Tag: faith

God Also Seeks Us~

 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” ~ John 21:15-17

I had always wondered about this passage of scripture where the newly-risen Jesus admonished Peter repetitively to ‘Feed my sheep’. During bible meditation the other morning, I opened to Ezekiel Chapter 34. in the section of my bible entitled ‘God, The True Shepherd’, verses 13-15, the prophet states 3 times that the Lord GOD will feed His sheep. the risen-Jesus was stressing this feeding bit three times so that Jews who knew their bible would be able to draw the analogy from the Prophet Ezekiel to Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah: That Jesus is the Good Shepherd. This is very interesting because Jesus was always using the words of the law and the prophets to make his disciples understand His identity.

But what is even more interesting to me is that in this passage God clearly states:

I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out….so will I seek out My sheep……I will seek what was lost ~Ezekiel 34: 11, 12, 16

Most of us know the short verse in the New Testament, Matthew 7:7: “Seek and ye shall find”, referring to God, but I don’t think most of us know that God is also seeking after us, harder than we are able to seek after Him, so

God seeks us as we seek Him

This isn’t a one-sided relationship, but if the relationship fails, it is always 100% because we dropped the ball. God isn’t just THERE for us, He is SEEKING AFTER us. Let that sink in. He isn’t passively waiting for us to find Him; He is always drawing us in and trying to make Himself known to us! I can look back on numerous times when I now know God was throwing me a lifeline but I refused to grab it.

I am frequently reminded by God that I try too hard, that I need to let Jesus do more of the heavy lifting. This is hard for an overachieving-type person like me. This passage is just another example that God is an active Presence in our lives, seeking us, calling us, drawing us to Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

Another afterthought I had about this NT passage in the book of John placed at the end of the gospel message is: I wonder why the risen-Jesus called Peter, Simon? Simon, son of Jonah was his identity before being appointed by Jesus as ‘Peter’, who would be the ‘rock’ (Peter means rock), or foundation, of his church. This, combined with the fact that none of the disciples at the sea recognized this risen-Jesus is confirmation to me that it really wasn’t Jesus, but a messenger sent by God to continue to spread the idea of the risen Christ. It was likely a fellow Essene who knew the mission of Jesus but did not know the intimate details of the inner group of disciples such that he did not realize Jesus had called Simon by a different name.

That the Jesus who walked on the earth after his death was not really Jesus has always been something I have known/believed, since I do not believe a dead body can literally rise up. At the tomb of Jesus, Mary originally called the apparition of Jesus the gardener….and in another instance, when the disciples were walking along the road, they did not recognize the Jesus figure behind them, walking with them. I believe that after Jesus’ crucifixion these figures were all Essenes who wanted to make sure to tie up any loose ends or questions regarding Jesus’ divinity, and to promulgate the purpose of Jesus’ life….and death. Men who would have been knowledgeable enough about The Way to spread its message, but not knowledgeable enough to be privy to the fact that Jesus had a new name for Simon.

God can do miracles, but He works those miracles within the natural realm He has already created. He is not a liar, there is no lie in Him. But He does work in mysterious ways. And we cannot understand Him, even if we think we do, as illustrated in the book of Job.

~Love & Light

The Law, Jesus, and the New Covenant

Yeshu’a was given to the people of the world to be the perfect lamb of God, by God himself, as a flesh and blood sacrifice, and an everlasting atonement for the sins of all those who accept this in his name.

“And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” ~ 1 John 2:2

Propitiation (also called expiation) is the act of appeasing or making well disposed (from Latin propitiāre, to appease; from propitius, gracious), especially a deity, thus incurring divine favor to avoid divine retribution.  Propitiation is translated from the Greek hilasterion, meaning “that which expiates or propitiates”.  There is frequent similar use of hilasterion in the Septuagint in regard to the mercy seat on top of the ark of the Covenant.  For example, the mercy seat was sprinkled with atoning blood on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:14), representing that the righteous sentence of the Law had been executed, changing a judgment seat into a mercy seat.

The thought in the Old Testament sacrifices and in the New Testament fulfillment, is that Christ as Messiah completely satisfied the just demands of our Holy Father for judgment on sin, by his death on the Cross of Cavalry, for ever and ever.

