Have I Misread God?

(This blog is not yet done .. patience :D)

Have I Misread God? 

(A reading through the story of Hagar & Leah, and a critic on Biblical Interpretation on God's Favour and Despising)

Now when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He made her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren. 

Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my humiliation and suffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].” 

Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears). 

She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. 

Again she conceived and gave birth to a [fourth] son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord .” So she named him Judah; then [for a time] she stopped bearing [children].

Genesis 29:31‭-‬35 AMP

Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 

But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.  

But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. 

And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit humbly to her authority.” 

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 

The Angel of the Lord continued, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears), Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).  

Yes, I'm both acknowledging the account of verse 12, and also skipping it because there's already too many discussion & commentary on the personality of Ishmael. Knowing that we all inherit hostility in our sinful earthly nature, that's not where we're going this time.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?” 

Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 16:5‭-‬11‭, ‬13‭-‬14 AMP

If you're familiar with the name "El Roi", some of you might be surprised that it's uttered by Hagar. Nothing less an ice breaker, this is the very first passage throughout our familiarly canonized Bible in which the word "Angel of the Lord" is mentioned.

Psalms 51:17 (KJV)  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Will Learning Theology (Or Simply Anything Else) Erode Your Faith?

 

The moment we're sure to understand is whether at your most wise & educated or in the most ignorant & less informed state, while in the climb towards wisdom you'd feel so insecure and venerable, I have pastor friends, one is a doctor of ministry, the other just obtained his PhD, they share this "imposter syndrome" notion of inadequacy which IMHO is a good thing that allows humility, a heart posture which allows more learning, understanding and wisdom.

But I don't see that illusion of mastery as to legitimize ignorance in the name of faith. That would be masking laziness, prejudices, all those dark features of chaos, the things God himself has in fact been subduing & shining upon.

The fact that almost none of us are left without invested talents, room to grow, people to meet, demands to exercise love, justice, and truth, all these in themselves display this divine paradox: denying the chance to change is the refusal of μετάνοια repentance and the denial of God's grace.

Yes, to be a believer is to embrace paradoxes. As with the recent social justice heated (and many times polarizing) discussions, the privileged v marginal, I was also reminded that human interactions are anything but simple, as we acknowledge casualties, we should avoid the naivety of dichotomizing. Evil is cosmopolitan as grace is omnipresent & immutable. 

The scholarly studies & analysis indicates that Jesus, of all people, might as well be closer to camps of the Pharisees rather than the Sadducees or any other Judaism sects of His time in terms of His unorthodox & creative hermeneutics (in which I believe coexisted in realtime parallel to His divine  omniscience and the presence of רוח קדוש The Spirit).

This in a fair maesure therefore, suggests learning will & should land you back to faith, to marvel and love of our God. Is it the same faith of the limited, the less privileged, the meek & simple? Definitely! But once you're called, you must answer, you must push forward, you must arrive back in faith as a person who's doing his part, as a person finishing the race, therefore we won't be taking God's grace for granted, but rather, in The Spirit, doing what you know of the Word, making manifesto of your worship, making it tangible, evident, appealing.

To close, parallelizing paradox & pharisaic natures, along with the fact that Nicodemus & Paul was (and in a way had still been) Pharisees, the fact that only few "camels" passed the eye of the needle, into seeing the fullest revelation of יהוה God in the person of ישוע Christ, we then come to understand that while "nature & nurture" can be tempered with, you cannot force faith the same way as you can never fathom God's grace for the most unlikely and unworthy. For God all things are possible, and in that knowledge we have the ground of confidence that He'll finish His good works in us as we do our parts.

Obed Edom, a Story of Our Efforts and God's Mercy

I've been hosting a Hebrew Collective Learning group online. I throw random trivia every now and then to hopefully making the learning casual and more close to home. These are some points I shared about working and how it (should) inspire Christians and also hopefully all to be better, knowing what "better" means.

I started by sharing the reason behind my recent latency in greeting the members in the chatter, despite of home chores (being a super dad), studies and exhortation preps and church service Ad design, 

מוּסִיקָה

Moosiqā (Music) 🎹

אָנִי אוֹבֶד/אובדת עָל מוּסִיקָה

Ani ovēd (masc.)/ovedeth (fem.) āl moosiqā

I'm working on music/ I do music work.

