tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9055074943358649752024-03-05T08:59:47.518-06:00Vaags up wif you?The daze of my life as a mother!Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-6993865872236804562023-01-07T13:53:00.003-06:002023-01-07T14:10:05.944-06:00Ode to Cancel Culture<p><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;"><b>Ode to Cancel Culture</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">by Rita Vaags</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">September 20, 2020</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Oh, cancel culture hear the sound,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Of snowflakes falling all around.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You claim to be awake and yet,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">you live in dreams of goals unmet.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You claim to make all voices heard,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">until there’s one whose uttered word,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">sounds different than your mantra shouts,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">then viciously, you snuff it out!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So in your pursuit to embrace all,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">by vilifying both big and small,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">a new race is born for all to see</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">claiming its own supremacy.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">What makes us different gets trampled down,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you say “up,” we can’t say “down.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">and the beauty of what makes you and me,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">like the different notes of a symphony,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">is slowly silenced like a fading sound,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">til nothing “different” can be found.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We all must sing a one-note song,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">in the illusion for all to “get along.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So Cancel Culture, soon you’ll see</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">in your pursuit that all be “free,”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">you’ve chained up souls in prison cells,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">to the sound of delusional freedom bells.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In the end you’ll cancel yourself, too,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">and hate will consume all of you,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">without willingness to reason nor debate, </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">you’ll have become the very beast you claim to hate.</span></p>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-29195989425564123222020-05-17T17:05:00.011-05:002021-10-03T17:11:14.615-05:00Today, my child was born...<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today... the sun is shining brightly and finally with power of warmth. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The birds are singing and dancing about the sky with new found freedom. The world around me is so vibrant, so alive.. so I close my eyes, take a deep breath and let my soul drink it all into my heavy heart. Today... twenty-one years ago about this time, our darling little Isabel faith gave three little cries (against all odds) after an emergency c-section. She could fit in my hand yet she felt larger than life! I don’t know how the housing of our soul works, but I recall thinking it couldn’t possibly be limited to our physical stature. She filled the room. We didn’t yet know how filled with love she was... but that kind of love, the kind that is stronger than the grave, would infuse every single one of us who’d get to know her. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today... there is a wound in my chest, a weeping in my soul... but today, my joy to have known her and the privilege of having been her mother is greater than the pain. Today... I embrace love knowing in some way, I am embracing my darling Isabel Faith. Rest in sweet shalom, my darling girl. </span></span></p><span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); display: inline-flex; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 16px;"><img alt="🦋" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tbb/1/16/1f98b.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /></span><span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="display: inline-flex; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, .SFNSText-Regular, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHEEAA6l2qBxLqOfEskslws_Lq0l62ONOE-wg1XEyOTEwQzAPcaGPWeZGGT8I9BQtHzw6NWhJCyHO3WUSG7ZalTPucssjS1Szir8dXx9_3bhL6gUxZx7sKm4g-MzMF1KwLaeC_kPDL3M/s960/izzy+and+duane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></span><div></div>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-68025211435217176932019-06-09T16:48:00.007-05:002021-10-03T17:03:21.505-05:00Butterfly Greetings on Shavuot / Pentecost<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 1st as we entered into Palliative Care with our darling Isabel, I quietly spoke with her about how her body is a cocoon and her spirit a fully formed butterfly... that the struggle out of the cocoon is what strengthens the wings. Thirty-five days later, as she breathed her last, a butterfly fluttered away from her window on the third floor. </span></span></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;">Isabel’s name in Hebrew is Elisheva which means “my God” and “seven.” Isabel was born during the feast of weeks (seven cycles of seven days) and I heard God speak about His plan of love concerning her at the Jubilee underpass (seven cycles of seven years). Today is Shavuot, the completion of seven cycles of seven weeks, and look at this butterfly landing on us and blessing us with affirmation today!! Never in my life has a butterfly landed on me (and the kids), let alone do it over and over again over the course of two hours!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rmCHzfrAoZulmEc0cPbz0CgyH_fTvz0mdzrywlpG6PA9opoW0h5m2cGbDKgei4No2dYm6To-bxO_-uk0kVXNyXaWf3Tfa9rhWOSEtj6fH7wopgsF965uphEYlAxNkMF3nrLZsA1Rm6Q/s960/butterfly+on+thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rmCHzfrAoZulmEc0cPbz0CgyH_fTvz0mdzrywlpG6PA9opoW0h5m2cGbDKgei4No2dYm6To-bxO_-uk0kVXNyXaWf3Tfa9rhWOSEtj6fH7wopgsF965uphEYlAxNkMF3nrLZsA1Rm6Q/s320/butterfly+on+thumb.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Jezy7v6fQH0mA-rgTDBUR4FGt7P95yM_5K-esETa46zRS7mMqT-UV8sDbAu0J5E6Vgw2fr9honFpLHVRhQid6Jmrf3d8ilkyUo-Kbqj4-OpIBmMDyNwQgIhmRYt51P6B1Uwf0o2Cyjw/s960/butterfly+on+thumb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Jezy7v6fQH0mA-rgTDBUR4FGt7P95yM_5K-esETa46zRS7mMqT-UV8sDbAu0J5E6Vgw2fr9honFpLHVRhQid6Jmrf3d8ilkyUo-Kbqj4-OpIBmMDyNwQgIhmRYt51P6B1Uwf0o2Cyjw/s320/butterfly+on+thumb2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HkTMQ855vkC6KcHou9ejjXpC1eLhJuHeikXrQXGKNVLQNFMSbhKOkTef21wOjCluJOng-t9at9IBXqpAUvNenKlf0uysyQ_h_r-hPUWSQVKRmFq3VLRo7hqHXN82bIJY3hTRHZ1QlUo/s960/butterfly+on+shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HkTMQ855vkC6KcHou9ejjXpC1eLhJuHeikXrQXGKNVLQNFMSbhKOkTef21wOjCluJOng-t9at9IBXqpAUvNenKlf0uysyQ_h_r-hPUWSQVKRmFq3VLRo7hqHXN82bIJY3hTRHZ1QlUo/s320/butterfly+on+shirt.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7__lfoJ_gxbmwLG8B9a8LVnoGSbR1DEnodZstiU3z3G2BIG5vErPhfP_wL9677aZ-_vgi1zw9cltfgYgI5Ynt5JNZVgOuzjFe2mDqEXCFISXK8H-WJ7CwAf2dhfXEQkQwBNCUcxnhhSc/s960/butterfly+on+foot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7__lfoJ_gxbmwLG8B9a8LVnoGSbR1DEnodZstiU3z3G2BIG5vErPhfP_wL9677aZ-_vgi1zw9cltfgYgI5Ynt5JNZVgOuzjFe2mDqEXCFISXK8H-WJ7CwAf2dhfXEQkQwBNCUcxnhhSc/s320/butterfly+on+foot.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjQp3iRRXN-5ii1AsQD8AbdPSSqjScF2ZcE5bW4Xv-oXiqRiyE-sf0iIZFmVp08wCk3AxCnIgAB1gAjow7W8_FsdeRmcs-niAN3WZ1k2mpoAkH8FkraPCOHvtsDU8P_eMsxKnn_IIsX4/s960/butterfly+nose+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjQp3iRRXN-5ii1AsQD8AbdPSSqjScF2ZcE5bW4Xv-oXiqRiyE-sf0iIZFmVp08wCk3AxCnIgAB1gAjow7W8_FsdeRmcs-niAN3WZ1k2mpoAkH8FkraPCOHvtsDU8P_eMsxKnn_IIsX4/s320/butterfly+nose+kiss.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></span></div></div>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-90173893289404521072019-04-13T15:50:00.001-05:002019-04-13T15:50:20.451-05:00Gratitude bricksI've had one of the hardest and most humbling years of my life. I feel like I'm crawling my way out of a wreckage. I am not the same person... and maybe that's a good thing.
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<br>But my flame of faith has dwindled to a flickering flame and some days I fear the slightest breeze will extinguish it. So I surrender this tiny pile of embers with nothing but hope that He will still work with what's left. Perhaps whatever fire He can set ablaze with a pathetic flame will be all the more to His glory and His alone.
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<br>I have battled in my thoughts and flesh. I have hated what I've loved and loved what I hated. I finally understand Paul's words in Romans when he talks about the battle in his flesh... that he serves the law of God with his mind, but his body/flesh wages an even harder battle. He therefore concludes his frustration that he finds himself doing that which he hates!
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<br>Confession and repentance truly are the only spiritual keys out of our own prisons. It takes being willing to lose everything for the sake of finally reconnecting with integrity to leap like a gazelle out of our transgressions.
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<br>I so desperately long for the day when this testing is completed and the victory is fully His.
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<br>Joy used to be my daily companion but it's been nearly a year since I've felt her presence. But something dawned on me today...
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<br>I went for a walk and soaked in the long awaited sunshine. Suddenly, I began to thank God for the ability to walk... and a smile began on my face... so then I thanked Him for clean air and lungs that work to nourish my body with oxygen-rich blood... and a spark ignited in my heart.
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<br>Wow!! With each tiny brick of gratitude, it's as though I began laying a foundation amidst the wreckage. Joy can only be built on a foundation of gratitude!
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<br>It's not something that you can buy or be given, it truly is a choice to create a brick out of your own willingness to SEEK and FIND what is good around you. A paradigm shift with a power that no one can take from you!
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<br>No wonder the Bible says "rejoice in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
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<br>So rather than be lost in my year of discipline from God as an erroneous message of my condemnation, I will rise with the truth that in discipline, He is CALLING us!
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<br>So my beloved dear ones, count your blessings like little bricks and watch Joy build up in your life like a lighthouse... a lighthouse where even the tiniest flickering flame can lead a ship safely home.
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<br>God bless you all!Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-6695929789014192312019-02-01T09:23:00.000-06:002019-02-01T09:24:01.111-06:00Sand, Sin and Living Waters (Word of God)I just remembered something I'd taught the children about four years ago...
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<br>We were on a camping trip to Kakabecca Falls and playing on the beach. The kids hands were coated with wet sand and they couldn't get it off. So I said "kids, come with me." They followed me back to the water and I said "do you see how you're covered in sand that you can't wipe off on your own? This sand is sticking to you like sin does. But God's Word is called living water. When we confess and repent of our sins, look at what happens...". With that, I put my dirty hands in the water and brought them back up completely free of any single grain of sand. The kids' eyes went wide-eyed and they quickly followed suit and marveled as their hands came back up completely clean! "Can you find any grain of sand or sin left on your hands?" They answered "no!" With a big smile on my face, I said "and that is how our God deals with our sins... once washed, they are nowhere to be found."
