Never leave you...

"Never leave you, nor forsake you...though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you" (Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, Isaiah 54:10


Anything but insane-Emma- 13.07.2011

I'm sad today, dear Abba
I'm sad and not sure why
Is this feeling for real
Or once again a lie?

Do I have real reasons
To feel so low and sad?
Or am I manipulated
And spoken lies instead?

Because all that I'm hearing
Tries to convince me again
That maybe You forgot me
And I'm a bit insane

That maybe all I'm feeling
All that I ask and seek
Are nothing but emotions...
Fantasies of a freak.

Will You come, dear Abba
And tell my heart the truth?
All I want is Your whisper
I don't need other proof.

Will You come, dear Abba
And kiss my heart again?
Remind me I'm Your daughter
Anything, but insane.

Come once again and tell me
What you said on that day
That mountains might be shaking
But you won't go away


The hardest thing for a rejected heart to accept, is that it won't happen again.
"Yes, they might love you now, but you just give them a bit of time. They will abandon you same way the others did before." The same two all familiar phrases that haunt you every time someone show they care. It's hard enough to believe when the person is there next to you, even though you see their eyes and hear their words spoken time and time again.

What's even harder is when you can't see The One telling you He won't leave you. You feel Him and His love and care all around you like a warm blanket on a cold day, but what if it is all just wishful thinking? I think this was my hardest battle with myself. I fought this battle for over ten years and I still do.
This week I didn't feel too well physically and it affected me emotionally as well. Those dark thoughts mentioned in Psalm 94:19. I was laying there in bed thinking "What if after all this, I get before Him at the end and He tells me to go away because He doesn't know me?" Oh, of course I reminded myself of all those verses where He promises time and time again that He won't abandon us, that He never rejects those who go to Him for refuge. But it didn't help. The nagging "what if" would not budge. And as always when emotions fail me, logic is my last weapon. I was surprised to find this thought in my heart, my answer to the "what if"- "Even if He would reject me after all this, I was happier looking for Him all around me, than I ever was when I didn't. If at the end, this proves to be in vain, at least my heart knows that I found in Him the only way I know how to truly live, be myself and be happy. After all this...even if...He would still be my only choice in this life."

Why am I writing all this making myself once again ridiculously vulnerable? Because I know at least two people out there right now who go through the same battle. And this is for them- He didn't leave you!

Philip Yancey, one of my favourite authors, once wrote "I know only two alternatives to hypocrisy: perfection or honesty." In all honesty I will always acknowledge that I can't achieve perfection in anything that I try. Not even follow my God, no matter how much I love Him and no matter how much I want to. It is hard not to question and doubt, and I don't even think He wants us not to. It is only after fighting doubt and fear to let go completely, for years, that you find yourself one day in the midst of the very same nagging thoughts, choosing God not out of emotions or "because", but "in spite of" like the most logical thing in your world.

All my life, my own father abandoned me when I needed him the most. The hardest thing for me to accept was the "never"part of God's promise "Never leave you". But through all these years I came to understand that "Never" same as "For ever" are words from His world. Words that only an eternal God can speak. Words which are outside of the limits of my current existence. Never means never- not here and now and not there and then. I came to understand that I can't be separated from Him because of this"never". That for as long as I look to Him, He will never look away. No matter how many questions I ask, or how many doubts consume me. Every promise I ever made God I broke! But because of that "never" every promise He ever made me He kept and all along the way I heard His whisper in my heart "Never leave you..." People ask me whether I have any proof that God exists. My strongest witness is my own experience. I don't need other proof.



Im Telech (If you leave- translation from Hebrew)

If you leave, who will hold me like this
Who will hear me at the end of the day
Who will sooth and comfort me, only you know how to

And if you leave, who will I wait for in the window,
in a holiday dress, to come and hold me like this, as you come home.

When you leave, I will go to out to the sun in the golden field, morning and evening.
The moon, will light up my face which dreams only of you all day long.

When you return, you will carry me with both arms,
from the field to the river, wash my face
and tell me words, as only you know how to.

Kindness...

"For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings" Hosea 6:6, Hebrew Bible Mechon-Mamre

"...there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Hosea 4:1, Mechon-Mamre

"And let us know, eagerly strive to know the LORD" Hosea 6:3, Mechon-Mamre

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6, Mechon-Mamre

The Hebrew word translated by mercy in the verses above is Chesed (Hesed). It is commonly translated in English by kindness or loving-kindness. Translators find it hard to translate this word in other languages because it is difficult to convey the true meaning. This word is mainly attributed to God's kindness or goodness and that is hard enough to describe because it is not common to human race. Whilst reading the verses above I noticed a pattern, a pattern the apostle Paul tells us how we can prevent in Romans 12:2 "Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world. But be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to determine what God wants for you. And you will be able to know what is good and pleasing to God and what is perfect."