Now, there's a biblical character with a name similar to "ovēd", it lack the letter "ו" Vav, but still sound the same, most probably of the same root..

2 Samuel 6:10-12 (NKJV)

So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

Now it was told King David, saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.

שמואל ב 6:10-12 (WLC)

  וְלֹא־אָבָה דָוִד לְהָסִיר אֵלָיו אֶת־אֲרֹון יְהוָה עַל־עִיר דָּוִד וַיַּטֵּהוּ דָוִד בֵּית עֹבֵד־אֱדֹום הַגִּתִּי׃

וַיֵּשֶׁב אֲרֹון יְהוָה בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם הַגִּתִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים וַיְבָרֶךְ יְהוָה אֶת־ עֹבֵד אֱדֹם וְאֶת־כָּל־בֵּיתֹו׃ וַיֻּגַּד לַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד לֵאמֹר בֵּרַךְ יְהוָה אֶת־בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם* וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לֹו בַּעֲבוּר אֲרֹון הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיַּעַל אֶת־אֲרֹון הָאֱלֹהִים מִבֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם עִיר דָּוִד בְּשִׂמְחָה׃

Someone told me once that if something or someone is mentioned 3 times or more in a row, then the writer probably meant to show us something important.

So, even if we won't be assuming the "mystical" side of it, it's always good to have closer look ..

Ovēd עֹבֵד (meaning "servant") is taken from the root עבד Abād, now again what's amazing of the uniformity of ideas within an ancient, less hybrid language such as Hebrew can be seen here .. the same root עבד would give birth to words like ..

Ovēd עובד (working; v.)

Avodā עבודה (work/job; worship; n.)

L'Āvōd לעבוד (to work; v./pa'al)

Ēdōm אֱדֹם (red, the red one, referred to Esau as in Gen 23:30; 32:3; 36:1, symbolizing worldliness, human effort) shares the same root אדמ with 

Ādām אָדָם (Adam, first human, mankind)

Ādom אָדֹם (the color red)

Ādāmāh אָדָמָה (ground, dust of the earth, red soil or clay)

The commentaries (should you're interested to dive deeper, but swimming is also ok 👍😁👍) are found here ..

Bible Study Tools Dictionary on Obēd Edom

and here ..

Abarim Publications on The Meaning of The Name: Obed Edom

Let's continue.. 

While scholars assumed that Obēd Ēdōm was "whitewashed" to become a korahite/levite in the books of Samuel & Chronicles (again, circulated studies shows these books are serving as ancient narrative of how Israel came to be as a nation; so, not propaganda free 😁), the deeper meditation of the text would reveal something deeper and spiritually profound. 

Obēd Ēdōm ultimately symbolizes us, strangers, gentiles, people (once) outside of Israel's covenant who are once "servant of ourselves" but later visited by God (symbolized as The Ark of The Covenant). This is further clarified by King David's reaction after hearing that God blessed Obēd Ēdōm, meaning he knew that God had shown favour and His grace so much as to bless a gentile and not killing him as He did with Uzzah (v.1-9) in previous part of the story.

This is to me personally is one of those sporadic story of grace, hidden in plain sight, similar to those of Ruth and Rahab (both Gentiles, but "adopted" to the covenant), and later revealed in Jesus Christ.

What gives true blessings to our עבד אדום worldly works is nothing more than God's grace. 

The mandatory demand for holiness /righteousness (displayed previously through the death of Uzzah for improperly handling the Ark) is not a way of obtaining either grace or blessings, righteousness is a proper response to God's holiness.

No one can get God to be merciful.. instead He has chosen to be (how wonderful)..

Therefore I believe to be righteous is a one package deal in repentence, our attitude of acknowledging that we're from time to time still doing things (ovēd) in a way that's worldly (Ēdōm), even in service to others or "ministry".

This act of continuous realigning to God's will is what ultimately sanctify us..

