It is important, as believers of Adonai Elohim and Yeshua His Machiyach (you know Him as Jesus His Messiah), that we periodically enter boot camp. Boot camp is designed to prepare a person spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally for specific predetermined times in the future.

Because of great times of faith that are needed for the future in our lives, boot camp is necessary. The “boot camp” that I am referring to is the concentrated, focused, habitual study of YHVH’s (God’s) Word.

To have faith and then stay strong in faith, we must have a fresh supply of the bread of life. Today’s manna is not for tomorrow (Exodus 16:15b-30.) YHVH’s manna is new every morning. Most of the children of Israel came to understand that concept, do you?

The Word of YHVH (specifically the Torah portion) is your life force. Those words are infused with the power of the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit). When the bread is eaten (taken in), it becomes a strong force (power) inside of us. Then, and only then, we will speak words that bring deliverance, healing and freedom, not only for ourselves, but also for others.

If you don’t feed your Spirit-man you will become weak. The weakness happens so gradually that you don’t notice it. You think you are all right–but you are not. If you continue to starve your Spirit, you will eventually wake up and find you are a skeleton. Feed on YHVH’s Word, it will put meat on your Spirit-man and it will change and empower you. Ezekiel 37 is a perfect picture of a Spiritual skeleton infused with the, “bread (breath) of Elohim ” (verse 4.) What did the skeleton become after hearing the Word and having the breath of life breathed into him/her? (Verse 10) That’s right, “a part of a huge army!” The word, “huge” is from two Hebrew words meaning, “exceedingly, in might and force” and “great, in magnitude and extent.” Does that give you the hunger/craving to feed on YHVH’s Word? You will be dry bones without it!

When a person finishes boot camp with excellence, he/she gets to be part of a vast army! Coincidence? I think not! Want to sign up? It is not a choice if you want to live…

Prayer: Adonai Elohim, You must be my first and greatest hunger. I don’t want to be dry bones in the middle of the valley floor (my life). I ask You right now to awaken an old hunger that I may have forgotten or ignored. In Yeshua’s name, Adonai Elohim, release me from dead religion into spiritual hunger. Adonai, please speak life to my bones. Breathe on me. Raise me up to my feet to be part of the huge army! Thank you for the sweet manna you give me every morning. I will gather just enough for today and use it for Your glory… until tomorrow when I will gratefully gather again.

Gathering and feasting…

Kathy

Over time, placing the commandments in a container became the custom, to protect God’s people. The Israelites, unlike many Christians today, reverenced the word of God. So much so, that they could not even say or write the names of God, they wrote it G-D or YHWH. How far does your reverence for G-D go? How flippant are you about the things of G-D, i.e.: your Bible, the temple (your body) where G-D resides (if you are a child of G-D’s)?

The m’zuzah is actually the written parchment with the Scriptures written on it. There are two passages of scripture written on the parchment (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21.) Of course, the parchment has to be Kosher (1 a: sanctioned by Jewish law; especially: ritually fit for use <kosher meat 2: being proper, acceptable, or satisfactory) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The box is just the container, but for ease of learning, the whole container will be called the m’zuzah. As Judaism developed, the rabbis determined which verses of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) would be written on the parchment. After thousands of years, the scripture has stayed remarkably consistent. The m’zuzah is a constant reminder to follow YHWH. Most often, even on the m’zuzahs that I have found today, the Hebrew letter shin is on the outside of the container. It is the first letter of an attribute of G-D. It is the first letter of the word Sh-D-Y (Shaddai) which means, almighty. It meant to the Israelites, “watchman of the doors.” Who better to watch over the door than Shaddai… the Almighty one! Does the Almighty One watch over your home? Have you invited him to, or are you still trying to do it yourself?

A m’zuzah can be placed on every doorway of a home except the bathroom (for defilement reasons.) It is common to see m’zuzahs on public building and synagogues in Israel.
Because of the great respect the Jews have for G-D’s word, it is customary to see them touch the m’zuzah as they pass through the door and kiss the fingers that touched the word Shaddai. It shows their love for G-D. How do you show your respect for G-D, publicly and privately?

There is a real significance in the New Testament regarding the m’zuzah. Jesus (Yeshua) affirmed the truth contained in the m’zuzah when he was asked a question by a Pharisee, “which commandment is the most important?” (Matthew 22:34-38.) Yeshua quoted from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (one of the passages in the m’zuzah) when he answered the Pharisee’s question. Also, in John 10:7-10, Yeshua said m’zuzah when he talked to the disciples about being the gate. Jesus is our m’zuzah, the Almighty One, the Shaddai over our lives and homes! Jesus spoke in Hebrew (Aramaic), so He would have said m’zuzah, but it was translated into Greek for our New Testament into the word thura, which means, “doorway or doorpost.” Paul, in Ephesians 2:19-22, would have had in mind the m’zuzah when he talked about Yeshua being the “cornerstone” for the “holy temple for the Lord.” Is Yeshua the m’zuzah of your life today? If not, He can be, by telling Him and showing Him you want Him to be.