When you get to know what Paul describes above, what do you actually know? I think you know God, you know what chesed means. That goodness and compassion that remains good and compassionate even when it has nothing to gain from it or even when it goes against ones interests. That is the main characteristic of God. When you truly know that, you know Him and that knowledge does something in you. Firstly, because He is chesed with you, you want to be chesed with others. That extravagant kindness that appears in ones life when they deserve it the least. His chesed creates chesed in you and it fulfills His purpose from the beginning- to create humans in His likeness. I believe throughout our history God's complaint with us was always the same "You don't know Me. If you truly knew Me it wouldn't be so easy for you to leave Me and abandon My ways."

What happens if you don't listen to Hosea's warnings and Paul's advice?

As always Israel is my teacher. She knew from the beginning she had a different kind of God than the nations around her. But somehow Israel always wanted to be like the other nations. God set for her very clear guidelines on how He should be approached, but the purpose of the guidelines was always the approach- "draw near". Still, since Israel was so focused on the nations around her, she ended up copying them. She focused more on the guidelines than on Him. She slowly ended up worshiping Him in the same way the nations around her worshiped their gods- sacrifices to please them, rituals to satisfy them...This way she failed to draw near, she failed to know Him. If she did, she would've noticed all He actually wanted was a restored relationship in which Israel willingly gave herself just as He gave Himself, when He called Himself her God.

It pains me to see the same things in many churches today. It doesn't matter the denomination, the principle seems to remain the same. Because of the level we've reached in the realms of technology and communication, the gods of this age are money, power, influence, fame and glory to a degree unequaled in our past. I look around myself and I see how "saving souls" turned into a competition between congregation sizes. Numbers is what matters because numbers bring donations, donations bring bigger buildings and bigger buildings bring fame and influence. We don't have sacrifices. We replaced them with programmes...But if you're approaching "the numbers" one by one, you will many times hear the same verses and the same phrases, which if you happen to dig deeper very few can really explain.

The other day, I saw a chain of messages on a Facebook page of which I am a member. The owner added a status requesting the brothers and sisters to listen to the desperate pleas of a sister of ours. She was asking us to help her. Her daughter is dieing of cystic fibrosis and she is the mother of a two year old. Our sister was telling us how she raised all the money she possibly could to cover for the treatment but it was still not enough. One after the other my brothers told her how they will pray for her. Others demanded healing in the Name of Jesus, whilst others were claiming it done. I was sitting there going through the messages and this verses came into my mind "My brothers and sisters, if people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing. Can faith like that save them?A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or food. If you say to that person, "God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat," but you do not give what that person needs, your words are worth nothing." (James 2:14-16)

I got angry in my heart. I felt like writing the verse and tell them "I hope you will remember this and the tears of that woman next time you look at your $20,000 car parked on your alley". But that was not the love in me talking. One person wrote "Look, I don't want to sound like a jerk, but make sure you don't just pray, you also ACT." And then another wrote "Can you please give us details on where to send the money?" So, I calmed down. I remembered perhaps I should not look at them through the perspective of their $20,000 car in light on some of the theories we hear in some churches today (if you're sitting there asking yourself what churches is she on about open God Channel)

What's happening to us? Are we losing sight of His chesed again? Do we fail to know Him again because we are too focus on copying what's around us?

I am not here to judge anyone. These thoughts are mainly for me. I pray God will bring them in my heart everytime I go and waste money on something more expensive and I forget all the faces I saw in the Romanian villages I've been through. I am part of His Church, I am part of my brothers and sisters. Perhaps that's why I can't keep my mouth shut. I wish I could only write about smiles, love, butterflies and flowers. I wish I would live in a world that would not give me any other topics, but regrettably I don't...
I really want this to be a road sign for me on a personal level. If I am focused on copying what's around me rather than on being changed within, I am convinced I will end up in the same place. A place where there is "no truth, no chesed (goodness, kindness, compassion) and no knowledge of God" (Hosea 4:1)
A place where I forget that He is chesed- Good and Compassionate even when He has nothing to gain from me. A place where I forget myself to be chesed, because I loose sight of His good, pleasing and perfect will for my life.

To Israel...

"Jerusalem, the nations will see your goodness, and all kings will see your glory. Then you will have a new name, which the Lord himself will give you.You will be like a beautiful crown in the Lord's hand, like a king's crown in your God's hand. You will never again be called the People that God Left, nor your land the Land that God Destroyed. You will be called the People God Loves, and your land will be called the Bride of God, because the Lord loves you. And your land will belong to him as a bride belongs to her husband." Isaiah 62:2-4

"Israel!", my heart is crying
"Israel", I hear inside
Israel, this love consumes me
But I'll never try to hide.

I'm wearing your Star with honour
I have pledged my heart to you
I will walk this road besides you
For I know it to be true.

I have seen the way He loves you
With a love that cannot die
I have heard His loving whisper
"They're the apple of My eye"

I will say it until forever
Every time I'll meet your sons
Israel, I am so sorry
We fed your children to the guns

I am sorry for all the mothers
For all the children and all the fathers
For every Jew that ever died
And paid with their lives for a lie...

I will walk this road besides you
I will stand and fight for you
Israel, you might not know me
But I know His love for you.

