BEING LOVED THE WAY GOD LOVES

I recently began a new Bible study group. When I asked the Lord what He wanted to teach the group, it seemed He wanted me to teach on the Hebrew meanings for three Hebrew words for love, one at each of the first 3 meetings. The goal was not just to know about love, but to know about HIS love for each of us. I began with Ahava - the love God has for His chosen ones.
 
Our English translation of, for instance, "lovingkindness" has about the depth of saying "God is nice." That is just not enough to wrap itself around your heart and make you feel all lovey and secure in God, is it?  Beginning with the first meeting, just learning of what Ahava means in Hebrew, and specifically God's Ahavah, turned out to be (no kidding) nothing short of life changing for some. 

I was amazed at its impact as it proved to be more effective than just interesting but changed a few people's relationships with the Lord. It brought to my mind Paul's words that when the Jewish people come to the Lord it would be "life from the dead" (Romans 11:15). I believe it largely has to do with the resurrection of the Hebrew language so that we can more fully understand the Scriptures, and therefore know God more clearly, as a part of that "life."  I saw it happen in my living room while teaching these few words.

If we're talking about love in a Hebrew context, of course, we're first and foremost talking about God's love, the way God loves, and the way "God IS love" (1 John 4:8). His love can be seen in the beauty of creation, even in the affection of animals. No one is too high or too lofty to be without the need to love or be loved. Maybe God made giraffes to remind us. The way God loves is wholly demonstrated in His love for Israel. That may not have been the prevailing thought throughout history, including church history, but Israel's survival as the Jewish people alone, is evidence of His watchful eye upon them to keep His promises to them. 

And may I add, for His name's sake, to prove His Ahava, that we may know Him as He truly is "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). God's love has been greatly misunderstood due to misunderstanding His enduring love for Israel and the Jewish people. As this is being corrected so also, as we are seeing, is a more correct understanding of His love in its many aspects.

Let's take a look at the meaning of the first word (the others will follow in subsequent blogs) and maybe there might be some life changes among some of you reading this - or those you might share these meanings with.  It's all free for the taking. Pass it along. 
 
Ahavah is God’s choosing love, His election love.  He chose Israel to be His own people. We are all aware that the Jewish people are known as "the chosen people."  And anyone who comes to Israel's God is likewise chosen. He chooses everyone who comes to know Him personally. No one sneaks in the back door of the Kingdom without Him knowing it. There are no mistaken entrances to being His. 

Whether you came to Him easily or with great internal struggle, He has been at work in your life all along to bring you to the security of opening your heart to Him. The reason you have survived some of what life has wrought from you is because He's been there all along on your behalf, despite some of the choices we've made in the license of our free will.  He knows that we've all been victimized by sin - that's where His rachamim, His mercy comes in. 

But God's Ahavah, His loving choice of you has been actually eternal "for He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...." (Ephesians 1:4).  God does dwell outside of time so that can make sense. Now if He is all knowing (omniscient), could there possibly be anything about you He didn't know about that might disqualify you from His love or acceptance? Is there any chance He would look down on you and say to Himself, "Oh dear, I wasn't aware of that!" 

There are people who have been His for years, all their lives even, and yet have not come into the security of His love, because there always seemed to be something that they should be doing or not doing, or should not have done, to be really okay with God.  But we are His because of His doing, not because of ours. All we can really do is respond to His reaching out to us in our lives, whether as a child or as a sinner later on. 

  “No one comes to the Lord unless the Father draws them.”  (Deut 10:15; 23:5;   Jeremiah 31:3).  It's His doing. But even so, His love always allows for our free will. He never violates our freedom.

You can choose NOT to be chosen, or you can deliberately choose to walk away from Him also.  There is no compulsion in God. Love always freely loves and allows the loved one to freely love them back or choose not to love them. That also means God takes the risk of having us not love Him in return. We see that with Israel over and over as they strayed from Him. But He keeps on loving them with determination to be their Lover.

There is also an exclusiveness to being the recipient of God’s love.   Israel is clearly the chosen people of God.  They were set apart from among all the people of the earth for God’s specific attention to them.  To anyone who has also come to Israel’s God, they receive the same attention from God.  Followers of Yeshua are not like the world, are we?  This is all God’s doing; He works within us to bring us to the freedom in Him that He wanted for all humankind when He created the first persons. That does not mean being without challenges in this life, but it does mean that whatever we go through, God is there with us, and He can bring us His kind of peace in the midst of any trial.

