DEVOTED

Dear Friends,

Shalom and welcome again to our Shabbat gatherings through recordings.

This time, I missed recording the beginning discussion about Shabbat and so here is a synopsis of what was said.

Shabbat, as the weekly bridal feast, is more than simply a day of rest.  It is a day to rejoice deeply in our Lord and Savior, without anything else getting in the way.  It is a day to stop all activity other than that which God ordains and which is necessary for life.  Celebrating our Bridegroom King, rejoicing in His Magnificence, and giving Him our full attention, prepares us to start our next week, on Sunday, within His Light, bringing His ever fresh anointing out into the world, in ever renewed ways.  Hallelujah!

Just a reminder that in the Scripture verses, Genesis 2:1-3,  the word used for “work” is messenger, and the word used for “finished” is bride. So, when GOD finished His Work, He had created the entire universe as His Messenger Bride.  Celebrating Him as our Bridegroom King is thus the lovely essence of Shabbat.

We also discussed how the Millennial Kingdom is a 1,000 year Shabbat for all of God’s Creation.  (A day is as a thousand years for God, so this 1,000 year Shabbat rest corresponds to our weekly day of Shabbat.) God is going to provide a thousand years of peace, of rest, of BEING WITH HIM, and then, Satan is going to be allowed to show his hand again. Perhaps this is a return to “day” one of creation, a thousand years of God separating out light from darkness. 

After this, I started recording … if some of the beginning seems “all over the book” that’s because I and others were responding to people’s questions from earlier.  

At 4:48 it settles down into the Torah teaching … but if you can flow with the beginning, it is chock full of nuggets of God’s Goodness.

This week’s Torah teaching was from Numbers 5-8, dealing with the flow of eradicating sin, to the ensuing freedom of walking into a devoted life fully dedicated to the LORD, to receiving His manifold blessing, to corporately pouring out His Goodness upon others, as a result of the process of cleansing, dedication and blessing.  

So … when we receive the blessing of our LORD and Savior, and surrender all our sin and wickedness to Him, allowing Him to redeem us and cleanse us, we dedicate our lives personally to Him and receive the fullness of His corporate blessing. Then, we are compelled to give back to Him and to His Kingdom because we become overwhelmed by His Goodness.

After our discussion of Number 5-8, our attention returned to all of creation being God’s Bride. As one person said, “We became quite Franciscan in our discussion,” honoring God in His Creation much like St. Francis did hundreds of years ago.

At 29 minutes we started to talk about blessings we received from the LORD this week.

I hope you enjoy this mixture of a day!  God was in all of it, and He had His Say!  Sometimes I like to put Him in a box, and focus on what He has given me to share, but last week was different … He wanted to honor Himself in Himself, in us, and in His world.

Shalom!  Shalom!