Overcoming Weakness with New Wine

Discussions are intimidating and uncomfortable when they're uncovering issues such as weight-gain or fatigue or pain ... don't you think?   I'm 40 plus pounds over weight, I'm on a role with the daily exercise of fatigue, and pain has recently become my closest buddy-'ol-pal.  So there ya have it ... it's out ... my dark weak side! 

or how about...

Discoveries are pretty awesome when it pertains to anything that brings more wealth, happiness, or adorable-fluffy-little puppies ... right?  Sure!  Money lends to pleasure and pleasure is defined by that can't-say-no-to little creature that doesn't stay little and chews on fingers and barks at nothing and chases after innocent green-belt-walkers and wakes up in the middle of the night to pee delightful new family member ... not-so-much!


I'll let you in on a little unearthing happin' on this side of the woods...

It all began with a desire to lose a little weight.  Simple diet, with simple rules, that simple!  And it was when it was all said and done, and the scale experienced a lesser load one morning, that a pursuit of something sweet (because I deserved it, don't ya know!) turned the steering wheel towards the grocer's haven.  

We attempt to teach our children the ways of encouraging our neighbors and loving our enemies, you see;  and we dance with joy when we witness this teaching taking root.  However, there are times when these disciplines come back to bite us in the rear...like this time.

It was my eldest daughter that practiced the art of encouraging her mother with these words: 

"Oh Mom!  It's OK to treat yourself once in a while"  as she winks and smiles at me.

And so *that* little sweetness justified my next action.

It's called "treating myself splurging" on that which I had previously put aside with much discipline, mind you, for the purpose of losing weight:    sugar, pasta, and bread.  I was completely ruined.

OK...and Double-Stuffed Oreos and Pop!
My weakness :(

 I agree with my daughter ... to some extent ... when one is disciplined! But that doesn't account for all the "once's" that prevailed ... with me.

Thus, discipline fail!

  


One morning, swaying to and fro in the porch swing, I was thinking about all the scripture-studying I had settled into in the recent months and how lacking it had been within the past few days.  Don't you know, one of the first thoughts of discovery was an intriguing parallel to the laziness in my recent eating habits?  Go figure!

*Unhealthy food lends to bad habits. 

*Laziness lends to worldly thoughts ("I'm so deserving!").

*Worldly thoughts lend to unwise choices (oreos, pop, you fill in the blank).  

*Unwise choices lend to a stagnant, numb conscience which leads to   indifference, which leads to destruction (fatigue and pain are looking pretty suspicious right about now...).

I'm thinkin' about doin' the plunge in the pool called Bethesda in which the angel of the Lord stirs up the waters during certain seasons.  Check this out:

"Fence" #8

"Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]"

John 5:2-4

Now this is the kind of discovery I like to make indeed!  If anything is deserving it's Yahweh's Word - to be unearthed to life and dusted off and studied with a fine-tooth comb of Wisdom and delight!  

I'm pretty sure I'll be digging this stone-of-treasure a little further in my future studies.  Though physical healing might well be a bonus at the end, I'm certain that my spiritual weakness will ascertain a new identification and encounter an inner revival of the deepest spiritual kind.  

So, what about y'all?  What is your weakness that is so entangling to the point of suffocation?  What is sucking the life out of you? Are you in desperate need of a healing pool?  I know of a healing Water of Life; the One who turns water into wine - Who is the New Wine; the One who fed Israel in the wilderness and sustained their life with a bread-like substance called Manna - Who is the Bread of Life!

Would you like to make a discovery - a life-changing-rock-your-world kind of earth-moving discovery?    

"The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.

  Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

⁸ 

Cherish her, and she will exalt you;

    embrace her, and she will honor you.

⁹ 

She will give you a garland to grace your head

    and present you with a glorious crown."

Proverbs 4:7-9

The choice is:

Our weaknesses?

