I know You are near...

The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
Psalm 145:18

Truth... emet which is from aman (believe/confirm). To call upon Him in truth is to call upon Him with a confirmable faith, rooted perhaps in an unearthly place, but rooted in a place nevertheless quite real... quite TRUE. It is TRUE that He is near...

Is this a relative truth, though? We hear some say that truth is relative, as in, "your religion is true for you, but not for me..." Well, before I open up an apologetical can of worms, I'm going to say that in a sense, yes, "YHWH is near" is a relative truth!

Huh?

Sure, there are those for whom "YHWH is near" is not truth... and lest such "free" beings consider themselves a happy lot, let us remember this:

For, behold, those who are far from You will perish

Psalm 73:27

...and lest those who consider themselves to be near Him turn up their noses in arrogance, let us remember this:

Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed." Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

Isaiah 29:13-15

Oh wretched soul, take care that you fail not to pray, to call on Him, and when you do, let it be in truth and in faith. Pray believing, He says. Do not harden your heart, He says, for Today is the day of repentance... anything can happen between now and the Day of Rest which is yet to come. See to it that none of you misses it... if it means being as a little child ALL the time, depending on Him completely, well, so much the better...

Father, Precious Lord, take my little hand in Yours. This world is too big for me, YHWH, but in truth I know You are near... and GREAT are You in me!

xo

New LIfe at Echo Lake Orion

Even with all the work being done on our building inside and out. God has found a place for new life to begin! Did you anyone else notice? Before long I bet there are new babies occupying that nest! :)

Church service Sunday June 14th.

...after this, the LORD (played by Jeff) came and said: "Aaron, Miriam, Moses, come near, I want to talk to you, I want to be close to you." So they did.

Then the LORD spoke to Aaron: "Aaron, my son, give me a hug!" Alas, Aaron tried but only bounced back because he was puffed up with too much boasting about himself.

Next the LORD spoke to Miriam: "Miriam, my daughter, come near and give me a hug!" Alas, Miriam could not because her boasting made her too big to hug.

Finally, the LORD spoke to Moses: "Moses, my faithful servant, come give me a hug!" And Moses ran and jumped into the LORD's arms, hugging Him tightly, and the LORD was able to surround Moses completely with His love.

May you have ears to hear what the Spirit of the LORD is saying to the church...

Questions for You

Oh Papa... Beloved... Lord... please bear with me in Your grace and compassion, as I in my weakness and silliness have a few questions for You:

• Did we worship You today?
• Did Your Word go forth today?
• Did Your people learn something about loving today?
• Did we touch Your heart today?
• Did we sh'ma You today?
  (...and did You sh'ma us?)
• Did we ECHO You today?

Have I a "right" to know? No, of course not. But still, I ask, and I ECHO my brother David, who cried out to You, who called on the Name of YHWH, saying...

SH'MA, O YHWH

when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me.

Ps 27:7

I will wait on You, Adonai, my Shepherd and Father.

Love,

Your little Echo...

Psalm 51'd

"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions."

O Beloved... how can I ask this of You? How can I plead with You to deal with me not according to my sin and weakness, but according to Your lovingkindness and compassion... when it is in this very area that I have sinned! Indeed, I have dealt with others according to their sin, to their weakness. Oh, wretched me...

"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin."

Oh, can it be? Could I really walk free from this blot? Especially since...

"...I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me. "

Sometimes it's hard to imagine being anything other than wretched... especially now that I see the truth... it's not just sin against my brothers and sisters...

"Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge."

Is there any hope, when....

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me."

Ah, well, there is one thing we have going for us now...honest confession...

"Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom."

Oh! I remember brother James' words... "confess your sins that you may be healed"... And look here... now I gain boldness to say to You:

"Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. "

There's light ahead... I'm starting to believe that I may again hear something other than the enemy's accusing voice... and feel something other than the sting of Your rebuke...

"Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice."

And oh! That I might be able to walk with You again, believing that You really aren't even thinking of my sin at all...

"Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities."

Oh, I hear You whisper again: "To the pure in heart all things are pure." Would you really refer to me that way again? "Sure!"

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Steadfast! Yeah!!!

"Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."

Haaa!!! It already seems almost silly to think I started this whole thing feeling like You had taken Your Spirit...

"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit."

Your joy is my strength! You delight... in me! Ha!

"Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You."

Oh, would You be so kind as to allow me to see others turn to You?? To see them take up Your joy?? May we sing the rest together...

"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar."

Oh, dear One... All along, all I could ever offer You was a broken heart, broken with the things that have always broken Your own heart. Here is my weakness, made strong in You. Here are my feeble wings... I'd rather soar under Yours! xo

Shabbat shalom fellow followers of the Way...