Hidden Treasures

This morning, I woke up late and spent the earlier part of the morning wasting and squandering my time online.  I finally came downstairs and ate a bite, then moseyed into my study to pray.  I felt really bad about waiting so long to spend time with God, so I pulled out my book of Psalms and began to pray Psalm 51.  I came to the verse that states "in the secret parts You shall make me to know wisdom."  Secret is the same word in Hebrew that used in Psalm 91 - he who dwells in the "secret" place.  My heart rejoice when I read this.

Next, I sang my Psalms and read my daily portion, then began to pray the Lord's prayer.  When I came to the line, "Thy Kingdom Come," my mind went to the parable of the hidden treasure: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  Matt 13:44. the line: and bought the field was suddenly illuminated to me.

The Holy Spirit directed my thoughts to story of Ruth and how Boaz, through the ancient Law of Moses concerning the Right of Redemption, became the redeemer of the field.

Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’”

And he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

⁶ And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

⁸ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”

 Next, my attention was drawn to another story concerning the right of redemption.  This is found in Jeremiah 32: 

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money—seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. ¹¹ So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; ¹² and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

¹³ “Then I charged Baruch before them, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.”’

  

Yeshua the Messiah was our Kinsman redeemer and He left His glory to come down and tabernacle among us, to redeem us from evil. He bought the field, thereby marrying Himself to us! What a glorious revelation!!!

The Essence of Love

It was probably in 1996 or so when I began to study Judaism.  I slowly learned how to use a Strong's concordance and lexicon, but struggled with understanding the meanings.  When I lived in Jerusalem, I remember praying to God to teach me Hebrew.  On several occasions, during the first 4 months, I had the opportunity to translate some Hebrew for friends of mine (granted it was very broken and prehistoric - lots of hand gestures and pointing, to be sure).  However, God has answered my prayer of the years and taught me the Lashon Hakodesh - the holy language of Hebrew.

I have had the most amazing privilege of reading through the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) at least 7 or 8 times, over the past 6 years.  I have also been able to read and pray the Tehillim (Psalms of David) on numerous occasions.

I love to study the Word of God in the original language, but it is so different than our western vernacular.  We use many abstract ideas to convey our thoughts - Love, peace, comfort, joy, sadness, anger.  The Hebrew uses mostly concrete thoughts to convey their feelings and emotions. In fact, each root word in Hebrew is actually a verb. 

Yesterday, as I was driving to work, I was thinking about the word LOVE. This word has always been a difficult word for me, in that it is more of a concept and abstract idea, rather than a concrete action.  I have studied the word on several occasions, but not very deeply.  So, I decided to ask the One Who invented the idea to begin with.  I told God, "before I ask Google, which I probably will, will You give me the true meaning of this word?"   Almost instantaneously, the most popular New Testament Scripture came to mind: For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

I decided to check out the root word study. The Hebrew word for love is Ahavah - 3 Hebrew letters Aleph-Hey-Bet.  The root of the word is Hav - Hey-Bet. The root word means gift or give, as in sacrifice. Adding the Aleph to the letter modifies the verb from gift to to give.  Suddenly, the light bulb came on. The Apostle John was using a Hebrew idiom in this verse: For God so AHAVAH the world, that He AHAV His only begotten son... 

Love is a gift of yourself.  And when you AHAVAH that means to give of yourself.  When we AHAVAH God with all our heart, soul, and every part of our being, we give God ourselves because we want to be connected to Him.  When AHAVAH our fellow as our self, we give to our fellow as we have our self.

Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Count Your Blessings

This morning, I was awakened by a song.... But first, let me tell the background story.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I work with people who have dementia (Alzheimer's, Vascular, Parkinson's, etc.) Often, things get misplaced, but usually show up. I always encourage families to label items, and if they are very attached to an item and concerned that it may get lost, they should probably not leave it at the facility.  Otherwise, they should decorate the person's room to be as homelike and familiar, as possible.  People in the later stages of dementia begin to misplace items like glasses, dentures and hearing aides, as these are foreign objects. 

Yesterday, as I entered the door, a nurse met me to tell me that a resident had been assisted to the floor to prevent her from falling during a faint. It turned out to be a rather big ordeal as the nurse was going to send her to the hospital and family didn't wish for that.  As I was being briefed on this, a nurse's aide informed me that Mrs. "Smith's" left hearing aide was missing.  I was very alarmed by this, as her family had been very adamant that her hearing aides stay in a certain location when not in use and that she is "deaf" without them.  Although Mrs. "Smith" has pronounced hearing loss, she is not deaf without them and I would have never guessed that she didn't have it, when I approached her.  However, we turned her room upside down.  I spent two hours solid on and off through the day looking through her room, laundry, trash bins, pockets, bed linens etc. 

When I called the family, they were obviously disturbed and somewhat upset.  I profusely apologized to the family, but I could tell they were very unhappy and felt dreadfully stressed by this.  I prayed all day long and reminded God of His promise: Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. But all day long and no avail.

We had several other events pop up through the day that was out of the norm for others- an unexplained bruise that appeared to be weeks old, but no one had seen it two days before (including myself), a gentlemen begin to actively die.  But the hearing aide was really stressing me. 

I came home and tried to relax, but it plagued me all evening. I prayed through Tehillim (psalms of David in Hebrew) and continued to ask God to help us find it.  I reminded Him that He is Omniscient - knowing all things and knows where that hearing aide is, but if its not His will to let us find to give me peace about it.

I awoke this morning at 5am - 40 minutes before the clock went off with a song playing in my head "Count Your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done." I looked up the words and sang them while getting dressed for work and the first verse was for me: When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, and you are discouraged thinking all is lost. Count your blessings name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.  I sat down and began to write about the things God has done for me.  I began to rejoice. 