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<br>The LORD is gracious to bring this memory back to me today. And He is gracious to remind me of His tender mercy. He is Mighty to save and worthy of all praise. May my soul magnify His Redemptive Name!Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-65491681583068364892018-08-28T13:05:00.002-05:002018-08-28T13:05:53.953-05:00Isabel’s Memorial Serviceso many of you have journeyed with us, carrying us through love and prayers. Here were my thoughts and observations as Isabel’s mother these nineteen years. I miss my baby so much... but she lives on as I proclaim what I believe her mission has been! <br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/EltX5k6PylQ">https://youtu.be/EltX5k6PylQ</a>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-37665347559462188802018-08-10T17:05:00.000-05:002018-08-10T17:05:26.562-05:00Nevertheless We've Rebelled Against YouIt was during my study on the Holy Spirit that it was revealed to me that He is not a New Testament being! He has been there from the beginning and He is everywhere in the Old Testament. I had no idea! We are told that every prophet was cloaked by the Holy Spirit.<br />
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<i>And we have the <b>prophetic word</b> more fully <u>confirmed</u>, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place... no <b>prophecy of Scripture</b> comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but <b>men spoke from God as they were carried along by the <u>Holy Spirit</u></b>. (2 Peter 1:19-21)</i></blockquote>
The job of the Holy Spirit includes knowing all Truth, witnessing to the Truth, teaching the Truth, empowering others with obedience to the Truth, sanctifying those in the Truth, etc... His actions and words are proclaimed through the true prophets.<br />
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But we are of the flesh and we refuse God's truth, we refuse to submit to it<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dAuaKIExGTI" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<br />Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-65988960450237469692018-08-10T17:02:00.000-05:002018-08-10T17:02:26.242-05:00Losing Isabel FaithMy beloved brothers and sisters, near and far, known and unknown...<br />
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It is with a great heaviness that I let you know that our daughter, Isabel Faith, passed away on Saturday August 4th... her daddy's birthday. We began a very rough 2018 on my birthday (end of January) and after seven months and seven days of hospitalizations, intubations/life support, etc... it is finished. She is free.<br />
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Isabel was surrounded by loved ones, and she gazed at her father who gently played guitar as I hummed to her when she breathed her last. I lay in bed that night and wept like I have never wept before... my back arched as though heaven itself were trying to pull my spirit out through my chest! A feeling I pray/hope I don't ever have to experience again.<br />
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We will be holding her Celebration of Life on Wednesday, August 15th at 2:00 pm. Know that all of you who have carried us in your thoughts and prayers will be with us.<br />
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There are too many amazing details that the LORD orchestrated these last seven months (including the removal of a grapefruit-sized tumour from my right ovary) and my hope and prayer as I learn what life looks like without her physical presence, is that I will document those details to share with all of you. She was not just our daughter, she was (and continues to be) God's gift to all of us.<br />
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Thank you for loving us, carrying us and for mourning and celebrating with us. God bless you all.Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-13792102442864852592018-08-08T17:11:00.017-05:002021-10-03T17:15:55.301-05:00From Ashes to Ashes<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The days are strangely passing by as though the world and its hubbub doesn’t realize an angel in its midst has left to return from her mission on earth back to her Maker. Time stops for nothing and for no one. And maybe that’s a good thing or I’d find it very easy to keep everything on “pause.”</span></span></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yesterday, Duane, the kids and I went to Selkirk. We wanted to be “near” where Isabel’s precious little body was being cremated. Walking through this grieving process, I am surprised at what seems to matter to me. For one thing, I didn’t know to anticipate how difficult it would be to leave the precious little cocoon that housed her butterfly spirit. I sat there for nearly two hours on Saturday not knowing how to walk away. How? We’ve spent nineteen years protecting that little body, a little holy temple that housed Izzy’s larger-than-life spirit… And even though I know she’s no longer in there, I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to leave it behind. As I lay in bed that night, I wept like I’ve never wept in all my life… my back arched as though heaven itself was trying to pull my spirit out through my chest! I hope and pray I never have to experience that again.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today, I got to “see” our precious girl in her beautiful new butterfly urn. Little Bear was playing and as I turned the corner and “saw” her, I wept and wept and wept. I touched the urn delicately, afraid at first. But then I pulled it into my arms and into my chest wishing I could pull it into my heart. I thanked God over and over again for having entrusted her to my care, allowing me the honour and privilege of being her mother. The funeral director came to check on me and she sat on the step as I shared Izzy stories. She laughed with me and cried with me until reluctantly, I placed the urn back and had to walk away again.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(228, 230, 235); font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;">Grief is a strangely beautiful process. Perhaps it’s our own struggle out of our cocoon into what a “new” life will look like. But its the struggle that makes our wings strong. So I persevere believing there is a time coming when this struggle will become my victory.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xnmomoemWX2ArYIEYJkd12t65lsAR5rhyphenhyphen5C66q1NM5EWgql7GQwkstXIS9xjGwcPT78k9bGWeINClIPQKvFfwD2AtQDTqgT3lesqhVlCzLQlOL_-5IsvUwGtaSRBHYH8lRmrF_t5X1g/s960/funeral+home+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xnmomoemWX2ArYIEYJkd12t65lsAR5rhyphenhyphen5C66q1NM5EWgql7GQwkstXIS9xjGwcPT78k9bGWeINClIPQKvFfwD2AtQDTqgT3lesqhVlCzLQlOL_-5IsvUwGtaSRBHYH8lRmrF_t5X1g/w400-h300/funeral+home+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXIlc_HvsdYs0ys3ZSTXFOjIch4ca7kXMRjWyu8lXiw2iPVaD9TSE5_7pY4NXxDhSGGYmiDCW0bdhThSQOCkdJZNblOvYJCywZ1JLW6ATmPJMXQueEt97ilnYw7CbV8kjEPzHQKJeYb0/s960/funeral+home+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXIlc_HvsdYs0ys3ZSTXFOjIch4ca7kXMRjWyu8lXiw2iPVaD9TSE5_7pY4NXxDhSGGYmiDCW0bdhThSQOCkdJZNblOvYJCywZ1JLW6ATmPJMXQueEt97ilnYw7CbV8kjEPzHQKJeYb0/w400-h300/funeral+home+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidocT455fGMHuyYw52ppU04nC4pIzHiWkA1GNEmFz5RnFMJKDcu68WXrjVNoCr1ysmQ0j74RPvUsccESk1Vd20hB75YVxC4g9VAcrbPWGbW-oyYj-XVbQn6RPVNLWnKtAYVy1frG9Ad6I/s960/funeral+home+-+urn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidocT455fGMHuyYw52ppU04nC4pIzHiWkA1GNEmFz5RnFMJKDcu68WXrjVNoCr1ysmQ0j74RPvUsccESk1Vd20hB75YVxC4g9VAcrbPWGbW-oyYj-XVbQn6RPVNLWnKtAYVy1frG9Ad6I/w300-h400/funeral+home+-+urn.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-19954237909221048032017-11-24T23:46:00.001-06:002017-11-25T00:02:43.908-06:00False Apostles Of Christ scripture song<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DpDubXZ3BaU" width="480"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-57002602096318512982017-07-19T21:12:00.002-05:002017-07-19T21:12:46.689-05:00Don't Presume on God's GraceThis song is based on Paul's warning in Romans 2:4-5 "Or <b>do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance</b>? But because of your hard and <i>impenitent heart</i> you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."<br />
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Why does Yeshua rebuke five of His seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3? These are His redeemed people, claiming to be saved by His grace and yet He rebukes them that they still have <b><u>not repented</u></b>. And He warns that if they won't repent, He will war against them and come upon them as a thief in the night. This reminds me of Jude's warning in verse 5 "Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Yeshua, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, <b><i>AFTERWARDS</i></b> <u>destroyed</u> those who <b>did not believe</b>."<br />
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First of all, how awesome that Yeshua was there in the Exodus? Stephen confirms this in Acts 7:38, when he tells us Yeshua Himself delivered the Law through Moses at Mount Sinai to a people redeemed by His GRACE (Israelites AND mixed multitude of gentiles - see Exodus 9:20 & 12:38). Secondly, harsh judgment came upon these people AFTER their redemption through Grace from Egypt. There was a separation of the goats from the sheep, so-to-speak, from among His redeemed people. Many perished for their rebellion to God's Torah including Korah. <br />
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We are told in Romans 15:4 that "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction." And 2 Timothy confirms this by saying that Scripture (being the Old Testament - because the New Testament was not canonized til hundreds of years later) is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for our correction and for our training in righteousness. <br />
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So what does scripture teach us on what true repentance is? Let us turn to the Scriptures, to our instructions, and find out what the Bride is still missing regarding true repentance.<br />
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Grace first, followed by God's Torah (instructions on how to live as a people set apart by His grace) and in the end, a war against those who accepted His Grace and then trampled upon it by refusing to submit and believe His Torah as holy, righteous and good. After all, this very Torah became flesh and blood and dwelt among us. These are those whom Yeshua will say "as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them [because they thought me harsh], bring them here and slaughter them before me." (Luke 19:27)<br />
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So my darlings, let us not presume on God's mercy... but let us bear fruit in keeping with our repentance. True scriptural repentance as defined by God, not man.<br />
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(as a side note, I apologize for the shaky video footage. I am an amateur of amateurs! ;)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oYEgXt5sVvg" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-28373466292055931852017-07-19T20:30:00.001-05:002017-07-19T20:32:24.524-05:00Open Their Eyes That They May TurnThese past twenty-four hours, there's been what feels like an inundation of scripture songs pouring into and out of my heart. The theme is certainly a call out for repentance. I'll share them as they come and as time permits me to upload them.<br />
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This song is in regards to Acts 26:18. <br />
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The setting? The Apostle Paul (or Shaul) is pleading his case before King Agrippa in Rome. He is relieved because this King is acquainted with the Law of God and so Paul is certain he can explain why he is wrongfully accused by the unbelievers of Jewish descent. Paul is at the part where he explains how Yeshua (Jesus) appeared to him in a bright light and spoke "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." (How beautiful is our Messiah's love that even in our ignorant zealousness that blinds us to the very blood of saints upon our hands, He cries out to us patiently?) This song is Yeshua's call to Saul: "I am Yeshua whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles - to whom I am sending you to <b>open their eyes, so that they may TURN (repent) from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.</b>"<br />
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Isn't it fascinating how scripture defines rebellion to God as one and the same for Israel and for Gentiles? And that turning back, repenting, is one and the same? There is no partiality with God.<br />
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My darlings, may His Spirit anoint us all as His witnesses... to empower us to "open their eyes" so that they may repent and turn back to our merciful God who forgives abundantly for His name's sake! Blessed be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... our Righteous Law-Giver to a people redeemed from Egypt, who saves us from ourselves! God bless you all out there! ((HUG))<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3f0Rwa83W_o" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-72755621622652995472017-01-14T21:59:00.000-06:002017-01-14T21:59:19.068-06:00Circumcise the Foreskin of Your HeartYep, I just used the word "circumcise" and "foreskin" in my title... anyone else feel uncomfortable? LOL!! Are you crinkling your nose? Well, me too! My husband joked with me and said "hey, you should submit this song to the local Christian Music Station." He found that way more funny than I care to admit. Sigh. But he's right. This is tough putting some of God's words to song, because let's face it, it does not tickle the ears. Maybe we've got foreskin on our ears, too then! Let's just squirm in our chairs a little more at the notion, shall we? Ok, ok... I'll quit pushing the envelope here. I'm already asking a lot from you so God bless you for reading this far and sticking this out.<br />
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So why this verse put to song?<br />
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Too often I hear people say that the Old Testament (OT) is about the flesh and the New Testament NT) is about the Spiritual. OT was about circumcising the flesh and the NT is about circumcising our hearts. But a circumcised heart is what God has been asking of us from the beginning! By no means is it a NT concept, it is only confirmed in the NT.<br />
