An Oily Name

The Song of Solomon is about a bride and a groom, but it is also about God and us.  Jesus is the groom and his church is the bride.  In the Song of Solomon the bride says "You name is oil poured forth."

Oil had multiple uses including healing, cooking, cosmetics and many other things.  It was beautiful, soothing and had a sweet fragrance.  Oil was an essential part of everyday living.

When the bride says his name is oil, she is saying that she loves him so much that even his name is beautiful.  His name brings joy and healing to her heart.  His name soothes and comforts her.  His very name is a sweet fragrance to her ears.

There is one whose name is linked to oil.  The title Christ comes from the Greek translation of the word Mashiach or Messiah. The title Messiah comes from the word Mashiach which means the Anointed One.  When someone was chosen by God for a holy task such as a priest or king, they would be anointed with oil.   The name we call Jesus is Jesus the anointed one.

Jesus is our beloved.  His name is oil poured forth. We are to love him so completely that even his name is a beautiful fragrance which lingers in our hearts.  The name of Jesus soothes and comforts us. His name should be a essential part of our everyday living.

Our Footstool World

Isaiah 66:1 says that God's throne is in Heaven and the Earth is His Footstool.  Why would the Earth be God's footstool?  It seems like a strange thing to say.  One thing we can be sure is that God never says something nonsensical.

The throne is where the weight of God resides.  The word for weight in the Hebrew is Kavode. Kovode also means glory. So Heaven is where the weight and glory of God is found.  The earth could not contain the glory of God. The Earth is where you will find the footprints of God.

We live in a footstool world where only the imprint of God and His work is found.  Christians also are imprints of the work of God. and His glory is not found completely in the life of a saved person. The weight and glory of God can only be found complete and full in Heaven.  That is where a true believer will be complete.

Until that day we are to lightly rest our feet on our footstool world.  We can not sit here relying on the world to hold us.  We must follow the example of God and rest fully in the heavenlies and not in this world.

Photo Credit: More evidence of the carnage but look! Footstool! Yah! by Nikki Hunt 

The Mystery of the Wilderness

Has your life ever seemed barren, hard and forbidding as if you were walking through one of life's wilderness experiences?

The Hebrew word for wilderness is called midbar and comes from the root word davar.  Davar means to speak. When you see people in the Bible out in the wilderness many times it is where God calls them so He can speak to them.  Moses was in  the midbar when the burning bush spoke to him. Elijah heard the still small voice while out in the midbar.  The children of Israel where out in the midbar when they received God's law.

There are few distractions in the wilderness; rock, sand, a few shrubs and you. This is where God brings us so that we might hear His voice.  This is not a time to despise and find distractions to fill your life with, but a time to listen to God's voice.  Draw near to God.  Open your heart to hear what He has to tell you.  Seek to hear what He has to say and God will speak to you.

This is where you will find the Holy Ground of God's presence.  This is where God will call out your name and tell you what is on His heart.  The midbar of life is where God draws you away to so that you can experience the heart of God for your life.

Photo Credit: Sunrise over the Negev desert in Eruz, Israel by JSW186

God Fulfills His Promises at Exactly the Right Time

From ancient times the Jewish synagogues would read a scheduled portion of the prophets every Sabbath. This is called the Haftorah and every synagogue reads the same scripture as all the others. Do you think God might have a hand in what scripture is read on what days?  Of course He does.

May 15,1948, when Israel was resurrected into a nation, was a Sabbath and the Haftorah for that day was Amos 9:11-15.

Part of that scripture reads:"I will restore David's fallen shelter- I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins- and will rebuild it as it use to be,...They will rebuild the ruined cites and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,"

Coincidence?  Not with God.  On the day He fulfilled the prophecy in Amos, He had every synagogue in the world reading that very prophecy.

Photo credit: Torah by Lawrie Cate

The Grave of Hope

The grave is a forbidding place full of sorrow and hopelessness.  It is one of the most depressing places on earth where despair and pain are found in abundance.  This is where families are eternally torn apart.  The grave is a site for tears, heartache and helplessness.

But, there is one grave in all of history that is the exact opposite.  It brings hope to the hopeless, joy to the sorrowful, and healing to all who acknowledge it.  This is the one grave where tears are wiped away, heartache becomes joy and helplessness becomes hope.

The grave of Jesus Christ is where you find life instead of death.  The grave of Jesus is not the end, but the beginning.  This is not where life ends, but where eternal life begins.  This is a grave for our old lives of hopelessness to lay buried forever, and where our new lives are born to live with love, hope and the blessings of God every day. 

How to be a Jonah

Jonah was a Jewish prophet called to preach to the people of Nineveh.  What you need to understand is that Nineveh was hated by the Jews because of their cruelty and wickedness.  The Ninevites would carry home from war pieces of their enemies bodies as souvenirs. They would skin people alive and think nothing of it.   Jonah feared the Assyrians and wanted nothing to do with their sadistic empire. He was delighted that God would destroy them in forty short days.

He also knew that God was a God of mercy, and if the people of Nineveh should repent then God would relent and let them live.  He couldn't take the chance of them repenting so Jonah ran.  God had called Jonah and Jonah purposely disobeyed.  A big fish swallowed Jonah, and Jonah suddenly decides he would love to go visit Nineveh.

Jonah told the people in Nineveh that God was going to destroy them and, much to his dismay, they listened and repented.  Jonah got mad because thousands of lives were spared instead of having God destroy them.

It is easy to be a Jonah and many of us do a great job at being a Jonah.  Christians are to show God's love, but we think it is fine to be happy at the death of a murderer, terrorist, pedophile  or anyone who does something we consider evil.  We want those people to die, face God's judgment and go to Hell.

God wants everyone to repent of their wicked ways and follow Him.  Does that mean capital punishment is wrong?  No.  Capital punishment is the result of actions we have done in this life. What God desires is for us to be more concerned about the souls of men than judgment.  We are to look past the evil actions people do and out of love, reach out and bring them to God.  There is no sin so terrible that God is not greater.  His mercy can cover any and all sin.

Is there an enemy in your life that you are hoping meets face to face with God someday and get thrown into eternal damnation?  God's hope is that you will help bring your enemy to live forever in Heaven with God

Photo Credit: Jonah watches Nineveh under the booth by Evans E

Mystery of the Temple Doors

If you have read the story of the crucifixion of Jesus, you know that the curtain dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies  was torn from top to bottom.  This was a very thick, strong curtain and yet at Christ death, it tore on its own.  Of course it was God who tore it to show the separation between  man and God no longer existed, because Jesus had reconciled them.

Did you know that the curtain being wrent in two was not the only miracle.  For the next 40 years, every night, until the destruction of the temple, the temple doors would open on their own.  It is recorded in the Jewish Talmud at Yoma 39. 

There were two barriers to the Holy of Holies, where God sat, and man.  One was the curtain and the other was the two temple doors.  Every night after Jesus was crucified those two doors would swing open as if inviting all people to enter the presence of God.

Why would the Jewish leaders report such a thing happening when they were so hostile towards Jesus and his followers?  By recording such an event in the Talmud they are being a witness for Jesus and the importance of his death.  They do not mention Jesus of course, but the timing is too great to ignore. 

Even the enemies of Christ bear witness of him.  God opens doors with His power that man meant to be closed.  Even the door of hearts firmly shut to the gospel can be opened by his power.

Photo Credit: Gold Door by annie