So far today, 4,308 Christians pledged on facebook to pray for Israel against rocket attacks- I am one of them. I am convinced in the same way a daddy holds his child close and covers their head with the palm of his hand to protect them, that's how Abba stretches His hand over Israel to protect them. The palm of His hand is their best anti-rocket shield. The time has come for us to acknowledge the verses above. They are and will always remain "The People That God Loves". I am one among the nations that the prophet talks about who sees this. I pray you get to see it, too. But if you choose not to, I won't hold it against you. You see, they don't need us, that's how Great their Defender is.

When fear comes

I'm really scared, Abba
I don't know what to do
My mind and heart are shaking
That's why I call to You.

You asked me why the fear?
Why do I shake within?
Why is my heart so troubled?
Who told me I won't win?

The shortest answer, Abba?
"Forgive me, I forgot!"
Who brought me all the way here
And told me "You fear not!"

Please forgive me, dear Abba
And calm again my soul
I know You brought me here
I know You'll take me home.

Remind me what's important
Don't let me loose the sight
I can't cave under pressure
I cannot loose this fight.

Tell my heart how You hold it
How precious I'm to You.
I might not understand this
But you know what to do.

Your Emma

"I am the Lord you God, who holds your right hand and I tell you, "Don't be afraid. I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

Lessons from whitewashed walls...

Nothing is wasted, everything is a lesson learnt even if it is a lesson on how not to be ever again.- Emma's journal

"It is because they lead my people the wrong way by saying, "Peace!" when there is no peace. When the people build a weak wall, the prophets cover it with whitewash to make it look strong...I will tear down the wall on which you put whitewash. I will level it to the ground so that people will see the wall's foundation. And when the wall falls, you will be destroyed under it. Then you will know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 13:10, 14

I am reading the book of Ezekiel these days. It is not a very popular book with many, because they see it as doom and gloom. But I believe it is grossly misunderstood. I love the way God's personality transpires through His words. I see how when He feels something that one emotion doesn't actually control everything. I discover mercy and and love, even though He's angry and hurt. I love the way He's described in His glory even though I struggle to imagine how I can snuggle fire and light. I love His justice, His goodness, the way He uses anything to communicate no matter how ludicrous it might appear, all in the hope "maybe they will listen..." He's really angry with Israel but still I feel a longing after them that makes me cry and I can't explain it even if I would try really hard...

Whilst reading the verses above, I found myself remembering all the ideas and sermons I heard throughout these ten years. Things I really believed in because I trusted the people who said them to me. The way I put my faith in what I heard and how crushed I was and angry with God when they didn't prove to be true...

Ideas such as God punished Job for being afraid and that is why all those terrible things happened to him (he would offer sacrifices after his children's parties "just in case" they sinned against God- Job 1:5) The person who preached this went through a lot of effort to add large quantities of whitewash on the idea by "supporting" it with verses out of context, so to me it appeared like a strong wall. It did however fall to the ground when I realised I was living in fear of being afraid. I had such a twisted image of God because of this idea, simply because it made Him appear like God- The Punisher, sitting somewhere ready to strike at the first glance of fear in my heart. All of the sudden verses that started with "Do not be afraid..." became to me the threats of an angry General instead of the comforting words of a Father. But I am grateful to Abba, for exposing the "foundation of that wall" in spite of all the hurt it caused me, because this made me see how He truly is.

Or ideas such as "the prosperity theory". Reduced to its basics this theory sounds something like this- you give X amount of money and God gives you back more. I am absolutely not saying that is you bless someone, God will not bless you back in return. What I am saying is that "God's bank" does not run solely on a monetary system. God might own "the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10) but what if He chooses to give me a sheep instead? Believe it or not sometimes you will give money and God will give you back a good word from someone when you need it the most, or a verse in the Bible you could honestly say you never saw last time you read that chapter, and that verse will become a treasure to your heart that will support you when you're about to fall. I remember people would turn around to me and tell me things such as "Believe for that amount, do not limit God (as if a human can ever do that). You gave, so God will give you back." In other words "Don't worry, love, He owes you one." So I would focus so much on the amount that I would fail to see the blessings He was actually pouring over my life.
Again, I am not saying if you're in need of money God will not help you. I wrote a posting on this blog on how I ended up with a cheque through the door exactly when I needed it, and this happened more times than I can remember ever since I was a little girl. Even though I grew up in a Christian family, I didn't always follow God. When I was a little girl in communism we didn't always have plenty of food. We were four brothers growing up and I remember once my mum gathered all of us and asked us to pray because we didn't have any more bread. We were praying and someone rang at the door. When my mum answered there was this gentleman with a very large plastic bag. He said his boss who was the manager of a bakery sent the bag to my mum to thank her for something my mum helped her with. When my mum opened the bag it was full of bread, and a variety of other wonderful mouthwatering things. My mum asked God for bread and He sent us a bag full of wonders. I was never able to forget that moment in all of my years of "rebellion". He knows exactly when we need something and He's never late. I guess what I am trying to say is more often than not the "prosperity theory" manages to distract God's children from His beautiful Face to His giving Hand. And not just any type of giving, but giving on our term.
I am not against money at all, I just want to remember that from all of Abba's blessings, money are not the most important and precious one, simply because I can't take them with me when I leave this place.