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It is a call to repentance... shedding our old self and turning back to His ways. <br />
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Deuteronomy 30 is where YHWH lays out His standard of repentance and forgiveness. This is where He explains a circumcised heart for the first time and that He alone is the one to perform the "surgery" when we return to Him...<br />
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<i>And the Lord your God will <b><u>circumcise your heart</u></b> and the heart of your offspring, so that you will <b>love</b> the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live... And you shall again <b>obey</b> <b>the voice</b> of the Lord and <b>keep all his commandments</b> that I command you today. (Deuteronomy 30:6 and 8)</i></blockquote>
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<i>But if they <b>confess their iniquity</b> and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their <b><u>uncircumcised heart is humbled</u></b> and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, <u>because</u> they <b>spurned my rules and their <u>soul</u> abhorred my statutes</b>. (Leviticus 26:40-43)</i></blockquote>
We are warned over and over again to return to the LORD and to stop being rebellious and stubborn towards His righteous Law. Remember how Yeshua warned that as the world was judged by water the first time, so are the heavens and earth stored up with fire for the 2nd and final judgment? Well, our heart's yucky foreskin is still an issue today!<br />
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<i><b>Circumcise yourselves to the Lord</b>; remove the <b>foreskin of your hearts</b>, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like <b>fire</b>, and burn with none to quench it. (Jeremiah 4:4)</i></blockquote>
Did you notice in Deuteronomy 30 how a truly repentant heart returns to obedience? Paul confirms that joyful obedience from the heart is what determines a true state of circumcision. It's like a medical doctor is "cloaked" in his physician skill sets whether he's wearing a white lab coat or not. Anyone can look the part outwardly by wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope walking around a hospital, but which guy would you call upon for help if you started having a heart attack? The one who looks the part or the one who IS the part? <br />
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<i>So, if a man who is <b>uncircumcised</b> [not wearing his white lab coat] <b>keeps the precepts of the law</b> [practices his PhD], will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is <b>physically uncircumcised</b> [not wearing a lab coat] <b>but <u>keeps the law</u></b> [practicing physician skill sets] will condemn you who have the written code [Physician manual] and circumcision [labcoat] but <b>break the law</b> [no PhD]. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly [wearing a lab coat doesn't make you a Dr], nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a <b>Jew is one inwardly</b> [what you know, study, believe & do], and <b>circumcision is a matter of the <u>heart</u></b>, by the Spirit, not by the letter [God gives the PhD, not man]. (Romans 2:26-29) - please note all words between [ and ] are my additions</i></blockquote>
And now watch how Stephen rebukes the Pharisees who were merely wearing white lab coats to boast in the "appearance" of righteousness while having none of it within their hearts:<br />
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<i>You stiff-necked people, <b>uncircumcised in heart</b> and <b>ears</b>, you always <b>resist the Holy Spirit</b>. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who <b>received the law as delivered by angels and <u>did not keep it</u></b>.” (Acts 7:51-53)</i></blockquote>
And that, my dear ones, is why you get to read the words "circumcised" and "foreskin" way too many times today in a single post! You still with me? Well, then you just rock! So just to make you hear it a few more times before the end of the day, here's a song to get stuck in your head...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDmc676XRT8" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-3059602886260562472017-01-14T20:55:00.000-06:002017-01-14T20:55:30.625-06:00Do Not Think I've Come to Abolish the Law or ProphetsMatthew 5:17 is a powerful statement by our Redeemer that whoever does the Law and Prophets and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom, whereas those who take away from it even in the slightest and teach others to do the same will be called least. No partitioning His law into parts (moral, civic, ceremonial) nor justifying being rid of some/most of it! If we want to be walking in faith, that means walking in faithfulness to every word what has proceeded from His mouth! YHWH called heaven and earth as His two witnesses to His Law in Deuteronomy 30:19 hence Yeshua standing firm on its validity here and in Luke 16:17. Given that 2 Peter 3:13 confirms we are still waiting for this new heaven and earth, let us rejoice in the Truth of His Word and let us stay awake to test those who call themselves Apostles and yet are false because they altered YHWH's law, His appointed times and New Moon calendar! (2 Corinthians 11:14-15, Revelation 2:2, Daniel 7:25 and Daniel 11:30). We are still waiting for the fullness of restoration to come hence Yeshua's words: "Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44) Let us hold dear the Law and Prophets and the Psalms like a love letter from our Beloved... every promise of His yet to be fulfilled are like a tender comfort as we persevere in patient endurance for His return.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ix9Z-J1YKcU" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-91438457695675539762017-01-14T18:27:00.000-06:002017-01-14T18:27:06.918-06:00What is Written in the Law? HOW Do you Read it?<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Luke 10:25-28</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> is a great example of Yeshua (Jesus) confirming the words of the Father. He points us back to words of Life (which He embodies/manifests) and makes sure that if we are reading the Father's instructions (Torah/Law) with a heart that earnestly seeks to love Him and our neighbours, we will find ourselves graciously inheriting eternal life. "For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3). So let us draw near to the mount of our Redeemer and learn His Ways! God bless you out there!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQLS4JL1dcs" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-68776335556586633522017-01-14T18:24:00.002-06:002017-01-14T18:24:50.358-06:00New Covenant Promise - Law in our Hearts<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The gospel message of our Hope can be summarized in the New Covenant passages such as Jeremiah </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/#" style="border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">31:31</a><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-34, Ezekiel 11:19-20</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> and 36:26-29</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Paul echoes the voice of the prophets in Romans 8:7 when he confirms that our fleshly/earthly nature is at enmity with YHWH because it refuses to submit to His law. Praise be to God who sent His Beloved Salvation, Yeshua (Jesus) to show us joyful and perfect submission through a love so powerful that not even death could contain it... and then He put that into the hearts of those who believe His promises! We have been saved from our rebellion against His righteous, spiritual law! God bless you all out there!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EQuhU3D_EdM" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-32228684626989976142017-01-14T18:18:00.000-06:002017-01-14T18:20:52.982-06:00Do & Observe Whatever is Read from the Seat of Moses<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Matthew 23:1-3 are words in red. Our Redeemer, Yeshua (Jesus) taught that whatever is read from the seat of Moses (where Torah/Law) was supposedly read from, is to be done and observed. He then commanded in Matthew 28:20</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> to teach the nations to observe everything He taught. This sure explains why in Matthew 5:19 Yeshua proclaims that those who DO and TEACH the Law & Prophets will be called great in His kingdom someday! Hooray! But we are not to be hypocrites like those who are hearers of the Word only! So I do my best to do and observe the Torah because my Redeemer commanded me to. I believe Him! May it glorify our righteous Law-giver by pointing right to Him! Hee hee!! And don't mind the freeze frame for this video... super unflattering! But so are my humbling mistakes on this walk... there's a true-to-form, less-than-flattering summary of who I am! LOL!!</span><br />
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I found this interesting article/summary on the topic of Moses' Seat:<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Eleazar L. Sukenik, in his important study published in 1934, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman,italic"; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><b>Ancient Synagogues in Palestine
and Greece</b></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">, provided several examples of “Chairs of Moses” found by archaeologists. The one
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">at Hammath-by-Tiberias is most interesting, because the back of the chair faces towards
Jerusalem, picturing the law going forth from that direction as the synagogue audience is facing
Zion. Stone seats positioned so that their occupant sat facing the congregation have been found
in synagogues at Chorazin (cf. Matt. 11:21, Luke 10:13) in 1962, in En Gedi, and two Diaspora
synagogues, (1) in Delos, the marble seat found in its ruins is probably the oldest example of a
seat of Moses known (ca. 100 BC), and (2) Dura-Europos. Noel Rabbinowitz says this evidence
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">taken together bolsters our conviction that the “Seat of Moses” was a ph</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">ysical seat upon which
the Pharisees sat.</span><span style="color: rgb(0.000000% , 0.000000% , 100.000000%); font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 8.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;">[1] </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">He goes on to explain that most of the synagogue furniture was made of
wood, which is why so few of these objects have survived. </span></i></blockquote>
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Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-13215571823804319532017-01-14T17:58:00.000-06:002017-01-14T17:59:36.975-06:00If You Don't Believe Moses' Writings, How Will You Believe My Words?<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John </span>5:46<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> are powerful words spoken by our Redeemer Yeshua (Jesus). In John </span>14:24<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, He confirmed that the Word He was teaching was not His own but "His who sent me." This is in fulfillment of YHWH's promise to Moses in Deuteronomy </span>18:18<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> that someday He would raise up a prophet like him from among his people to speak these words (His Law). Therefore, the people were to store up the Word in their heart and teach it diligently to their children in order to recognize this promised Prophet. Peter confirmed in Acts </span>3:22<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> that this was referencing Yeshua and Stephen also confirmed it in Acts </span>7:37<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Moses, an earthly man, warned us to delight in the Torah of YHWH and now we have been warned from Heaven (Hebrews </span>12:25<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">)... will we finally believe Moses' writings and consequently finally believe the teachings of Yeshua? May it be so! May He "open your mind to understand the scriptures" so that "beginning with Moses and the Prophets", He can fully reveal Himself to you! (Luke </span>24:27<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, 32 and 44-45). God bless you!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pi4YbZa7rcQ" width="640"></iframe>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-79215401671159572442016-12-24T16:24:00.000-06:002017-01-03T21:08:11.877-06:00Feasts of YHWH vs Traditions of Men Part 2: What is Deception?Good morning! I feel giddy.... like I've just walked over to your place and knocked on your door asking "Hey! You wanna come out and play? You wanna go for another walk with me? That's the beauty of a testimony, isn't it? You don't have to subscribe to it and/or believe it. There is zero expectation, only the question: do you want to hear a story? Do you want to go for a walk?<br />
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Well, had I asked you that question after I addressed my #1 Stumbling Block in part 1 (do I <i>want to know</i> if I am wrong?), it would have been a treacherous walk! I would've told you "wear your helmet cuz there's going to be a lot of stumbling... I'm BLIND now!!"<br />
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Yep. That's what overcoming stumbling block #1 feels like. You go from thinking you saw everything clearly to suddenly realizing you're blind! Pitch black darkness. How scary is that? I absolutely understand why so many of us look at stumbling block #1 and go "um, no thanks! That looks like it's going to suck... and hurt... and be scary. I'll keep things just the way they are, thank you very much."<br />
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Because it does hurt! <br />
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Have you ever been <i>deceived</i> by someone you completely trusted? Do you recall how the unexpected <i>betrayal</i> felt at the very core of your being? Do you remember the inconsolable pain that nothing of this world could touch or reach? That is the power of our Adversary. <br />
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Just as Love (what <u>IS</u> good) is the power of God, Deception (what <u>SEEMS</u> good) is the power of Satan. Take a moment and read that sentence again. After all, Eve did not partake of the forbidden fruit because she thought it was a <i>bad</i> thing to do... she partook only when Satan deceived her to believe it was a <i>GOOD</i> thing to do.<br />
