Journaling through the Bible

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my sin! Purge me and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Yahweh, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Do good to Zion in Your good pleasure, build up the walls of Jerusalem. When God restores the fortunes of His people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. But when I thought to how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. He who sits in the heavens laughs; Yahweh holds them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His furry, saying “As for Me, I have set My King in Zion, My holy hill.” “For I am a great King,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and My name will be feared among the nations.” So they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of Yahweh drives. I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward You. Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterword You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made Adonay Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works. Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt. Direct Your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! “A Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares Yahweh. “And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My Spirit that is upon you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring,” says Yahweh, “from this time forth and forevermore.” Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall be your rear guard. Blessed be Yahweh, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my Deliverer, my shield and Him in whom I take refuge, who subdues people under me. O Yahweh, what is man that You regard him, or the son of man that You think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. Bow Your heavens, O Yahweh, and come down! Proclaim this among the nations; consecrate for war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say, “I am a warrior!” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Yahweh. Flash forth the lightning and scatter them: send out Your arrows and rout them!

 For when the Yahweh Yeshua, the Lion of Yehuda roars from Zion, His enemies will be scattered! Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving Yahweh your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days. Be strong and courageous, it is Yahweh who goes before you, He will not forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. “Hear, O Israel; Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the Word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and with out iniquity, just and upright is He. He found me in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; He encircled me on the mountainside, He cared for me, He kept me as the apple of His eye. Like and eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. Yahweh alone guided me, no foreign god was with me. He made me ride on the high places of the land, the Sangres de Cristos. My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, O my soul! I will praise Yahweh as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.                                                                                                                        Selah

Journaling through Psalms 2, 51, 53, 73, 74, 144, 145, 146; Isaiah 58, 59, 60; Joel 3; Malachi 1; Deuteronomy 6, 30, 31, 32.


Kadosh Kadosh Bayim

When you look at the Hebrew for the Most Holy Place in the Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant rested and YHWH's presence was seated above the Mercy Seat, it translates to קדשׁ קדשׁ בּית or Kadosh Kadosh Bayim which literally says the Holy Holy House. 

I was reading about the building of the temple by Solomon in II Chronicles Ch. 3 and this struck me very strongly. In Hebrew writing the use of double words express high importance like in Isaiah 26 where it says, "You keeps him in perfect peace," it is actually saying, "You keep him in shalom shalom," or peace peace. We of course don't put the same meaning on repeated words so the translators wrote it Most Holy and perfect peace to show the meaning. 

But what really struck me was the word for place actually literally means house. Not a place of visitation but a place of residence! That is awesome, truly the Most High dwells in the Kadosh Kadosh Bayim.

As I read on I came to verse 3:14-"And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it." These are the same fabrics as the High Priest's garments, see Exodus 28, the High Priest was the only man who could enter the Kadosh Kadosh Bayim because he wore the same qualities as the veil: blue, the heavens; purple, royalty; crimson, blood; fine linen or white, purity.

However, this is what struck me, there were cherubim on the veil. The cherubim guarded the way to the place where YHWH's presence dwelt. Notice Genesis 3:24-" He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." Here the cherubim guard the tree of life, the life giving presence of God.

NOW THE BEST PART!

AND YESHUA CRIED OUT AGAIN WITH A LOUD VOICE AND YIELDED UP HIS SPIRIT. AND BEHOLD, THE CURTAIN OF THE TEMPLE WAS TORN IN TWO, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. AND THE EARTH SHOOK, AND THE ROCKS WERE SPLIT. ~Matthew 27:50-51

The veil is torn, the Great High Priest Yeshua haMashiachHebrews 4:14-8:13, who is of Heaven(Blue), who is Royalty(Purple), who bled for us(Crimson), and who is totally sinless and pure(Fine Linen), and the cherubim no longer stand guard to the Tree of Life in Paradise Rev. 22:2! Truly there is nothing standing between us and the residing presence of YHWH! Yeshua has cleared the way! I don't know about you but I am going in!  

His Presence or nothing!

YHWH,

Hide not Your face from me! I cannot keep living without Your presence for then though my body lives my soul dies. I am more afraid of living without Your presence then dying in Your presence, at least then my last moment would be sweeter than an eternity without You. My soul is bereft with darkness but I will run through the night to find You. I will have You or die trying! I love You! I have tasted but a sliver of Your presence and nothing can compare, no beauty that man can behold with his mortal eyes compares to You. Only You can satisfy my longing! Truly, truly like David I thirst for You like a parched desert longs for rain. Forgive me Abba for I have been the prodigal as I sought earthly pleasures more than Your presence. I have been the older brother also as I let the pride of my works and my own righteousness separate me from You. I renounce these paths. These ways and works both “good” and bad are nothing to me, I lay hold of the Son’s righteousness. I want to walk past the torn veil. I want to sit in Your presence and never leave. I would go there and die and let my name die with me for the surpassing sweetness of Your glory drowns out all other lovers. Father answer my tears! Do not hide Your face from me! Let me gaze upon Your countenance forevermore!