   Those things that entangle us and cause us to live unhealthy, unfruitful, disastrous lives.  Anything that holds us back from living in the ways of our Yeshua Messiah (Jesus).  

or

HIS Strength?

10 

"Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

And declare in the coast lands afar off,

And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him

And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

11 

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 

“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,

And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—

Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,

And over the young of the flock and the herd;

And their life will be like a watered garden,

And they will never languish again."

Jeremiah 31:10-12

Remembering who I am (Israel!),

                                                  Cindy

Mistake Noted and Lesson Learned!

Have you ever wondered why you've said "yes" to some commitments and then later regret that decision very much?  And then the day comes when *that* choice creeps into your conscience only to hear a familiar voice utter the words:  "what did I just do?"

That day has come and now it is almost history, thus far.  

And it's Sabbath no less.

Fence #7

Nature's Fence protecting a Narrow Path
 in Northern New Mexico
pic by Eric Lang

This is a day that I ought to have been resting, laying aside all that demands of my body and mind labeled as work!  Not for the reason that rest is demanded of me, because my Father Yahweh doesn't force His will, but gently guides and directs His ways (His commandments) for my good, but on the grounds that my Father has given me a very special gift that I'd really like to enjoy as Deuteronomy 5:12 says,

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you."

That's not a demand.  It's a command as a father would instill into his child a direction to follow a certain path of life out of love and protection for her well-being.

Deeper still, it is because I am learning how to love Him, and obeying His commandments is how He says I can do that.   Yeshua says in John 14:15, 21

“If you love me, keep my commands."

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

In other words...

"Rest child, because I love you, that's why!" - the Father implies.

Can you just hear Him sigh:

"Just try it; I promise you will really like this one."

Sometimes  Most times we just don't get it until we look back and realize that we've missed out on something pretty special.  We can probably agree that when Yahweh repeats a word over and over it's

because He either means serious business or He wants to hand over something extraordinary.

And that's how much He loves!

Oh how I wish I could change the clock back a month when I made this unsaid very unwise decision.  It is one that, as a person that enjoys helping others in their time of need, ends in a bit of a butt-kicking (mine) in the form of a very sore body, an aggravated husband, and a feeling of being taken advantage.  I dislike that very much.

Oh how I wish I could have heeded to that still small Voice that most likely was whispering "No!  I have something better for you."  Alas, instead I was listening to my own selfish need of pleasing man, unfortunately.

So, today I went to work out of a worldly commitment to mankind, I gave permission to my eldest daughter without discussing with my husband over a thing (and I really never do this), and I came home and baked home-made bread for our dinner tonight, which is currently smelling oh so yummy, but that's beside the point...ahem. 

 "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Genesis 2:2-3  

And *that's* the point!

So what's the solution to my apparent dilemma?  Learn from my mistakes and poor choices and get on with Life, Truth, Love, and Obedience!  Put a stop to the guilt trip that Satan would love nothing better to do but to trip me up with.

Lesson:

Jeremiah 17:7-8

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose confidence is in him 

They will be like a tree planted by the water

    that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

    its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

    and never fails to bear fruit.”

1. Think and ask the Father what He thinks before I say "yes" to anything ... or even offer to do.

2. Seek, ask and discuss with the husband ... similar to #1.  Huh, interesting (earthly practice maybe?)

3. Make bread ahead of time...even if it will not be hot right out of the oven!

4. Take advantage of God's gift of rest.

5. Hear and do, Live and learn, Move on and move forward!

There is a path that is narrow and unpopular, yet comes with instructions. This Way takes faith, strength and courage in Yahweh to walk it out.

Then there is a wide path of brush (on the other side of Nature's Fence) that lends to tripping and falling and getting lost in the thick of life only to come out bruised and bloody and completely confused.  

I'm not sure that I even have to ask which side you'd choose...

Shabbat Shaloam! everyone and now I choose Yahweh's Rest.

Remembering who I am...

                                                      Cindy