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<i>So when the woman saw that the tree <b><u>was good</u></b> for food, and that it <b>was a delight</b> to the eyes, and that the tree was <b>to be desired</b> to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)</i></blockquote>
And so it was with what I believed as my sincere devotion to God. I genuinely believed it was good, that it was a delight to Him and I thought myself wise in His ways. Nowhere did I realize I was ignorant! Because nowhere in my devotion and worship did I intentionally seek "hey, how can I act wickedly against God? What abominations can I commit towards Him?" I was sincere in seeking what I thought was <i>good</i>!<br />
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But so was Eve.<br />
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<i>But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, <b>your thoughts</b> will be <b>led astray</b> from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)</i></blockquote>
But here's the good news... do you know what the surprising thing is about finally realizing you're blind? You start feeling your way around <u>desperately</u>... you start looking/seeking for what is solid... you start looking for what is TRUTH. It's like being born again... vulnerable and having to re-learn everything from scratch! Until that point, there is no seeking, only assuming everything we're doing is "good".<br />
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<i>"Truly, I say to you, unless you <b><u>turn</u></b> [repent / reject old ways / do a 180] and <b>become like children</b>, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)</i></blockquote>
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<i>As obedient <b>children</b>, do not be conformed to the passions of your <b>former ignorance</b>... Having purified your souls by your <b>obedience to the truth</b>... since you have been <b>born again</b>, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding <u>word of God</u>. (1 Peter 1:22-23) </i></blockquote>
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<i>And [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth... that they should <b>seek God</b> in the hope that they might <b>feel their way towards Him</b> [like a blind man] and <b><u>find Him</u></b>... The <b>times of ignorance</b> God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to <b><u>repent</u></b>. (Acts 17:26-27 & 30)</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Like <b>newborn infants</b>, long for the pure <b>spiritual milk</b>, that by it you may grow up into <u>salvation</u> - if indeed you have tasted that the LORD is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)</i> - please note that Paul refers to this spiritual milk as the <b>oracles of God</b> in Hebrews 5:12-13 which Stephen equates to the <b>Law of Moses</b> in Acts 7:38</blockquote>
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I struggled with admitting I was blind! Oh how humbling!!! How can the LORD love me when I have been blinded? But in His great mercy and comfort, He showed me why my blindness was <i>beautiful</i> in His sight and why it was necessary:<br />
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<i>"For judgement I came into this world, that those who <b>do not see may see</b>, and those who <b>see may become blind</b>." Some of the Pharisees [prideful teachers] near Him heard these things, and said to Him, 'Are we also <b>blind</b>?' Yeshua said to them, "if you were blind, you would <b>have no guilt</b>; but now that you say, 'we see,' your <b>guilt remains</b>." (John 9:39-41) - </i>Had these teachers tackled stumbling block #1 of 'could I be wrong?'</blockquote>
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<i>"I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to these things... delivering you from your people [Israel] and from Gentiles - to whom I am sending you to <b>open their eyes</b>, so that they may <b>turn from darkness to light</b> and from the <b>power of Satan to God</b>, <u>that they may receive forgiveness</u> of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me"... that they should <b>repent</b> and <b>turn to God</b>, performing deeds in keeping with their <b>repentance</b>." (Acts 26:16-18 & 20)</i></blockquote>
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So deception is the conviction that something is <i>good</i>, when in truth, it is evil. That is the true blindness. That is the real darkness. Therefore, the weapon of warfare for deception is ignorance!!<br />
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<i>Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because <b>you know neither the Scriptures</b> nor <b>the power of God</b>?" (Mark 12:24)</i></blockquote>
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<i>My people are destroyed for <b>lack of knowledge</b>; because you have <b>rejected knowledge</b>, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have <b>forgotten the law</b> of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Therefore my people go into exile for <b>lack of knowledge</b>. (Isaiah 5:13)</i></blockquote>
<br />
YHWH has revealed to me that Deception is a beautiful broadly-paved road with twists to the right and to the left, winding and curving, distracting its wanderers from the sudden last turn that ends in death. Deception is a death whose tombstone reads: "Ignorance is Bliss."<br />
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<br />
So Stumbling Block #2 for Rita:<br />
1. Have I been deceived?<br />
2. Have I been ignorant? <br />
3. Am I blind?<br />
<br />
With this, my spirit cried out "if ignorance is the weapon of our Adversary that ensnares us into a blind slavery, what can be our only weapon in fighting back? How do we fight with wisdom and discernment to breaks off the bonds of deception?" The Father answered me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>For the <b><u>word of God</u></b> is living and active, <b>sharper than any two-edged sword</b>, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and <b><u>discerning</u> the thoughts and intentions of the heart</b>. (Hebrews 4:12)</i></blockquote>
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<i>"If you <b>abide in <u>my word</u></b>, you are truly my disciples, and you will <b>know the <u>truth</u></b>, and the truth will <b>set you free</b>." (John 8:31-32)</i> </blockquote>
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With that, my dear ones, the LORD revealed to me that there is a war happening. It is not a war where I am looking outside and around me for some evil red-horned being whose wickedness can be seen from a mile away! No. The war is spiritual and it is within me... it's within all of us... in our thoughts, in our heart (which is deceptive above all things)... therein lies the spiritual realm and it is at war.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Put on the full <b>armour of God</b> for His <b>precepts</b> are like the splendid armour of a heavily-armed soldier, so that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the <b>schemes </b>and the<b> strategies </b>and the<b> deceits of the devil</b>. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood... but against the rulers, against powers, against the world forces of this present <b>darkness</b>, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places... Above all, lift up the protective <b>shield</b> of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the <b>helmet</b> of salvation and the <b>sword of the Spirit</b>, which is the <b><u>Word of God</u></b>. (Ephesians 6:11-12 & 16-17)</i></blockquote>
<br />
Praise be to God! My fighting back began when I was finally willing to look at Stumbling Block #1 of 'could I be wrong?' and <i>not</i> walk away! Praise be to God who revealed to me my blindness and caused my spirit to cry out to Him and to finally start seeking for Truth as if it's a treasure hunt for my life!! He has caused me to hunger and thirst after Him!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Blessed are those who <b>hunger and thirst for righteousness</b>, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me, and I will hear you. You will <b>seek me</b> and find me, when you <b>seek me with <u>all your heart</u></b>. I will be <b>found</b> by you, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Who shall ascend to the hill of the LORD? And who shall sit in his holy place? He who has <b>clean hands</b> [repented] and a <b>pure heart</b> [circumcised], who <b>does not lift up his soul <u>to what is false</u></b>... He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who <b>seek him</b>, who <b>seek</b> the face of the God of Jacob. (Psalms 24:3-6)</i> </blockquote>
<br />
Now, my dear ones, we have walked together and here we are back at your doorstep. Thank you for walking with me... thank you for listening to a story. I pray its words be a blessing to you, a comfort and a hope in the face of its terrifying possibility of being true. But that will be your journey, your walk... one I hope and pray unites us at a doorstep knocking and asking "Do you want to go for a walk? Do you want to hear my story?" <br />
<br />
I have not met many of you, and yet I love you so deeply. I am with you in your warfare! I pray for your protection, for the armour of God to protect you! Fight, my dear ones! Fight and win! But begin with the biggest battle of all: asking yourself "have I been deceived? Am I blind?"<br />
<br />
God bless you all and see you in part 3!Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-6054193656695528962016-12-23T02:22:00.001-06:002016-12-24T11:01:00.007-06:00Dream: The Fortress and the TreeIt began with cold water at my feet... about mid-calf... all around. <br />
<br />
I was walking through it, the gentle swooshing sound with each step. The water was so crystal clear... and then a word: "pristine". It was as though the water had come from a glacier or mass of ice... a purity from long ago. The view spanned out and it appeared as though I was in a valley yet high up somewhere... like the mouth of a volcano? Or a valley within a mountain? As I walked, there were others also walking towards a concealed fortress built within the rocky mountain halfway up one of its peaks. It was so brilliantly built into the rock that one could have easily missed it.<br />
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But to my amazement as I walked, there in the middle of this valley to behold was the tree! Never in my life have I seen such a majestic tree! Its height was immeasurable. I could not see its top. One would think it grew to the height of heaven! Its trunk was so thick and wide, it must have spanned meters upon meters... it took some time to walk past it. It was dripping with water as though the tree had been hidden within ice all this time and was finally recently exposed. And then its leaves... oh dear me, the leaves fully established <i>glistened</i> like little mirrors, an illustrious hidden treasure, as though they themselves bore a <i>silver-lining</i>. The tree bore no fruit in its newness, but one could only imagine when it would! Everyone who walked by it towards the fortress walked in complete silence and awe. All that could be heard was the drip of water and the swooshing of gently walking through it.<br />
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Once arrived at the fortress, half-way up just prior to entering it, I looked back at the beautiful tree and smiled in awe. It stood there almost as if it was a faithful witness to the rock fortress! Inside the fortress, the masses were being "sorted" and assigned into rooms. I began to feel a bit afraid like something really big was going on and the dark cool "<i>gothic</i>" feel of the fortress was not comforting. I was brought to a door I was to go through and once I did, it opened up at the top of a large hall. The span of the space was easily assessed and I choked back my shock as I realized I was in a room with murderers, thieves, convicts... <i>prisoners</i>. The murmuring of the room stopped as everyone looked to the newest addition. Was this my spiritual "classification"? Despite trying to live as a servant of God, has my blindness prevented me from seeing that I am a murderer, a thief, a convict? What was the fate of these men? What was mine? Heartbroken, I looked at the stairs that would bring me down to join them, but before I could take my first step, I awoke.<br />
<br />
I don't remember how many years ago I had that dream, but sometime in the last seven. With the key words made known, I looked up their definition:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>Pristine</b> (adjective): belonging to the <u>earliest period</u> or state; in perfect condition, completely clean, fresh; not changed by people, left in its natural state; not spoiled, corrupted or polluted; fresh and clean as if new.</i></blockquote>
Could this mean the tree came from and was preserved in something from long, long ago?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>Illustrious</b> (adj): notably or brilliantly outstanding because of dignity or achievements or actions. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>Silver lining</b> (noun): something good that can be found in a bad situation, a <u>consoling</u> or <u>hopeful</u> prospect.</i></blockquote>
Could this mean that something about the leaves refers to the tree's deeds/actions which somehow shine a light of consolation and hope?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>Gothic</b>: style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in <u>mysterious places</u>; or style of architecture in Europe between 12-16th century.</i></blockquote>
Could this mean the rock fortress is a mysterious place? Is it a spiritual place because it was not easily perceived?<br />
<br />
A few years later, I watched the movie "The Book of Daniel" (one of my favourite movies!!). In the movie, King Nebuchadnezzar also had a dream about a tree. I nearly jumped out of my chair as he described it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"I saw, and behold, a <b>tree</b> in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top <b>reached to heaven</b>, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its <b>leaves were beautiful</b> and its fruit abundant..." (Daniel 4:10) </i></blockquote>