But does sanctification relates to blessings? I believe so, however the posture of the heart that desires blessings first and relationship with God second.. this is our constant problem which need repenting.

Different faith traditions have different approaches in expressing repentance, but I believe the same spirit & yearning should belong to us all alike, not so much in the yearning of restored entitlement or belongings, but to the restoration of relationships, us with God, us with others.

The Bible have shown time and again how God is hurt by our doubts. Even Malachi 3:10 was the expression of God being satirical and "forcibly" transactional, responding to Israel's reluctance of giving what's needed for the service in God's temple. This "woe" to the Israelites, we actually share it. Most of us are no better when it comes to expressing love to God in acts of service or giving, worse, as New Testament people, we know from stories I've mentioned before, that He's the kind of God who is so merciful and inclusively embracing as to do this ..

Romans 9:25-26 (NKJV)  As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved."

"And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

Therefore the main concern in repentence is ..

Luke 12:23 (NKJV)  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Let's work and serve in the spirit of restored relationship between us and God, made possible through the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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From brother Felix's thumb 😅♥️

Greetings beloved readers!

Friends, you are created for God's delight as much as He's delighted to shower you with love, to restore you into His intended fullness of life, to reveal Himself to you through His Son, Jesus Christ, to pour out His heart to you and as much people whose lives you're allowed to touch.  This is OUR ministry of peace & reconciliation. 

How to support OUR ministry?

This ministry is grounded in the longing to be an authentic integral witness of God's salvation in a way that blesses & empower people to be better in what they're destined & called to do, to be a better professionals, business owners, family member, and member of their communities and even their nation.  

Therefore we don't collect financial donations but rather asking you to support causes and ventures we believe could bring increasing opportunity to resonate His messages through what we daily do best as roles mentioned above.  

How can I support OUR ministry?

Visit or/and share these following links ..

Someone you know or even yourself might be blessed, inspired, or unnoticeably passing blessings to certain needs..

My musical VIDEO channel

My musical AUDIO channel

My musical arrangement service offer

My repertoire composing / e-refurbishing services

Blessings

Faith IN vs Faith TO

Christians don't just have faith IN a merciful God, they have faith TO exercise mercy just as they have received it from God in unspeakable  abundance.

I don't have things against believers "borrowing" Old Testament passages, convincing themselves & others that allegiance to YHWH is never in vain, that HIS workers would have "manifestations" as authoritative signs. I really don't, IF ONLY I won't see rolled eyes nor yawns when I disclose this ..

That as people can also be (even more) moved (and hearts won) by justice & compassion, there are actually even more passages mentioning that ישראל Israel as ancient covenant community (then, the Church as the spiritual fulfillment) was established by God's principles of the prior.

Our lives are God's offering dough. The enticing power of this world can spread, spoiling us overtime, just like yeast leavening breads. The only way to break the "natural cycle of decay", hearts being away from God, is commitment to Passover "hasty dining" lifestyle, enjoying posessions, but with desire, enjoyment & focus to God's Word instead. (Observe that God didn't say "suffering means you've followed Me correctly", the opposite is true, the fulfilled covenant caused blessings, but once love has grown to things more than to God, prepare yourself for a sh#tstorm!).

God's Word is anything but symbolic monument. Christianity as a whole is much more than philosophy & mysticism. The remembrance of God's saving deeds, including studying & teaching of the scripture was meant to continuously feed the flame, to awaken the fire, preserving the momentum of God's (spiritually renewed) people, ministering שלום peace & freedom to this fallen humanity. As we willingly share whatever entrusted, we will hear that sweet praise from those once far that has been made near..

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalms 34:8 NIV .
When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Psalms 104:30 NIV

#deduce #hopefully #systemmatic #theologian #devotional #oneyearbible #oraetlabora #prosperitymeetsliberation

Ready for Your Guitar Smash?

I don't know whether to be angry of to laugh! 😅 Seriously! She told me that she's bored with the lesson, and that's why she quit my guitar class. Ok .. so that you can relate, her attendance rate is below 40% and the numbers of repeated (suspected to be not being done) homeworks are plain surreal! How can you be bored when you don't clock in often enough to even understand what you're getting yourself into?? 😅

It might sound weird and nearly fictitious, but the fact is : half of my EGR (extra grace required) students are the ones who criticized my method and material selection the most! 😅

Don't get me wrong, we instructors are way from perfection, we still making the best of every opportunity to learn new things even until today.