There are many other ideas I once believed and they proved to be whitewash. I don't believe my faith in these ideas was a negative experience even though many times it proved to be a painful experience. I have learnt many important lessons. Such as, if my heart is sincere, even if the idea or theory is wrong, God in His faithfulness will expose the foundation and make me grow. Because of this, I don't feel threatened by challenging things I hear, or things I don't initially agree with. I give them a fair chance, because I have the freedom to ask questions in order to make decisions I alone have to answer for. One of my most important lessons was question everything you ever hear or see. Go to the original translation, read the whole chapter, verify the historical context, ask God to open your eyes and your mind and only after adopt what you've just heard or seen , if it's still standing up as a theory.
We live in a day and age when ignorance has no excuse. Blaming the preacher for convincing you to believe something is a bit pathetic in my view, considering all the tools at your disposal if you want to know the truth.

I am grateful for the sermons and ideas that caused crisis in my life. In spite of the pain and confusion I felt back then, at the end of every dark tunnel I found myself in Abba's arms and I discovered amazed that as long as my heart is humble and sincere before Him, I simply can't get lost.

God's lawyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Where is God when I'm hurting?"

She looks at me and asks

I try to give an answer

But sounds fake as a mask

I want to tell her, Aba

That You're there in her pain

Instead I just keep quiet...

An answer seems in vain.

She's not the first to ask me.
There were others before
I tried then to "defend" You...
They seemed to hate You more.

So I keep quiet, Aba
Because I understand
That when a heart does want You,
Will not seek You in vain.

And when she'll want to see You
She will not need me then
To point in Your direction.
Her heart will know the way

I asked the very question
She's asking me just now
I wanted all the answers
The where, the why, the how...

I wanted You to tell me
To justify Yourself
The justify my anger,
and pain and brokenness

But then I saw You, Aba
I saw the price You paid
I saw my loving Father,
Who did come to my aid.

How could I tell her, Aba
The pain You felt through time
To see us all so broken,
So lost from the Divine?

The pain You felt through ages
The pain You feel right now
To hear another broken
Asking the where, why, how..?

Who else could understand her
But You in all Your pain?
Still, if I try to tell her
To her is just the same.

So, I'll keep quiet, Aba
Today I won't defend
I'll just sit here praying
Let her pain have and end.

And when that end is coming
May it have as result
A way back to You, Aba
The Dad, that she forgot.

"I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born," says the Lord." (Isaiah 66:9)

Be careful when you're judging...

"Don't judge others, or you will be judged. You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you." Matthew 7:1-2

Lately I am thinking a lot about judgement- God's judgement, others judging me, me judging others...What is a judgement?

"An opinion formed by judging something, the cognitive process of reaching a decision or drawing conclusions, the act of judging or assessing a person or situation or event..."All these are definitions I found, but there's more to it. Those who believe Jesus's death was for their sake and accept His sacrifice, receive grace= something they do not diserve. But as I've come to learn, it is precisely the recepients of this grace who turn out to be often amongst the most "ungracious".

Deliorious have a song called "Find me in the river" and the lyrics go something like this: "We've longed to see the roses/But never felt the thorns/And bought our pretty crowns/But never paid the price" We did not pay the price for the mercy we've been shown, but still somehow we seem to think we are entitled to put prices on everyone else's mistakes.

I heard so often how we should not tolerate sin and I agree, we shouldn't. But sin is an act, and quite often we fail to see that it doesn't wear the face of the person we're judging.

There is only one person I can judge in this world and that is myself. Paul said "But if we judged ourselves in the right way, God would not judge us. But when the Lord judges us, he disciplines us so that we will not be destroyed along with the world. " (1 Corinthians 11:31-32)
By judging myself, I don't understand putting myself down or showing false modesty. I uderstand forming an opinion about myself by judging the way I think, act and speak. I uderstand analysing my ways and acknowledging when I'm in the wrong. I uderstand making decisions about my life and correcting what needs to be corrected. Why? So that I do not put Abba in a situation where He has to take action Himself.

This morning I found out something else about judgement. I learnt that it is personal. It is between me and my God. He is my Judge. Yes, I know about all the examples when the church came together and judged someone and has taken action against that person. But I see that as the final step, one that they would have to take if I would repeatedly refuse to judge myself and do something about it. As far as I am concerned, that is the only instance when someone, church included, has the right to issue judgements against an individual. In rest it is between the individual and God. One clear example is the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)

Did the woman sin? Yes. She did what was against the Law of God. And men decided to judge her accordingly. When they brought her to Jesus though, He made them all see how it feels when you're on the other side, waiting for your verdict "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Then the most beautiful scene takes place "Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the older men and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus raised up again and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty? "She answered, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may go now, but don't sin anymore."

I once read "What matters is what God says about you after everyone else has stopped talking." Judgement and forgiveness in the Kingdom of God is something personal- between me and my God. He chooses whether He judges of forgives because He is the only one who has the authority to do so. That woman was dragged before all the people on that day and she knew she was to be judged and killed. But her judgement turned out to be something else- "Jesus was left there alone with the woman" and He decided He won't judge but give another chance.

