Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Shalom,
I’m reading (really rereading) two of Asher Intrater’s books at the same time. I’m reading both “All Authority” and “Alignment,” and I can’t get enough of either one. (They can be purchased at https://tikkun.tv/store/) Today, I want to write something from the first chapter of “Alignment.” What does it means to answer Yeshua’s prayer in John 17 and be “one” with God?
Yeshua prayed… John 17:20 “I pray not on behalf of these only (Yeshua was just finishing praying for His disciples), but also for those who believe in Me through their message, 21 that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me.
“May they be one in Us.” This was Yeshua’s prayer. It reminds me of the language used at a wedding. Mark 10:7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
We become one with God in several practical ways. Remember, this book is titled “Alignment” which should serve as a key to our understanding. We align our minds with God’s mind. Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude (mind) in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua,… 7b He emptied Himself… 8 He humbled Himself— becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Yeshua not only aligned His mind, but He also aligned His will with God’s will. Like Yeshua, our actions will align with our thoughts. We must come to the conviction in which we lay our agenda down and live for Him. Yeshua prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane… Luke 22:41 And He pulled back about a stone’s throw from them, got on His knees, and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Yeshua’s greatness is found in His submission. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. And the same is true for us…. Matthew 23:11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. And that is the first word (but not the last) on alignment.
Week 29
Memory Verse: Nehemiah 6:9 For they were all trying to intimidate us, thinking, “Their hands will become weak from the work and it will not be done.” So now, strengthen my hands!
141 7/13 Monday: Nehemiah 7-8
* 142 7/14 Tuesday: Nehemiah 9
143 7/15 Wednesday: Nehemiah 10
144 7/16 Thursday: Nehemiah 11
145 7/27 Friday: Nehemiah 12
Question of the day: I usually have a question of the day. There is always something to be taken from the daily reading that needs to be asked. This chapter (Nehemiah 9) has 37 verses. It may seem strange, but here goes. Today, the question of the day is, “Why is there no question of the day?”
Answer: The chapter is one long lament. It can be summed up like this… “Here is the sad history of our people over the last 1,000 years. We have repeatedly forsaken Your commandments and abandoned Your ways. But You have repeatedly forgiven us and not abandoned us.”
The lament continues… “We are slaves in the land you gave us. The produce of the land goes to the kings we serve.” Then the chapter ends with this phrase, Nehemiah 9:37b “We are in great distress.”
As sad as that is, the people make a covenant commitment before God to change in chapter 10. About 400 years after the days of Nehemiah, God would answer the people’s covenant commitment with a covenant commitment of His own, but sending His Son. Finally, some good news…
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent out His Son, born of a woman and born under law—5 to free those under law, so we might receive adoption as sons. 6 Now because you are sons, God sent the Ruach of His Son into our hearts, who cries out, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son—and if a son, also an heir through God.
I love ending on an high note. Blessings, my friends.