Shabbat Shalom,
Counting the Omer – Day 49 – the last day.
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 seven weeks and no days of the counting of the Omer.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat 22 May-2021 11th of Sivan, 5781 Parashat Nasso
Nu 7:1-89Jdg 13:2-35Ac 21:17-26; 24:14-18
Expect Growth by David Harwood
Rabbi’s note: David Harwood is our good friend and Tikkun Emissary based in Long Island. Over the last 31 weeks, he has poured out his heart of love for God’s people in writing this series on developing our godly inner narrative. We are grateful recipients of your spiritual insights. End RN.
If you’ve reached the end of these meditations then you must be a spiritually hungry person who earnestly desires to bless the Lord. (Consider adding that to your inner-narrative.)
We covered a lot of ground. Please take some time and take note of what spoke to your specific needs. Consider reviewing the material. Also, a way to reinforce what you’ve gained is to share both insights, and your journey, with others.
And please expect growth.
Be encouraged. God will help you change and strengthen your godly inner-narrative. Through the Scriptures’ testimony we can believe with integrity, and without exaggeration, that He wants the best for you. It is also apparent that He desires an increased of fellowship with you. Peter encouraged his readers:
keep growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. (2 Peter 3:18a TLV)
A means of growing in relationship with Him is through being in harmony with Him. A significant sphere of agreement with Abba has to do with how you view yourself, talk to yourself, and speak about yourself. All these interactions transpire within the framework of God’s presence.
Attention! Reminder!
You really can give God’s presence pleasure through your words and meditations concerning yourself. This is not an obsessive, narcissistic fixation. It is a significant aspect of your sanctification. For most people their words and thoughts could use some adjustment.
Take heart, God will help you.
One way He helps is through strengthening our decisions. He blesses our weak attempts to change. Like an encounter Yeshua had, we stretch out our withered hand and He heals it as we do.
He says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mark 3:5b TLV)
Called to Prioritize the Kingdom’s Righteousness
The goal of these meditations was not to help you get happy. The goal was that our inner-narrative would be a blessing to the God who made us.
Getting happier is like a side benefit of seeking to give God’s presence pleasure. The Lord Yeshua promised that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness what we require for life and godliness will be granted to us. This principle is well known. Yeshua instructed His disciples to sublimate their concerns for material things and seek God’s Kingdom first. The Messiah said.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 TLV)
I suggest that the same thing is true concerning happiness. Along those lines, a way you can pursue the Kingdom’s righteousness is by submitting to God’s direction as regards your identity and the way you think of yourself and speak to yourself.
Make no mistake, your Lord does want you to be happy, fortunate and blessed. The Messiah released blessing and gave instruction as to how to be blessed in the Beatitudes. He repeatedly said, “Blessed are the…” (Matthew 5:3-11).
The Greek word translated blessed is makarios (μακάριος). It corresponds to a Hebrew word that means the same thing (אַשְׁרֵי ashrei). It conveys the meaning of being in a state which is so good that it is worthy of envy.
Now, about blessing…
The first thing God did after creating humanity revealed an aspect of His purpose in creating us. He blessed us. A reason we were created was to be blessed. The Son of God became incarnate and died in your place to secure your blessing. (This is a good ingredient to add to your inner-narrative.)
As you reorder your inner-narrative and embrace biblical, and spiritually intuited, identity-matters within the context of a New Covenant community your soul will be blessed. I know that this can be challenging.
A friend quoted one of his mentors who reported that the Ruach of the Lord said to him something like, “Bob, you and I are not compatible and I don’t change.” I believe we need to continually adjust as we are aware of being adjusted.
I find all of heaven’s adjustments to be somewhat challenging. Even those which are very positive, or comforting. For instance, imagine that you received an angelic visitation and one reason for it was to bring to your attention the overflow of heaven’s affection for you. This happened to Daniel.