So next time you are tempted to judge at least give that person the chance to be alone with their God, because you don't know whether God will agree with you or not. Judging yourself is wisdom. Judging others is pride because you are basically telling God you are absolutely positive you are strong enough never to end up in that place, and the truth is neither one of us is that strong...

A few weeks ago I was joyfully singing whilst cleaning "He's got my whole heart in His hands, He's got my whole heart in His hand..." And then I stopped because I uderstood, I do not have the right to judge anybody until I "hold their whole heart in my hands." God is the only one who is Big enough and Wise enough to hold one's whole heart in His hands. And you never know what He sees. Perhaps the heart you are so busy issuing judgements against, insteead of judging He will decide to kiss...

Decisions, Decisions...

"This Book (The Bible) is not just a theory or a religion, it's about me. It is my story. Written by people who believed with the same desperate faith that beckons me to believe today. I never want to change or believe anything else, no matter how much hate or pain would come my way. Because if I change then my story would change also and this Book would become a fairytale...Those who wrote the book that I follow, died believing in the peace that would change the world, without seeing the world changed. But thousands of years later the peace that they talked about, changed my world and now it is up to me to take my Rabbi's teaching further and allow His peace to change at least another man's world." Bat Melech

She is so right! Once again today, I realised that I get so easily distracted. This world manages to convince me so easily that it is so terribly difficult and I need a break. Sadly I had to admit to myself today that it is easier to look at the Bible and say it is David's or Moses's story than to say it is mine and assume the responsibility of the next chapter...

When you're about to fall

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

They're calling me again, dear Abba
I hear again their call
There's part of me who wants to answer
And part who wants You more...

I try to make myself remember
The price I had to pay.
Last time they called to me so sweetly
And I did not obey.

But I'm still standing here, Abba
I'm flirting with the thought
And last time's pain and consequences
I seem to have forgot.

So hear Your daughter's prayer, dear Abba
And You be strong in me
I don't want to end up back there...
She's not who I'm meant to be.

I'm owner of my own decisions
You wanted it that way
But I don't own the future,
Or the price I'll have to pay.

Help me choose wisely, Abba
And once again ignore.
No matter what they tell me.
Help me reject their call.

Abba's decree- "Tov"

I want to thank everybody who gave me feedback on my last posting. I am grateful for all of you who encouraged me the way you did. When you take the first step in something new it is always quite frightening as we all know:-) I thank God for surrounding me with people who care and who see beauty in me even when I don't deserve it.

I wrote a few more "poems", I thought I'll stick to the riming because anything else seems way to adventurous for me at the moment, but who knows perhaps Abba will want to develop this in me if it brings Him pleasure. If you read other postings of mine on this blog you already know that my greatest passion is writing. I remember one day at work they gave us a group building exercise with a number of questions. We had to keep changing the partner and answer any question they asked us from the list in order to get to know each other better. I'll never forget the raised eyebrows when one after another they asked me "So, if you could build a house on a desert island what would it be made of?" "Books, " would come my reply, "loads of books. Shelter and entertainment into one." As long as I have books and something to scribble on I'm happy. I see myself growing in this, so I'll assume this is God's gift for me. I'll share with you what I write, and if sometimes it won't make sense, or it won't be that good, give me grace. I'm growing in this... Anyway, enough rambling.

Today, I'll post a poem called "Tov- Good and Beautiful". Tov, is a Hebrew word and it means good as far as I know. But I welcome further opinions because Hebrew is not a language I speak though it is the most beautiful language I've heard. I will dedicate this poem to three very special friends of mine: Simona, Lisa and Hanna. Girls, I know we talk a lot about what it means to be beautiful, who is and who is not (I shall not go any further.LOL), but as far as I am concern you three are beautiful on the inside and out and I pray Abba will help you see that everyday, in spite of all life might throw at you. I love you so much, and I am so grateful you are in my life. Here's you poem, girls. xxx

Tov- Good and Beautiful

"God looked at everything He had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31

When Abba made me, He said "Tov"
And "Tov" I'm meant to be
He looked at me in all His glory
Then smiled so lovingly...
Goodness and Beauty He then named me
That was Abba's decree!

So you can try to crush me here
And shatter all my dreams
The more you're kicking I'll stay stronger
Won't let you get to me.
And when you tempt me,
I'll remember that smile so lovingly...
And in my ears will ring stronger again
Abba's decree- "Tov!"

So, I keep going...

I woke up this morning at 5,30, as I usually do these days, with a desparate desire to tell Him how I feel.
If I look inside myself these last few weeks everything is a contradiction. I feel defeated, yet I know I'm not. I doubt and yet I see Him doing again things I can't deny. I feel lost but somehow at the same time I feel held tight like in a warm snuggle.

So, in trying to describe all this to Him, I manage to write my first poem. It's in English so bare with me. Anyone who knows me is aware I am mentally incapable of riming:-) I am sharing this with you for all those who feel the same conflict I described above. As always, my message is the same- you are not alone. And something else, He knows...He knows how hard it is, so close your eyes, take a deep breath and keep going.

