Pursuing Truth in the Messiah

My husband's sermon on discipleship from 5/23/20 can be found on youtube.  You can copy and paste this link into your browser to find it! https://youtu.be/d9eqWktSpo0 

On the eighth day, Moshe called Aharon, his sons and the leaders of Isra’el, and said to Aharon,” Take a male calf for a sin offering… …and a ram for a burnt offering… …both without defect, and offer them before ADONAI. Then tell the people of Isra’el, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering… …and a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defect, for a burnt offering…     …and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before ADONAI;     …also a grain offering mixed with olive oil…   – because today ADONAI is going to appear before you.   There were a few things in this parshah that seemed specific to those who represent G-d in the sight of others .   One was the way these sacrifices were done, and the other was the catastrophe that followed Nadav and Avihu’s unauthorized fire. You and I may not be priests like Aharon, but each of us has a way that we represent G-d in the sight of others.   Maybe we...

I wanted to write another post to follow up on my "Mercy" post. It's a big deal to wrap your head around the fact that you're not perfect.  And different people have found different ways of coping with this concept. Option 1: Oh, yes, I am!!!      These people stubbornly fight against all evidence to the contrary, maintaining against all odds the self-dictated concept that their perfection is still in place. Option 2: You know what?  I'm not perfect and that's okay.      These people have decided to stop fighting their flaws and to slump into whatever imperfections plague them.  In the name of acceptance and accepting yourself and loving yourself, they've decided to  embrace their identity of imperfection. Option 3: He made a Way      These people don't give up. Their whole lives are directed in a God-fearing direction.  Their attention is on Him.  They study His Word.  They copy His Ways.  T...

As I  mentioned in the previous post, I had a rough month. You know what made it even worse? It was partly my fault. That may sound weird, but I'm guessing some of you out there understand exactly what I mean.  Dealing with a catastrophe that was not your fault is completely different than dealing with one in which the blame lies squarely on your shoulders.  Especially if you're the sort of person who likes to exceed everyone's expectations and who identifies yourself as someone who doesn't make mistakes. Imagine...a car wreck.  In which you were not at fault.  Someone swerved into your lane.  You did heroics and managed to keep the wreck from being as bad as it could have been (thanks to your awesome driving skills), but, alas, your car was totally wrecked. It's easy to pray then. God, help me.  Restore what was wrongfully stolen from me.  Redeem me from my enemies.  Bless me, for I am aligned with you. Now imagine the same sce...

Last week, we read about the story of Creation --  how the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, how He spoke into the chaos and darkness and brought about the beauty and order of Earth. This month has been a rough one for me.  It seemed like every catastrophe was hitting, one right after the other.  I was reeling.  I  felt like Job -- blindsided by a series of tragedies, yet hoping in God.  And I hung onto the fact that his story turns out with things being restored and, beyond that, they were even better than before. A friend started talking to me about chaos.  And that word latched into my mind as a pretty good way to describe what my life was looking like. She said that Shalom -- the peace that encompasses perfect wholeness, with nothing missing and nothing broken -- is a two-sided coin.  One is bringing in that perfect peace and the other is kicking out the powers that cause the chaos.  Remove the chaos and establish the  pea...

So there were so many things that struck me about the story of the Golden Calf this time so I'm just going to try and briefly list each one in this post.  Here we go... This Moshe -- we don't know what has become of him      Moses (Moshe) was gone a long time.  I was talking to Garrett (my husband) a few weeks ago about this because not many people in modern-day America would have patience to sit on a mountain for days, waiting for God to speak.  But now I'm looking at it from the people of Israel's perspective.  How many of us would have the patience to wait for Moses, while he was on the mountain for so long?       When you think about it, they've been rescued from Egypt, led across the sea on dry land, fed with manna and quails, miraculously provided with water, and marched out to this mountain.  There, they've seen God on the mountain and now they are waiting down below while God speaks with Moses.      It pr...

     I was reading Exodus 30:17-21.  It says:   Adonai said to Moshe,  “You are to make a basin of bronze, with a base of bronze, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.  Aharon and his sons will wash their hands and feet there  when they enter the tent of meeting — they are to wash with water, so that they won’t die. Also when they approach the altar to minister by burning an offering for Adonai ,  they are to wash their hands and feet, so that they won’t die. This is to be a perpetual law for them through all their generations.”      And I thought it was interesting that it said, "They are to wash with water, so that they won't die."      Did you know that they could have died?      Talk about  job hazards!     It's like being an electrician.  An electrician works with something that is very powerful.  There...