But how would you react when the ones who suggest me to change methods are those who haven't made their way pass basic posture & notation reading, those that have just baby-crawled inches away from being totally blind about guitar as instruments and musical study in general? I was imagining if there's such chance I could ever ask them why the doubts and why am I to blame, most probably they'll answer, "Because it shouldn't be this hard!" 😭🤣🤔

Well, now, how's our walk with God? It's just a simple closing statement. When the going gets tough, do we senselessly refuse to introspect and blame God, our great, loving and patient Teacher instead? Blaming our teacher in denial doesn't make us any better instrumentalists of life. Humility does.

It's time for another reality check.
Are we driven enough to continue studying regardlessly? Our motivation may vary, but LOVE is always the best. LOVE is the reason and true source of strength to persevere. If we professed to know HIM who declared to be the LOVE himself, do we remember to be reciprocal in loving whatever (loving) lesson he throws at us?

שלום Peace be with you

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From brother Felix's thumb 😅♥️

Greetings beloved readers!

Friends, you are created for God's delight as much as He's delighted to shower you with love, to restore you into His intended fullness of life, to reveal Himself to you through His Son, Jesus Christ, to pour out His heart to you and as much people whose lives you're allowed to touch.  This is OUR ministry of peace & reconciliation. 

How to support OUR ministry?

This ministry is grounded in the longing to be an authentic integral witness of God's salvation in a way that blesses & empower people to be better in what they're destined & called to do, to be a better professionals, business owners, family member, and member of their communities and even their nation.  

Therefore we don't collect financial donations but rather asking you to support causes and ventures we believe could bring increasing opportunity to resonate His messages through what we daily do best as roles mentioned above.  

How can I support OUR ministry?

Visit or/and share these following links ..

Someone you know or even yourself might be blessed, inspired, or unnoticeably passing blessings to certain needs..

My musical VIDEO channel

My musical AUDIO channel

My musical arrangement service offer

My repertoire composing / e-refurbishing services

Blessings

What's The Best Sound You've Heard?

I'm a music engineer, I can spot Steve Tyler posing as a worm in animated movie "Epic" and Forest Whitaker narrating a science documentary, just by hearing. And beyond those marvel, I've once heard choirs of angels.

I am "I am", that's the only way to (so poorly) describe what I heard circa 1999 during a worship service.  Why was it so significantly life changing?

It reminds me to the life-changing experience of Moses (Exo3), Isaiah (Isa6), the apostles (Acts2), and of Cornelius (Acts10).

In the less poor description..

I was hearing more than an audible sound, my whole senses & being was witnessing the presence of no other than God himself, and why was I so sure?

Because in that exposure and "sound" that I'm going to simply describe as a revelation, I was made aware that he is personal, he's everything but lifeless energy.  When he declare his "I am"-ness, it also interpretes as "not only do I exist, but I am the truest, strongest, ever existing, eternal, all encompassing, perfect 10/10 EXISTENCE."

That voice revealed as the creator of all other existence & along with them.. ME. He's all knowing, he knows all about me, he also said that nobody loved and will ever love me as much as him.  That all I need to know and all I'll ever be can be found and already available in him.

He revealed himself as being all in all, nothing is outside him, nothing can escape nor be hidden from him. In him no one is alone, no one is forgotten, no one is dead, I'm in total safety and security, my present and future.

He revealed that he's the true joy and fulfillment of all mankind. In all his splendour, he created us to take part of that eternal completeness, joy, peace, (true) LIFE.

And as the ecstatics unforgettable experience started to wear out.. he whisper into my soul, subsiding from unknown tongues.. from a new void he created, replacing my old vanities of mortal pleasure .. "Tell others!"

Starting that moment, my self centered religion found its death. I am both my old same self with a new heart, dying to ego & sin. (Joel 2:28; Eze 36:26)

PS: The next best mixed sound ever was an object entering the water 😘😉 #20yrsHaul

What's your #corneliusmoment ?