So I keep going

Surprised by joy, amazed by grace
I walk this path of mine
And I am struggling everyday
Between the mundane and devine

Once in a while I see Your Face
I stretch my hand- You're gone
I die a little bit inside
Still, know I'm not alone...

I tell myself "Do not give up!
He didn't- for your sake.
Keep going, daughter, you'll be fine
There is a purpose to this race."

So, I keep going, though I'm not fine
And though I ache inside...
Because You said I have a place
That Your home's also mine."

Bat Tzion

Why do they tell me to praise Him?

"Remember to praise His work. Men sing about it. Everybody has seen it. people look at it from far off. God is so great! He is greater than we can understand!" (Job 36:24-26)

"Look to the sky and see. Look at the clouds so high above you. If you sin it does nothing to God. Even if your sins are many they do nothing to God. If you are good you give nothing to God. He receives nothing from your hand. Your evil ways only hurt a man like yourself. And the good you do only helps other human beings." (Job 35:5-8)

Any good parent and mentor knows that praise builds confidence in a child. This seems to remain applicable throughout our existence. Somehow it provides nourishment to our minds and souls or to use one of the expressions in English that greatly amuses me- it boost our confidence.
If you search through the Bible and look at the lives of the men and women whom walked closely with Him, they strongly advise you to "praise the Lord!" or "To sing praises to the Lord!" as if they discovered the best kept secret. It seems to be a must if you want intimacy with God.

Because of my inquisitive nature, my next question obviously is "Why?"
Does He require my praises for the same reasons I require His- to boost my confidence? Why am I asked so often to praise God?

Well there is the obvious reason- God is far Greater than I am and He deserves to be worshiped. I know that already, because the majority of Christian songs now days seem to contain this phrase as if there is nothing left to say about God. And that's fine, but that's just not good enough for me. God is far more than a Great All-Powerful God who diserves worship. All the religions around me will tell me the same about their gods. The major difference is that my God has a heart. A heart big enough to contain us all. And that heart is what I am after. That is why I read, seek, ask questions... Whenever I read the Bible, whether His words are sweet and comforting or harsh, I try to see His heart behind the words, same way you do when someone is speaking and you're looking into their eyes.

So the question remained in me everytime I would come accross verses that would tell me to look around me at what He created and praise Him. Is it because He needs my praise? Would God still be Great if no one would notice His Greatness?

I found my answer this week in something very simple and sweet. My mum tried her hand at gardening this year. She planted flowers, apple trees, cherry trees, vegetable and strawberries. Out of all her hard work, strawberries brought the most imediate result. Beautiful, big, jucy strawberries now cover her plot. A crop good enough for my mum to make jam.
Because all of us are away from her either in a different country or a different city, my mum got her camera out and sent us pictures of her strawberry crop. Why? Because we are away from her in a foreign land and she wants to get us involved in her world, for the sake of our relationship, to keep alive the closeness and intimacy our family shares. My mum has enough people praising her crop, from neighbours to relatives and visitors. But she sent us pictures because she wanted to share her joy with us.

I understand now it's the same with God, my Abba. He's sorounded by angels and creatures I can't even imagine when I read their description. They stand before His face and the only thing they can say when they look at Him is "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!" Beat that, Emma:-)
God put a little bit of Himself in everything that He created. So when I take the time to look around me and notice, I actually acknowldge Him. Praising God is for my sake not for His. In one of her last articles my sister wrote "What I know is that I am always before His eyes, to compensate for the fact that I can’t see Him. He always listens to me to compensate for me not being able to hear Him. He always holds me to compensate for me not being able to touch Him. He is always near to compensate for the distance that I feel. He always comforts me to compensate that I feel Him against me. He is my Father to compensate for the fact that I feel orphaned. He is my road to compensate for me feeling lost.. He is my everything, to compensate for me not having anything…"

As far as God is concerned, He is already near, loving me and comforting and guiding me. It is I who needs reminders. Praise is nothing else than acknowledging God. When you acknowldge Him in what you see around you, something beautiful happens to you. All of the sudden that is not just a flower, that is a flower created for you. You feel loved and cared for and your imediate reaction is thankfulness. When asked how he met God, Philip Yancey said that he was so moved by the beauty sorounding him that he desperately wanted to thank someone. I know that feeling well. When I take a walk through Abba's Garden I want to thank Him for loving me, even though He gains nothing from it.

What does He want from me?

"These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you." 1 Peter 1:7

"You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb." 1 Peter 1:18b-19

The more I am put in circumstances where I feel things are being asked of me or that I a "losing rights", I come to see very practically that God is not asking of me anything that He didn't give first. One precious lesson was when He taught me how not to give up. I came to understand that He didn't give up for my sake no matter how horrible it all became, and that thought motivated me and it birthed in me this desire not to give up for His sake no matter how hard it gets. He didn't give up first, so I'm not going to give up either.

