Exodus 34:6-7 6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” God is compassionate and gracious and forgives those who ask because His love is abounding. He doesn’t get angry quickly, but he will punish the guilty who are unrepentant. He abounds in truth and lovingkindness (reliability). Numbers 29:13 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? God does not lie (He IS truth). God does not sin, so He doesn’t need to repent (this doesn’t mean that He can’t change His mind and forgive us – remember Ninevah?). What He says, He will do. Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. God is jealous of His relationship with me. He consumes like fire anything and everything within me until I am His. Deuteronomy 4:31 For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. God is compassionate and doesn’t destroy us. He will not fail me. He won’t forget the covenant that He made with Israel (and if I am grafted into Israel this promise applies to me as well if I fulfill the conditions set in the covenant). Deuteronomy 6:4 Shema (Hear and obey) O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! God is one. I know we have “the Trinity” but that was defined around 300 ad. I think of God, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit as being kind of like water. Water is water, but it can have many forms – it can be ice, liquid, or vapor. God can take many forms, too. But He is still ONE. Deuteronomy 9:3 Know therefore today that it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has spoken to you. God is my forward guard. When He sends me somewhere, He goes before me. He is a consuming fire that purifies and drives out anything in His way, or He prepares them for me to be able to drive them out/destroy them quickly. Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. God is God. He is over all other gods, and He is Lord of all other lords. He is over EVERYTHING. He is great. He is mighty. He is awesome. He can’t be bought and is completely fair. Deuteronomy 20:14 for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. God is with me where I go. God fights for me. God saves me. Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is a refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, ‘Destroy! God is a refuge, a place to hide and rest. God is everlasting. His arms never get tired. 2 Samuel 22:33-34 For who is God, besides the LORD? And who is a rock, besides our God? 33 “God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless in His way. 34 “He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And sets me on my high places. God is a rock. Being a rock means He’s also a great place to go when I need defending. He is strong. He directs my path in His way and makes my feet secure so I won’t fall. Psalm 33:11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. God makes plans and He is not thwarted. Not my mess ups, not time, nothing forces Him to change. Psalm 46:1 God the Refuge of His People. For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, [a]set to Alamoth. A Song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. God is a refuge for me. He is my strength. When I am in trouble, He is present and makes His presence known. Psalms 48:14 For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death. God is God forever. He is my God forever and ever. He is my guide every day until I die. Psalms 50:6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. God is righteous. God is judge of everything. Psalms 54:4 Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul. God is my helper. He helps me all the time, not just when I’m in trouble. He sustains my soul – he keeps it alive. Psalms 68:19-20 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. 20 God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death. God is my burden bearer every day. He is strong and has no trouble carrying my struggles. God is my salvation (rescue). God is God of deliverances. He sends deliverance to me when I am trapped. God knows all the escape routes. Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. God is the strength of my heart. He keeps my heart beating. He makes me brave. He is my portion, and since he’s pretty huge, that’s a big portion! Psalms 84:11-12 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You! God is my sun, my light. He is my shield, keeps me safe. God is the giver of grace and glory. God doesn’t hold back good things; He gives them to those who do what’s right. Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. God’s word is tested – it’s true and flawless (according to the NIV). God doesn’t make mistakes, so His words are never mistakes. He is a shield that deflects attacks that come at me. Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. God has good news for me when I am afflicted. God binds me up when I am brokenhearted and crushed so I can heal. God brings liberty and freedom for me when I held captive by the darkness. God comforts me when I am sad and mourning. He gives good things in exchange for the bad. Matthew 12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. God’s Spirit casts out demons and brings the rule and reign of God. John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. God is spirit. To worship Him my spirit must honestly revere Him.