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WOW!!! So I decided to do a word search on tree and fruit throughout the scriptures and was in awe of the following verses. Here, the prophet Ezekiel has been describing the third temple that is to be in place in the end times and note what is seen:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, <b>water</b> was issuing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and it was <u>ankle-deep</u>. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a <b>river</b> that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very <b>many trees</b> on the one side and on the other... And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of <b>trees</b> for food. Their <b>leaves</b> <b>will not wither</b>, nor their <b>fruit</b> fail, but they will bear <b>fresh fruit</b> every month, because the <b>water</b> for them flows from the sanctuary. Their <b>fruit</b> will be for food, and their <b>leaves</b> <u>for healing</u>." (Ezekiel 47:1-12 Water Flowing from the Temple)</i></blockquote>
Compare that with the vision John had in the last book of the bible, Revelation:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Then the angel showed me the <b>river</b> of the <u>water of life</u>, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river was the <b>Tree of Life</b> with its twelve kinds of <b>fruits</b>, yielding its fruit each month. The <b>leaves</b> of the tree were for the <u>healing of the nations</u>." (Revelation 22:1-2 The River of Life)</i></blockquote>
What I saw in those leaves was not an emitting of its own light (self glorifying), but little mirrors that <i><u>testified</u></i> to the validity of the True Light. This was the consolation and hope! <br />
<br />
Yeshua spoke about the Salt of the Covenant (Lev 2:13, 2 Chr 13:5, Num 18:19) referenced from Torah (Law of Moses) on several occasions. In fact, He said that if we weren't the walking evidence or saltiness of that covenant, we were no longer good for anything. Makes sense doesn't it? If we aren't living out lives of faith that declare and proclaim that every single word that has proceeded from the mouth of God (including His law) is truth, how can we be the salt of His covenant? Yeshua then compared this very saltiness (covenant faithfulness) as a <i>light</i> and concluded with this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Let your light (covenant faithfulness) <u>shine</u> before men in such a way that they may see your <u>good deed</u> (covenant faithfulness in action) and moral excellence and <u><b>glorify your Father</b></u> who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)</i></blockquote>
This is immediately followed by Yeshua validating the truth of the Law and Prophets! And He warns that anyone who relaxes the least of the law will equally be considered least in the kingdom! He then confirms that anyone who DOES the law and prophets (covenant faithfulness in action) and TEACHES the Law and Prophets will be called great. These have remained "salty." Their obedience from the heart to the Father:<br />
a) imitates/reflects Yeshua's own obedience from His heart to the Father, which<br />
b) becomes the evidence of Yeshua and His righteousness within us<br />
This faith in God's covenant faithfulness becomes a hope... a brightness! But not a light that is their own... one that humbly and faithfully reflects (points back) to the True Light that is eternal and unchanging. A brightness/faith that causes its seers to <u>believe</u> and to <u>seek</u> out its source... the Father! This is the healing of the nations!!!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his <u>delight is in the law of the LORD</u>, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a <b>tree planted by streams of water</b> that yields its <b>fruit</b> in its season, and its <b>leaf does not wither</b>. (Psalms 1:1-2)</i></blockquote>
And so I am left with only one of those dreams I rarely get that become imprinted... it does not leave my spirit. I wake up wondering why it stands apart. Perhaps for no reason at all, but for this dream to come prior to my reading the scriptures, seems too strangely similar! Who is the tree? When will it bear fruit? Who were those prisoners? Was I there among them because that was where I belonged or were all of them waiting for something?<br />
<br />
So I did a word search on "prisoner" and was surprised to find that Paul and some of the Apostles referred to themselves as "prisoner for Christ" and/or "prisoner in Christ."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God..." (2 Timothy 1:8)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the <b>spirits in prison</b>, because they formerly did not obey..." (1 Peter 3:18-20)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Some [souls] sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, <b>prisoners in affliction</b> and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High... Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." (Psalms 107:10-11 & 13)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to <b>bring out the prisoners</b> from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." (Isaiah 42:6-7)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are <b>prisoners</b>." (Psalms 69:33)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the <b>prisoners</b>, to set free those who were doomed to die." (Psalms 102:19-20)</i></blockquote>
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So there you have it, my dear brothers and sisters. Either a good story, an intriguing mental processing of my brain while sleeping, or something from the LORD. Thankfully, He is the God who reveals mysteries where there is one to be revealed. For now, may we all look forward to the living water promised to flow from His heart and the healing of the nations from the Tree of Life! God bless you all!!<br />
<br />Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-32860692869912843502016-12-23T00:19:00.001-06:002016-12-26T14:01:40.805-06:00Feasts of YHWH vs Traditions of Men Part 1: It's About the HeartIt's that time of year again... the holiday season. It has become a unique time for our family. A few years back, the LORD lead us (despite my reluctance) on a journey of questioning the origins of Christmas: is it a festival that honors Him or ironically, deceptively blasphemes Him? It was a painful journey... a reluctant journey, but one that revealed the stubbornness of my heart and led us out of one form of worship into another we never dreamed existed in such radiance.<br />
<br />
These next few posts are going to be about that journey... one that is not yet complete but that continues to humbly reveal where our own hearts are at towards YHWH. Don't worry, you don't have to agree or disagree, I simply invite you to walk alongside me as I share with you the stumbling blocks I did not anticipate finding.<br />
<br />
I find it fascinating (now) to discuss this topic with anyone who is willing, and my heart goes out in understanding and compassion to the challenge of objectively discussing/questioning what is so deeply ensconced in our hearts, our families, and ultimately our culture and worship.<br />
<br />
My journey did not begin with my heart set on putting Christmas to the test. My journey began when I realized my heart was NOT WILLING to put it to the test!<br />
<br />
I don't even remember who it was who called my attention to the possibility that Christmas could be a brilliant deception, but I sure do remember my anger and indignation! How on earth can you call a festival that promotes a spirit of giving, a spirit of peace and reunion, family and joy... how can any of that be called "evil"? I was so offended! Thankfully, I remember this as I try to encourage others to "test" Christmas. Of course there's going to be anger and indignation and offence. I get that. I was exactly there! I think experiencing those feelings IS the first step! But what pierced my heart was a simple question:<br />
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If God said to me, "Rita, Christmas and Easter are an abomination in my sight," would I be <i><u>willing</u></i> to give them up?<br />
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I tried to convince myself that I would. But here I was in the potential moment of exactly that... and was I <i>willing to listen</i>? You know what I found out my truthful answer was? <br />
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No, I was not willing to give them up. <br />
<br />
And that was my first moment of realization, something wasn't right. After all, if my heart is in the full knowledge that it is TRUTHFULLY and beyond a shadow of a doubt a perfectly holy holiday, wouldn't I be EAGER to test it? Wouldn't I be CONFIDENT in testing it? Why was I <i>unwilling</i>? What did my heart know that it wasn't letting me in on?<br />
<br />
So I did start examining the roots of December 25th and they shocked me. Then I caught myself trying to find articles that <i>justified</i> keeping the festivals regardless of their origins! So in the spirit of still wanting to cling to it for dear life, I moved from resisting to justifying and pleading with the LORD as He gently and patiently kept nudging me through my learning. I protested, "<b>But that's not what it means to <u>ME</u></b>! Isn't it about what <u>I</u> make of it? Does the history really matter? Isn't faith all about the fact that we can take what was once evil and baptize it? Turn it into something good? Isn't that the heart of Your gospel message? Isn't it about what's in <u>MY</u> heart that counts?"<br />
<br />
And the LORD answered, "It has <i>everything</i> to do with what's in your heart." <br />
<br />
Aha! See? Yet... why is it that His answer suddenly did not leave me feeling reassured? <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The <b>heart is deceitful</b> above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)</i></blockquote>
<br />
What?? Gulp! So basically, all this "follow your heart" and "be true to your heart" could actually be leading us into the kind of deception where we don't even know to question ourselves? So this really is about the heart and whether or not we are willing to examine/expose it to the light! Are we willing to ask ourselves if we have been deceived? Do we want to be free from our heart's deception? No wonder Paul warned us that we are to "test ourselves in the faith!" (2 Corinthians 13:5) If we don't, we risk being ensnared by our own heart, an unsuspecting slave in Egypt! This is nothing new to the plight of humanity!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Let us <u>test</u> and <u>examine</u> <b>our ways</b>, and <b>return</b> to the LORD!" (Lamentations 3:40)</i></blockquote>
<br />
Sometimes I do way more talking to God than being quiet and listening. Okay, more like most of the time! But suddenly He reminded me of the depth of this newfound troubling truth and why willingness and action on my part was a must: "I am the God who searches mind and heart." <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD <b>searches all hearts</b> and understands every plan and thought." (1 Chronicles 28:9)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"And all the churches will know that I am He who<b> searches mind and heart</b>, and I will give to each of you according to your works." (Revelation 2:22)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"I the LORD <b>search the heart</b> and <u>test</u> the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." (Jeremiah 17:10)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who <u>tests</u> the <b>heart</b> and the mind." (Jeremiah 11:20)</i></blockquote>
<br />
Okay, okay, LORD! You've made your point! Everything about me is fully exposed to You... every thought, every intent of my heart behind my actions, everything. Nothing is hidden from You, which is both strangely reassuring and yet terrifying!! But what are You testing for?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"And you shall remember the whole Way that the LORD your God has led you... that He might humble you,<b> </b><u>testing</u> you to know what was <b>in your heart</b>, whether you would <b>keep his commandments or not</b>." (Deuteronomy 8:2)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may <u>test</u> them, whether they will <b>walk in my law or not</b>." (Exodus 16:4)</i></blockquote>
<br />
And LORD, what are you searching for? What is supposed to be in our heart?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"You shall therefore lay up these <b>words</b> of mine <b>in your heart</b> and in your soul." (Deuteronomy 11:18)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"These <b>words that I</b> <b>command </b>you today shall be <b>on your heart</b>." (Deuteronomy 6:6)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"This <b>commandment</b> that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off... But the <b>word</b> is very near you. It is in your mouth and <b>in your heart</b>, so that you can do it." (Deuteronomy 30:11 & 14) </i></blockquote>
<br />
But YHWH, if the heart is deceptive above all things, what do you find in our hearts, unbeknownst to us? <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all The Way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they <b>did not obey</b> or <b>incline their ear,</b> but walked in their own counsels and the <b>stubbornness of their evil hearts</b>, and went backward and not forward." (Jeremiah 7:23-24) see also Jeremiah 11:8</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"They [false teachers] say continually to those who <b>despise the word</b> of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who <b>stubbornly follows his own heart</b>, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" (Jeremiah 23:17)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"But this people has a <b>stubborn and rebellious heart</b>; they have <b>turned aside</b> and gone away." (Jeremiah 5:23) see also Isaiah 46:12</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"They should not be like their fathers, a <b>stubborn and rebellious</b> generation, a generation whose <b>heart was not steadfast</b>, whose spirit was <b>not faithful</b> to God." (Psalms 78:8)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"This evil people, who <b>refuse to hear my words</b>, who <b>stubbornly follow their own heart</b>..." (Jeremiah 13:10)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"'Return (repent), every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.' But they say, 'That is in vain! We will <b>follow our own plans</b>, and will every one act according to the <b>stubbornness of his evil heart</b>.'" (Jeremiah 18:12)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"<u>Circumcise</u> therefore the <b>foreskin of your heart</b>, and be no longer <b>stubborn</b>." (Deuteronomy 10:16)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"They made their <b>hearts diamond-hard</b> lest they should hear the <b>law</b> and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets." (Zechariah 7:12)</i></blockquote>
<br />
