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*Hope you all don't mind a rerun.*

I received a message the other day to expect a houseguest, a special friend coming for a visit, someone with deep needs. Since I love giving and love my friend, I was excited at the prospect of helping out in any way I could.

So, I did what every woman would do, I started cleaning the house…

Knock, knock, knock! Yikes! I’m not ready. However, I opened the door anticipating my friend but found a dirty beggar asking for a handout. Sorry, I said. I’m busy. Try next door.

…then I started preparing special food…

Knock, knock, knock! Aha! Must be my friend! Opening the door, this time I found a member from church collecting canned goods for the hungry. Sorry, I said. I’m busy. Try next door.

…then I put out the good towels and tablecloth…

Knock, knock, knock! Now what? Irritated, I flung open the door and found a neighbor’s child collecting clothes for homeless children. Sorry, I said. I’m busy. Try next door.

After everything was finished, I was pooped so I sat down to rest. Looking at my watch, I began to wonder what happened to my friend who was in such need. Doesn’t she know I’m waiting here to help her?

No more interruptions. No more knocking. As I decided to just sit there and wait, the Lord began to whisper to my heart…

“I knocked on your door three times today but you were too busy to let Me in. I am your Friend. I said I would come to visit because I had needs. I sent you the needs but you didn’t accept them as from Me. You received Me not. If you had responded to what I sent, you would have enjoyed sharing a precious fellowship with My people and with Me.”

Hanging my head in humiliation, I listened as He continued…

“Didn’t I tell you that when you did something for one of the least of these, you were doing it to Me? Will you turn Me away again next time?”

If He knocks upon your door today, will you open up to welcome Him as your honored houseguest? How will He appear, as the dirty beggar, the church member, the child? Or maybe as the person sitting in the back church pew crying, the young father with small children and food stamps, the neighbor down the street dying of AIDS, the single mother working two jobs to feed her children?

Who will you welcome? Whose needs will you meet?

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifne hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20 NKJV)



This is part of Peter Pollock's One Word at a Time Blog Carnival. Click to check out the other entries on the topic of home.

The name Jehovah-rohi comes from two Hebrew words meaning 1) Yahweh, the existing One, and 2) to shepherd, to tend a flock, to graze, to rule, to associate with, to be a friend, to be companions, and to be a special friend.

God has always shepherded His people. As an example, Jehovah-rohi (or Jehovah-ra`ah) watched over His people Israel, protecting them from the plagues He sent on Egypt, leading them out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and providing for their needs while in the wilderness.

Shepherds are more than watchdog-protectors for their flocks.

So, what distinguishes a good shepherd? He…

* disciplines and corrects them
* protects the sheep while they sleep
* goes ahead of sheep and prepares the path
* leads them to fresh pastures and fresh water
* comforts them when they are hurt or fearful
* knows the sheep’s needs better than they do
* keeps sheep moving so they don’t get into a rut
* keeps sheep from fighting, from hurting each other
* searches for a lost sheep and rejoices when finding it
* is pleased when sheep are contented, well-fed, and safe
* anoints them with oil to heal an injury or prevent disease
* always watchful for predators and defends sheep against them
* is gentle yet firm while shearing them, watching closely for injury or disease
* knows the things that make them sick or hurts them and guides them away from those things
* loves his sheep and continually encourages an intimate relationship with them so that
they will develop trust and know his voice
* sacrifices his life for them.

We find so much of this in Psalm 23. Adding in some of the definitions, we might look at it this way…

*The Lord is my Shepherd = The Lord is my guide, my companion
* I shall not want = I shall not lack; I am content
* He makes me to lie down = He causes me to be at rest
* in green pastures = giving me nourishment
* He leads me = He guides me with care
* beside still waters = alongside peaceful refreshment
* He restores my soul = He draws me in, to return me back to the point of my departure
* He leads me in paths of righteousness = He guides me in ways of rightness
* even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death = even though I move through the narrow path of death’s dark shadow
* I will fear no evil = I will not be afraid of evil; I will have confidence and trust in my Shepherd
* for You are with me = because You are by my side
* Your rod = Your discipline and protection
* Your staff = Your guidance and support
* they comfort me = showing me compassion, bringing me to repentance, and giving me consolation
* You prepare a table before me = You arrange and spread out a feast of Your fellowship at Your table
* in the presence of mine enemies = in the face of the one that attempts to distress, oppress, and afflict me
* You anoint my head with oil = You soothe me and satisfy me with the oil of Your Spirit
* My cup runs over = You fill my life, saturating it to overflowing with provisions
* goodness and mercy shall follow me = Your kindness and favor pursue me
* and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever = and I will inhabit Your household for eternity.

Sheep must have a leader for they must be led and not driven. They must be told what to do and where to go, otherwise, they will wander off and get lost. They need to be watched over and cared for constantly. Hence, the need for a shepherd.

Isaiah prophesied of One coming as the Good Shepherd, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.” (Is. 40:11 NKJV)

When this Shepherd came, He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep,” (John 10:11 NKJV) and “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own know and recognize Me,” (John 10:14 Amp) and “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28 NKJV)

Do you know the Good Shepherd and all that this provides for you? Do you know Him, recognizing His voice as He calls out your name? Do you know His peace, protection, provision, guidance, and comfort?

I pray you can often be found lingering at the feet of the Good Shepherd, awaiting His gentle touch and encouraging words that bring total trust and comfort.