He also came to preach a message of love and grace regarding Yahweh against a backdrop of legalism and burgeoning self-righteousness; to remind people that God was not just to be feared as judge and warrior, but revered as nurturer and lover of all.

However, Yeshu’a was not sent to replace the ancient words of God via Moses or the Old Testament authors:  “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.” ~ Yeshu’a via Matthew 5;17

God’s Covenants (the rainbow, the promise to Abraham, The Ten Commandments, that David and his descendants would be royal heirs) are inviolable and everlasting, and should be adhered to by any wise person who not only fears the LORD but who respects and loves Him as Almighty Sovereign King.

When Yeshu’a instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before he was crucified for our sins,

“He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.  For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” ~Yeshu’a via Matthew 26:27-28

Yeshu’a was not just making a NEW covenant, he was also fulfilling an old law whereby one had to make daily blood sacrifices and frequent offerings to the LORD, to be almost in a perpetual state of the act of atonement.  However, Yeshu’a’s entrance on the religious scene marks a point in history as sacred (or more so) than the Exodus story, the story of Creation, or the Abrahamaic migration from Ur; and in so doing–in so marking history profoundly–Yeshu’a in this way did make a new covenant, placing himself on the altar a the ultimate flesh (grain) and blood sacrifice for our sins, forever.  We need only accept this fact on a daily basis to be redeemed.  But we also are held accountable for the rest of God’s Law.

Circumcision was a sign of God’s chosen people that marked them outwardly for life.  We needed the message Yeshu’a brought about God’s love and grace and mercy, and we should be thankful throughout every day for the sacrifice he made for us as the perfect lamb of God.  But we also need to show God that we are proud to be His, that we are willing to be marked as His, and that we are eager to sacrifice our fleshly bodies for a deep spiritual relationship with Him, including circumcision.

Abrogating all God’s former Law and Word with new testament conceptualism where Christians misinterpret Yeahu’a’s Divine mission, annihilating everything that has been held as a holy sacrament before, is a grave mistake.

To sum it up, I love this concept:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. ~Revelation 22:13

My Mantle

Today God has placed His mantle upon me; a mantle of healing. 😊

I had to research the meaning of this as I only had a rudimentary knowledge of what mantle means from reading the bible verses about Elijah, Elisha, Joseph, and John the Baptist. I am sure there are others, and I think it would be an interesting study to do–just how many saints in the bible wore mantles.

Today is 4/14/2024. This date conflates to the number ‘8’ which in numerology means 1 more than perfect. As in the number of people God chose to inhabit the ark. In my internet search, the number 8 is described thus:

Numerology 8

The number eight (8) is the sign of organization, perseverance and control of energy to produce material and spiritual achievements. It represents the power of realization, abundance in the spiritual and material world. Sometimes it denotes a tendency to sacrifice but also to be unscrupulous.

The number eight (8) must develop or balance the aspects of ambition, organization, authority and sense of power. It is very susceptible and sensitive with great capacities to live in society. He/she is also emotional, empathetic and of great social intelligence. # Number 8 people relate very well in society and in dealing with people they are usually very careful, cordial and friendly. It is not easy to know the number 8 very deeply, because it is very changeable, as well as arbitrary and capricious. As soon as good as bad, loving as indifferent, magnanimous as selfish.

While 8 isn’t my life path number, it is significant to me today in that God placed His mantle upon me. I think it’s like when you work hard and finally graduate or pass a certification exam. It’s His way of saying, “you have now arrived at the place I have brought you”. I consider this way more important than any man-made achievement or accolade, although those are important to be able to carry out His work in this world.

I feel the 8 fits perfectly because to get here I have had to sacrifice many things, mostly of the flesh. I no longer drink, I don’t do drugs, I don’t engage in sexual immorality, I live by the law and the love of God, and I believe in every word of the bible, even if I don’t fully understand all of it yet. I believe my body is a temple of the living God. I have shown Him that I can wait on Him, and trust in His timing. I have given Him control of my vehicle. If I heal people, in my heart I want God to receive the glory and I want His light to shine through me, so that people see Him and His love through me, not that they see me. It’s a culmination and reward for hard work and sacrifice. And He sees and knows this in all of us. He wants us to achieve great things for His Kingdom. We are all soldiers in His army, it’s just that some of us love Him more than others. Some of us hate Him and blaspheme Him.