Abba! I never sought to be rebellious towards you! I didn't seek to be stubborn! If this is the natural state of our hearts towards you and your ways, and we are <u>blind</u> to it, then we as your people are in desperate need of a heart transplant!! What hope can we possibly have regarding our diamond-hard hearts of stone towards you?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"And I will give you a <b>new heart</b>, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the <b>heart of stone</b> from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will <b>put <u>my Spirit</u> within</b> you, and <u>cause you</u> to walk in my <b>statutes</b> and be careful to obey my <b>rules</b>." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the <b>heart of stone</b> from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose <b>heart goes after</b> their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the LORD God." (Ezekiel 11:19-21)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my <b>law</b> within them, and I will write it on their <b>hearts</b>." (Jeremiah 31:33 and quoted in Hebrews 10:16 & 8:10)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and <u>all nations</u> shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall<b> no</b> <b>more stubbornly follow their own evil heart</b>." (Jeremiah 3:17)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The <b>law</b> of his God is<b> in his heart</b>; his steps do not slip." (Psalms 37:30-31)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"I delight to do your will, O my God; your <b>law</b> is <b>within my heart</b>." (Psalms 40:8)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people <b>in whose heart</b> is my <b>law</b>." (Isaiah 51:7)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature <b>do what the law requires</b>... they show that the work of the <b>law is written on their hearts</b>... So, if a man who is uncircumcised <b>keeps the precepts of the law</b>, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but <b>keeps the law</b> will condemn you who have the written code but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a <b>Jew is one inwardly</b>, and circumcision is a <b>matter of the heart</b>, <u>by the Spirit</u>." (Romans 2:14-15 & 26-29)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"For we know that the <b>law is spiritual</b>... For the mind that is set on the flesh (uncircumcised) is hostile to God, for it <b>does not submit to God's law</b>; indeed it cannot." (Romans 7:14 & 8:7)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
<br />
And with that, our Gracious Heavenly Father revealed to me the hidden battle of my heart in resisting His ways through justifying myself in my own. My ways were higher to me than His ways.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"There is a <b>way that <u>seems right</u></b> to a man, but its end is <b>the way to death</b>." (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The way of a fool is <b><u>right in his own eyes</u></b>, but a wise man <b>listens</b> to advice." (Proverbs 12:15) </i></blockquote>
<br />
But what are "His Ways?"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"He [the LORD] made known <b>His Ways</b> to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel." (Psalms 103:6-7)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in <b>His Ways</b> and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses." (1 Kings 2:2)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"I have kept <b>His Way</b> and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food." (Job 23:11-12) </i></blockquote>
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So my dear ones, the first step in this journey was not about the historical truths of Christmas... It had everything to do with whether I was willing to consider and accept the possibility that I was wrong in my worship of Him! <br />
<br />
<u>So Rita's Stumbling Block #1:</u><br />
1. Do I <i><b>want to know</b></i> if I am wrong? (That was the toughest one)<br />
2. Am I willing to <i><b>let go</b></i> of my justification, my ways and to <i><b>seek</b></i> out and <b><i>submit</i></b> to His? <br />
3. Am I willing to let go of what I cherish (maybe even idolize?) if God reveals to me it is sin?<br />
4. Am I willing to <i><b>pick up my cross</b></i> and <b><i>die to myself</i></b>? <br />
5. Do I <b><i>want</i></b> a heart transplant? A true baptism of casting off what I have loved in order to become new?<br />
<br />
These are tough questions, especially when you don't think there is anything wrong with how you're worshiping God! It's one thing to be the Prodigal Son aware of the conscious decision to leave the Father to seek after the ways of the world, but it's another when you think you're the son who never left... only to find out you ARE the Prodigal Son!! The worst kind of "lost" is the kind where you don't even know you are.<br />
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And that is deception.<br />
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The heart is deceitful above all things... So I lovingly encourage you to embark on that painful journey of asking yourself those same questions and inviting God to expose your own heart, to bring it to His light, so as to find out where you are being resistant and stubborn towards Him without even realizing it. And don't worry! He is the most gracious and patient teacher!! Don't ever forget that while He knew full well our stubbornness and filth, He loved us deeply... even unto death. So if our Holy God is not intimidated by our filth, neither should you be. He is a gentle and lowly Shepherd whose sheep follow Him willingly, He never drives us. He is mindful of your pace, and reveals to you His great love and mercy in how He waits for you.<br />
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Indeed, this has always been about the heart! It is our hidden Egypt. Is it willing to forsake its own way (a deceptive slavery) to follow Yeshua out of Egypt, to be led through the Red Sea of baptism, to partake of the bread of heaven, and be brought near the Mount of God to be taught His ways as a people redeemed from their old ways? Baptism isn't about taking our golden calves of Egypt and saying that because we now uphold them in the name of Jesus, they are now good. Baptism is about shedding the old ways, casting our once-treasured idols into the fire, and becoming a NEW creation. One that doesn't look back to the ways of the Egypt we've been freed from. God bless you all out there, my brothers and sisters! See you in part 2 (God willing!).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the <b>land of Egypt</b>,' but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel <b>out of the north country</b> and <b>out of the all the countries</b> where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave their fathers. Behold, I am <b>sending for <u>many fishers</u></b>, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. [But] afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. For <b>my eyes are on <u>all their ways</u></b>. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes." (Jeremiah 16:14-17)</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>And he [Yeshua] said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become <b><u>fishers of men</u></b>." (Mark 1:17) </i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Put <b>false ways</b> far from me and graciously <u>teach me</u> your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness... I will run in <b>The Way</b> of your commandments when you <b>enlarge my heart</b>! <u>Teach me</u>, O LORD, <b>The Way</b> of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end." (Psalms 119:29-30 & 32-33)</i></blockquote>
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<br />Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-3420861847708831002016-03-31T17:10:00.000-05:002018-08-10T17:05:09.871-05:00New Van Modification for IzzyHello out there!<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in my last post, this past Spring, it was made evident that a new method of transportation was needed for the well-being of Isabel. The breaking of her femur was a huge motivating factor to bite the bullet financially and go buy a brand new van to get modified with a wheelchair lift. It is a $26,000 modification but our van should be coming back to us next week sometime. It has been gone since December. Thanks to some of my family's encouragement, I setup an account with GoFundMe.com in the hopes of sharing our story with others out there.<br />
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We have been greatly blessed with $16,000 of funding towards the $26,000 modification so our goal is to seek help for the remaining $10,000. It is a very humbling thing to ask for help... who am I kidding? It sucks to ask for help. But the one amazing thing I have learned in those moments is that people are gracious, compassionate, and understanding. More humbling than asking is the eagerness to help we have witnessed first hand.<br />
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So this is an invitation to join us in prayer that the LORD bless this process as He sees fit. We have a roof over our head, food on our table, clothes on our backs and the freedom to love the LORD... as far as our basic needs go, we are richly blessed! Anything above that is sheer blessing!<br />
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And my prayer for you? That you be richly blessed as we have been and more! That your every need be met by our Father who looks after each and every one of His children. God bless you all!<br />
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<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="338" title="Click Here to donate!" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="258"><param name="movie" value="//funds.gofundme.com/Widgetflex.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="flashvars" value="page=izzyvanmod&template=0" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="//funds.gofundme.com/Widgetflex.swf" quality="high" flashVars="page=izzyvanmod&template=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="258" height="338"></embed></object>Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-78585787732658905422016-01-03T16:07:00.001-06:002016-01-03T16:07:16.177-06:00How Time Flies ByHello dear ones! It is my delight to share with you the milestones and daily happenings of our family life. <br />
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Something I have not had the chance to blog about is the wonderful news that our son, Ethan, has been challenging some of his many allergies... and passing them! By challenging them, I mean that bloodwork confirmed low risk of anaphylactic reaction; therefore, under medical supervision in a doctor's office over three to four hours, we let him eat the "potential allergen" and monitor for any reaction. Thanks to these challenges, Ethan was able to break bread with us on Sabbath for the first time several months ago! Duane and I would sit and stare at Ethan as he ate bread... it was mind-boggling! Making him toast for breakfast had every alarm bell going off "Mayday! Mayday! Allergen! Allergen!" only to set it on a plate in front of him for his nourishment. Astounding! We have challenged (some by accident at home) butter, gluten, eggs, dairy, tomatoes, mustard, garlic and he has passed all of them!! He is partaking of almost every meal and it is a joy I cannot properly express. He turned seven this fall and is just as funny as ever. The other day, my Mom poached him some eggs and he asked for seconds. My mother said "you're a hungry boy" to which Ethan replied "well, I am fond of eggs you know." My mother kept a straight face and added "especially these farm-fresh eggs from your farm." "Yep" said Ethan "these are chicken-layed." Both Ethan and Anika are taking violin lessons and is it ever fun to watch them grow in this skill.<br />
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Anika is turning nine very soon and is becoming more of an eager helper. She and Ethan collect the eggs daily, wash them and put them away. They are helping out with rinsing dishes, loading the dishwasher and clearing it. They're even making their own breakfasts! I can see the internal battle with Anika who knows she is getting much older yet misses the days when she could easily be thrown into the air, bounced on our knees or carried up the stairs like a baby. She continues to be my law-abiding-citizen keeping us all in check with what the rules are and ever-ready to let me know when her siblings are not keeping to the rules! She helps to hold us accountable, that's for sure. This fall, we completed a full annual Torah cycle with Ethan and Anika and have begun our second year. It has been a beautiful thing to see their eyes opened to understanding things in the Scriptures that cannot be revealed by flesh and blood. What greater gift can a mother ask for?<br />
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Sivana is starting to read even though she has just turned five. She loves sitting with us for the first part of the Torah portion, reading the first two lines. I am excited for the day when all four of my youngest can read aloud with us every Sabbath. Sivana is an artist at heart and it's fun to view the world through her optimistic eyes... ever trusting the good in people. Sometimes I have been rebuked for being ignorant or naive about this world but even in the face of those who have harmed me most in my life, I have seen their suffering hearts more than my affliction... It's as though I see everyone's wounds and how they are trapped and bound by them and this keeps their hurtful actions from being a personal offense. I see this same attitude in Sivana. Sometimes, it will mean being betrayed, but we have not been called to love those who are easy to love... but rather we have been called to love those who make it difficult to love them. Sometimes, I will overhear Sivana talking to herself about how much she loves Yeshua (Jesus) and when I see her open heart towards everyone, I see His love in her. Even adults who come to teach Sivana in our home talk about her nurturing nature and the joy it brings to them. That is our Sivana.<br />