Three times the prophet was told that he was “highly esteemed” (Daniel 9:23; 10:11,19). In biblical Hebrew this word (חֲמוּדָה chamudah) is properly defined as desirable, choice, describing a precious treasure. By the way, in modern Hebrew it is used to describe someone who is a) sweet, or b) charming, or c) delightful, or d) cute, or calling someone e) darling, or f) honey.
I have a question for you. How easily does your soul maintain a sense of God’s pleasure? How easy is it for you to slip back into the normal way you view yourself? Let me remind you of the way the Kingdom of God works. God Incarnate said that the word, sown as seed, is contested. Yeshua said that it requires diligent faithfulness to allow the revelation to do its work.
The adversary seeks to steal the word from heaven.
Those beside the road are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12 TLV)
We are called to steward it.
But the seed in the good soil are those with a praiseworthy and good heart, who have heard the word and hold it fast and bear fruit with patient endurance. (Luke 8:15 TLV)
God wants you to receive the truths about who you are in His sight.
Along these lines, in 2014 my wife and I were in Germany, participating in training some worship leaders. I was there to help them understand God’s love a little better. I noticed a knee-jerk deflection of compliments.
“Please don’t tell me that I have a good voice. I dare not receive any appreciation. The glory goes to God who will not share His glory with another.”
Just then, I had an illumination about how to deal with affirmations. Basically, it is to receive them as if you were enjoying a good cup of coffee.
As God’s image we were created to enjoy being appreciated. I told them to enjoy the compliment and return thanks to God for the appreciation of others as if they were expressing gratitude for that aforementioned coffee.
It looks like this:
Responding to the one giving the compliment,
“Thank you for the encouragement.”
In the secret place of your heart,
“God, thank you for the appreciation I just received. I enjoyed it. Thank you for it, and thank You for enabling me to do that which inspired the compliment.”
Apply the same principle to God’s evaluation of you as you integrate His view of you into your inner-narrative. There are so many wonder-filled truths that pertain to you and every child of God. In addition, as if they were not enough, your uniqueness is something worth appreciating.
Appreciate yourself in obedience to God and give Him the praise. You received your uniqueness from God, Himself.
And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:7b TLV)
Beware of a harsh, introspective conscience. That comes out of a classical culture which was given to perfectionism. This problem has been around for long time. A pagan Roman philosopher warned against perfectionism. Cicero wrote:
If you can learn to stop expecting impossible perfection, in yourself and others, you may find the happiness that has always eluded you. Man is his own worst enemy.
Don’t be your own enemy. Remember this exhortation:
Your inner demeanor is to be deliberately kind, helpful, compassionate, and favorable towards yourself.
Get free.
Compare a tendency towards unyielding perfectionism with Paul’s evaluation of himself.
as for Torah righteousness, found blameless (Philippians 3:6b TLV)
That is quite a contrast. It is similar to David’s view of himself.
Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness. For the cleanness of my hands He repaid me. (Psalm 18:21 TLV)
David’s attitude towards himself was so favorable as to almost be embarrassing. It’s funny, but somehow, we’ve been trained by our culture in the opposite attitude. Which attitude is closer to the biblical standard? What do you think?
If you find yourself to be a channel for rotten, unedifying inner speech, please repent as you look to God for help.
Bring us back to You, Adonai, and we will return. (Lamentations 5:21a TLV)
Shalom!
When Israel was about to enter Canaan they were brought to a point of decision. With your permission, I’d like to do the same with you. We have a choice to make.
Adonai urged His people to embrace that which would cause them to thrive. So, allow me to start signing off with this exhortation:
Choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19b TLV)
Finally, I want to add a paraphrase of a favorite benediction, 2 Corinthians 13:14. It is my heart’s desire for you:
The Messiah’s favor,
the Father’s affection
and the fellowship of the Ruach ha-Kodesh
be with you.
Amen and amen. Let us say, “Amen”, and may this reality increasingly be yours as you steadfastly continue to make progress as you pray:
May the words of my mouth and my heart’s deepest thoughts give Your presence pleasure.
May blessings be exponentially multiplied to you and yours.