we see Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of YHWH (who is/represents YHWH Himself and is, many believe, God the Son: the pre-incarnate Christ) and he is in filthy garments.

This is very strange because the high priest was supposed to be the holy representative of the people, he was the one who carried the names of the people ‘on his heart’ in the stones of the breastplate before God (Exodus 28:30)….if he was filthy in God’s sight, that did not bode well for the rest of the people. And, of course, Satan is there to bring a seemingly airtight case against the priest. Joshua is filthy and everyone can see it, the angel of YHWH is holy. There would seem to be no hope.

But the angel of YHWH removes Joshua’s filthy garments and clothes him in pure vestments. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus/Yeshua! Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, the angel of YHWH in our midst. He will be the one to remove the garments of our sin and to clothe us in the vestments of His righteousness, and HE will accomplish it “in a single day” (3:9) at the cross.
As God purifies Joshua, it is on the merits of His own future ‘death’ and resurrection that He is acting.  Joshua was a foreshadowing of the final defeat in a head-crushing silencing that Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, would deal him at calvary’s cross.

Zechariah 4:

The Vision of the Lampstand and the Olive Trees, and the Power of GOD through His Spirit.

With Zechariah 3-6, we learn about how Joshua the High Priest Was Vindicated By GOD and Was Given New Robes,

the Vision of the Lampstand/Menorah and the Olive Trees, and the Power of GOD through His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh

God defends Joshua on the grounds that he is a firebrand rescued from the flames. He was immersed in the flames of the exiles spiritual and physical destruction and as such cannot be condemned for the past.
The angel clothes him in the pure vestments and turban of the High Priesthood and warns him that henceforth he must obey the commandments. Only then can he be assured that he is there and will succeed him as High Priest, Cohen Gadol.

 

Joshua’s comrades Channiah, Mishael, and Azariah will join him in welcoming Zerubbabel, (which means, the flourishing one), and in seeing the cornerstone of the temple which figuratively has all eyes on it and is adorned with beautiful carvings.

Finally Zechariah is shown a menorah complete with a bowl containing oil, tubes bringing oil to its seven lamps and even two olive trees to provide a continuous supply of fuel.

This symbolizes that all man’s needs are provided by God – man however must have the eyes to see it.

 

Impassable mountains become hospitable plains if God so wills.

 

A fitting message for Chanukah, and for the start of the year 2017; not only because of the menorah, but because Chanukah too shows that a small band of righteous warriors putting their faith in God. They overcame one of the world’s superpowers and brought purity back to the temple/ the house of God*

If all of us would have the courage of our convictions, fortitude and persistence to press through when things get tough; we will begin to show some of the same strength and endurance as that small, yet victorious band of warriors, whose heart for God and His ways meant so much to them that they were willing to lay down their lives for what they believed.

Let this year be the one our ‘resolutions’ are not only primarily concerning the things of God but more importantly that we will keep them.

This life of ‘new resolution’, is only possible when we stay close to the Lord and allow Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, to do the work in and through us.

This passage in Zechariah 4:1-6 is where we get our well-known verse, “not by power not by my by my spirit”.

That’s how we will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and live an overcoming life and be victorious.

There is no need to look at the whole year ahead. All we need to do is to take one day at a time and with Him we can do it.

The only thing that makes the new year new or for that matter any day, week or month, is the power of God.

He is the One who says, ‘I am making all things new’.
He is the only One with the power to create new beginnings.

It’s not the morning that makes things new but it is,

His mercies which are

new every morning.

Lamentations 3:23

It won’t be a New Year to us simply because its called a New Year but only when we make a resolution to walk in the power of the Lord’s newness.

And the power of God to walk in newness of life is given to those who are led by His Spirit. A whole new way to look at a familiar verse.

 

And the angel who talked with me came again and awakened me, like a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl [for oil] on the top of it and its seven lamps on it, and [there are] seven pipes to each of the seven lamps which are upon the top of it.

3 And there are two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side of it [feeding it continuously with oil].
4 So I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he said to me, This [addition of the bowl to the candlestick, causing it to yield a ceaseless supply of oil from the olive trees] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying,

Not by might,

nor by power,

but by My Spirit

[of Whom the oil is a symbol],

says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:1-6 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

May His Spirit/Ruach continually strengthen and uphold you as you walk daily with Him.

Shalom.