Through Water & Fire

I have discussed trust, faith and encouragement in my previous posts and as I've posted about these subjects I've found that I have only scratched the surface of each one. So in this post I would like to encourage you to look deeper into the One who we should put our trust and faith in.

As you read the following passage, take it in and make it personal.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 43 1-5 But now, thus says Yahweh, who created you, O Yaakov, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am Yahweh your Elohim, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you.”

Now that we have this encouragement, we can have confidence that when we are faced with the rising waters of anxiety we will not be swept away into the abyss of despair. When the fire of fear is lit within us we can know that we will not get scorched if we put our trust in Yahweh. It is an amazing thing to be told that Yahweh has called us by our name. This tells me that He has placed us here on His planet for a purpose. Even when that purpose doesn't seem clear or even apparent, we can have confidence that Yahweh will bring us out of the water and the fire of hopelessness.

I have made metaphoric references to the water and fire in this passage, but I’m well aware that these are physical promises as well. There is a great account of three men who endured a very hot fire and came out of it without even the smell of fire upon them. The account is in Daniel 3. Now please bear in mind that when we read these accounts that they were to prove out the faith of the individuals. I’m in no way suggesting we go out and do anything that would put us at risk. If you notice all of the accounts of water and fire are faith related to show the sovereignty of Yahweh.

So look up to The Holy One of Israel, your Savior and be strong and courageous in the face of great trials.  

In whom do we place our trust?

When we are faced with dire circumstances we often find ourselves asking “who can we trust?” “Who will save me?” Let’s think about the word trust for a moment. The English definition offers us this; a person on whom or something on which a person relies. This definition gives us a clear choice on where we can place our trust; we place it on someone or something.

A Hebrew definition offers us this; חָסָה Chasah from (Shamuel Bet (2 Samuel) 3) to seek refuge, flee for protection and to put trust in, confide or hope in. With the Hebrew definition we are given the impression that we are seeking refuge and hope.

Look at what David said in Shamuel Bet (2 Samuel) 2-4 and he said: “Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The Elohim of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”

So with this very powerful statement we are encouraged by David to place our trust in Yahweh Elohim. So when we are faced with fear and doubt we can trust that when we call upon Yahweh He will hear us and save us from our enemies!

What or who are our enemies you may ask? For this post I’m going to suggest that we think of fear and doubt as our enemies. I have found that when we are faced with a dire situation fear shows up almost instantly and the feelings of anxiety and doubt begin to creep into the front of our minds. This, as I have said before, is usually because we were told certain negative things in our past that cause us to have a negative reaction to the event that is currently happening to us.

What then can we do to combat these real feelings? I would suggest that we first be honest and admit that we have them and then move into a trust position right away. This is not an easy task to accomplish at first, but as we place our trust in Yahweh, as David did we will find it easier each time an uncertain incident comes forth.

Remember the key statement of the passage David wrote; “Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The Elohim of my strength, in whom I will trust.”

May you be blessed and encouraged!

Fear Not

If I haven’t mentioned it before I would like to suggest that we can live without fear. How do I do that you should ask? Well I have discovered it is not an easy thing, to live without fear. But it is possible however. Look at what Yahweh spoke in

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 41: 8-10 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Yaakov whom I have chosen, the descendants of Avraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, you are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your Elohim. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” This is very encouraging when we feel that we are slipping into that dreadful state of fear and anxiety. We can feel confident that no matter where we are on this planet, that Yahweh has created, that He will help us and uphold us.

It is a wonderful thing to know that we are chosen and that we are not cast away. To know that we are strengthened by Yahweh our Elohim should give us the confidence and joy to combat any fear that wells up from within our pool of despair, that has been created by the negative bombardment, from all those who have filled the pool with doubtful and deceptive words.

It is even possible to live without fear when we are faced with economic uncertainty. This however, can seem a bit more difficult especially when our finances are tied to our being able to stay in our homes and keep the lights on. When a person is faced with this particular reality, that individual must grab onto a passage like Yeshayahu 41: 8-10 with both hands and accept it as a reality for ones life.

So it is possible to live life without fear, even when we feel afraid, we can turn to the promise of Yahweh our Elohim and be courageous!