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Where Sivana trusts and loves everyone, it is hilarious to see the stark contrast in Avalyn who suspects and watches everyone as though she is on guard! She is not easily swayed! Her determination and stubborn will has us hopeful to guide these towards becoming a strength and not a weakness. She is the one who refused to turn upside down in my womb and had to be born by c-section. Her obedience is among the hardest of the kids to submit so I know to acknowledge her efforts when she has willingly set aside her own strong will in order to abide by a command or instruction given to her. I pray that she continue to grow in the joy of this difficult task and that she be comforted in her trust in us. I suppose strong-will and stubbornness has always boiled down to trust. Avalyn does not trust easily but when she does, it is a great gift! Her voice is so unique and her speech is so advanced. She is hilarious, much like Ethan, and often has us laughing about something on a daily basis. Her hugs are the kind that melt right into you... she is a darling gift!<br />
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Isabel is turning seventeen in May. Last Spring, a terrible thing happened. As I was transferring her from the Bruno Turn Seat in our van to her stroller, my hands slipped and her leg collided with the stroller. She cried briefly as I comforted her and checked her over but that was it. I was dropping her off for a respite stay over at a special facility who cares for special needs kids. Two days later, they called and asked if her left thigh was typically twice the size of her right one. Um... No! X-rays showed a broken femur!! Off to Children's Hospital where they confirmed that the break was low enough that surgery was not required. Praise be to God! But you can imagine how horrible I felt!! Here we are with a major main-floor house addition built for wheelchair accessibility, ramps and all, with a lift system in her bedroom as well as a modified van. Talk about trying to be fully equipped to minimize any injury possibilities... yet I still manage to break my daughter's femur! Surely the good LORD had a purpose in this affliction in our lives. Well, my dear ones, after this incident, Duane and I decided to buy a brand new van to be shipped off to Montreal, Canada to be fully modified with a ramp. It is a $26,000 modification. Oy! We submitted an application to a funding agency who reviewed our file. Approval can sometimes take up to two years so we were very nervous; however, they said that due to her recent injury, our file was considered top priority. Wow!! I was struggling with how anything good could come of what had happened but here we are with Isabel's bone twice as strong in its healing and with a van currently in Montreal, funding approved for $16,000, being modified to better provide for her needs. He is good indeed!<br />
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Another thing that happened was back in September. Isabel was struggling with her breathing more than usual so she was brought in to Children's Hospital where they admitted her and had her on oxygen while they ran tests. X-rays showed fluid in her lungs but more alarming was that her heart appeared to be larger than x-rays done a few months prior. Cardiology got involved and an echo was performed on her heart. The doctor sat me down and explained that Isabel had fluid around her heart and they needed to do a procedure using a needle into her chest to draw out some of that fluid for further testing. Untreated, it could compress the heart and cause death but the procedure had risks of puncturing the heart, especially due to Isabel's scoliosis (curvature of her spine). My friends, I prayed and prayed... I submitted her life into Yaweh's hands. The procedure was scheduled for the next morning. Her father and I were there first thing. They wheeled her away for one last echo prior to the procedure. To our dismay, they returned and said the procedure was cancelled!! The fluid seemed to be reducing on its own!! Blessed is He who hears the prayers of those who love Him!!! I still cannot thank our families, loved ones, etc.. enough for uniting with us in prayer. We are still visiting cardiology every couple of months to make sure the fluid is still going away on its own. So far, doctors are pleased with echo results.<br />
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Lastly, we have our Melina. She is twenty and planning a wedding for this May. She has been tasked with making supper twice a week in preparation for the harsh reality of working and being responsible for ones own meals. She is slowly growing in her confidence to cook... She is full of bright ideas for the kids and is doing a great job being a nanny for a family in the city. It is my delight to watch her grow in skill sets I pray will bless her home in the near future.<br />
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As for Duane and me, we have LOVED our first summer of grazing cattle. It is in our blood! We were blessed with his cousins cows to care for over the summer and Duane has dubbed me "the cow whisperer." Although there is no whispering going on when I'm talking to those cows! :) I LOVED caring for His creation and leading them to green pastures. They trusted me and followed me even when it meant walking long distances. It was a joy to ride out to them and see how they were doing and even more joyful to open up new grazing paddocks to them. My husband was phenomenal with planning their rotations and I felt quite proud of his cowboy abilities. Best of all was watching his excitement as he would take me for quad rides in the fields and show me how beautifully the soil was responding to our Holistic Management approach. We would let the cows graze the plants half way down and then trample the rest back into the ground for regeneration and redistribution of carbon back into the soil. Some local farmers called us crazy for wasting what could be turned into hay for selling, but seeing the land respond as though it could itself rejoice at life affirmed us in our resolve to "invest" in the land. One of the blessings of keeping Torah is that the LORD will move us from a position of borrowing money, to being the ones lending it out. Our debt load was so high that I did not see how this could be done but praise be to God, if He keeps blessing the works of our hands as he did this past summer, we could be exactly in such a position within two years!! How is that humanly possible??? It isn't and that's exactly the point. All praise to Him who is steadfast and faithful to His covenant!<br />
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So dear ones, that is my family in a nutshell these days. Our home is buzzing with home school, music lessons and Torah studies. We thank God Almighty for the freedom to worship Him in our home and in our country. I pray this finds you doing well. Thank you for loving our family. May Adonai bless you and keep you and place His name upon you! In Yeshua's name.. amen.Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-47959509445730388032015-11-14T15:34:00.000-06:002015-11-14T21:12:40.797-06:00 A Little Brother's DeliveranceI remember that night just over two years ago...<br />
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It had been months since I'd spoken to my younger brother, Eric. It wasn't out of the ordinary... we barely ever spoke to each other anymore. It seemed like we were worlds apart now, but the distance felt different this time.<br />
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Back when I was four and five years old, I would beg my mother "please, please, please Mom... please can I have a little brother?" My poor mother would be hounded by her fifth child who was actually willing to share the "glory" of being the baby of the family! A sad smile would cross her face as she explained that another baby was not in the picture at this time... but my heart told me otherwise! Little did I know that my parents were struggling with their marriage and it would be a couple of years later that my siblings and I would be sitting in the living room when I would learn what "divorce" means. At seven years of age, I learned that hope can disappear before your eyes like a mirage. Everything changed as did any dreams of being a big sister.<br />
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Or was it?<br />
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To my surprise, after the big move from the farm to the city, my Mom shared the news that she was pregnant. I would be eight years old when my long-awaited little brother was to arrive... I was convinced it was a boy from the get-go and I pleaded with my mother that his name would be Andre. For several months of the pregnancy, I asked to live with my Mom and I loved praying for the baby and talking to the baby... at seven years old, I was quite convinced this baby was being born just for me! LOL!!<br />
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I was too young to understand the significance at the time, but when my mother was five months pregnant, she pulled over on the side of the road to help my older brother with a car issue. A woman driver struck my mother who went flying fifteen feet through the air and landed on her pregnant belly. She lay there not knowing if she was about to get driven over... As a little girl, all I knew was that Mom had been in an accident. Having borne six children of my own and knowing intimately the tenderness of a five month pregnant belly, I cannot describe the feeling that chokes me when I think of this event.<br />
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In the hospital, Mom was spitting out teeth and they warned her that they could not locate the baby's heartbeat. She asked to be left alone with her unborn child for just a few moments...<br />
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When Mom tells me this story, her eyes are sombre as she recalls reaching deep within herself prayerfully to stir the life in her womb through Christ Jesus. Finally, like answered prayer, she felt a little kick. He was alive! He was delivered from the threat of death! And her soul was affirmed in knowing that this little life was precious and meant to be! But the rest of her pregnancy would be delicate with random bouts of bleeding. Doctors made it clear that this would be a fragile time and not without continued risk.<br />
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When the time came for my brother to be born, I could hardly wait! Finally, I got the news that he was born and off we went to the hospital to meet my long-awaited brother. I fell instantly in love and we all passed him around. My eldest sister got this look in her eyes as she gazed at him and said "He just doesn't look like an Andre." My face dropped... no, no, no... this was Andre! "He looks more like an Eric." I zipped my face to look at Mom who seemed to be considering this!! I was anything but gracious in my response... downright having a crying fit. My mother consoled me by saying "when the time comes for him to be baptized, you can be his Godmother."<br />
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Deal.<br />
<br />
Only problem is that by the time Eric turned six, seven and eight, we couldn't stand each other! And when did Mom decide to baptize him? Yep, right around this time. Oy! When she asked if I wanted to step up to plate as Godmother, I replied "No way!" There was nothing godly about my heart towards him at that time.<br />
<br />
Drats.<br />
<br />
Teenage years hit and Eric became gangster style, skipping school, tattoos, and partying with friends. He'd swagger around demanding respect but not willing to show respect to anyone nor behave respectfully. We really started drifting a part... and yet there always seemed to be moments of reconnection. Perhaps that whole "blood is thicker than water" bears more significance than we realize.<br />
<br />
Young adulthood and Eric was hardly seen. He barely came to family gatherings anymore and he was now into drugs. Even though he is our "half-brother," he has always been my "full brother." But perhaps gatherings were becoming stranger as these often happened at my father's home who, despite not being his father, always welcomed Eric among his children. What was this growing chasm and could anything ever close it in again? The brother I'd always prayed for was truly now being prayed for... but it felt as though my prayers were falling on deaf ears. And then the news...<br />
<br />
"Eric is eloping."<br />
<br />
"WHAT??? Married?? To whom? Mom, have you met her? Has anyone met her?"<br />
<br />
"Only a couple of times but she sure doesn't like me."<br />
<br />
"Oh Mom, I'm so sorry. Surely that mustn't sit well with Eric."<br />
<br />
That August, Eric eloped and married a woman ten years his senior whose reputation and current behaviour left us hoping and praying for a miracle... after all, anyone can become a new creation when they find Yeshua, right? There's always hope, right? After all, some of the strongest testimonies of faith I've ever heard came from people who'd had very brutal pasts!<br />
<br />
Alas, now I bring you back to the distance that was beginning to feel different...<br />
<br />
It was now two months into his marriage, I decided to take a chance and reach out to him via text. I couldn't remember the last time I had texted him and for whatever reason, he was on my mind something fierce. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, I needed him to know he was loved and prayed for (in every sense of the word). It was an autumn evening. I remember because the feel of impending winter-death was in the air.<br />
<br />
"Hey Bud... wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I love you and I'm praying for you."<br />
<br />
To my surprise, the phone began to ring. It was Eric!<br />
<br />
"Rita, did you talk to Mom?"<br />
<br />
"Hello to you, too! What do you mean 'did I talk to Mom.'?"<br />
<br />
"Did you talk to Mom? Did she say something?" His voice was shaken up and upset.<br />
<br />
"Eric, what's going on? Are you ok?"<br />
<br />
There was silence on the other end then suddenly, my little brother broke down and I asked him "please come over right now."<br />
<br />
"k."<br />
<br />
Within thirty minutes, I sat across from my kitchen table looking into my brother's brokenness as he shared such horrible things he was being subjected to in his marriage, things I didn't know could be said or done. I cried, too. And then he confessed:<br />
<br />
"Rita... when you texted me, I had tried to take my life and had failed."<br />
<br />
My baby brother. The one I had begged God for... whose life was so wanted... whose life was spared in the womb... whose life just now was narrowly snuffed out...<br />
<br />
Something had to be done. And something deep in my spirit knew it.<br />
<br />
"Eric, I don't have anything of this world to give to you. But I do have something out of this world that will equip you and armour you to face what you are facing. Will you allow me to text you bible verses as the LORD reveals them to me? The more you know His word, the more it will protect you like a shield. It's His promise, Eric. And God keeps His promises."<br />
