World of Doing

The lesson for the current world is profound. Each of us has been given authority and dominion – a kingship. The divine will need human beings to bring to fruition the divine desire. Two spirits are seeking to undermine humanity. One is the Spirit of Truth, the other the Spirit of Error. The conscience of the mind is caught between the two, choosing per its own inclination.
In the final analysis, anything that impedes us, that inhibits the expression of our spiritual nature, from substance abuse to lustful foibles, also impedes G-d. Choice is an awesome gift in the World of Doing; we must use it wisely.
A person who is true doesn’t desire gold and never deceives anyone else, doesn’t live on a fancy diet, and doesn’t need fine clothing. Such a person doesn’t make plans for life, but waits on the divine will. The spirit of Error has no power over such a person.
When a situation is going well, ride the wave. When things are going badly, withdraw is another form of action. The flip side of withdraw is engagement.
We can learn from the Good Book that is full of examples of other people’s life’s:
Reuben – Desire         Zebulun – Mercy and Compassion
Simeon – Jealousy      Dan – Anger
Levi – Arrogance        Naphtali – Orderliness
Judah – Courage         Gad – Hatred
Issachar – Simplicity  Asher – Single-mindedness and Duplicity
Joseph – Chastity        Benjamin – Imitation of Goodness
The person who has wishes seeks possibilities; the person who has no wishes seeks only explanations. The world of faith should never have become a closed system, shut off from all inconsistent ideas, but an open book, intimately approachable, hiding nothing. The principles are simple, and the possibilities they present are awesome:
Know who you are, be true to yourself and the divine image that is in you. Cultivate a ‘G-d’s eye view of your world, a higher perspective that will help you make the right choices.
Reach out genuinely with your feelings, and dare to do great things.
It is all about the desire to be something greater than what we already are, and it is that upward motion that makes us fully spiritual, and fully human. The accumulation of ‘stuff’ never satisfies.
Don’t bemoan you ‘fallen’ condition; embrace knowledge, accept the reality of pain, and experience divine compassion.
We are all ‘light-bearers’. Know that the things you seek have been in you all along.
Believe in your own goodness and purity, whatever hellish experiences you encounter.
Organized knowledge and organized life, and calm will appear during any storm.
Accept the fact that nothing is permanent. Seize the day! Don’t surrender to doubt or despair. Become aware of the larger pattern, and of fate. Don’t just do something; sit there!
You are not a mere copy of the divine image; you are that image. Recognize the divine fullness in yourself, others, and in the natural world around you. There’s a hero hiding in each of us.  
Become a ‘ring-bearer,’ channeling the negativity of life situations in positive directions.
Let hope energize love and actualize deeds as you move in consonance with your feelings.
Discover the ‘momentum’ in any situation. Stop. Think. Observe. Plan.
Imitate the virtues and shun the vices of previous generations.
Let your pain be transformed into the building blocks of character.

Living Will

We need to teach the next generation of children from fay one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear. They who are the road of independence must have a code that they can live by. And so, become yourself, because the past is just a goodbye.
It is all about teaching our children and teaching them well – perhaps the most important task in all life. It is often said that the words spoken on the deathbed of a parent or love one remain forever with those who must go on. Every single breath is not one that we take but one that is given. The art of breathing, life itself, is a gift from above. Dying, rather than a grim veil, shrouding us in sadness, may be conceived as G-d’s last kiss, the moment when the breath of life is retrieved by the One who dispatched it, on load.
Isa. 28:10 ‘principle upon principle, line upon line’.
If you get angry, don’t allow words of slander to come from your mouth.
Never boast with pride.
Don’t speak with vulgar language.
Keep your body pure; treat it right, as though it is a holy temple, making sure that you are clean and hygienic.
Treat your speech seriously, not as sport.
Neve desire things that don’t belong to you.
Make sure you are pure and undefiled before approaching the altar.
Keep your thought separate from the rest of the world.
Think of yourselves as constantly in in the Eternal’s presence, at the altar.
Don’t just make offerings, but make peace among all people.
Don’t kill with the tongue (the corollary of killing with the sword).
Don’t remain angry till sunset.
Don’t accept too much praise.
Don’t rejoice at your enemies’ downfall.
Do what you already know is the right thing.
Do not let circumstances control your live, but control the circumstances.
The secret of making a better world comes from the inside out. Person by person, heart by heart.
In the Bible, it says, ‘Go ye!’ nowhere does it say ‘Come back.’
Stand up for right, even when the judges are wrong, how insight can triumph over institutions.
G-d is indeed the only true judge, enthroned above any human magistrate. It is G-d who judges the judges, therefor one must turn to G-d for guidance, who in turn are impotent before the Divine Presence.
The lesson of life - and the secret – is simple: Get out of yourself for a change. Take notice of situations of human need around every corner, all the time.  
Stop, observe, and act. Always ask what you can do to make a difference. ‘Ride the good wave,’ and the rest will be history.
Align yourself with natural forces in a situation, you take advantage of the unseen force in the universe. The race of life is not won by the speedy, nor the battle by the mighty …for the time and misfortune befall everyone. When you do decide to act, bide your time, wait for your chance. Know that the perfect moment of action will come.
One can find any and all situations in the Bible – check out what He has to say. He is your Guide through life and His is the last word, for He is the true Judge.

Lamentation

I went to see the movie ‘The Shack’, a must-see movie. To me, it was seeing G-d in all people, meaning in all races, no matter the ages and sizes, or sex. Lamentation is a part of life, tears are cleansing, they actually remove toxin from our body that builds up courtesy of stress. As for me, I tend to feel others pain, whether in a movie, on TV, in a book – G-d open the faucet when I turn 40 and forgot to turn it off, sound it still held back.  The movie also shows that G-d is and has been always with you in life, all you got to do is believe it.
The torches of lamentation are lit by agents of the divine will. How comforting it is to learn that the loss we feel when tragedy strikes is part of a purpose and a plan that we cannot see. To be sure, our character is forged in grief’s crucible. Death is   universal; the bonds of life are fragile. We are destined to lose those closest to us, but the essence of our lives is delivered to posterity, kept alive in the sacred memories of those who come after us. The body dies, but the spirit goes on, for the human soul, is never really lost. It is merely waiting for a future unveiling.
The ancient faith was supposed to be the celebration of life, not a fixation with death, but it is a necessary part of the grieving process. It is the way back to health, encouragement, and level-headedness. We can make a good case that the very word Messiah came forth from the crucible of suffering. Grief expressed, therefore, is beneficial, for it has led to the deepest and most powerful spiritual pronouncements in history.
Grief must be let go to move forward in life, do not let your grief turn into despair, for there are wonderful things in store for the future, of which you know nothing. Our view of time is limited, so that hope eludes us. Our present deprivation is only a blip on history’s radar screen. This too shall past, all will be well.
Learning how to grieve constructively is just as important as learning how to rejoice. There are five stages of grief; shock, denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. It all begins with shock – a feeling of distress, numbness, even psychological collapse. We enter into denial, a bitter illusion, a bad dream from which we will soon awaken. As reality begins to set in, we next give expression to anger and we may choose to internalize it. Finally, we reach the stage of acceptance, the ultimate destination of process, the place to which our grief inexorably leads us. Our loss is final; the damage is irreparable, and yet we realize, life goes on. Our pain becomes a building block of true character. We grow though our grief and ultimately beyond it.
Ps. 56:11, 8 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me… put thou my tears into thy bottle
Isa. 25:8 GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Rev. 7:17 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Holy Writ - Love Heals, get busy living!

Why all the violence in the Bible? But notwithstanding the Bible’s many tales of woe, there are many marvelous accounts of compassion. However much we suffer, it is hope that keeps us alive. You will be very wealthy, as long as you honor the heavenly Father.
Ecclesiastes 3:2-4, 8 states there is a time for everything. A time for birth and a time for dying…  a time for killing and a time for healing, a time for demolishing and a time for building, a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourning and a time for dancing … a time for loving and a time for hating, a time for making war and a time for peace.
Some of the greatest lessons in life is that hope is a good thing, perhaps even the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. Motion – taking action – is the best kind of therapy. You either get busy living or get busy dying. Among those who suffer from clinical depression, those who engage in physical activity, such as jogging, recover at roughly the same rate as those who take medication in the form of prescription drugs.
The upshot of this research is that our feelings respond to movement and that motion and emotion are linked. Love is hardly a static quality, nor is compassion. For love to be love, it must be given arms and legs. How we act affects how we feel. Getting out of the circle of self and opening ourselves to addressing the needs of others results in unexpected blessing.
Love, in all its manifestations, is an eternally popular theme, featured more often than hope.
In truth, however, we might want to stress hope even more than love, for it is hope that energizes love, hope that lends love its spirit, hope that transforms despair into healing. As much as love, if not more than hope is the emotion that brings forth motion. Love and desire are the spirit’s wings to great deeds.
Hope is strength, courage, fortitude. As long as there is hope, there is reason to go on. As long as we draw breath, there is hope for the future, and hope generates healing. There is no adversity that cannot be conquered, as long as we have hope. Just as important, hope has a dynamic ally in love. “Love conquers all!”
Obstacles are flattened; adversaries are neutralized. Never underestimate either the dynamic of hope, or the power of love.
Westerners know least about is mourning. We are trained from earliest childhood to hold back our tears, to retain our composure, to restrain ourselves. Males in our culture are taught to be a man certainly means not being allowed to cry. What a pity! A true man shows all feelings!
Jewish tradition is a prescribed period of intense mourning, for seven days. Jeremiah 6:26 says “clothe yourself in sackcloth, and roll around in the dust! Mourn deeply …wail intensely.” Grief is only human, and to hold it back is to deny our humanity. When we vent our grief, we pave the way, metaphysically, for even greater joy in the future. Devoted to lamentation is that expressing the fullness of grief opens the door for moving into the future. Mourning can be turned into gladness. It is a part of the circle of life that new things are built on the ruins of the old, that joy springs forth from the valley of despair.
If you run from pain, if you hide from grief, you short-circuit that process. Instead, hold the grief to your bosom. Vent it, write it, even sing it. Then let it go, and that very process will fill your heart with hope.
Reach out with your feelings, move in consonance with them, and let your spirit soar.
You will find that love really is all around.
We wouldn’t be able to taste the fullness of joy if we had never tasted the tears of sorrow.

World of Being

The name of Soloman is virtually synonymous with the word wisdom. The ancients were firmly convinced that Soloman was not merely a monarch, but also a wizard. (Strongs definition: properly knowing, wise, prophet, wizard, always used in a bad sense of false prophet).
In a world beset by pain and sufferings, where the power of evil often seems to triumph. G-d gave Solomon a great deal of wisdom and insight, along with understanding, as great as the sand along the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed all the sons of the east as well as all the wisdom of Egyptians.…
He talked about trees, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that sprouts from the walls. And he also talked about the beast, the birds, the creeping things and the fishes. And people from all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, having been sent by all the kings of the earth who heard his wisdom. (1 Kings 4:29-30; 33-34; 5:9-10; 13-14)
There seems to have been a whole folklore about Soloman, as a miracle worker/magician, who had power over demonic forces. Even Y’Shua makes slanting reference to this fact in Luke 11:29, 31. But haven’t all mature Believers been given a seal, a divine signer, a ring of power that has been placed in our hands. We are to become the Bride of G-d, we can wear it, we can display it, we can also exercise it, because it is a weapon. A signet ring may not look like a weapon, but it is. In ancient times the ring-bearer possessed the seal of the king – with his power and authority. Slip it on and we enter a new realm, a new dimension – the World of Being. We are invested with a power invisible to others, but more potent a weapon than Excalibur. Y’Shua is our King, and we can have this gift also when we come to mature in Him. Did not Y’Shua said we can do all things and even greater He did – all you must do it receive it, and use it.
Soloman, being king, was blessed with great bounty, wealth, privilege, and status, which he well knew come from above. But his way of paying back the divine providence was to pay it forward, to pass the blessing along to someone else.
The exercise of our own gifts; all must be submitted to a Higher Power. Discovering the power within us is a wonderful thing, but with our power we must learn a dependence on the Divine Presence. Power brings down kings but raises up tyrants.
Solomon’s heart is turned away to the worship of pagan deities by one of his many wives. The spirit of wisdom subsequently takes leave of the great king., who spends his time building temples to pagan idols instead. His spirit of counsel is darkened, and his words become vain chatter. It is a lesson for us to learn – a warning and admonition, not merely to consider the beginning of a spiritual journey, but also its end. Pay attention to our ancestors and learn from their mistakes.
The best temples are spiritual temples, built not with human hands but with human hearts. The rabbinic sages of old ask each other why the temple was destroyed. The answer they gave was what they called boundless hatred. Surely, it stands to reason that if the temple were destroyed thought boundless hatred, it might be rebuilt through boundless love.
Like King Solomon the wise, we must put that seal – that image – to work, transforming the powers of darkness around us into forces for good. Finding ways to channel negativity around us into positive directions with G-d’s help, it is not such an easy task, but it is possible. Even at some homes where conflicts continually arise, and you find yourself in the middle of a war zone. I thought of myself as living proof that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness, fancied myself as a bearer of King Solomon’s ring, remembering I am only accountable for my own actions. Truth be told, feelings are in fact nature’s way of ensuring survival.

World of Emotions & Feelings

The world of our emotions is a formative world, affecting everything we do. We spend much of our lives in the world of our feelings, or our ego. Indeed, the emotive world is a battleground, on which the war of moods, critical to our well-being and our well-being and our very survival, is fought. It is a war that is waged every day. We may surrender to negativity and agree in the battle or choose to enter the fight and engage each negative emotion with a positive response. It is all a matter of choice. Our greatest challenge is to gird up the loins of our mind (in the words of 1 Peter 1:13) and charge into combat. We are often beset by a fight-or-flight mentality; sometimes we must choose the flight.
One of the greatest works of literature ever produced deals with a man who loses everything he has and is plunged into despair. No biblical character is a better expression of this battleground than the venerable Job, life is symbolic of suffering. Job curses the day of his birth (everything was taken from him on his birthday). He raises his complaint to G-d as he sits in sackcloth and ashes and wallows in self-pity. Satan is depicted simply as one of the angelic messengers in the divine court. He is dispatched by G-d, but given no power in his own right. Satan is far too dominant and independent a character to be tolerated.
As the book begins, Job is ill and nearing the end of his life, he gathers his seven sons and three daughters and relates the fantastic tale of his earlier years. His Hebrew name was Jobab, before it was changed by divine decree to Job. Job was attacked as part of a bet, a wager between G-d and Satan, to see whether a righteous man who is unjustly afflicted with retain his steadfast faith in G-d (1:1-12; 2:1-6). A plague is unleashed and devastates on his livestock, and his children, then his friends (there are allies as well as adversaries). Through the tragedy, Job holds fast to his faith in G-d, and did not blaspheme. After all the L-rd gives and the L-rd takes away, trusting in His reasoning. Teaching us that when facing the most intractable enemy of all, ourselves, in the world of feeling, the admonition is simple and direct: HOLD FAST!
We know very little about Job’s wife, Sitis, – only that she taunts him with the words, “bless G-d and die.” While Job sits on his dung heap, immovable defiant, she becomes a maidservant to bring bread to her afflicted spouse. When self-pity threatens to consume us – when we are at the brink of despair – the compassion, the caring, and the action of others often help us regain our perspective. Realizing that we are loved by others makes all the difference in the world of feeling.
Job, responds like the fighter he is, he has never surrendered his soul. far from letting his emotions defeat him, he summons his feelings, and commands his anger. Reveals he is one who has taken charge of his emotions and has wielded them as a weapon against the foe. Job has learned that there is a time to mourn and a time to engage the enemy. We may have lost everything, but why should we be alienated from G-d, who is our greatest wealth. Physical action is not always required, but fortitude of soul is, physical illness and/or pain. To wrestle emotionally is to feel a physical sickness. To live is to wrestle, and to wrestle is to live.
You must never surrender to despair. You must never give up. You must be steadfast, for if ever you despair, if ever you abandon yourself, you also abandon G-d. You may feel like Job, or like Abraham’s son Isaac, about to be slaughtered, but remember that your emotions are a battleground. You can and you must prevail. The deepest pit into which one may fall:
HOLD FAST, AND KEEP THE FAITH!