fully and freely.

"God does not coerce the love of His human creatures, not for Himself or for the world or for one another. To allow that love to exist fully and freely, He must allow it not to exist at all. His love is suffering. It is our freedom and His sorrow. To love the world as much even as I could love it would be suffering also, for I would fail. And yet all the good I know is in this, that a man might so love this world that it would break his heart."

-wendell berry.

portion.

"Only this, I have found, is a real good: that one should eat and drink and get pleasure with all the gains he makes under the sun, during the numbered days of his life that God has given him; for that is his portion.

Also, whenever a man is given riches and property by God, and is also permitted by Him to enjoy them and to take his portion and get pleasure for his gains - that is a gift of God. For such a man will not brood much over the days of his life, because God keeps him busy enjoying himself."

-ecclesiastes 5.

awake.

I adore you, O Lord, my strength,

my shield, my mighty champion, my haven.

He reached down from on high, He took me;

He brought me out to freedom.

the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.

Your care has made me great.

awake, I am filled with the vision of You.

-excerpts, psalm 17, 18

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!

the Branch.

"I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For mark well this stone which I place before Joshua. I will execute its engraving - declares the Lord of Hosts - and I will remove that country's guilt in a single day. In that day - declares the Lord - you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees..."

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit - said the Lord of Hosts. Whoever you are, O great mountain in the path of Zerubbabel, turn into level ground! For he shall produce that excellent stone; it shall be greeted with shouts of 'Beautiful! Beautiful!"

See, I have removed your guilt from you, and you shall be clothed in priestly robes..."

-excerpts, zechariah 3, 4.

-----

Messiah Jesus; the Branch, the Stone, the Beautiful One.

Blessed be His Name.

He Himself.

"Assuredly, thus said the Lord: I graciously return to Jerusalem.

For the Lord will again comfort Zion; He will choose Jerusalem again.

Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. And I Myself - declares the Lord - will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it.

Shout for joy, Fair Zion! For lo, I come; and I will dwell in your midst - declares the Lord.

-excerpts, zechariah 1, 2.

House of God.

"i am ever taunted with, 'where is your God?'

when i think of this, i pour out my soul:
how i walked with the crowd, moved with
them,
the festive throng, to the House of God
with joyous shouts of praise."

(psalm 42)

-----

Abba.
let me go back.
please.

tales.

"You, O Lord my God, have done many things;
the wonders You have devised for us
cannot be set out before You;
I would rehearse the tale of them,
but they are more than can be told."

-psalm 40.

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.

answers.

"Maybe the reason God doesn't always just tell us what to do in the details is because in this, He's doing what He does in so many other areas of life: developing intimacy with us. He's forcing us to talk and listen. To even argue sometimes. But to know Him rather than just His plan.

That, after all, is what eternal life is all about: knowing God. Not knowing the answers."

-michael kelley.

darkness.

"and the LORD led the sea with a mighty east wind all night, and He made the sea dry ground, and the waters were split apart. And the Israelites came into the sea on dry land, the waters a wall to them on their right and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued them and came after them, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his riders, into the sea. And it happened in the morning watch that the LORD looked out over the camp of Egypt in a pillar of fire and cloud and He panicked the camp of Egypt..." -exodus 14.

-----

in the morning watch. By Israelite reckoning, the last third of the night, from 2:00 am to 6:00 am. The Hebrews, then, would have marched through the Sea of Reeds during the night, literally plunging into the dark, for the pillar of fire would have been behind them rather than leading them on their way. -robert alter.

-----

startling.
amazing.

the israelites, terrified and fleeing the egyptians, walked through that wall of water in complete darkness. and they could not see because God was behind them, DEFENDING AND PROTECTING THEM.

a needed lesson for me today, as I cautiously plant one foot in front of the other.

-----

"The LORD shall do battle for you, and you, you shall keep still." -exodus 14.

I will.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will wait for my renewal to come.

-----

but Lord, I don't know how to wait.

help.