Are you, your family, and your home dedicated to the glory and obedience of G-D? Do you kiss the Shaddai of your life every day as you come to him? Revelation 3:20 says, “Look! Here I stand at the door (m’zuzah) and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends” (NLT). The meal is your daily bread, precious ones. What does the delivery person or other visitors see when they approach your house? Is there a witness for the YHWH there? It may be your only opportunity to say what you want to say to them. Will you ask YHWH what He wants you to apply to your life and doorpost as a result of what you have just learned? He wants to be your m’zuzah, will you allow Him?

El Shaddai,
Forgive me for holding back, my lack of regard, my not reaching out, touching, kissing, or showing my love for you. May I lavish my love upon you in obvious, tangible ways, so that others are drawn to you?
In Yeshua’s name,
Amen

What was the big deal, God? Uzzah was keeping the ark from falling in the mud! That was unfair! You are too sensitive, Lord… and so on… Maybe one or more of those thoughts have entered your mind as you read the passage above? All of those phrases have been mine at one time or another. I think differently now…

It is speculated that Uzzah could have grown up around the ark when it was at Abinadab’s house. At the time that the ark was there, God’s presence was in limited fashion because the ark was not where it should have been. Maybe it was stored in a barn or shed (a little too big for a coffee table, ha!). If this is true, what do kids (like Uzzah) do in a barn? They jump, swing, and play king of the mountain on anything that is there. Get the picture? It was so much a fixture that it had become common. For example… a cross hanging in your house or around your neck, your Bible, prayer, and songs. They are Christian “fixtures” (meant with no disrespect). The things we have “grown up” with. If we are not careful… we can allow the sacred things to become so common that we begin to think like Uzzah: “I can touch it, see? I grew up with it; it’s harmless.”

We need to live with a new awareness of God’s presence. We need to be careful so His presence won’t become so common that we begin to think about it casually. So casually, that we reach out and touch His holiness with our common flesh. Remember Uzzah?

Say this with me, “I want Him at any cost. I will not let sacred things become common to me. I am here to meet with God and learn how to handle the Holy things with reverence. I will not become commonplace with the things of God. I will revere and respect the Holiness of all of the things of Hashem (the name that means, He was, He is, He will be), even His names.”

A dear friend called and said something to me and I want to share it with you.

“God’s will: nothing more; nothing less; nothing else; at any cost.” Sometimes the cost is high, but the reward is higher!

When the sacred becomes common, the common becomes a fixture and the fixture gets dusty and even more common. Look around you… is anything of Hashem dusty or commonplace in your life today? Is it time to bring it back to the level of Holiness He deserves?

At any cost…
Kathy

I am, for the first time, reading and studying the Torah: the first five books of the Bible from a Jewish perspective. I am realizing, more than ever before, that I do not know anything! I have become so familiar with the teaching I have received, that it has become like gospel to me… urgh! Everything I learned has been like different coats over the same thing. Never really getting to the foundation of it all! That is what the Torah has become to me. The foundation I have never had. Yes, I have read the first five books of the Bible and had them explained to me, but never understood the meaning from God’s chosen. The meticulous way they have passed down the understanding from generation to generation is amazing.
Here is a small sampling of what I am learning:

So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage. (Exodus 6:9)

When Moses first came back to Egypt, the Israelites were hopeless. They were slaves and brick makers when Moses came peddling hope. Moses told them, “God has sent me to take you out of Egypt.” He showed them signs that convinced them. He gave them great hope that perhaps God was real after all. They began to believe that the God of their fathers cared about them. Moses raised their expectations of life. But when Moses went to Pharaoh to deliver this message, Pharaoh responded by increasing the workload of the slaves and making their lives even more difficult than before. After that the Torah says, “they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage” (Exodus 6:9).

“Don’t get your hopes up,” people say. Nothing is as painful as misplaced hope. The higher your hopes, the further they plunge. Sometimes it is hard to listen to hope because of our despondency. Having dared to hope in the past and having been betrayed by that hope, we resolve not to be hurt again. One way to avoid ever being hurt again is to refuse to hope. The pessimist is actually afraid of hope.