There are two questions I’ve had a lot: does Torah matter and how were the Gentiles (sons of strangers) supposed to know this law? Skip Moen answers these questions with insight in two posts: Food in the Garden This article discusses the role of Israel. God clearly states (in Hebrew) that all men live by the Torah. This begs the question of how the rest of us are supposed to know about Torah if it was given to the Israelites. The answer is that they are chosen as God’s priestly people whose role is to tell the world how to live according to God’s standard and to return to the Garden. Read the whole article >> The Certificate Many of us wonder, then, what got “nailed to the cross” when Yeshua died? Our Bibles translate it as the Torah… but is that correct? This article explores what the Hebrew text says and clarifies the role of Torah in our lives today. Read the whole article >>
“Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, then it was that God routed Jereboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.” 2 Chronicles 13:15 Then it was that God routed Jereboam and all Israel. It wasn’t until the men of Judah raised a war cry, a battle cry, that God routed their attackers. They had been ambushed, so they cried to the Lord, and they sounded the trumpets, but even though all of that was well and good, God didn’t intervene until they raised a war cry. I think the reason the war cry is so important is because it signifies our desire, passion, and holy anger to fight back. We are no longer content to sit idly by or to run around in confusion. The fight is on and we’re going on the offensive! I can cry for help, I can sound the trumpet of alarm to rally the troupes to prayer or in warning, but God is waiting for the warriors’ heart to be stirred. When I pick up my sword, raise my shield, and scream at the forces of evil, it is then that God routes my enemies. So the question today is obvious, have a raised my battle cry? If not, what’s holding me back?
Psalm 36:5-9 5 Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast. 7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. These are qualities of God: His goodness, kindness and faithfulness (also reliability) extends farther than we can reach. His righteousness (justice) is solid, strong, and firm (unmovable). His judgements are full of wisdom that is deeper than we can comprehend. He preserves us. He is a shelter for us. He provides an abundance from His overflowing (fatness) resources. He lets us “drink” from the torrent (not just a trickle) of eden (It’s interesting that we tend to think of delights as having the things we want, but the word used for delights refers to the garden where Adam and Havvah had unbroken fellowship and relationship with YHWH. I wonder if these delights aren’t physical delights but rather refer to our relationship with YHWH – in other words, we are filled and satisfied with the rushing torrent, the overwhelming flood, of His presence.) He is life He instructs us and gives us light to live by, walk by, and prosper by.
The Question A friend asked me recently what verses came to mind when I was stressed out, or which I could think of off of the top of my head. I was a deer in headlights. I froze. I couldn’t think of anything. She then asked me if I had a verse or two that could be considered a “life verse.” Ummmm. Not really. No. I could do the cliche and quote the one about “For I know the plans I have for you…”, but that doesn’t really strike my soul. And then… I was reading a few mornings ago and found it! It kind of jumped off the page at me. “You ADONAI are a shield around me; My glory and the One who lifts my head.” (Psalm 3:3) There is so much wrapped up in that one, relatively small, verse! My shield: He is my protection, my guardian, my redeemer, my rescuer, my hedge. I hide behind Him and in Him when trouble comes. My glory: It’s His reputation instead of mine, His power that makes all things possible, His honor for which I was created and gifted , His fame that He uses me for. I worship Him in His glory. The lifter of my head: There is such incredible compassion in that one simple movement! When I am ashamed, afraid, sad, humiliated, I hang my head and I’m afraid to meet the eyes of my Abba. When I have broken a law (like Esther), I approach with my eyes low, awaiting my fate. When I am in awe of His immensity and power, I bow my head in reverence. And He gently touches my chin and raises me up until my eyes fall into His. In this one phrase there is compassion, kindness, mercy, hope, adoption, and so much love. Here is one who buys me back from the darkness, who says I am worthy to bear His name, who forgives me when I am wrong, who mixes judgement with mercy, who knows my weaknesses and gives me strength to stand, whose love washes everything else away. And in that, so much is said. He is my all.
I am qualified to share in His inheritance. Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. I had to go look up the word “inheritance” to see what the actual Greek means. It means a portion or a lot. Digging deeper, I found verses in Romans, Acts, and other New Testament books that give a little more insight. We share in Christ’s suffering and also in His glory. We are heirs with Him of Abraham’s promises/covenant. We will eventually reign with Him. And more simply, we inherit salvation and eternal life. I am not qualified on my own. I am qualified because God qualifies me and says that I am worthy. That’s pretty neat.
This song has been playing in my head so much lately. It is pretty much what I feel when I think of God. What Do I Know of Holy by Addison Road I made You promises a thousand times I tried to hear from Heaven But I talked the whole time I think I made You too small I never feared You at all No If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You? (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? I guess I thought that I had figured You out I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about How You were mighty to save Those were only empty words on a page Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? (CHORUS 2) What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave life “its” name? What do I know of Holy? Of the One who the angels praise? All creation knows Your name On earth and heaven above What do I know of this love? (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy?