I become increasingly mang zhang if I don't spend enough time with God everyday. LOL. =_="
But it's the truth. I am helpless without God filling me with His Love and the Holy Spirit flooding my life with passion. And it has become increasingly apparent that I need Him more and more everyday.
My hunger and thirst for Him has increased exponentially in these last few weeks and I desperately need Him to a part of my daily decisions.
I realised also the sensitivity to which God has increased in me- and it kinda shocked me today. From a cranky cab driver (whom God showed me that he was involved with a fight with his wife and the words they were shouting at each other *before picking my mum and I up*) to the random person who walks past me, the Holy Spirit just lay his life bare before my spiritual eyes.
The important thing, I realise is to acknowledge that you lack wisdom in handling this. And that you need God's love in order to intercede for these people. Living this life without God is really too much for a normal human being to handle; I realise that without "Christ, the hope of Glory." People really do walk around helpless.
I wasn't created to live this life alone
Made for Your glory I am not my own
Lord Your strength is made perfect in me
So I'll boast in the weakness I see
I am helpless helpless
And my heart is crying out for You
Jesus without Your presence
There is nothing I can do
I'm helpless without You
Lord in myself I am not enough
I need Your Spirit fill me with Your love
All I am and all that I do
Means nothing at all without You
#RT @ Jaeson Ma "Life is an adventure worth living. When you have tasted what's BEST, you won't desire what's GOOD. Knowing God is better than anything else this world could ever offer."
So I came home and am now spending time chilling with my Captivating book, worship music, nice scents, my bed and the wonderful companionship of the Holy Spirit- thanking Him for everything He has given me in life and also for today. =)
I guess I'm doing a series on Captivating for my dear sisters (and brothers) who read this blog (thank you for your texts, emails, facebook messages and comments friends, they encourage me to continue blogging and sharing about my walk with the Lord)
An Adventure to share
While Eve has a glory for relationship, that is not all she is essential for. Back in Genesis, when God sets his image bearers on the earth, he gives them their mission:
And God said, "Let us made a human in our image, by our like-ness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the cattle and the wild beasts and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth.
And God created the human in his image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.
And God blessed them and said to them "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and conquer it and hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and every beast that crawls upon the earth." (Gen 1:26-28)
Call it the Human Mission- to be all and do all God sent us here to do. And notice- the mission to be fruitful and conquer and hold sway is given both to Adam and to Eve. "And God said to them..." Eve is standing right there when God gives the world over to us. She has a vital role to play; she is a partner in this great adventure. All that human beings were intended to do here on earth- all the creativity and exploration, all the battle and rescue and nurture-we were intended to do together. In fact, not only is Eve needed, but she is desperately needed.
When God creates Eve, he calls her an ezer kenegdo. "It is not good for man to be alone, I shall make him an ezer kenegdo" (Gen 2:18) Hebrew scholar Robert Alter, who has spent years translating the book of Genesis says that this phrase is "notoriously difficult to translate" The various attempts we have in English are "helper" or "companion" or the notorious "help meet"
Why are these translations so incredibly wimpy, boring, flat...disappointing? What is a help meet anyway? What little girl dances through the house singing "One day I shall be a help meet?" Companion? A dog can be a companion. Helper? Sounds like Hamburger Helper. Robert Alter is getting close when he translates it "sustainer beside him."
The word "ezer" is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God Himself, when you need Him to come through for you desperately.
"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the Heavens to help you...Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword" (Deut 33:26,29)
"I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." (Ps 121:1-2)
"May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help. (Ps 20:1-2)
"We wait in hope for the Lord, he is our help and our shield." (Ps 33:20)
"O house of Israel, trust in the Lord- he is their help and shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord- he is their help and shield.
You who fear Him, trust in the Lord-he is their help and shield." (Ps 115:9-11)
Most of the contexts are life and death, by the way, and God is your only hope. Your ezer. If he is not there beside you... you are dead. A better translation therefore of ezer would be "lifesaver". Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.
You see, the life God calls us to is not a safe life. Ask Joseph, Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Esther- any of the friends of God in the Old testament. Ask Mary and Lazarus; ask Peter, James, John; ask Priscilla and Aquila- any of the friends of God in the New testament. God calls us to a life involving frequent risks and many dangers. Why else would we need him to our "ezer"? You don't need a lifesaver if your mission is to be a couch potato. You need an "ezer" when your life is in constant danger.
Picture the character Arwen in the mythic motion picture trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Arwen is a princess, a beautiful and brave elf maiden. She comes into the story in the nick of time to rescue the little hobbit Frodo just as the poisoned wound moving toward his heart is about to claim him.
ARWEN: He's fading. He's not going to last. We must get him to my father. I've been looking for you for two days. There are five wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know.
ARAGORN: Stay with the hobbits. I'll send horses for you.
ARWEN: I'm the faster rider. I'll take him.
ARAGORN: The road is too dangerous.
ARWEN: I do not fear them.
ARAGORN (relinquishing to her, he takes her hand) Arwen, ride hard. Don't look back.
It is she, not the warrior Aragorn, who rides with glory and speed. She is Frodo's only hope. She is the one entrusted with his life and with him, the future of all Middle Earth. She is his ezer kenegdo.
That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure- that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this. He does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage or a tagalong. Neither does any woman.
God is essential. He wants us to need Him-desperately. Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.
So dear sisters do not be discouraged when you face trials and tribulations of all sorts. You are capable. You have the ability to not only suffer, but survive great hardships. Just don't give up your fierce devotion to God and for your loved Ones- as difficult as reaching out to them may seem. =) love you still, E.
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