deep beneath our asking.

"How can we pray to you, holy and hidden God, whose ways are not our ways, who reigns in awful mystery beyond the realm of space and time?  Yet how can we not pray to you, Mighty Father, who knows what it is to be man because you have walked among us as man, breaking with us the bread of our affliction and drinking deep of the cup of despair? 

Hear, O God, the prayers of all your children everywhere: for forgiveness and healing, for courage, for faith; prayers for peace among the desperate nations. Whether you give or withhold what we ask, whether you answer us in words that burn like fire or in silence that burns like fire, increase us in the knowledge that you are always more near to us than breathing, that your will for us is love.

And deep beneath our asking, so deep beneath that we are all but deaf to it ourselves, hear, O God, the secret song of every human heart praising you for being what you are, rejoicing with the morning stars that you are our God and we are your children.  Make strong and wild this secret song within until it bursts forth at last to your glory and our saving.

Through Jesus Messiah our Lord.

Amen."

-a prayer by frederick buechner.

the sheen.

"He has come. He has given all there is to give, and he has done it because we need him totally. To understand this is to seek his glory and praise. It is to let the sheen wear off everywhere else."


-lisa fleischaker.

dear heart,

"oh, i beg you, lay hold to this precious thought, wholeness in Jesus! for you are complete in Him. let yourself rejoice, for you are accepted into the beloved, what is there to fear? live near your Master, for with your liberator's garments on, you are as holy as the Holy One."

-chs.

tension.

sometimes the worst thing for faith is our ideals.

the beauty of following Jesus does not grow from His removal of life's messiness;

the weight and the power and the glory of following Jesus manifests in the fact that amongst all of life's chaos and failure and struggle and tension,

the power of the resurrection, the living Word, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the gentle One, Victor and Shepherd and Defender, King of all kings,

MESSIAH,

resides with us in the midst of it,

and breathes, speaks, creates,
resurrects

new life.

(amen).

manifesto.

"creation sent to me the centipede to witness the complexity of one hundred legs that were moving unexpectedly, ironically, just as they were meant to be, they're fearfully and wonderfully made; an organism praised in circadian rhythms: the sun will rise and then the sun will set, and then the sun will rise again, so lift up your head!

this is life: not a static object preserved and displayed like a relic from the dead. you are not a fruitless tree with a rootless disease growing in a bucket in a rich man's home next to the tv, tamed and alone, learning to lust for the things you don't own, like an armchair warrior who's been dethroned, declawed and fixed, fighting for your life with unattended slit wrists.

don't let your name get intermingled with a number 'cause it's time to awake from the devilish slumber, to freely follow the Forerunner to the fatherland and rally round the Renaissance Man and the wisdom of His ways and all the works of His hands, catch come as catch can, concentrating on the good words of the Son of Man,

the plan is to withstand the demands of a confused oppressor: a wolf in sheep's clothes, with monotonous lectures and questionable gestures, unequal measures, cultural pressures and synthetic textures, force fed instead of the most beautiful architecture of our long-lost forgotten origins: unseen fiber in the blood of my King, and that old rock where we confessed our sins.

oh, my God, fellow man, in this land they all cry out for full restoration, and this will take patience and this will take the tribes and the tongues of all the nations and all of creation groans in anticipation, waiting for the Son of God to be manifest, i can feel it burning in my chest, the liberation of the oppressed!

and it's beautiful like the feet that bring news, it's beautiful like this freedom tune. it's beautiful like the power to choose...to change, beautiful like the long-awaited rain, beautiful like these healing pains, beautiful like the holy flames, coming down.

all creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing!

oh praise Him!
oh praise Him!

alleluia!"

-josh garrels.

something else entirely.

"A strange thing happened then. The Speaker agreed with her that she had made a mistake, and she knew when he said the words that it was true, that his judgement was correct. And yet she felt strangely healed, as if simply speaking her mistake were enough to purge some of the pain of it. For the first time, then, she caught a glimpse of what the power of speaking might be. It wasn't a matter of confession, penance, and absolution, like the priests offered. It was something else entirely. Telling the story of who she was, and then realizing that she was no longer the same person. That she had made a mistake, and the mistake changed her, and now she would not make the mistake again because she had become someone else, someone less afraid, someone more compassionate.

If I'm not that frightened girl who heard and dared not go, who am I? But the water flowing through the grillwork had no answers. Maybe she couldn't know who she was today. Maybe it was enough to know that she was no longer who she was before."

-orson scott card, speaker for the dead.

a dim reflection.

we little know what a great man walked this earth and took up our burden.

someday we will know fully.

how my heart yearns.

-----

2 corinthians 13. Job 19.

a prayer for peace.

In the midst of our current times, with all the tensions and fractures intensifying in Israel, the words of this prayer seem very fitting, and daily move my heart.

may we all pray for israel. may we all pray for God's people. may we all pray for peace.

section 19 of the amidah prayer, a prayer for peace:

"Grant peace, welfare, blessing, grace, loving kindness and mercy to us and to all Israel your people. Bless us, Oh our Father, one and all, with the light of your countenance; for by the light of your countenance you have given us, Oh L-rd our G-d, a Torah of life, loving kindness and salvation, blessing, mercy, life and peace. May it please you to bless your people Israel at all times and in every hour with your peace. Blessed are you, Oh L-rd, who blesses his people Israel with peace."

amen.

our great Defender.

