June Theme: Shalom  

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s PEACE [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard (blanket) over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

June theme: Shalom.

 Strong’s Definitions: שָׁלוֹם shâlôwm, shaw-lome’; or שָׁלֹם shâlôm; from H7999; safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace:—× do, familiar, × fare, favour, friend, × great, (good) health, (× perfect, such as be at) peace(-able, -ably), prosper(-ity, -ous), rest, safe(-ty), salute, welfare, (× all is, be) well, × wholly.

In Hebrew, the root of the word, depending on the vowels that are used, has several meanings (that are relevant to the general meaning of the word Shalom); as for example: One meaning is “Whole”, another could be the actual verb “Pay” usually in command form. The conjugated verb has other spins that are worth noting, such as: “Hishtalem” meaning “it was worth it” or “Shulam” as “it was paid for” or “Meshulam” as in “paid in advance.”

Hence one can jokingly say that, “when it’s paid-for then there is peace.” Wikipedia

He paid ahead for my peace.

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life   
John 14:5-7

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

I enjoy stories. I also enjoy art journaling. So it’s no surprise that the Lord often explains His truths to me through the medium of film. One personal favorite is the classic “The Wizard of Oz.”

As I studied Jesus’ words, I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, I saw a yellow brick road leading straight to my Heavenly Father. Like a yellow ribbon, the road is full of hope and the promise that the battle weary will find their way to their flourishing garden home.

Every time Jesus said “I am” He declared it in a present tense that transcends time. In other words, He will always be present tense. So the way doesn’t really lead to a final destination. The way IS a present person, Jesus, in the Father, full of His Spirit. Remember He Is (now, this very minute) the way… truth… life.

I am the gate/door 

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV

Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV
It’s always fun to read scripture in context. I never realized that when Jesus said “I am the door,” which really means “gate,” he had just finished healing the man at the pool near the sheep gate. And in my ever living curiosity I wanted to find out more about the sheep gate.

It turns out that the sheep gate was the first gate to be rebuilt in Nehemiah’s temple. They could have started to rebuild at any point in the walls, but the sacrifice for their national sin had to be paid first. Brick by burnt brick, the priests actually rebuilt that gate with their own holy hands. Unwitting sheep filed into this gate and, of course, never returned through this gate because they were lead to the altar for sacrifice. As a song once claimed, you can check in any time you want but you can never leave.

So I think the disciples found it relevant when Jesus said He is THAT gate and the sheep COME and GO through Him. Come to think of it, the lame man at the pool may have exited through that very gate.

Early on, John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus, as the gatekeeper, calls his sheep in, but then GOES AHEAD of them. (More about that next week) Then in a finishing act, he becomes the only living sacrifice we will ever need. We enter His finished work through Him and only Him, the Gate, and we exit that door in the life and power of His resurrection.

He is the door I want to stay in, waiting patiently for His Voice.

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV

“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.” 

Week 21      I Am the Good Shepherd 

John 10 & Psalm 23
11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep…14 I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own know and recognize Me– Even as [truly as] the Father knows Me and I also know the Father–and I am giving My [very own] life and laying it down on behalf of the sheep. And I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring and impel those also; and they will listen to My voice and heed My call, and so there will be [they will become] one flock under one Shepherd. 
John 10:11, 14-16 AMP
THE Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him–not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake. Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

Psalm 23 AMP
During Jesus time on earth many sheep came through the sheep gate for sacrifice. I imagine that the crowds of sheep could get mixed together and external appearances would not be the best way to find your own sheep. So each shepherd would call and the sheep would ramble towards the sound of their own shepherd’s voice. 

I think about the crowds that pressed Jesus as recorded in Mark 5. It doesn’t say that anyone in the jostling crowd was healed. But then there is this one woman with the issue of blood, she was drawn to His Voice and received restoration as she followed her Shepherd.
In Psalm 23 I read all the wonderful benefits of following my Shepherd: provision, rest, refreshing, guidance, peace, protection, nourishment, restoration and best of all, a home with Him.

  
***Artwork is water color with no prep (still making daily hospital visits with dad.) 

Song “You are the Great Shepherd” by David Olinger.

Week 19  
I am the Bread of Life
John 6:32-35, 47, 49-51, 58 NIV 
Exodus 16:4 NIV 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”

You may recall in Exodus 16 the story about God’s supernatural provision of manna in the wilderness as Israel fled Egypt and went after God’s promise. Jesus refers to this in John 6. He then goes on to explain that He himself is the Bread of Life. He Is God’s daily supernatural provision to sustain us as we leave the captivity of the world and go after the promise called eternal life. 
I work in historic Old Salem, where I teach children about 18th century life. We have a couple of bake ovens in the district. One is fired up to bake 90 loaves of bread daily and the other once a week. 18th century adults consumed around one pound of bread per person, per day. That’s a LOT of bread! But the amount of physical labor needed to survive in a remote community required more calories than someone could hunt down. 