To only have Strength and Courage

I would like to feel strong and courageous all of the time! I do however find I would like to feel strong and courageous all of the time! I do however find myself having some weakness and fear every once in awhile. I found this passage as I was going through my notes on encouragement and I thought it would be helpful to some of you who may feel timid, shy and otherwise scared to be out in the world. It is good for those of you who are more advanced in your strength and courage lifestyles.
Yahoshua (Joshua) 1: 7-9 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the Torah which Moshe My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go.” ”This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for Yahweh your Elohim is with you wherever you go.”
This is a great encouragement to have in front of you when you are feeling less then courageous. Now I know that this was spoken to Yahoshua three days before he was going to cross the Yarden and enter the Promised Land, but I think we can apply this to our lives today. I believe it is not a stretch, that this passage was spoken the way it is so that anyone who is seeking Yahweh and His word can grab hold of it and take it very personally.
It is an amazing encouragement that Yahweh tells us to “Only be strong and courageous” when it comes to observing and doing all of Yahweh’s Torah. It is fantastic to know that through strength and courage, while following the Torah, that we will be prosperous and have good success! So even in the face of financial hardship, loss and loneliness we are commanded to “Be strong and of good courage” Devarim (Deuteronomy) 31:6-8 and to remember that “Yahweh your Elohim is with you wherever you go.”
So we now know that it is possible to “Only be strong and very courageous”. So I would like to encourage you to reach out to someone you know and lift them up with these passages and let them know that you are there with them in the pursuit of strength and courage!!

Seeking Every Good Path

I have heard and have been told that life is a journey and that a person needs to find their own path. If that is the case then how do we find our own path? The statement, “find your own path”, seems to be a bit misleading since we as individuals tend to pick things up as we grow in knowledge and understanding. It appears to me that it is probably someone else who sets us out on our first path. I have come to somewhat of an understanding that when left alone humans tend to make their own paths difficult and sometimes very depressing.

As I’ve stated before we tend to be a product of the words and actions that were thrust upon us as we were starting out on this planet. So what I’ve done is first I dealt with the reality that there have been some pretty nasty things that were said and done to me in my early years. So, after dealing with that knowledge, I accepted these wretched things as being the reality that was given to me. I then decided, with help from a trusted friend, that I could actually change the way I view myself despite all of the torment from my past experiences.

When we look at our lives as being on a path, we need to understand that we may not be on the best path to help us on our life journey. Therefore we need to seek out a good path to walk upon. Look at what Shlomo said in Mishlei (Proverbs):   

Mishlei 2:6-9 For Yahweh gives wisdom; From His mouth comes knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

This to me is great news!! It is wonderful to be reminded that Yahweh is the giver of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. With this in mind, we can know that when we chose Yahweh’s path it is the right path for our lives.

So set out to find Yahweh’s path and know that when you seek Him, He will reveal Himself to you and show you His good path.

Untwist the Roots

When you feel alone and entangled in the twisted roots of anxiety remember that Yahweh is there to give you his Shalom. So peer out from the torment and call upon the name of Yahweh.

Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 33:2-3 Thus says Yahweh the creator, Yahweh who formed it to establish it Yahweh is His name. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Here we can see that the prophet Yirmeyahu is being told by Yahweh to call upon His name. Yahweh is stating that He will show Yirmeyahu things he doesn't know when he calls upon Yahweh. From this we too can have the confidence that when we call upon Yahweh, He may show us things we do not know as well. Occasionally however, we may feel that we are not getting the answers we are seeking. Does this mean we should stop calling? Of course not! We need to continually call upon Yahweh and acknowledge that He is the creator and we are his creation.

Think on Tehillim (Psalms) 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am Elohim; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Yahweh Tzvaot (of hosts) is with us; The Elohim of Yaakov is our refuge, Selah. So with this in mind, the next time we are set upon by the twisted torment of anxiety, be still and call upon the name of Yahweh.  

A Light to my Path

NUN

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

In this portion of Tehillim (Psalms) 119 we see that a word can give us light and help us to see our way upon our path. This is an important thought when we think about the words we say to ourselves. Upon occasion I feel myself slipping into the darkness of self doubt and anxiety. Even with my positive self talk in place, circumstances can creep in and I find myself wandering down a dimly lit path.

I have found that most of us tend to focus on the unfortunate circumstance that has befallen us instead of remembering the positive words that Yahweh has spoken about us. I occasionally find myself in this position and let myself journey down the path with very dim lighting. So what do we do when we are stumbling and bumping into doubt and anxiety? Turn on the lamp! Shine the light of the Word of Yahweh Elohim upon the uncertainty of our current situation! We need to hold fast to the promises that Yahweh has made to us His chosen people and remember to say encouraging words to ourselves.

If we are having difficulty coming up with encouraging words to say to ourselves then we should look to some place that has encouraging words already put into place. An excellent source for encouragement is Tehillim. The reason it is so full of encouragement is because King David followed the Mitzvah (Commandment) in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 17:18-20 that commands any King of Yisrael to write a copy of the Torah and to study it all of his days. So in reality all of David’s encouragement came from the Torah. Therefore we too can trust that the Word of Yahweh is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

I keep this encouragement with me as I journey along my path so that when things seem dark ahead of me I can shine the true light of Yahweh’s Word on my path.