REMEMBER … THAT IT MAY BE CARRIED FORWARD!

Hello Dear Readers!

January is almost over!  Sitting here this Sunday evening, the urgency of time so quickly passing lays heavy on me.  It has been a month since the Lord and I spent New Years weekend looking back on 2023 and remembering the journey, the treasures, the sorrows and the highlights in His Word and in life. 

It was an exceptionally rich and pivotal year filled with canine adventure, travel, the announcements of more great-grandbabies on the way, painful losses and wonderful joys.  It was a year filled with learning and stretching and growing…yes even at this time in my life!  But the burden that must be shared is the major paradigm shift I learned and then experienced in His Word.   

I’m sure everyone reading this understands that we “Westerners” are often puzzled by or fail to grasp many nuances in Scripture – a “Book” – written by the Holy Spirit using Middle Eastern writers and embedded in a Middle Eastern culture.   That being said…we…reading with Western minds miss many Middle Eastern norms, idioms and nuances.  One of the major consequences is we read the Word through the lens of seeking what the Lord is saying to us, about us.  Our Western way of thinking is pretty self-centered unfortunately.  *However, the Scriptures are meant to be read through the Middle Eastern lens of what they are saying about God!   

So this New Years Eve as I remembered 2023, my focus dramatically shifted to:

·        Lord, what were the important things in 2023 You showed me about YOU? 

·        And…what trajectory / adjustments must I make that will posture me in 2024 to receive more revelations from You, about YOU? 

·        Then, what are Your purposes for them in 2024?  How can I bring them forward into this new year?  

Scripture itself bears witness to God’s perspective on remembering in order to bring it forward:

“…remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.”  Exodus 13:3

“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy…”  Exodus 20:8

“Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.  Deuteronomy 8:2

“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’”  Joshua 1:13

Luke 17:32  “Remember Lot’s  wife.”

As you looked back on 2023…

·        What important things did the Lord show you about Himself?

·        Pondering these, what adjustments will posture you better in 2024 to receive more revelations about Him?

·        What might God’s purposes be as you bring those remembrances forward into 2024? 

 Why don’t you take some time and ask Him.  It is still only January.

Carolyn

*McLelland, Kristi, “Rediscovering Israel: A fresh Look at God’s Story In Its Historical and Cultural Context”, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 2023

How Are You Walking?

Greetings Again Readers!

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time for the days are evil.”  Ephesians 5:15-16

Another surprise of this “Pax season” came with the simple trimming up of my daily rhythms to accommodate all the walks.  That included a closer look at the overall scheduling, plus the re-ordering of priorities and details.  I love order anyway, but this new discipline brought an unexpected new freedom…and joy!  I’m smiling as I write this because one of my neighbors asked if I had ever been in the military.  She marveled at being able to almost set her own clock as she observed Pax and I maintaining our new schedule. 

However, the greatest delight came with new opportunities for sim lev and halakh. You see, with my Western mindset I often found myself reading Scripture as an intellectual, almost academic pursuit.  But the Eastern way: “…is to sim lev, to set Scripture upon your heart, over and over again, so much so that it can’t help but seep into your heart—to consume the Scripture so much that it becomes who you are.”*  Then teaching would illustrate how the Scripture would be walked out halakh.  Jesus often did this using parables.  And Jesus and His disciples walked everywhere!  (You might want to pause here and glance at a blog posted below on Monday, June 8, 2020.)

That, was the ultimate gift the Lord deposited into this season.  He used Pax to carve out precious, sacred space and time for me to walk in His sim lev Presence.  My morning devotions stuck with me in a new way because I was revisiting them over and over again during each walk - halakh.  It was a discipline that allowed God’s Word to seep down into the concrete particulars of my life…to become who I am.  Truly it was the best use of my time and it actually was God’s gift to me using Miss Pax.

Dear friends, how are you approaching Scripture…intellectually or with sim lev?  And…how are you ordering your time?  Have you done a mini-inventory lately?  Linked to this blog (and in the side bar) are two helps to get you started:  “Seize the Time” and “Ten Keys to Peace.”

"Seize the Time"

"Ten Keys to Peace"

Blessed halakh!

Carolyn 

*McLelland, Kristi, “Jesus & Women: In The First Century and Now”, Lifeway Press, Tennessee, 2022.

Walking in Love

Hello again family and friends! 

It has been a long while since I’ve last shared and I’ve missed you all.  But here we are … a new blogspot, a new season, and a fresh assignment.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us…”  Ephesians 5:1-2

I’ve always known I love to walk. 

However, I discovered many new spiritual dimensions of life this past year as I accompanied a pup named Pax on her daily walks.  She and I would forge out multiple times each twenty-four-hour period to expend her energy, engage her attentiveness, and continue her obedience training.  You see, I thought it was all about her…but it wasn’t.  God had more in mind…and it turned out to be all about Him.

Pax progressed beautifully, blessing both her owner and her trainer, but spiritual growth also increased exponentially in me as part of the process. With expectations high and her energy level even higher, there could be no languishing because of the weather. Consequently, remaining active and in tune with Him through a wet and messy winter were the outcomes. Because our neighborhood was filled with lively squirrels intent on intercepting her concentration, out of necessity I was the one who learned to anticipate…and then stay ahead of the distractions. The life lessons in those moves became pretty self-evident…and the fruit from them continues to bring Him glory.

She had a ball, but I learned to engage with the beauty … yes winter beauty…of God’s creation as never before.  As the awareness of His active Presence increased, so did the opportunities to simply sing…just sing in worship.  We did…a lot. 

As a winter season approaches again, I’d love to share more of these insights with you.  My prayer would be that you will catch new glimpses of our God…and His participation in our mundane daily rituals. 

In order to do this, may I first introduce to you, Miss Pax…a beautiful white golden retriever pup.  She was a vested service dog, who lived in my guardian home for several months, between her seasons of “designated purpose.”  It was an incredible adventure on multiple levels as I hope you will see.  

Do stay tuned for more life lessons on literally, walking with Him in love -

“…from strength to strength.”

It’s so good to be back!

Carolyn