If I’m going to live a powerful spiritual life I’m going to need my daily bread, Jesus, the bread of life. It won’t be enough for me to eat the stale bread of yesterday.

Week 18. I am… 

 Have you ever been going about your mundane daily business and noticed something out of place that stopped you in your tracks? Maybe you just shrugged and carried on as usual, or maybe you turned aside to see. There were times I was so result focused I didn’t even notice the flicker in my peripheral vision.

Whenever I have noticed and turned towards the flame I have learned yet one more thing about God. I can sum up every new facet I see in two words, “I am.”

He is: present time, 

                 present place, 

                        and present tense. 

Whatever I’m doing He is doing with me. Whatever I need He is providing for me. 

He is I Am… Everything, right now.

John 8:58

Exodus 3:1-14

May Theme: “I Am”

This month I will be studying the “I am…” based on the Gospel of John, but illustrating supporting scriptures from other verses.

In John 8:58, Jesus says before Abraham ‘I am’… It sounds awkward in the present tense. Any grammar nazi would correct that to ‘I was.’ I believe He phrased it so that they would recall God’s name in Exodus.

Where will you find ‘I AM’ this month?

Exodus 3:1-14 NIV 
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘WHAT is HIS NAME?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “ I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’ 

Week 17

Picture this: a fearful father, noisy throngs, delay and urgent expectations, a bad report, weeping women, mockery and a dead girl. I would consider that a climate of confusion and death. But Jesus never seems to bat an eye at current climates. Instead he just keeps moving forward, leaking out resurrection power at every step. He sees through storms as if they are mere curtains to be pulled back on a sunny day. 

And he trusts only 3 friends to join Him. Not so that they could pray, but so they could witness the simplicity of His resurrection power. Don’t be afraid, just believe. And then simply, “Get up” and a hand up. 

Understand the power of His resurrection working in you and life will happen. Resurrection looks for dead things.

Mark 5:35-42 NIV & Ephesians 5:14

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 

 (To study at some point: 12 tribes, 12 disciples, issue of blood 12 years, Talitha is 12 years old.)

  Week 16
Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 (see below)

Whose bones are dry, scattered across a desolate valley?

How many times does God tell Ezekiel to speak God’s very own words to the dry bones? 

What words were spoken? 

What does it means to be dry?

Today there are many places we call dry. Let’s hope the Church isn’t one of them. 

Dry bones can’t move, bring light or life; they lie at the mercy of the current climate. We are called as resurrected followers to speak whatever the Resurrection currently speaks. His words are not influenced by the climate, but in spite of it. We are always called to prophesy Life. 

Life is not complete without the breath. If Ezekiel had stopped speaking after he saw flesh reappear, he would have had a zombie army. Instead he continued to listen to the Spirit of the Lord and spoke to the breath. The breath, the ruwach, the Spirit of God, floods in as a mighty rushing wind, awakening, resurrecting a vast army of God’s broken people. God puts His Holy Spirit in them and they live again.

Why?

So they will know the Lord has done it, that His Word is alive and powerful, that He alone is the Lord.
So I speak right now to God’s people, the ones who have lost hope and feel dry, the ones who have been “burned” and have died in the searing pain of disappointment, those despairing because the atmosphere is dark.  I speak right now to you, this is what the Lord says, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! I WILL MAKE BREATH ENTER you, and you will COME to LIFE. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I WILL PUT BREATH IN you, and you will COME to LIFE. THEN you will know that I am the Lord.” 

I prophesy to your breath, “COME, BREATH, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live. As Jesus breathed on his disciples, He breathes His Holy Spirit upon you and you live and are part of a vast army in the service of the LORD.” Selah and amen.
(Btw you can’t just read the words, speak means to utter sounds, so it must be vocalized.)
Ezekiel 37:1-14 NIV

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and SAY to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I WILL MAKE BREATH ENTER you, and you will COME to LIFE. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I WILL PUT BREATH IN you, and you will COME to LIFE. THEN you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, BUT there was NO BREATH in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and SAY to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: COME, BREATH, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and BREATH ENTERED them; they came to LIFE and stood up on their feet—a VAST ARMY. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and SAY to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my SPIRIT IN YOU and you will LIVE, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’