After facing disappointment, it is difficult to hope again. The pessimist claims that he is just being a realist, but despair is not reality. The heart of the pessimist is really saying, “I am comfortable in my despondent state. Please don’t raise me out of this state, because I can’t stand being teased with the chance of happiness. I would rather be unhappy than risk the chance of disappointment.”

Such an attitude, however, is the antithesis of faith. If we truly believe in God, we should be incurable optimists, living in a constant state of expectation. If God is on our side, we cannot lose. Read that again until you believe it!

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)

When you know you cannot lose, you have nothing to fear. You don’t need to be afraid of disappointment. You don’t need to be pessimist to protect yourself. You can afford to be an optimist. The world needs more of those kinds of people. God wants to raise our expectations. He wants us to get our hopes up.

Hope is the main theme of the Bible. If we are hopeless, what are we saying to the world (who is watching you, by the way)? It is not easy to have hope, except that, if we are full of hope… we have help to grow that hope into full-blown optimism no mater what the circumstances of present, past, or future. Do you want to be that person… don’t you love to be around someone like that?

Hopeful… Kathy

“…but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 KJV

Are you waiting for something today? Are you praying, fasting, hoping, expecting, and looking for something today? How do you feel in that waiting? How long have you been waiting? Have you prayed and prayed and “still” you are waiting?

I too have been waiting. This morning I got up and reminded the Lord that I am “still” waiting (just in case He had forgotten, ha). Immediately after my declaration to Him, He sent me to Isaiah 40:31. I read the passage and said, “I know, I know this one… I have read it a hundred times.” He said to me, “Read it again.” When God says that, I get every version and read it like I have never seen it before. When I got to the King James Version, I saw what He wanted me to see. The word that is “hope” in the NIV is “wait” in the KJV. So… as is my pattern for study, I went to the Hebrew root. How surprised was I to find that the word for wait or hope is the Hebrew word, qavah, and it means, “wait, look for, hope, expect”. Wait is listed first, why? The Hebrews listed things in order of importance. I think that if we cannot learn to wait, then, hope and expectation will never become a character trait for us.

As I meditated on the word wait, I realized that if I cannot learn to wait, the rest of the verse won’t happen… waiting causes the rest of the verse to be manifested. God can make a “chicken” into an “eagle”. Isn’t that what the verse says (a little Kathy paraphrase)? It doesn’t say that we “might” be an eagle… it says “shall”.  Shall is the word will! If you learn the art of waiting, you will be an eagle who runs and never wearies, walks and does not faint. I want that… do you?

What has your waiting in the past been like? Mine has, at times, been very impatient. Even though I know God has already answered me and it isn’t the time to receive it yet, I still want it… now! Have you ever felt that way? I know from this verse, however, that waiting is ordained by God to enable us to become eagles. What if we all stayed chickens? Chickens look at the ground 90% of the time. When it rains… chickens will look up at the rain, rain gets in their nose and they can drown (Google that if you have some spare time). Which would God rather we be? Which would you rather be?

Maybe your “Fresh Start” for 2009 is to learn to wait the right way! 

Gratefully waiting…
Kathy

Spirituality can be at the core of a healthy life, and yet we often neglect that aspect of ourselves because it seems so difficult and everyone has a difference of opinion about it. The definition in Webster’s dictionary for “spiritual” is, “of relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit; sacred matters; related or joined in spirit; relating to supernatural beings.” We were created to have a need for spiritual things. If you feel a void, then it is time to make a change from the inside out.

If the path you are currently on doesn’t offer you peace, meaning, and purpose, then change paths! Investigate new experiences. Here are a few paths for you to try for this new year:

1. Get a new version of the Bible. It will give you a new perspective. When you read the same words year-after-year, you do not hear them any more. Write in your Bible (you are not being sacrilegious). Or, if you want to “really” stretch yourself, look up words in a verse you love in Strong’s Concordance, then, research the Hebrew or Greek definition from the Strong’s number (that will blow your mind).

2. Meditation is another way to grow spiritually. Meditation is NOT a bad thing. If you do not believe me… read all the verses in the Bible that have meditate or meditation in them. Meditation is one of the keys to hearing God and having a greater spiritual understanding.

3. Prayer is active communication with God. What is your prayer life like? Formal and stuffy? Begging and pleading? Or… is it living, active and pleasing to God?

4. Step out of your comfort zone. Don’t ever let organized religion take the place of a relationship with God. How do you know if you are? Is church the only time you pray, meditate, read your Bible, or spend quality time with God? If you answered ‘yes’ then, you are in the comfortable religion recliner. Be careful, the religious were the only ones Jesus Christ condemned.