What better sense of security than having the Almighty as your bff (best friend forever - literally). We who live our lives in relationship with the one true God are becoming more and more loving, wiser, freer, less affected by the ways the world goes and more influenced by the Spirit of God who is holy.

What does holy mean?  Holiness is largely about love. Holiness,  absolute purity, is harmless to those who love, but dangerous to those who defy love in favor of Self. It takes a great deal of sinning to set off God's wrath. A read through the Old Testament history will show you that. But when it does occur, it is always because of accumulated violation of love in extreme, against other people, or against God. No one who hates is blessed, to put it simply.  The Good News, thought, is that tsYeshua came to set us free from what is unloving, in what we have done and what has been done to us. Our sins, our unloving acts and attitudes, can be fully forgiven when we accept His atoning love for us personally.  It's part of the mystery of God, but it's as real as life itself.

If you recall, in the beginning, “God created humankind in His own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27 CJB).  When their sin interrupted the perfection in which they were created, it didn’t change God’s intention or His love.  I once had a mini-vision in which I saw God’s sheer delight in Adam and how much God loved him. Then I saw as God was sending him out of the garden (Eve was not in the vision) after Adam had sinned. But God's love for Adam was in no way diminished. Even when God disciplines us it is out of His love for us, to make us better people, even more conformed to His loving likeness.

He continues with us what He began - He is RE-CONFORMING US TO HIS LIKENESS.  An image is like what we see in a mirror but in this case, it’s spiritual, not physical.  He is sovereignly reforming those who are His to be, to live, to think, and to love as He does.  He is doing it through His chosen ones as we live out our lives with Him and HIs goodness. What a privilege.

Chosenness, that is to say, election, is not the same as exclusivity or elitism so that you look down on anyone who isn’t like you.  That is about Self, not about God’s unSELFish love.  (Wasn't the cross of Yeshua that single most unselfish act of any  person ever? ) God’s love always seeks for the good of others, and to include others.  Israel was always to receive, to welcome strangers, sojourners, or aliens and to care for others as they cared for themselves.  As you are reading through the OT, be aware of how often God tells Israel to be just and fair to those who are different, or have less than themselves.   There is always room in God’s heart, and so was it to be so in God’s people’s hearts, for even the lowest – the orphans and the widows, who in ancient Israel would have been the destitute, or at least the marginalized.

Just as one of the many places where we are somewhat familiar with this word for love, we see in Zephaniah 3:17 the word Ahava, the love for those He chooses, those whom He saves.  “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in His Ahavah. He will rejoice over thee with singing. “ Now there's a picture of God don't usually have, but He gave that to Zephaniah as a revelation of Himself. He wants to be known by His people, and He wants us to know how much He delights in us in His love. So what do we see in Ahavah.  We see the full intention of God to raise up those whom He brings to Himself to the highest expression of love and humanity as He intended us to be – LIKE HIM!!  Free to love and be loved.  SELF not only keeps us in self-protectiveness, it isolates us and puts up a barrier between us and others.   Love, God’s kind of love, takes the barriers down to be able to enjoy others as He enjoys us all.

Yeshua took down the middle wall of partition that Self would exalt and separate.  In Yeshua there is no more separation or alienation based on:  color, race, nationality, ethnicity, finances, intelligence, education, social status, physical abilities or perfection.  Diseases nor deformities do not keep one outside of God’s ahava. Once Yeshua had paid the price to break down the separation between God and mankind, the barriers between humans were now obsolete because now we all could relate to one another through God’s love which is all inclusive. There are no “others” in the Kingdom of God.  All are loved equally. That includes each of us. You too.

There is no greater privilege in all of creation than to be among those whom God has chosen.  And though we may be one of millions, God is not limited by time or space or numbers.  He is exquisitely intimately involved with each one of us in His love for each of us.  He is committed to bringing us to the fullness of the Freedom of His  Being.  All of our human desire to be loved, that we are emotional and social beings who need as much to love as to be loved, is all a part of being created in God’s image. He is like that. We are all that people innately are, because we are like God. We desire to be known and loved because God is letting us know that He desires to be known and loved. Not out of any kind of neediness on God's part, but in the sense of entire wholeness. We like to be thanked or appreciated, so does God.  Want to have a good time today? Tell God all you are thankful for and thank Him for it. You'll find it unlocks a good bit of joy in your heart. That's His way of loving you back. 