Then shame and guilt and pain because of failure used to keep me at distance from Him. I was avoiding Him because I was ashamed of myself. Then I found the verse from Hebrews 12:2 "...But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him" (Romanian translation "He despised shame"). I realised He ignored pain and shame only to be with me, so I won't allow pain and shame to keep me away. It hurts me when I forget that I am part of His reward for the price He paid. He deserves to have the whole of me because He gave Himself completely. So I won't deny Him His time with me only because guilt tells me otherwise. There are two perfect words in God's Kingdom, powerful enough to break any walls between us- Forgive me.

I read this morning the paragraphs above from 1 Peter- troubles most often than not have a meaning- they test my faith. I read that for God my pure trust in Him is more precious than gold, because as oppose to gold pure faith can't be destroyed. How does this pure faith behave? Like this: "You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory." 1 Peter 1:8
He only asks this pure faith of me because of the pure price He paid to have me- the blood of His precious Son, The Perfect, Spotless One.

What does He want from me? Nothing He didn't give already.

Realness

Many of us these days are a bit fed up with empty phrases, and long for realness. A bit of something beyond the same songs, same sermons, same old...I discover realness and beauty that blesses me, when I hear people telling me about their relationship with God. They make Him feel so close. I see Him in their eyes shining, in their passionate words, in their blinking eyes that try to hide the moist, in the longing that transpires from them when they speak. I rather hear a child of His "fighting" with Him and asking "why" or "where" or "how", than to be somewhere where people try in vain to convince me of His presence as a Pepsi advert that promises to quench thirst but remains just a banner on a building. One of the real people that I love listening to when she speaks about her relationship with God, is my sister. The only way nothing moves in you is if you are made out of stone or you make yourself be one. I asked for her permission to translate her last posting. Some accused her of "humanising" God too much by relating to Him in this way. I find it bizarre for one to dictate to another how they should love, but then again some people do actually think they know everything in this world better than anyone. What my sister wrote is not for them. It is for those of us who long and miss and stretch a hand wanting to touch and close our eyes wanting to see. It it for those who hunger, who are completely sold out, those whom have tried everything and nothing else satisfies. What my sister wrote is for those who feel unworthy to be loved, for those who feel guilty and ashamed and want to hide. For those who begin to say "Lord..." but they don't know what else to tell Him and really hope that their heart says enough. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. " (Matthew 5:6) And know perhaps it is hard for us to get our head around this, but when He came for us He practically did say "I can't be an eternity without you...and you... and you..." Faithful (by Bat Melech, 23 March 2011)

Two Brothers

In my last posting I wrote: "Don't get me wrong, the opposite applies. If you pick on Israel only for the sake of sounding wise yourself, if you present me with the last piece of manipulated BBC news, and then speak things that are completely against God's Word, I won't be quiet. I might ask you a few questions:-)"
It didn't take long until I came across this, and again in church out of all places. It is again about the Law of Moses no longer being valid and Israel being replaced as God's people. So I went back to "Gospel according to Jesus" -Matthew 5-7, to see what my Lord thinks on the matter: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20)

I can already hear some "Emma, why talk about the Law now? You know that's a bit of a sore topic." Why do I care about the Law? God chose Israel to be His people, a nation of priests walking in His holiness and show the light of The One True God to all the world. He gave them the Law to guide them and teach them how to become that. Israel were not born priests. They were meant to become priests. They had to undergo a transformation from a nation of slaves to a nation of priests and the Law was their Teacher. And because God knew them to be "just a little bit stubborn" He also attached drastic consequences for disobeying their Teacher.
Then a Jew came one day. "He came to His own but they did not recognise Him" (John 1:11) He died for all those who would recognise Him as the Son of God. He used His life to teach us and His Blood to adopt us. Through His sacrifice God attached all those who would recognise Him to His family of priests. Here's another Jew (Apostle Peter) telling us what we have now become "But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) But I fail to see where exactly have we become this instead of Isreal, rather than with Israel. We were meant to become one family, but we turned against our older brothers and declared them worthless and replaceable. We haunted them down and killed as many as we could for over two thousand years. We haunted them so much, that Israel's obsession became survival at all costs. And now we sit here in awe at "their blindness" asking ourselves how come they can't see Jesus. Oh, they see Jesus, alright. Is just that we made sure for over two millennia they will forever associate His Name with torture, death, assimilation and extermination. As far as they are concerned, Israel's fight for survival carries on today. They fight military for their land and they fight spiritually for their belief in The One True God of Israel. I keep asking those who comment about "their blindness"- "If a Hindu would come to you and try time and time again to drill into you, that one of their gods is the one true god and you will burn in hell for not accepting their god, would you abandon Jesus and go after their god?" As far as that Hindu is concern aren't you just as blind as you accuse that Jew to be? They lived among us for two thousand years but priests and missionaries made sure that generation after generation they knew full well they are the "Christ killers". For a Jew, God is Almighty and All Powerful. Imagine what questions we create in their heads when we tell them our God can be killed by a handful of people in a small Roman province. We sit here and every time we have the Lord's Supper we remember what Jesus did for us. How He chose to die for all of us. And then we get out of our churches to comment on forums about the "Christ killers". Can someone please make up their mind? The Jews got so fed up with this that the worst thing you can be for a Jew today is what they call "a missionary". Someone bent on telling them how blind they are and how they will burn in hell. Of course that doesn't sit well with us because we only look at today's picture and conveniently forget what we did to them in the past.
Apostle Paul associates them with an olive tree which had some of its branches broken off and some wild branches joined instead. He carries on saying: "You non-Jewish people are like the branch of a wild olive tree that has been joined to that first tree. You now share the strength and life of the first tree, the Jews." (Romans 11:17)
Notice he says "you now share" not "you now replace". So if the Law given to Moses is a guide and a teacher to them and we are attached to their roots, should we take notice or dismiss that Law?
If our Lord and Saviour, the Jew who died to attach us to this tree, used such clear words to explain His view on the Law, if He considered the Law something so important in fact, that He made sure He fulfilled it, should we cross off those pages in our Bibles and write next to them not applicable?
I heard some saying that Jesus fulfilled the Law so that we don't have to fulfill it anymore. But then why is He saying "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished"?
Did He fulfil it so that we would dismiss it for being "oh, so last season", or did He fulfil it so that we would not receive the punishment for breaking it every single time? I know Apostle Paul was eager to dismiss the Law as bringing us punishment. But the same man said: "So the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good. Does this mean that something that is good brought death to me? No! Sin used something that is good to bring death to me. This happened so that I could see what sin is really like; the command was used to show that sin is very evil." Isn't that what a teacher does? Work on my weak points and develop my strong ones? Should I dismiss the Law only because it shows me my weaknesses? Or should I use what it shows me to ask God to develop that in me and grow me?