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From brother Felix's thumb 😅♥️

Greetings beloved readers!

Friends, you are created for God's delight as much as He's delighted to shower you with love, to restore you into His intended fullness of life, to reveal Himself to you through His Son, Jesus Christ, to pour out His heart to you and as much people whose lives you're allowed to touch.  This is OUR ministry of peace & reconciliation. 

How to support OUR ministry?

This ministry is grounded in the longing to be an authentic integral witness of God's salvation in a way that blesses & empower people to be better in what they're destined & called to do, to be a better professionals, business owners, family member, and member of their communities and even their nation.  

Therefore we don't collect financial donations but rather asking you to support causes and ventures we believe could bring increasing opportunity to resonate His messages through what we daily do best as roles mentioned above.  

How can I support OUR ministry?

Visit or/and share these following links ..

Someone you know or even yourself might be blessed, inspired, or unnoticeably passing blessings to certain needs..

My musical VIDEO channel

My musical AUDIO channel

My musical arrangement service offer

My repertoire composing / e-refurbishing services

Blessings

Forgiving Is Fun (?) 🤔😅

How to forgive someone causing your financial loss? Is "to forgive also to forget"? What's wrong with society? Is there an actual gap between the "spiritual" teaching of forgiveness  with the empirical practice in "real world" sectors?

I was packing piles of order, the largest in recent month. As always, my OCD wrapping style gave no rooms for mediocre packaging quality, I was lavishing the box with perhaps a dime worth of paper & tapes. But you might be surprised that underneath was merchandise sold with around -$0.25 profit, offered just to cut losses & helped with the house's cash flow.

Yes, I was living the (not so good) dream, ridding stockpiles caused by a business fraud.

I won't get into details, I'm aiming at other (higher) points.

It would almost be effortless to jump in & out of a debate on "biblical" forgiveness. We may have known stories of "The Wicked Servant" or the "70x7" sayings of Jesus, or his last words on the Cross pleading God the Father that his oppositions would be forgiven.

As a melancholic, struggling with traits of being sensible, as well as few experiences, I'm no stranger to faith struggles related to dealing (mostly with myself) with strives, offenses and treason.

I might claim to know more than most people that to apply selective amnesia in forgiving isn't that natural nor practical in terms of financial / assets. Those claiming to be able to forget harsh words or family / spouse quarrels would surely have their reality checked when they have to maintain cooperative & supportive mindsets & gestures dealing with such, already causing financial damage, after trust being breached.

But NO, I know nothing more than you. I struggle, I cried, I wonder, I throw m#ddle f#nger to the sky! The most hurt is probably caused by not knowing "why".

Then, I was comforted by an article on suicide victims by Dr. Dale M. Coulter. It's a sobering faith trip, a continuous reflections of how imperfect we are when it comes to forgiving. This struggles challenge me to be genuine whenever I come to God for restoration. As with other sinful tendencies, I can only offer a holding hand 🙏. Let's walk by grace to HIM who's perfectly forgiven. 💖📖


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From brother Felix's thumb 😅♥️

Greetings beloved readers!

Friends, you are created for God's delight as much as He's delighted to shower you with love, to restore you into His intended fullness of life, to reveal Himself to you through His Son, Jesus Christ, to pour out His heart to you and as much people whose lives you're allowed to touch.  This is OUR ministry of peace & reconciliation. 

How to support OUR ministry?

This ministry is grounded in the longing to be an authentic integral witness of God's salvation in a way that blesses & empower people to be better in what they're destined & called to do, to be a better professionals, business owners, family member, and member of their communities and even their nation.  

Therefore we don't collect financial donations but rather asking you to support causes and ventures we believe could bring increasing opportunity to resonate His messages through what we daily do best as roles mentioned above.  

How can I support OUR ministry?

Visit or/and share these following links ..

Someone you know or even yourself might be blessed, inspired, or unnoticeably passing blessings to certain needs..

My musical VIDEO channel

My musical AUDIO channel

My musical arrangement service offer

My repertoire composing / e-refurbishing services

Blessings