There are many more things that you could do to grow spiritually this year. Challenge yourself. Try something that seems difficult that will stretch you. Push yourself to deliver more than what is expected.

Pushing… Kathy

“…they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” Jeremiah 2:13.

Your life is like a well… dug a little deeper each day. That well, as it gets deeper, reaches water and begins to fill up. As it fills, it either holds water or loses water depending on how well you shored up the walls. What if, after all that digging, the water was not clean? Would you keep drinking from it… or dig a new well?

We get really good at the tradition of New Year’s resolutions, but shortly afterward they are drowned with unclean water. Sound familiar? Is it because our, so-called “resolutions” are shallow? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is not length of life, but depth of life.” We all want to live longer, but what about living deeper? My Dad had a well on the farm in Iowa. It went dry and they had to dig a new well. As they dug, they quickly hit water. Daddy said, “Keep digging deeper.” “Why dig deeper, you already have water?” said the worker. My Daddy, who was more brilliant than his 8th grade education said, “The deeper you go, the fresher the water!” That didn’t make sense to me then, but make great sense to me now. Does it make sense to you?

We have a choice with every moment that passes by: how well we dig, how deep we dig, and the reason for the digging. The first part of Jeremiah 2:13 says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water”, and you know the rest (above). Living water only comes from a Living God, living inside of you in the form of the Holy Spirit. The water cannot bubble up in you without spending time at the well of God (His Word).

Things of lasting value come from living out what you have gained from time spent at the well, splashing about in the clean, fresh, living water! If you don’t consistently play in the bubbling pool… you will be living for yourself (trying so hard to keep those resolutions). How do I know? It only took from chapter 1 to chapter 11 of Genesis for the people to build a tower (well) unto themselves (Genesis 11:1-9). And, much to our dismay, the human race has not changed since then! Don’t you think that after thousands of years we have that building process down to an architectural 3-step science? Three steps after January 1st, those well-intentioned resolutions become a distant hope-maybe next year…

What can you do to make sure you don’t “dig” for yourself, “dig” too shallow, or “dig” in vain? Let the Creator of the living water; dig the perfect well that will hold the effervescence of living water. He is the only one who can create a well that will have lasting value… not just a leaky bucket!

Our best efforts at well-digging (resolutions) will only produce muddy water if we are digging on our own (forsaking Him). How about God-solutions instead of resolutions? Just a thought…

Splashing in the effervescent bubbles…
Kathy

This is the beginning of a new series called, “A Fresh Start”. The New Year ushers in the thrilling opportunity to make a fresh start! Beginning today… make a commitment to slow down and focus on the things that matter most. Whether your goal is to renew your mind or energize your body, or, a new set of rules to live by. Whatever you want/need, start today to live the life of your dreams! There will be a new post everyday for a week to help you start this new year off right. Don’t miss them!

Have you ever been on a trip and you thought you knew where you were going only to find out that you were mistaken? You have been there before, so you didn’t bring a map or a GPS. You know that you know where it is… you just can’t seem to get there.

Life is like that. We know where we want to go… we think we know how to get there… but when we get where we thought we should be, we are not really where we wanted to be. Is that confusing, or is that like your life?

Every day of your life is uncharted territory. You have never been there before and will never go there again. You cannot see what is coming ahead. So… how do you navigate this trip called life?

Jeremiah knew he could not plot his own course (Jeremiah 10:23).
“I know, O Lord, that man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”

This life is uncharted on your map, but plotted, charted, and already navigated by the Lord on His map (His will). It is “not your own” to chart. You know that, but do you travel like you do? Every time you step into unknown territory… you risk getting into trouble or getting hurt. I would never think of walking into a jungle without a guide that had been there many times before, would you? If you are directing your own steps… then, you are doing that very thing… risking trouble and hurt!

Moses knew better than anyone whom to follow when he was navigating one million Hebrew people on a trip (Exodus 33:15-16). “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people form all the other people on the face of the earth?” Sounds like a great New Year’s Resolution to me!

Moses knew how the trip had to be navigated if it was to be successful… and we all know what happened to him. Moses didn’t get to reach his destination and neither did the first generation that left Egypt. Why? Knowing the safest path is not enough to keep you safe on the journey, or enable you to reach the correct destination. You must constantly follow the path that is already charted, plotted, and navigated by God. That is the only way you can be in and stay in His will for your life.

How do you do that, you ask? Never take your eyes off of your pillar of cloud by day, or your pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). You have pillars just as sure as Moses did. You should be able to see them just as sure as Moses did… the only difference is… your pillar is inside-navigating from the inside, rather than the outside. That is even better than the pillars Moses had. This is how I know-how would you rather someone drive your car, from the inside behind the steering wheel, or from the hood of the car? My point exactly!