When I got to work, I was hoping that it had been found, but it had not.  Through the morning, I kept visiting with the gentleman that was passing, reading Psalms, singing songs and praying with him. As I came out, mid-morning, the nurse stopped me and said, "Mrs. "Smith's" family called and said they found the hearing aide in their belongings." We all shouted and danced for joy.  GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!

Looking to the Unseen

 

While we look not at the things which are seen, 

but at the things which are not seen: 

for the things which are seen are temporal; 

but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

II Corinthians 4:18

Everything you see with your eyes has an expiration date.  If you can hear, touch, taste, smell or see it, it's going to decay at some point in the future.  Nothing on this earth lasts forever.  In the United States of America it's the law to post the expiration date on anything that is going to be used for human consumption. Your house will one day crumble to the ground. Your vehicle will cease to operate and begin to rust, fall apart and eventually turn back to the earth. The body that we put so much effort into making look, smell, feel good, will one decay and turn back to dust, for it is the law of God - from dust thou art and to dust shall you return.

Jesus told a story about a man who had great possessions and had gathered in a great crop. His crop was so great that his barn could not even hold all the abundance.  He was so proud of himself, that he said to himself, "Soul take your ease." He even decided that he would tear down his barn and build a larger storehouse.  But that evening, his life was taken from him, leaving his abundance to someone else.

People today work so hard to create a name for their self and to amass as big a fortune as they can.  There are monuments built to tyrants, as well as renowned people which have stood for centuries.  But one day, if the earth continues for millennia, no one will even know that there was even a pebble in that spot.  One day, the person's fortune will be left to someone else to enjoy. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. (Matt 5:19-20)


The Apostle Paul charged us that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.  The writer of Proverbs stated, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:5)  At some point, your memory will cease to exist.

The only thing that is guaranteed to exist eternally is the Word of God. Heavens and earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away. (Matt 24:35) God's Word is more apart of Himself than your finger.  Your finger could be cut from you and decay and no longer be a part of you, but the Word of God is God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) And the only way to inherit eternal life is to have that Word abiding in you. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7) It's not only abiding in Christ, albeit that is a very important part of the equation, it's also having His Word abiding in you. David said, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)


I have seen many people take the Bible (the physical book with binding and pages or Torah Scroll) and make it almost into an idol.   I believe in utmost respect to the physical book. I was taught not to set things on top of the Bible, or lay it on the floor, never to be irreverent and disturb someone who was in Bible study.  However, people believe that their version is the only version and what is truth is most versions are a translation, which, bear in mind, is prone to human interpretation.  The Word of God I speaking of, is living, breathing.  It is the person of Jesus Christ - the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15)  Therefore, we are exhorted, again by the Apostle Paul, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) 

Unstopping the Wells of Water (or A Fountain Unsealed)

A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.   (Song of Songs 4:12)

Over the past two weeks, I have been reading Hinds Feet on High Places  and Mountains of Spices, by Hannah Hurnard.  Both of these books are allegories taken from the Song of Songs in the Bible. It has really boosted my faith.  Although I have read these books several times in the past, they brought fresh zeal to my soul.

This weekend, I went with a friend to West Baden Springs, a wonderful resort in southern Indiana.  It was an annual trip, as last year, we were down at French Lick Resort and visited West Baden Springs.  The resorts are built around seven (7) mineral springs which have been filled in and sealed by the Jesuits some 25-40 years ago. I was not aware of this until this year, as we were touring the grounds in unseasonable weather for February (60 degrees).

There was a hill behind one of the springs that led up to a cemetery located half way up.  I had a strong compelling to climb the hill and on Saturday, I hiked up to the cemetery where a number of the Jesuits had been buried in the early and mid twentieth century.  But something drew me further up the hill.

As I climbed, I thought about the faith heroes who "walked with God." Adam walked with God in the cool of the day. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him.  Noah walked with God, by faith, and preserved life.  Abraham walked with God and was a friend of God.  Moses walked with God and spoke with God as a friend talks with his friend.

When I reached the top of the hill overlooking the resort and town, I began talking with God about the "springs shut up" knowing that God had brought me to this place to see that all but one spring had been stopped up by the well-meaning priest. I'm sure they thought they were doing a good service, but nonetheless, the springs were permanently sealed in concrete.

But the Holy Spirit directed my thoughts to others "Springs" that had been sealed up.  Jonathan singing at one of the springs These were the wells that Abraham had dug. Very interestingly, one of the wells names was Beersheva "seven wells". Yet, another confirmation that God had led me on this trip.  We read in Genesis 26:18, And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philitines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called them after the names by which his father had called them. 

One of the names of the wells was Esek - meaning contention.  The next well was the name Sitnah: in Hebrew the root is the same as Satan, meaning opposition.  The third well Isaac dug was the name Rehoboth - plenty of space.  Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of Yeshua (salvation). Isaiah 12:3  We find Jesus declaring on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles: If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.  He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38.

Now, I have not come to the full revelation of all that this trip meant for me, but as I came down the hillside, I was a bit leery on where to place my feet, because of the steepness of the hill.  But, I began to think about the meaning of Faith.  It is a sure foothold. The word faith in its most literal sense means steadfast.  God maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. Psalms 18:33.

A deer during the summer at a State Park.

That evening, returning from dinner, the train ride from French Lick to West Baden past by an open field where 12-13 deer (hinds) grazed about the evening. Suddenly, another verse from Song of Songs began pounding in my heart: I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that he stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. (SoS 2:7)

 Another lovely Psalm comes to mind, as I sit reflecting on these things: As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, Oh God.  I believe it was these words that inspired an author to write about God Chasers.  And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:13)