Tune in next week for Part II of God's love.

GOD'S LOVE AS HE MEANT FOR US TO KNOW IT

When I've recently shared the meanings of several Hebrew words for love with some non-Jewish believers in Yeshua, it has changed something in their relationships with the Lord, bringing a security in Him they didn't quite have the same way before. It relieved for at least a few a nagging sense that felt like maybe God hadn't really wanted them but that somehow they'd snuck in the back door of the Kingdom when He wasn't looking.  

As I'm writing today I'm feeling this is important for someone in particular who will be reading this, though God's truth will always touch many hearts.  So take this as from the Lord if you sense He's speaking directly to you even if that's never happened to you before.  Whoever you are, He knows you, He knows your heart-pains, and He loves you.  Whenever it is that you read this, He's speaking to you! Maybe this actually applies to a number of you. But I felt I was to say this. 

Moving on, let's talk about what the love of God is really like from His perspective as the Hebrew reveals it.  I've crammed a whole lot of info into each paragraph so after reading it, you may want to go back and ponder each statement to absorb its wonderful truth about Him. Or read it slowly to take it all in.  Especially if some of this is new to you.

AHAVA (pronounced Ah-ha-VAH) has to do with being chosen by God.  It is indisputable that Israel is God's chose people. Therefore, anyone who also has been drawn to Him has also been chosen by God. It's how anyone comes to the Lord, He draws us to Himself. This is true for all who come to know God through Yeshua, Israel's Messiah. That's who He was in the beginning when up to a million Jewish people followed Him, and who He still is. The world may have made Him look like a Gentile since then and not a Jew but part of the restoration mentioned above is that His Jewishness is being restored and Israel is recognizing Him for Who He is.  Most of my family and I are part of that amazing historic event now taking place along with thousands of others. It's part of the sign of the times indicating His return is near. His love for His people Israel never changed. It's still there. But I digress......   

God's choosing is never about us deserving it.  He chose Israel not out of any merit of her own, but because she was the least of all people.  Look what He has done with a nation of powerless slaves! A nobody family from one childless nomadic man, who just believed God.  God needs no qualifications for Him to choose anyone. In fact, what we may think would commend us to Him, really gets in our way.  "Instead God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Doesn't that just eliminate any sense of trying to earn or keep His love or acceptance? It's all about His sovereign love for us, period. All we really have to do is accept it and enjoy it. Who doesn't want to be loved unconditionally, and especially by someone as entirely awesome as God?  

Who we are in our own eyes is not a factor in God's choosing of us.  Whether we may think we're somehow qualified or consider ourselves entirely unworthy of Him doesn't matter. He alone knows all there is to know about us, through and through, and yet He still chose us.  He is never surprised or unaware of anything in our lives and He loves us unconditionally despite them. What a relief!  We never have to worry about God changing His mind after saying to Himself, "Oh, I didn't know about THAT!"

He also knows how He can make us fully and completely His and someone to and in whom His goodness can be manifested to us and even through us. 
The Scriptures tell us correctly that "we love Him because He first loved us."  We respond to His choosing-love!!  There is no back door to the Kingdom of God that we could come in without His knowledge.  Yeshua is the only door and the only way in, and if You come to Him, it's because Abba chose you to give you to His Son as a love-gift. 

The best part is that whom God chooses, He never unchooses! And who finds Him, He never looses. Israel is certainly a picture of those truths in a myriad of examples.

CHESED (KHEH-sed) may be translated into English as something like lovingkindness.  That to me just makes it sound like God is nice. HE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN NICE!  This has to do with covenant keeping love. Whom He  chooses, He keeps!  These two aspects of His love are intertwined. Whom God chooses, He enters into covenant with, whether a person or a nation such as He has with Israel.  He's in it forever.  He's there, He's for us, He's protecting, providing, leading and guiding, He's right beside us, we're never without Him.  God is a forever keeping God. 