<br />
Normally I would hesitate about offering someone the Hope of faith in Yeshua so boldly, but my brother's life was at stake and all I could do was turn to the Author of Life, the giver of life and introduce my brother to Him.<br />
<br />
"Sh*t, Rita.... why not? What the he** have I got to lose?"<br />
<br />
Duane and I laid our hands on my little brother and prayed over him. My brother left that night and the prayer stirring from deep within continued to pour forth from my heart that night. "Yahweh, you alone open eyes and ears and hearts to see and hear and receive you. Please, Father, let this be your timing to reveal yourself to my brother. Please, give him life, true life, in you. Be his helmet of salvation, his breastplate of righteousness, his belt of truth and shoes of peace, his shield of faith and his sword of the spirit, which is your word. I ask this in your son Yeshua's holy name... amen."<br />
<br />
The verses the LORD revealed to me throughout the following weeks were amazing! He knew exactly what Eric needed to hear and made sure I just so happened to "stumble" upon them. Within weeks, my brother was phoning me regularly proclaiming the miracle of the protection he was experiencing!<br />
<br />
"Rita! Even when she's yelling horrible things at me, all I feel is peace! I feel protected, like in a safe place and instead of being angry and yelling back, I just feel sadness for her brokenness... I love her so much."<br />
<br />
Every ounce of my being wanted to tell my brother "Run away! Get out of there! Come live here if you need to!" but something told me it was important to be quiet and keep these feelings to myself. I tamed my tongue (not an easy task for this gal!) and said:<br />
<br />
"Eric, what do you feel the LORD is telling you to do?"<br />
<br />
"I know it doesn't make sense, but I feel like He's telling me to stay. I can't leave her. It's like He's telling me to love her just as she is the way He loves me just as I am."<br />
<br />
Gulp! I feared for his life. I wanted to talk him out of what he was feeling called to do, but it is when we trust our own will instead of submitting to the mystery of His that bad things happen in the first place! When we elevate our human logic above His authority over the realm of impossibility, we fail to see His fingerprint, His mighty works. Did I want Eric to trust in my logical counsel to flee or was I ready to trust God's fingerprint? Did I trust His promise to be a shield?<br />
<br />
"Ok, Eric. If that's what He's telling you to do, then it's very important that you obey."<br />
<br />
I meant those words... and somehow, realizing I believed them brought a surprised sense of reassurance. If my brother was being called to love when it is hardest to love, doesn't that have God's name written all over it?<br />
<br />
Deep breath... trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. If God is truly with my brother, what can mere mortals do?<br />
<br />
By Spring, Eric said "Rita, you remember that bible you bought me a few years back? Well, I feel like a jerk but I lost it. But if you buy me another one, I promise I'll read it cover to cover and not lose it again."<br />
<br />
"Deal."<br />
<br />
I gave him his bible at the end of June. By mid-July, he was the one sending me bible verses!! LOL!! It was wonderful!! But his wife would try to rip the bible out of his hands so he would have to read it locked in a room while she'd yell at him "Pick! It's either me or God!" To which Eric would reply "Don't you understand that if I love God first, He will equip me to love you more than I ever could if I put you before Him? I want to love you by God's power, not by mortal efforts!"<br />
<br />
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<br />
He pulled out his bible at work during lunch and coffee breaks. The LORD stirred his heart into a treasure hunt through His Word. By September, Eric was convinced it was essential to keep the 7th day Sabbath as made holy by God and to uphold His everlasting covenant... His Torah (instructions) including His holy feast days. His wife was livid. There was an incident that required 9-1-1 intervention and my brother came to stay at our home until things settled. The family rallied together to support Eric in many various ways and it was a great reminder that no matter what, we as siblings are there for each other.<br />
<br />
But Eric's wife decided to leave my brother for good and made arrangements to move out East in another province. This was happening during the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall and Eric notified me on a day I just happened to come across this verse:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her... the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband... But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister [in Christ] is not enslaved. God has called you to peace." (1 Corinthians 7:12-15)</i></blockquote>
My brother had accurately understood God's nudging to stay and now He was granting him peace by having her choose to leave him! I genuinely believe that it is my brother's faith that finally opened that woman's womb that three months after she moved away, she became pregnant... the very reason she claimed to be so angry with God in the first place, was lifted. I watched my brother pour forth powerful prayers for her despite the sufferings he endured. I understand why Love covers a multitude of sin!<br />
<br />
Today, Eric is passionate about the Word of God, studying the Torah diligently and seeing how powerfully it is upheld in the New Testament and by Yeshua's words in red.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: red;">If you believed Moses, then you would believe me for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings [the Torah of God], <u>how</u> will you believe my words?</span> (John 5:46)</i></blockquote>
With growing confidence, my brother believes the words in red because they testify to the truth of God's everlasting covenant, His Torah, His righteous law with which He governs us, through which He executes His justice and through which He shows us great mercy! Today, he shares his story boldly and testifying to the power of God's Word. His coworkers draw near and ask questions which Eric answers with the caveat "but read His word and put my words to the test against it. If He can teach me, He can teach anyone!" My brother is a walking testimony to the New Creation promised by faith in Yeshua!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)</i></blockquote>
All of this to say that my little brother, whom I have loved since before he was ever formed in the womb, has also been loved by the Father long before his soul was knitted to bone in the womb!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:13-16)</i></blockquote>
If our Potter could give this little 'ol pot the means to understand love before physical creation, then just imagine the power of the love of our Potter before He forms us physically! Our name is known, we are called forth, we are all knit from a place of "knowing." <br />
<br />
May you never doubt that you are loved and wanted. May you never believe the lie that you cannot be loved or forgiven because of the things you've done or seen or thought. It is a lie! Every moment you seek Him through His Word, this very Word will wash away your sins with your tears of remorse... you will watch your filthy garments be exchanged for linens white as snow! And you will look upon the shining face of the Word made flesh, Yeshua, and know that He has the authority to give you these white linens because of His atoning work of shedding His blood unto death on the cross. He has conquered death that He might deliver you from death... even from the womb!<br />
<br />
So my beloved brethren out there, accept this love and let it humble you.... do not fear the pain of being refined for He is treating you as children whom He loves. In your current sufferings, remember who is calling you and rejoice. God bless you all out there! <br />
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hSbGvB0TK7V1Kw_Ewm3lHgxVg8yLM7gpDlQjfm9KVxZQgRJOdXuRu9RtwdmqxcJl3gcScr4XxOcxbG9nadgla7UpkYxc728WD9lXjw5ZXP8uQ_0zQl_EYl3rI3zamaGRikC6JxQd1rA/s1600/DSC00314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hSbGvB0TK7V1Kw_Ewm3lHgxVg8yLM7gpDlQjfm9KVxZQgRJOdXuRu9RtwdmqxcJl3gcScr4XxOcxbG9nadgla7UpkYxc728WD9lXjw5ZXP8uQ_0zQl_EYl3rI3zamaGRikC6JxQd1rA/s640/DSC00314.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Here is picture of my brother I took after seeing two planes leave cloud dust in the shape of the cross in the sky.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-905507494335864975.post-8783987126634365712015-06-30T02:02:00.000-05:002015-06-30T02:08:41.871-05:00The Gift of HearingIt's been a while! I've missed you! It still amazes me that I type out my thoughts and without speaking an audible word, you hear me way out on the other side of the world... next door... a few towns away... my thoughts connecting with yours. The complexities of "connection" never cease to amaze me.<br />
<br />
Sivana is turning five this Fall and she is such an eager learner. She is quiet and sweet but her determination makes her impatient with being taught... so she tackles learning hands-on whether we're ready or not. :)<br />
<br />
There is an FM device that schools typically provide for children with hearing aids. A receiver hangs around the neck of the person wearing hearing aids which connects to the microphone on the teacher which allows direct connection to the hearing aids. A brilliant way to ensure that despite all the noise around, a clear voice is heard directly. Well, there is a wireless bluetooth technology approach to this same concept. Unfortunately, we found out that despite paying school taxes, because we homeschool our children, we are not eligible to be provided with this technology. So we have been saving up for several months to buy Sivana her own Compilot. Once purchased, we visited the audiologist who set it up with Sivana's hearing aids.<br />
<br />
Then, the moment... trying it out for the first time.<br />
<br />
The device hung around Sivana's neck as we turned the button on and a little blue light appeared. Then I put the microphone on my shirt and turned the button and watched the little blue light flash until it was in sync. Then I spoke.<br />
<br />
"Sivana, can you hear mommy?"<br />
<br />
"Yes!"<br />
<br />
I wandered into another room where she couldn't see me and I spoke again.<br />
<br />
"Sivana, can you still hear mommy?"<br />
<br />
Her beautiful giggle warmed my heart as she joyfully said "Yes! I can!"<br />
<br />
We held hands walking back to the van and giggled together about how much fun this was. She climbed into the far back seat, put her seatbelt on and I looked into my rear view mirror at my beautiful little girl and I got to speak to her.<br />
<br />
"Sivana... can you still hear me?"<br />
<br />
Her eyes looked up at me in the mirror and she smiled with reassurance "yes Mommy!"<br />
<br />
Our van is so noisy that I have given up trying to converse with Sivana while driving. Even with her hearing aids, my voice simply cannot carry to her adequately. But that day... oh my dears... that day we talked about everything we saw on our drive. We sang songs and I choked back tears of joy at the barrier between us that was no longer there. <br />
<br />
Connection. <br />
<br />
It was more than connecting sound to ears, it was more than connecting thought to thought, understanding and being understood... it was heart to heart, joy to joy, mother to daughter. I praised God for His provisions... for the ability to purchase such a device. It seems so simple but what it accomplished is immeasurable. <br />
<br />
Sivana is adjusting very well to it. The last time I sat with her to homeschool, I wore the mic. On her receiver, she has a + and - sign to control the volume. I burst out laughing as we were wrapping up (but not yet done) our lesson and I watched her click the - button to turn my volume off! Too funny!! She giggled when she saw that I'd caught on to what she was doing... Ok, Ok, I can take a hint.<br />
<br />
Another really cool aspect to this technology is that it allows Sivana to sync with the teaching iPad so that the sound goes directly to her hearing aids. It is a great tool. <br />
<br />
Aside from the new technology, Sivana is visited monthly by a Speech Therapist and a Teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. We are so grateful for the skill sets these lovely women contribute to Sivana's learning and adapting. The other day, as I was walking the teacher back towards her vehicle, she turned to me and said "I have been teaching for over twenty years. I have never seen a child as bright as Sivana. You've gotta set the bar high for her... she deserves it."<br />
<br />
Gulp!<br />
<br />
She has done three different assessment/aptitude tests and Sivana is above average in the category of hearing children, let alone those dealing with hearing impairment! See what I mean by my statement that she is an eager learner? Oy! The LORD has blessed her and I cannot praise Him enough for the strength He gives her and the gentleness of her heart. Even during one of the aptitude tests, the person asked "What is your favourite color?" So Sivana answered but before the woman could continue, Sivana says "what is YOUR favourite color?" The woman looked surprised but answered her then continued. "What is your Father's name?" "Duane... what is YOUR Father's name?" The woman smiled and shared her father's name. By the end, this woman looked at me and said "I've been doing this test with many children some as old as seventeen. Never have I experienced the questions being asked of me! Your daughter is thriving and is so engaged."<br />
<br />
My dear ones... I delight in these, my special children. I cannot thank God enough for trusting them in my care, allowing me to be witness to their lives. I feel so privileged to be their mama and I just pray that He equip me for the task, that He keeps me humble and open to reason, just as eager to learn. It is a level of connection that exceeds capacity for words... but quiet understanding keeps good company with it.<br />
<br />
Wherever you are, thank you for connecting with me just now. I pray that you are blessed this day and always... that you are eager to learn and to be engaged with others... to care more about the details of who they are than your own details being known. I pray that you be rich with connection. God bless you!Rita Vaagshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13327726667319168866noreply@blogger.com0