#4 (B)-Shalom

------ First off------

I typed this blog on 7/25/10.
As in, before I came to Israel...before i left to come here.

This blog talks about my definition of Shalom. Ironically, over and over and over again since I have come here to Israel, I have been running into this very idea face to face...all of the time.

I need people to read this....because it fits in with something I will be saying really soon about what God has been doing in my life in the past two weeks.

-James
-----------------------------------

Shalom.

This blog is titled shalom.
It is called shalom for a reason.

In my mind,it is probably one of the most amazing terms the human mind can conceptualize.It is one of the only words I know that can be used as in every part of speech...verb, noun, adjective, etc. It is one of the most meaningful and misunderstood terms in the human languages.
You can look it up in a Hebrew dictionary and you will find a variety of meanings. Shalom is often times defined as "peace" or "Complete" in English.
Judaism and other cultures around the world have different meanings for it, but all point to some form of "Peace".
While this is true,
I for one, do not believe that the word "Peace" entirely is correct in defining the word "Shalom".

While I am no Hebrew scholar, I do believe that "Peace" is a shallow definition for "Shalom".

Someone I know defines it as this:
Shalom is much more than peace. Shalom is life lived as God meant it to be lived.
When I first heard this, I thought, cool.

But then, over the years, I have really started to think about that definition:
"Life lived as Adonai intended."

And the word has exploded for me.
I asked myself: What is life lived as Adonai intended?

The answer: Eden.
God created humanity and all of creation to of lived in His presence and under His gaze in the garden of Eden.
Well ,we messed that up pretty well.
But that is why the word Shalom is so beautiful.
Shalom is more than peace. I believe Shalom is another word for Heaven.
Shalom is another word for Eden.
Shalom is life as it was meant to be lived.
You can read over and over and over and over and over again about how God is a God of rest. I don't want to type it all up on here, but how many times throughout the Bible does God give people rest?

Exodus 16:23- Why is it that one of the very first things God commands the Israelites when they leave Egypt is to rest?
Because for 400 years they were slaves and did not rest.
Exodus 5:5- God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the people go. Look at Pharaohs response.
Look at the first consequences of sin in Genesis 3. Adam and Even disobey God and what does He take from them? Rest. Their food will not come from the blessings of God, but rather by the sweat of their brow.

Look at Jeremiah 6:16.
Or how about:
Mathew 11:18
Mathew 11:29
Mark 6:31

Or, look at the main result of the people who take "the mark of the Beast":
And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."
(Revelation 14:11)

I could on on and on.
I have come to the conclusion that I believe the idea of rest is the trademark and seal of God.
But not "rest" defined in the sense of peace or relaxation. But rest in the sense of complete sovereignty and satisfaction in God.

I believe this whole idea of rest verses worry or turmoil explains the very purpose of the Church. It explains why we should tithe. It explains why we as believers in God are to do what He has commanded us to do....because we have nothing to worry about because we rest in Adonai.

See, God wants us to do nothing but rely on Him 1000000% of the time.
And I don't mean rely on God but then continue to take our matters into our own hands...than still continue to worry about the matters of this world in the same manner as a pagan friend next door.

Where the heck is God in all of that?
I don't want to name names, but I know way to many people in the Church, who are the busiest, most-stressed, most-worrisome people I know.

I don't believe for a moment that this is the type of life God intended us to live
I don't believe for a moment that this is Shalom.

I just gave a bunch of verses that basically show that Rest=God, Work/Worry/Turmoil= Opposite of God.
So shouldn't the people of God be the most OK-with-life situations type people on earth? Rather than running to the doctor every time we get a headache? Or freaking out every time our paychecks do not match our budget?

You can grow your grain all you want but in the end it is God who makes it grow...not your fertilizers....so who really cares what YOU do?

Now, I am not supporting laziness.
I am rather talking about Motive.
If your motive for what you do is to keep you alive and because you feel you have to do or act these ways have in order to survive, then that is not relying on God for your life.
However, if your motive for doing the things you do is done as a result of your satisfaction in whatever happens in life simply because you love God...then you have found Shalom.

Here all summer i have worried and worried over moving to Israel.
Now, it is the countdown to the last 4 weeks or so before I leave....
and everything has been falling into place.

However, I freaked out and went out and got a private loan.
I finally just bought my airline tickets (yay!)

and then I get a call from my pastor stating that some anonymous person wished to match any donations i receive for my trip.(If you want information on donating to help with living expenses in Israel click here)

I also have been wanting to buy a video camera so I can make video blogs while in Israel...
my biological father gave me a camera last week.

And I realized:

I KNOW I am called to go to Israel this year. I know it is what God wants me to do.

So why did I ever doubt that he would make it possible for me to go?
If I am suppose to go, then God will make it happen and there is nothing I can or can't do to change that.

And He is making it happen.

And instead of being able to experience Shalom all summer under the gaze of my creator....I worried my head off and made some stupid mistakes.

But now I see the greatness of God. Everything I have done to prepare for this trip has left me in a mess....but God makes it all good.

Now I just need my visa....we will see what happens.

Shalom.

Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
(Jeremiah 6:16)




Shalom!

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#10-Reunion

I went to the Wall Monday night to meet with God.

It was the first time I went up to the Wall to pray....it was interesting.
Since I have gotten here, I have had a hard time and struggling with the idea of a location making a difference in how I approach god and how He approaches me.
So for the past two weeks or so I have gone down to the Wailing Wall complex, but thats as far as I have gone..I would get down there and just sit and observe and think.
There are always so many Jews praying to God down there.