These are questions that I had to ask myself a while ago and I found my answers. I pray I will carry on finding them. I am not here to tell anybody what to do. Each one of us who are after God must find their own answers and live by them.

I am also absolutely not here to declare there is any other way to our salvation but Jesus, Son of God. The Law will not save me, but I am now convinced the Law will teach me and transform me into a better child of God. I am convinced because I saw its practical results in my life. What do I mean by a better child of God?
Last night one of my dear friends of mine was asking me some questions about Matthew 5:5 "So, you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Jesus's words) In the context Jesus is talking about how we should love our enemies, not just those who love us. That we should be as our Father, who makes His sun shine on the good and the bad. To love your enemy, is a notion as foreign to our human nature as it can be. It goes against all our instincts. It is not something you're born with, it is something you practice every time someone breaks your heart and damages you or those you love. My friend was asking me "Does God expect me to be perfect, Emma? I can't be perfect, surely He knows that."
God knows full well we are not perfect. I don't believe God ever wanted a human delivered to Him with a red ribbon and in perfect shape when He chose us. Otherwise He wouldn't have repeatedly chose outcasts, sinners, unimportant people. He wouldn't have chosen a nation of slaves (a small nation at that) to turn them into a nation of priests. God is in the business of transformation. One of His greatest characteristics (one I love so much) is that He turns evil for good and creates something out of nothing. I don't believe God expects us to be perfect the minute we start walking with Him. The idea of "walking" involves a continuous progressive action. But He certainly does expect us to try every single day. Not because this would make us more acceptable to Him (we are already accepted) but because He knows trying everyday transforms us.
I believe He said "you must" because He knows we are fickle creatures, inconsistent in all our ways and He wanted to install in us a mindset that will not compromise. If I wake up everyday determined to live for God, I might not be perfect by the end of the day but I will certainly try. The Law of Moses, guides us in the smallest detail and it is so clear cut and practical that it is unlikely you would get confused. Why such adversity to it? If it convicts my concience why not choose to take that before God and do something about it, rather than speak against it sometimes with more adversity than it is used when standing against evil?
So when I say a better child of God that is what I mean. A transformed creature, one who understands God's good, pleasing and perfect will.(Romans 12:2) The Bible says we were adopted. When a child is adopted, it comes into a new family which he did not belong to by birth. His new family has house rules, relationships and habits, that the new child as a member of the family at least gets familiarised with even if he chooses not to adopt them. When you say something is no longer valid at least you should know what you dismiss, but I ask my brothers to tell me things from the Law that are no longer valid and they haven't got a clue what to answer me. So how can you dismiss something you don't even know? How can you enter into a family enjoy the benefits and forfeit the house rules and habits. You can't use Israel's promises if you separate yourself from Israel. It is not fine and dandy to cross their name off and add yours instead because Jeremiah 29:11 sounds good to your ears, but Deuteronomy and Leviticus does not.
For those with their stones prepared to throw at me (as it happens every time I write about Israel), I am not publishing your comments because nothing antisemitic will sit next to the name of Israel on my blog. I think my older brothers suffered enough at our hands, to allow their name to be tarnished again on something that is mine. I could debate with you, I could ask you how come you become rude and aggressive when its about them? What makes you react like that? But as I mentioned before this blog is called Road Signs- Emanuela's Journey. It is my journey, my questions and my answers. And it is as simple as if you don't like what you read, don't read it anymore and focus instead on your journey, your questions and your answers.

Emma