Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, May 14, 2022
Shabbat Shalom,
Counting the Omer – Day 21
Here is the proper blessing to be said each day. This is how Jewish people fulfill the command to count.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.
Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer. Today is three weeks and no days of the counting of the Omer.
Growing in Love for God 16
There is so much revelation released through this simple command.
Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5 TLV)
The God revealed in the Bible has made it known that He loves our love. One way our love for God is expressed is through our praise because:
We are the type of creation whose expressed appreciation of our Creator is important to our Creator.
Our gratitude, praise and worship affect His heart. God loves our praise. He loves being loved by us. It is written:
For Adonai takes pleasure in His people. (Psalm 149:4a TLV)
God’s delights in our rejoicing in Him. Here’s that verse’s context:
Halleluyah! Sing to Adonai a new song,
His praise in the assembly of the kedoshim.
2Let Israel rejoice in its Maker. Let the children of Zion be glad in their King.
3Let them praise His Name with dancing.
Let them sing praises to Him with tambourine and harp.
4For Adonai takes pleasure in His people. (Psalm 149:1–4a TLV)
He values us and, believe-it-or-not, values our enlightened appreciation of who He is, what He’s like, what He’s done, and what He’s doing. That is why our seeking His face for a revelation of His heart is so important. Let’s not lose sight of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians.
that the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, our glorious Father, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in knowing Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened … (Ephesians 1:17–18a TLV)
This prayer is the background for these types of requests:
Lord Yeshua, what is it that You love about Father?
Abba, what do You love about Your Son that would capture my heart?
For most, our love for our Creator might be more wholehearted. As we depend upon Him, God will help us love Him more. There is no time like the present to ask God to reveal that which would increase our love for Him.
Seek Adonai while He may be found, call on Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6 TLV)
God wants us to “encourage one another day by day – as long as it is still called, ‘Today’” (Hebrews 3:13a TLV). Surely He will encourage us. He can strengthen our love for Him that we might grow in fulfilling the Great Command. That love will overflow in our praise.
Created in the image of God, like the One who made us, we appreciate being appreciated. We love being loved by those we love. That is part of the imprint of the Creator on the material realm.
Another aspect of God’s image is that we express our appreciation in words of affirmation.
For instance: we are the brothers and sisters of Yeshua. Siblings express their appreciation for one another. That’s part of God’s image. Jacob prophesied:
Judah, so you are— your brothers will praise you (Genesis 49:8a TLV)
Yeshua is our Brother who is admired and admires.
We are the Messiah’s wife. He is our husband. In Proverbs 31 we find that the husband praises his wife.
her husband also praises her: 29“Many daughters have excelled, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:28b–29 TLV)
He’s a great husband. Yeshua values His people and desires to let them know that He loves them.
Let’s not leave this out: The resurrected, glorified Son of God praises the Father. He is God’s chief priest, and He includes us in the fellowship of His high expression of devotion.
I will proclaim Your name to My brothers and sisters. In the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You. (Hebrews 2:12 TLV)
Yeshua currently expresses His love for Father in highest-priestly praise. We are commanded by God to love Him with all we are. Yeshua does that. Father loves the Messiah’s love, and He loves our love. In commanding us, our God is seeking us. The Messiah said:
But an hour is coming—it is here now—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people as His worshipers. (John 4:23 TLV)
Why is He seeking us?
We were successfully created to be the type of creation whose praise of our Creator is important to our Creator.
Ask God for further illumination that would stir your heart to love Him more.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Parashat Emor
Sat 14-May-2022 13th of Iyyar, 5782 21st day of the Omer
Le 24:1-23 Ez 44:15-31 Lk 12:35-48