"in the Hebrew scriptures, satan was the angel who was the counsel for the prosecution against men in the presence of God. he was the adversary of men." -w. barclay.

i came across this passage in a revelation commentary this morning, and i found it interesting to think of satan in this way, as a prosecutor in the presence of God, bringing before heaven all the evil things that humanity has done and bringing to God's attention the selfishness that consistently resides in our hearts.

our accuser.

highlighting what we once were,
emphasizing our crooked choices,
and reminding us of all we do not deserve.

and it was such a beautiful and moving thing for me to then compare that image to Jesus.

our beautiful, compassionate, generous, powerful, victorious, and faultless Defender, sitting at the right hand of God, intimately speaking with Him on our behalf.

making hollow all those accusations of guilt.

and God, the great and merciful Judge, choosing to listen to the voice and the witness of His Son, the great Messiah of humanity, rather than the adversary.

no longer is it our own lives that stand as witness.

it is now the life of the unblemished Lamb, Son of the MOST HIGH GOD, that stands on trial as evidence in the Kingdom.

and the verdict comes in: not guilty.

and the verdict comes in:

GRACE.

-----

"the forgiveness which is in the Cross has left satan the accuser no possible accusation to make." -w. barclay.

"be strong in the grace of Jesus." -paul.

joy for jacob.

"thus said the Lord:

the people escaped from the sword,
found favor in the wilderness;
when israel was marching homeward
the Lord revealed Himself to me of old.

eternal love I conceived for you then;
therefore I continue My grace to you.
I will build you firmly again,
o maiden israel!

again you shall take up your timbrels
and go forth to the rhythm of the dancers.
again you shall plant vineyards
on the hills of samaria;
men shall plant and live to enjoy them.

for the day is coming when watchmen
shall proclaim on the heights of ephraim:
come, let us go up to zion,
to the Lord our God!

cry out in joy for jacob,
for I am ever a Father to israel."

-excerpts, jeremiah 31.

our King, before us.

"I will assemble jacob, all of you:
I will bring together the remnant of Israel;
I will make them all like sheep in a fold,
like a flock inside its pen -
they will be noisy with people.
One who makes a breach
goes before them;
they enlarge it to a gate
and leave by it.
their King marches before them,
the Lord at their head."

-micah 2.

freed.

"quickly the crouching one is freed;
he is not cut down and slain,
and he shall not want for food.
for I the Lord your God -
who stir up the sea into roaring waves,
whose name is the Lord of Hosts -
have put My words in your mouth
and sheltered you with My hand."

-isaiah 51.

(amen).

like latter rain.

"His appearance is as sure as daybreak,
and He will come to us like rain,
like latter rain that refreshes the earth."

-hosea 6.

the Lord's favor.

"the spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
He has sent me as a herald of joy to the
humble,
to bind up the wounded of heart,
to proclaim release to the captives,
liberation to the imprisoned;
to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor
and a day of vindication by our God;
to comfort all who mourn -
to provide for the mourners in Zion -
to give them a turban instead of ashes,
the festive ointment instead of mourning,
a garment of splendor instead of a drooping
spirit.
they shall be called terebinths of victory,
planted by the Lord for His glory."

-isaiah 61.

"today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." - Jesus, Luke 4.

not lost.

"Listen. There is a light that includes our darkness, a day that shines down even on the clouds. A man of faith believes that the man in the well is not lost. He does not believe this easily or without pain, but he believes it. His belief is a kind of knowledge beyond any way of knowing. He believes that the child in the womb is not lost, nor is the man whose work has come to nothing, nor is the old woman forsaken in a nursing home in California. He believes that those who make their bed in Hell are not lost, or those who dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, or the lame man at Bethesda Pool, or Lazarus in the grave, or those who pray "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani."
Have mercy."

-wendell berry

wings.

"But for you who revere My name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing." -malachi 3.

-----

to bring healing - lit. "with healing in the folds of its garments"; others "with healing in its wings." - jps study Bible, notes.

-----

In biblical times the corners of a Jewish man's outer garment were known as the "wings," and they were adorned with tassles, reminding the people of their covenant with God - that they were called to be set apart and obedient to Him. There was also a common belief among Jews of Biblical times, because of the above-mentioned verse, that when the Messiah came, the corners of His garments (wings) would carry healing power.

Now, think back to Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us the following story;

"Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak (kanaf, corner, wings). She said to herself, 'if I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.' Jesus turned and saw her. 'Take heart, daughter,' he said, 'your faith has healed you.' And the woman was healed from that moment." -matthew 9.

-----

The woman in this passage doesn't just think that Jesus has the power to heal, she believes that He IS the Messiah, the one who fulfills the prophecy of Malachi 3. No wonder He praises her faith - she knew who He was, the anointed One of God - and therefore she believed and trusted that He could powerfully heal her.

And He DID powerfully heal her.

because Rabbi Jesus came to earth with the power of healing in His wings. He put on flesh and entered into the world to walk among us, and grace broke through and the sun of victory rose with His coming.

Redemption and healing stand within our grasp, ready to be realized. They come with this man, Jesus, and the power and the love of God that He carries with Him.

He is the One about whom it was written.

Messiah.
Savior.
King.

He is the One.

Come and see!
Come and see!

aliens.

"man walks about as a mere shadow;
mere futility is his hustle and bustle,
amassing and not knowing who will gather in.

what then, can i count on, o Lord?
in You my hope lies.

for like all my forebears
i am an alien, resident with You."

-psalm 40.

...

"BUT TAKE HEART..."

-Messiah Jesus, john 16.

the sound that it makes...

"Not anything that we ever did or were, but something that was done for us by another. Not our own lives, but the life of one who died in our behalf and yet still is alive. This is our glory and our only hope. And the sound that it makes is the sound of excitement and gladness and laughter that floats through the night air from a great banquet."

-frederick buechner, the road to emmaus.

clothed with our heavenly dwelling.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

-paul's second letter to the corinthians, chapter 5.

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May all that is worldly within us be SWALLOWED UP by that great life which flows abundantly from our Rabbi and Messiah, Jesus.

amen.