How do you make sure that the pillar is guiding you? Maybe you could start by saying what Jeremiah and/or Moses said to God (Jeremiah 10:23, Exodus 13:21-22) every morning before you get out of bed. Declare it before your feet hit the floor that you will not go on the uncharted path today… only the path guided by the pillar of your life… great starting place for this new year, don’t you think? God will do the rest.

It is the safest path for THIS new year… Happy New Year!

Following the pillar…
Kathy

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man (woman) remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

“We have a bush that looks like it is dying. The top of the bush is brown, the needles are falling off and it is leaning over. It is one of a pair of bushes that flanks the sidewalk leading up to the front door. We purchased twin bushes at the same time, from the same garden center. They have received exactly the same amount of sun, rain, wind, air, and yes, even hail one night. They are about three years old and very established plants, but one started having a few brown needles at the top, then little-by-little it began to turn brown farther and farther down until it reached the middle of the bush. Yikes, I don’t have twin bushes anymore! What could be wrong with it? I began to nurse it with fertilizer and extra water, but nothing helped.

One day I got mad and decided to just rip it out of the pot and throw it away, it was taking too much of my time and energy. When I dumped the pot over and the dirt fell off of the roots, I noticed some funny looking bugs on one section of the roots chomping away. The largest root had been chewed in half! No wonder the top had turned brown. The root that carried “life” to the top of the bush was no longer connected. The top of the bush was not receiving sustenance of any kind. If that happened to any living thing, it would die.”

This time of year comes with fun, stress, fear, and struggles. You may look forward to it and/or you may already be stressed about it. Even though people say, “Jesus is the reason for the season”, from my observation point, a great number of faithful Christians neglect the person behind the “reason” this time of year, is that you? If your shopping doesn’t get done, if your decorations are not perfect, if you don’t attend every function that calls your name, make sure the “root” doesn’t get chomped in two. Talking about Jesus doesn’t keep the root attached… talking to Him does. Your relationship with Him is the most important thing this season. If you “remain”, you will “produce” Christmas fruit! Yum!

Love is the greatest gift we can give to each other. Let’s shower the world with it for the last few days of this year. If we do that… the world will be a better place next year, agree?

My prayer for you is that you will repair all roots that have been severed in your life, and that you will decide to live a life filled with the awe and wonder of Christ everyday. I pray health and wealth, prosperity and abundance for you and your household. But most of all, I pray for LOTS of Christmas fruit… YUMMY! It is very healthy and lives on and on…

Blessings, love and prayers for you…
Kathy

The excerpt above ” ” is taken from the study, “To Water or Not to Water… the Roots”. Watch for the series… available soon!

Have you seen the moon lately? It has been the most glorious thing. The moon has been the topic of songs, poetry, and painting since the beginning of time. Seeing it evokes different emotions in people, but everyone finds the moon irresistible.

When I see the moon I want to paint it. I used to paint almost daily… taught classes and took weekend to week-long seminars. Anyone who is an artist or writer cannot help but be mesmerized by its allure and captivated by its beauty. Why?

I see everything that God created as an enormous canvas. God sat down one day and started mixing paint. If you have never mixed paint, it is a tedious process to get “just the right shade and hue.” In some of the seminars I was privileged to attend, we would spend the whole morning getting the paint mixed correctly. After God got the paint perfect… the “work of His hands” began. Close your eyes… can you hear the symphony? There are not words to describe how stunning the first stroke of light was against the blackness. Pow! The light of the moon was born as the opening note of the symphony rang! After the light of the moon was stroked, the symphony continued to play as The Artist worked His masterpiece to completion.

Why did He create such beauty? I used to think He did it for me, but I never would have known the difference if everything was black and white. God couldn’t help but paint in color because, “the heavens declare the glory of God!” It is all beautiful because it is Him! Everything God created is enchanting and glorious, just like Him. In Psalm 8:3-4, David said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you care for Him?” I understand as much as I can, as a human with a finite mind, how God cares for His creation. When I look at my sons and grandsons, I have such a deep love for “my” creation. That is why He can care so deeply for you. You are His perfect creation! Live that extraordinary life that He desires for you to live today.

As you watch the events of this world and get overwhelmed, remember: God may be in the “mixing” stage… but what comes next will be the first stroke of another masterpiece. Look for Him in everything… it is all magnificent! To display His glory!

Will you be on watch for the next creation… it just might be in you!

Gazing…
Kathy