I, for many Biblical reasons that I will mention and explain on this blog sometime soon...(hopefully in video format)....I try and stay away from Rabbinical Judaism and the traditions of men. So going down to the Wall, I could not help but think that going down to the Wall to pray is ridiculous....I mean, why don't they go to the southern wall to pray? Its the same wall (yes, I understand that the Western Wall is the closest they can get to the Holy of Holies...). So why specifically at that section of the wall? The western wall takes up barely 1/10 of the total amount of the Wall....so why there?

Well, for the Jew, it's because that is where God dwelt. That was where God's Sukkah (סוכה) was on this earth. So that is where we go now.
But then I have been thinking of why we do anything locationally with God:

Why do people go to church, or Synagogue, or anywhere to meet with God and His people?
Because we are all interconnected because of God. Read my paper on the definition of "Ekklesia". This is corporate time with God.

Why do I take time to pray? Or, why do I spend time with God individually? To have a relationship with God.
and does geographic location matter on that matter? No.
But at the same time...
If location does not matter for me to spend with God,then why don't I go pray every morning to Him in a strip club???

Ah. Because how can I meet with God in a place that goes against HIS Will???
The answer is: you can't. Because He will not be there.
Why DON'T I go worship God in a Satanic Temple? Or how about a Buddhist Temple???
Because those are not places God called His OWN!

Therefor, what BETTER place for me to pray to God then the Western Wall??? It is a pure place...and that is why I am drawn to it. Because there are people there who know they do not live life the way God asked and so they go and beg for forgiveness from God...

I can and I do pray to God in my bed.
I can and do pray to God in the shower.
I can and do pray and meet God in community worship.

However, I can and I do meet God at the Temple mount BECAUSE He put His name there thousands of years ago. I do not know how to define all of this, nor do I understand it...all I know is this true: I feel God at the Mount in a way I don't anywhere else.

So when I was down at the complex....

I was sitting as far from the Wall as possible and was just praying and trying to wrap my head around this stuff....

When I saw something that blew my mind:

I was sitting on the ground and a Hasidic Jew and his very young daughter (she looked like she was 2) were walking by and stopped in front of me. The Father said something to His daughter and was trying to pull her a certain direction...he was obviously trying to guide her in where to go.

She flat out ignored him...and actually took off in the other direction. She went the complete opposite way then where her father wanted her to go.
But instead of picking her up and bringing her where he wanted her to go....

He followed.
he did not intervene...he just followed behind her....in the complete opposite way then he wanted to go.

but then, she climb up on a stone bench and stood on it.....
and now that she put herself at risk in getting hurt...he walked over to her and picked her up off of the bench and sat her on the ground. Then she just kind of hung around there; her Father started to talk to another Jew.....

then after a few minutes...the daughter and the Father left....and walked the way the father originally wanted to go.

I saw this happen and suddenly I had a clear fact in my mind that this was and is my life and where I am at...and many people I know.

God loves us...end of story.
But He wants us to rely on Him by choice, not by force.
He has a specific way He wants to lead us....the Way to Israel...the Way out of Egypt...the Way to redemption...the way to HIM.

And we, over and over and over again, go the other way.
It made me think of the Exodus. After the people met God at Sinai....they still went a different way. They did not follow God out of Sinai....they followed Him out of Egypt. But not out of Sinai.....and God allowed them that.

God didn't pick them up and bring them to where he wanted them to go.
God did not punish them for their choice....He simply let them do what they asked for...God said "fine. You don't want to enter into the land? Stay here."
and that is what they did.
they stayed there.

I think the theological significance of what happened in Sinai is greatly over looked by the church today.
The Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. It is not an issue of salvation...God had already saved them....
But God wanted HIS people to live with Him in Israel.
And they said no...they said we will only follow you this far.

God i hope I do not let my stupid mind keep me from going where God wants me to go....cos' I know my actions and thoughts keep me in Sinai, and prevent me from going into God's Land: the life lived under Him.

After this I went up to the Wall and prayed.....and it hit me after words: I met God not at the Wall. I met Him as soon as I decided I wanted to Meet Him...He was just patiently waiting for me to come to Him with the right motivation.

I run into all of the time having to explain myself and having to try to prove to others who I am and what I believe....constantly.
Which I am ok with...

However, there are things I believe that I can't explain. I believe them not because of logic or theology...but because of my experiences with this God.

So in the end..whats is my point?

my point is this:

"And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel."
(Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

Out of everything the Israelites experienced....they never got to the point God wanted them. What point was that? To know Him face to face.

Only Moses did.

That thought makes me so sad.....

every time God peeks out behind the bush to show Himself to His people, we run from Him.
But Moses stayed and saw God.

That is what I want. To not run in the opposite direction of God....but to follow Him.
I know I run in the opposite way than what God wants. And I know when I do this, I know he is standing back just watching me with a twinkle in His eye saying, "that is not my plan for you.....but one day you will see that." So God just waits patiently for me to return to Him.
This is why I keep Sabbath.....Sabbath is the day God rests....I can rest any day I want to.....but there is only one day when God rests.

I want to go where He goes. Not lead the direction.

This is Shalom.
And I think this is what God is trying to get at in the Scriptures: He wants to people to rely on Him and follow Him and His will....

He WANTS to show us His face.

But we can't when we don't follow.



Shalom!

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