Yeshua initiated the New (really renewed) covenant with God so that when we turn our lives over to Him and accept His forgiveness for having lived independently from God, we find ourselves in an emotional rest such as we have not likely known before. It's all rather supernatural but in a very natural kind of way. Like peace.  He loves whom He has chosen and assumes responsibility for them.  Even regarding the day-to-day matters of life, He will help us with them if we invite Him into them.  God often reveals to us His supernatural love by at times making the most ordinary things examples of His thoughtfulness toward us. There are with Him many causes for delight!

Does that mean coming to Yeshua means being free of troubles. I wish it did. You may actually find you now have difficulties in your life you never had before, in particular when you find people in your life are not as happy about you becoming a Believer in Yeshua as you are.  Sometimes it's hard. I can tell you from experience, but I can also say that He will be  with you as "a very present help in trouble" and having His presence with you is worth anything it might cost you. Ask just about any true believer in Yeshua that you know and 
They'll all tell you that same thing.  

If you know Him that way, you know what I mean, and if you don't yet, ask Him to show you the practical ways He's been there for you, helping you when you didn't even realize it was Him, or know that He was there. Many of us who have come to the Lord can look back on our lives and realize that He's been there all along, helping you get through what life has challenged you with. God doesn't make the hard or bad things happen. He helps us overcome them and keep going.  You'll find yourself becoming aware of those things if you look for them.  All that is in His covenant commitment to you.

RAKHAMIM (rakh-ah-MEEM) means mercy but so much more than that one word. Mercy does not mean pity. Pity looks down on one in an unenviable position but does nothing to help.  Mercy on the other hand is all about helping. God's mercy always reaches out to lift the needing person out of what they are in so as to help change their situation for the better. It may take a series of merciful acts and some time but be assured, if we're His, where there is trouble, God's merciful love is at work to rescue. 

If you read through the New Testament, though it's everywhere in the Tenakh (O.T.) as well, you will see how Yeshua lived out a Rakhamim-filled life as His primary motivation.  Mercy is always linked with compassion and compassion, unlike pity, always moves to help change the person's situation and not leave them in need. I like to think of His mercy as the outworking of the Almighty in tenderness. it doesn't get any better than that.
                                                                                                     
I have tried to end this article a few times without saying this, but I keep feeling I need to let someone, perhaps more than one the person, know God really is speaking to you. I don't know who you are, but He does. Judging from the emphasis, perhaps you are Jewish.  This is an introduction to the Lord, not to just know these things about Him, but to enter into a relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through His Messiah and Son, Yeshua.  He wants to make His love for Israel real to you. He knows your pains and He knows your losses, though you've done a good job of looking fine on the outside. He wants to make you whole. He stands with open arms to you as your Comforter King, and one who still has plans for your life in ways you've never imagined. Talk to Him.  Let Him talk to you. It's a good day to start a relationship with the Almighty.

Comparisons - Moving Journal #6

I've been to the library four times in the past two weeks for books on decorationg ideas. My father always used to tell me to make comparisons before making decisions. Even decorating decisions can be important if you're someone who's afffected by surroundings, color, feng shui, etc. I didn't know I was feng shui sensitive until I read it in one of the decorating books. Live and learn.
I've been dreaming furniture arrangements, walking through the rooms in my mind, trying to figure out where my furniture would fit into the apartment I've committed to live in, even though I haven't signed a lease.  Yesterday I went over to help Ginger pack some more for her move out next Friday, though admittedly it was with an alterior motive of trying to figure out where to put my own stuff there. When I left, I was still feeling like this was not really happening to me, and I again said, "Lord, if this isn't where You want me, please let me know."

Today a friend of mine came over to bring me a load of packing boxes she picked up for me at the Dollar store. She didn't even have to pay a dollar for them. She fished them out of their dumpster. "Y'know," she said, as we talked, "I'm not sure Ginger's apartment is where you're supposed to be." I told her I'd asked the Lord to let me know if it wasn't. "Let's go look at those new apartments near your daughter's," she said. "For some reason, I just think we should go look there." Perhaps this was the Lord's leading. I better go and look. So we did.

The posh apartment complex was spiffy new and yuppy equiped with all you could want. Decorator magazine picture-perfect, for sure. Well laid out and filled with light. But the new synthetic carpeting made my nose itch, and as elegant as it was, to me it seemed sterile. It had no stories to tell, no history to soften it. No character, especially not what my one-time 200 year old Pennslvania farm house had. Nah, not for me.