Maybe He has a special mantle for you.

Israel Biblical Studies.com states: “Jacob expressed his love to Joseph by giving him a special gift – ketonet passim כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים. The word passim here can be translated as “colorful”, “embroidered”, or “striped” – but it can also denote a long garment, coming down to the “palms” of the hands and the feet, or the material out of which the coat was made (fine wool or silk). (I think of Jesus’ stripes, His very flesh was His divine mantle)

Kethoneth [Strong 3801, ‘kethoneth or kuttoneth‘]

Kethoneth, garment, is mentioned seven times – a perfect number – in Genesis: once in relation to the coats of skins which God provided for Adam and Eve, then six times regarding Joseph’s garment. Joseph’s garment appears after his death, with blood upon it – a significant matter ~ *JESUS*

Joseph’s garment is that which sets him apart from his brethren – also a significant matter.

Then kethoneth appears seven times in Exodus relating to Aaron and his sons. It is a matter of priestly attire and priestly service. Only the God-appointed High Priest and his sons may don this attire.

Kethoneth appears twenty seven times in scripture (the quoted number, in one concordance, of “twenty nine” is incorrect). Twenty seven is a highly significant number and draws very great attention to this matter. Three times three times three is extremely significant.

I personally discovered in my bible studies that 27 is a reference to 22/7 which is the primitive representation of pi. Pi denotes circle and circle denotes sun and sun symbolizes God Almighty, ALHYM.

The mantle is a symbol of a man’s gift, the call of GOD, and the purpose for which GOD has called him. It is a reminder that we are wrapped in GOD’s authority and that we have a purpose and a gift to share with the world.

What is the difference between mantle and anointing

The mantle is a symbol of authority and position. With the mantle comes a greater degree of power, position, and authority. You have an anointing to do something but someone else is wearing the mantle. The mantle of responsibility is a heavy burden to bear. It requires a great deal of strength and fortitude to carry out the duties of an important position. When someone takes on the mantle of responsibility, they are taking on a great deal of weight and pressure. It is not an easy task, but it is one that is essential to the success of any organization.

What is a woman’s mantle?

A cape is a type of clothing that has been worn by both men and women throughout history. Technically, the term cape refers to a long, loose cloak that was worn during the 12th to 16th centuries. However, by the 19th century, the term was used to describe any type of loose-fitting, shaped outer garment that resembled a cape. Capes continue to be worn today and are often seen as a stylish and elegant piece of clothing. The mantle is a special endowment of the Holy Spirit that gives kingdom leaders an advantage over other leaders. Kingdom leadership involves a radical change in thinking and a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. Those leaders who carry the mantle are continually renewing their minds to spiritual truths. This helps them to make wiser decisions, better understand the spiritual realm, and more effectively lead God’s people.

~The Internet

I asked God what my mantle was for and He told me HEALING. I then asked Him what it looked like and He said I could choose what it looks like, and that made me smile. I was concerned that Jesus abrogated the mantle in Matthew 10:10 when He is quoted as saying ‘…do not take 2 tunics…’ However, I am convinced Jesus meant ‘do not take extra clothes, only those on your back’. Of course, his disciples need to wear a cloak to be protected from the elements. A mantle to my mind is like a divine cloak.

I think this happened today because I am beginning a very long fast from food. I am calling it a ‘coffee fast’ because I am drinking only coffee (with cream and sugar), and hydrating water. I feel like I need to factory-reset my body. The effects of trauma from infancy and childhood, bad eating habits, and menopause have not factored well into my physical constitution as it regards my habitus. In other words, the fat has taken root and doesn’t want to let go. I appreciate that God gives us fat as calorie storage for survival, but for me it has turned into a detriment. And there seems to be no other way to fix it than long-term fasting. Some of my dear friends in the Lord actually fasted 40 days, so we shall see how long God leads me to fast. Jesus also fasted 40 days, so it does seem significant that this is the time and place I have begun my fast.

I also have been praying about being granted greater spiritual authority by God, and Dr. Rob Reimer–an expert in deliverance ministry–says that fasting and prayer are necessary for that to be achieved; to be able to cast out the most tenacious and vicious of demons, those imbedded from sexual abuse.

Which brings us full circle to being given a mantle. I now have the ability to heal and cast out demons. Praise God!