I see a young man come along, he’s like a bull in a china shop, a raving mad man, a lunatic, someone ought to lock him in jail for three years so he doesn’t hurt anybody. But there’s a passion there, a fire there, not content! “I don’t want morality! I don’t want to just look nice! I don’t want to be churchy! I don’t want to be religious! And most of all, I never want to be civilized! I WANT GOD! And I’ll have Him or I’ll die! Show me Your glory.” Moses wasn’t a dumb man, he knew what that meant. It’s almost as if Moses was saying, “I know it will kill me. Just give me one glimpse! And let me die!”~Paul WasherI Peter 4:1-2 Since therefore Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

For the eyes of YHWH run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. ~2 Chronicles 16:19

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.~Ecc. 3:11

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out.

As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,

so the heart of kings is unsearchable. ~Prov. 25:2-3

You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. ~Jeremiah 29:13

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.~John 4:23

What is the Sabbath? A reminder of every man's royalty; an abolition of the distinction of master and slave, rich and poor, success and failure. To celebrate Sabbath is to experience one's ultimate independence of civilization and society, of achievement and anxiety. The Sabbath is an embodiment of the belief that all men are equal and that equality of men means the nobility of men. The greatest sin of man is to forget he is a prince.

The Sabbath is an assurance that the spirit is greater than the universe, that beyond good is the holy. The universe was created in six days, but the climax of creation was the seventh day. Things that come into being in the six days are good, but the seventh day is holy. The Sabbath is holiness in time.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.-Genesis 2

What is the Sabbath? The presence of eternity, a moment of majesty, the radiance of joy. The soul is enhanced, time is a delight, and inwardness a supreme reward. Indignation is felt to be a desecration of the day, and strife the suicide of one's additional soul. Man does not stand alone, he lives in the presence of the day.-Abraham Joshua Heschel, "God In Search Of Man"

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lordmade heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20

‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.-Exodus 31

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

for soon my salvation will come,

and my deliverance be revealed.

Blessed is the man who does this,

and the son of man who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;

and let not the eunuch say,

“Behold, I am a dry tree.”

For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,

I will give in my house and within my walls

a monument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,

and holds fast my covenant—

these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.”

The Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,

“I will gather yet others to him

besides those already gathered.” Isaiah 56

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

from doing your pleasure on my holy day,

and call the Sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the Lord honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

then you shall take delight in the Lord,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58

“For as the new heavens and the new earth

that I make

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so shall your offspring and your name remain.

From new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

declares the Lord." Isaiah 66

FOOTPRINTS

The Children's Song Josh Garrels

My Journey Jan. 2011

Hello Beloved,

I know that it has been a while since my last letter, I hope that all has been well with you and your family. It has certainly been a busy semester for me, but the Lord has been pouring out blessing and ministry has been very fruitful.

I was able to see some when I visited for the holidays, but was not able to visit everyone. Some great things have happened since last I wrote.

First was at Harvest Fest, a music festival around Labor Day. We partnered with a local street ministry for the second year to minister at this event. We had much more success this likely from the seeds we planted last year. Many were healed physically and spiritually this year.

Baptizing one of my guys the first week of school.

Second was an event we had right before Thanksgiving. We called it the King’s Banquet. Bethany partnered with a ministry called Trinity Works, http://www.trinityworks.org/, to along with volunteers from at least 50 other churches and ministries to put on a true feast for just under 300 impoverished people. It produced lots of fruit and could write pages about it.

Another blessing, personally, is that my finances for this year have been less than half of last year. God has poured out His blessing, it has increased my faith greatly. So for the rest of the semester I have two options:

$1,865.00 by the end of January or $510.00/month for 4 months.



This is great considering I paid about $5,000 a semester last year. I hope that you can help in this endeavor, but if not your prayers are always needed also.

I have a few prayer requests:

† Fruitful Ministry-that the gospel would go forth in the Twin Cities.

† Discipleship- I am mentoring 6 freshmen this semester.

† Finances

† Good Grades

I hope the Lord blesses you with His countenance. Thanks for all your support.

Shalom

Eric Rainwater

White War Horses-I Thess 3, Joel 3, Rev. 19, Job 39

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Yeshua, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Yeshua with all his saints.

Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves there.

Bring down your warriors, O Lord.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

“Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic snorting is terrifying.

He paws in the valley and exults in his strength;

he goes out to meet the weapons.
He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
Upon him rattle the quiver,

the flashing spear, and the javelin.

With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."

Oh, how I await the day I will mount that war pony and ride into glorious battle against the evil that rules this present age. I think I will get to ride him for enternity also! Oh what a great and terrible day that will be!