When we left the new complex which wasn't as near to my daughter's as Ginger's apartment is, we drove to my daughter's to say hello. Two of my teenage grandchildren were home and were so glad to see me, happy to have me stop by. They were both sick so I didn't want to get close to them. I just got an email from Jordan as I was writing this saying he wanted to hug me but being sick, knew he shouldn't. Ah, yes! Living in such close proximity to them would certainly provide the blessing of seeing the kids more often than I do now. There's a reason to live practically next door right there.

What this afternoon did for me was confirm for me that Ginger's soon-to-be-mine apartment was where I should be. Imperfect as it is, even if Richard the landlord doesn't replace the faucets, Ginger says they work fine. I believe it's where God want's me. That's enough for me. I'm at peace with it now.

Dropping Pebbles of Kindness in Troubled Waters

Two friends and I were enjoying a mini-pot-luck dinner together this weekend. One of us was telling of a car mechanic who was rude, and had a bad attitude, not to mention not repairing her car as he should have. How as Believers should we respond to such situations? Yes, he needs to make good his work, but should she have written him off as a loser, just a bad guy to avoid? We began to pray for him, to bless him, for God to heal whatever in his heart happened to him to cause him such bitterness. Who knows, we pondered, if his wife didn’t leave him that morning, or if he has a sick child and is pre-occupied with worry? Or whatever.

We decided he needs some TLC from the Lord. She would go back, and while requiring he fix what wasn’t fixed properly, she would attempt to reach out with some word of kindness. Maybe even present that potentially life-changing question: “Has anyone ever told you that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” It’s amazing what responses you get from folks when you ask them that question -- everything from tears, to smiles, to “No, no one ever has,” to “Yes, praise the Lord” (then you’ve found a sister or a brother in the Lord), to “Not me. I’ve done too much,” which certainly opens up the conversation to tell them about Jesus dying for just that reason, to make unacceptable people acceptable in God’s sight. And yes, sometimes you get rejection. On occasion someone just walks away, but rarely.

We continued to talk about how many people there are ‘out there’ who could be encouraged just by someone putting a little love in their smile or their voice as they address them. Someone who returns nastiness with niceness. There are a lot of lonely people in the world today, especially with so many family break-ups. Rejection permeates the self-image of so many. The saying, “Reach out and touch someone” may not be a bad idea. Just a touch on the arm or shoulder may go a long way to making someone feel worthy of being touched. They may not have been touched for a long time. Maybe that’s why Jesus reached out and touched the leperous man when He healed him. He could have just spoken the word to heal him. But maybe He was healing something in his soul as well as his body, letting him know he’s no longer “untouchable.”

Perhaps when we spread God's love around to someone they will then respond by sharing it with others. You know, like "Passing it forward." Only God really knows how far the ripples in the wake of a pebble of kindness goes out when we drop it into someone else’s life.

To read the rest of this article go to: www.sidroth.org and click on Articles. Scroll down to "Pebbles."

Loving Like God Loves

Yeshua seemed to think we will love each other and be one in Him. I’ve found that it doesn’t take much getting to know each other before we who love the Lord love each other as brothers and sisters if the situation allows for at least some interaction with each other. We were just discussing this in my Kosher Bible class, about how we can just walk by a perfect stranger and your eyes connect for just a moment and you recognize each other as fellow Believers. I love when that happens.

I usually experience a genuine love for them at that moment. Like if someone hurt them right then I’d have to jump in and say, “Hey, that’s my sister you’re messing with. Back off, in the name of Jesus!!!” Okay, a little dramatic, but there’s this sense of belonging when I know they’re Believers too. There’s a connectedness.

It’s not really our love though, especially if we don’t even know the person or know them well. We’re really feeling Yeshua’s (Jesus') love for that person; He puts His love in our hearts. How supernatural is that? If you haven’t had that experience, ask the Lord to open up your life to that kind of sensitivity to other believers. Then look for it. It'll happen.

My then 88 year old mom (she’s 90 now) told the Exterminator, “You’re a believer in Jesus, aren’t you? I can see it in your eyes.” He was. A little time of fellowship between Mom and the bug guy!

For the rest of this article, go to: www.sidroth.org and click on "Learn More: Articles." Scroll down to "Loving Like God Loves." You will find others of my articles there as well.