by his Presence.

"ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other.  has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?  has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?  has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the L-RD your God did for you in egypt before your very eyes? 

you were shown these things so that you might know that the L-RD is God; besides him there is no other. 

from heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you.  on earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of that fire.  because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. 

acknowledge and take to heart this day that the L-RD is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  there is no other."

-deuteronomy 4.

-----

oh L-RD, 

through the powerful name of our mighty liberator, Jesus, may we begin to learn how to take this passage to heart, that we may acknowledge You with power and in truth. 

amen.

inheritance.

do not be afraid, abram.

I am your shield,
your very great reward.

-the L-RD, genesis 15.

desire.

"the value of our weakness and of our poverty is that they are the earth in which G-d sows the seed of desire. and no matter how abandoned we may seem to be, the confident desire to love Him in spite of our abject misery, is the sign of His presence and the pledge of our salvation."

-thomas merton.

near.

"there is no word for sacrifice in the hebrew Bible. the word used is korban, which means 'to come closer,' to bring near' - an intimacy maker."

-rabbi kula.

"let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

hebrews 4.

Name.

"the name used most often for G-d in jewish texts is also the most mysterious and intimate. in hebrew it's actually a word with no consonants and all vowels. it's unpronounceable. when you try to say it, you hear the sound of a breath, a simple exhale. what is the teaching? the name of G-d is not meant to be uttered, but to be breathed."

He was what He was.
He is what He is.
He will be what He will be.

blessed be the Name.

excerpts quoted from rabbi irwin kula.

holy, holy, holy.

Ah,
those who never give a thought
to the plan of the Lord,
and take no note
of what He is designing.

Ah,
those who say,
'let Him speed, let Him hasten His purpose,
if we are to give thought;
let the plans of the Holy One of Israel
be quickly fulfilled,
if we are to give heed.'

Ah,
those who are so wise
in their own opinion;
so clever
in their own judgement!

_

for My plans are not your plans,
nor are My ways your ways
-declares the Lord.

but as high as the heavens are high above the earth,
so are My ways high above your ways
and My plans above your plans.

_

the Lord is NOT SLOW in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

_

holy, holy, holy!
the Lord of Hosts!
His presence fills all the earth!

_

isaiah 5. isaiah 6. isaiah 55. 2 peter 3. amen.

feast.

sin comes from the mistaken belief that God withholds goodness from us, that he hordes away blessing. but our God does not withhold. He opens up His arms with super-abundance. He wastes nothing.

this is made especially evident in the ceremony of the Eucharist, for in order to best articulate his message and work, Jesus did not leave behind a textbook, he left a meal.

in this world we may not be given all that we desire, but we most certainly have been graced with all that we will ever need. we are called to the communion table to eat and be satisfied, to FEAST on the goodness of God.

'this is my body, given for you...'

within the Eucharist we acknowledge and celebrate the fact that we are forgiven and that we are invited and that we are lifted up to the table of God.

our God does not withhold.

our God gives unto death,
and He loves, and loves, and loves.

'I am the bread of life. this bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world...'

He beckons us to eat and be refreshed, to come to this mighty table full of joy, restoration, nourishment, light, and partake.

come.
taste.
see.

taste and see that the God of this world is so very GOOD.

(thoughts from the teachings of ian morgan cron).

"do not stand idly by.

I AM the Lord."

-leviticus 19.

new dimensions.

"a purely ethical monotheism in which God, the guardian of moral order, keeps the world subject to the law, would restrict the scope of God's knowledge and concern to what is of ethical signifigance. God's relation to man would, in general, run along the lines of a universal principle. the divine pathos alone is able to break through this rigidity and create new dimensions for the unique, the specific, and the particular.

it is not law and order itself, but the living God who created the universe and established its law and order, that stands supreme in Biblical thought.

before the Torah, the covenant was.

prophecy is a reminder that what obtains between God and man is not a contract but a covenant. anterior to the covenant is love, the love of the fathers, and what obtains between God and israel must be understood, not as legal, but as a personal relationship, as participation, involvement, tension. God's life interacts with the life of the people. to live in the covenant is to partake of the fellowship of God and His people. Biblical religion is not what man does with his solitariness, but rather what man does with God's concern for all men.

the gulf that separates man from God is transcended by His pathos."

-abraham joshua heschel, excerpts.

and yet.

"man is rebellious and full of iniquity, and yet so cherished is he that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is saddened when forsaken by him. profound and intimate is God's love for man, and yet harsh and dreadful can be His wrath. of what paltry worth is human might - yet human compassion is divinely precious. ugly though the behavior of man is, yet may man's return to God make of his way a highway of God."

-abraham joshua heschel.

promise.

"He shall not grow dim or be bruised until He has established the true way on earth..."

-isaiah 42.

the heart of God.

"A precious vineyard - sing to it!
I, the Lord, am its keeper;
Every moment I water it.
Lest any one harm it,
I guard it night and day;
I have no wrath.

Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would set out against them,
I would burn them up together.
Or let them lay hold of My protection.

Let them make peace with Me,
Let them make peace with Me."

-isaiah 27.

"How shall I surrender you, O Israel!

My heart is turned within Me,
My compassion grows like a flame.
I will not execute My fierce anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim;

For I am God and not man,
The Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come to destroy."

-the Lord, Hosea 11.

dew.

"I will be as the dew to Israel;
He shall blossom as the lily,
His shoots shall spread out;
His beauty shall be like the olive..."

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.

For He has torn, that He may heal us;
He has stricken, and He will bind us up.

let us know, let us press on to know the Lord."

-excerpts, hosea.

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.

here am i.

the past 2 years came close to killing my hope.

time and again, the months and the days and the hours spent wrestling with sin and its pain knocked me hard to my knees.

and yet.

from this humble kneeling, i am learning to receive God's gift of glory, and come to know in full that it is stronger, fuller, and more vibrant than the rest, and that it will lift me up again, freely, and with everlasting attention.

loyalty.

"for the mountains may move
and the hills be shaken,
but my loyalty shall never move from you,
nor my covenant of friendship be shaken
-said the Lord, who takes you back in love."

-isaiah 54.

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.