Photo by Groomsadvice.com
In the ancient, betrothal tradition, Hebrew fathers thought it their duty to provide a bride for their sons in imitation of God, as Father, Who provided a wife for Adam. When a son came of age to marry, the father, or sometimes the father and mother, chose a bride for their son from their own clan.

A betrothal usually lasted about one year, as the bridegroom left to prepare a place for his bride, usually within his father’s compound. There was to be no contact between the espoused couple during this time.

Therefore, all communications were made through an intermediary, or as we might think of him, a “best man.” He was the one who interceded, relaying messages of love from the groom to the bride and from the bride back to the groom.

As the assistant who also helped plan the marriage, this man was called the “friend of the bridegroom.” This was how John the Baptist referred to himself in John 3:29, saying, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” (NKJV)

When Christ went ahead to prepare a place for His Bride within His Father’s compound, He sent the Holy Spirit as the Friend of the Bridegroom to be the communicator for Him.

Now, the Holy Spirit, as the intermediary, comes to woo the heart of Christ’s intended, to passionately whisper in Her ear and delicately relay the Bridegroom’s messages of love to Her heart.

If you do not take time to listen, you will not hear those precious whispers of love.

Are you listening?

“If ever you were willing to listen, listen now!” (Matt. 11:15 TLB)

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have
lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?”
(Matt. 5:13a KJV)
The Greek definition of ‘savour’ actually means to become insipid, to make as a simpleton, or to act or become foolish. The word ‘lost’ is not in the Greek. ‘Salt,’ in Greek, also figuratively means prudent, which in English means wise, discreet, circumspect, and sensible.

If we reword it, it might say something like this, “You are the salt, the preservative, the wise quality of the earth, but if you become foolish, with what will you salt?” The Living Bible translates it this way, “You are the world’s seasoning, to make it tolerable. If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world?”

In biblical times, salt reigned high on the importance and necessity ladder as it preserved food from spoiling, was used as an antiseptic, and was added to sacrifices.

During those days, covenants were made between individuals, between a king and his people, between two groups or nations, or between God and a man or His people. This agreement required each party to make promises which were never to be broken - ever!

If the two participants of a covenant ratified it with a meal, they used salt, which signified the custom of pledging friendship or confirming a binding compact, for when men ate together, they became friends, binding them in reconciliation and peace.

It also symbolized preservation and a perpetual obligation. Once a person joined in a salt covenant with God or another person, he risked the penalty of being cast out if he breached his loyalty to his oath.

Salt symbolized covenant’s preservation from decay and the surrender of self to the Lord, eradicating all impurities and hypocrisy. It also indicated loyalty and living a life of wholesome character and speech, giving flavor to life.

We see this in scripture, as Jesus told the disciples, “You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other,” (Mark 9:50b NLT) and as Paul wrote, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Col. 4:6 NIV)

In those ancient times, if salt lost its flavor, it became worthless as a preservative and was taken to the temple in Jerusalem. When it rained, the marble courtyard became slippery, so they spread the salt out to keep people from falling, hence the saying, “to be trampled under the feet of men.”

Salt’s properties preserve from corruption and putrefaction. As Matthew Henry said, “So Christians, by their lives and instructions, are to keep the world from entire moral corruption.”

If we have made our covenant with God, are we living up to our perpetual obligation to be the Lord’s salt to the world? Do we have those qualities of salt within us that bring healing, preservation, and flavoring? Is our conversation full of grace and seasoned with salt?

Or have we lost our saltiness? “If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world?”

Long before dry cleaners and spot removers, spin cycles and fabric softeners, clothes had to be washed by hand. When the dirt and grim of labor disguised their true colors, clothes needed to be washed.

The women who lived by a river or creek took their families’ laundry down to the water’s edge to pound out the dirt on the rocks. As they walked the worn path, and as they scrubbed their clothes, they would converse with one another, sharing the loads of their lives as they shared their loads of laundry.

After a discussion with a dear friend about a difficult circumstance in her life, she told her husband of our conversation. He said it had been a good idea that we talked about the problem together. It reminded him of days gone by when the women went down to the creek to wash their clothes and commune with one another.

Paul exhorts us to “Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2 NLT) When you share your burden with another, scripture says, “That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.” (Ex. 18:22b NIV)

Is there one with whom you can walk alongside when he or she is in a circumstance of conflict, to share their load, to put a loving arm around them, to offer them a shoulder on which to cry, to speak the right words or say nothing at all? Are you a fellow creek-goer in someone else’s life?

My friend thanked me for “going down to the creek” with her. The next morning during her quiet time with the Lord, she told Him she wanted to go down to the creek and wash out a few things with Him.

So, what about you? Do you have one with whom you can go down to the creek, making your load lighter? If you do not have a fellow creek-goer in your life, the Lord will always be that friend to you, to walk the path with you down to the creek to share your heavy load or to help you wash the dirt out of a few things.

Do you have a worn path to the water, where you go to wash away the accumulated dirt of life that has disguised your true color?

Prayer: Lord, may I often be found down at the creek, being cleansed of all that hinders my relationship with You, while also lightening the load of another as we meet You there.

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

We’ve been looking at friends…what is a BFF, what does friend mean, covenant friend gift, and what is hospitality. This is the last in the series. And you’re wondering what the heck It’s a Wonderful Life has to do with this post, right? Well, let’s see.

Jesus said, “I have called you friends.” (John 15:15) If we consider Jesus our friend, do we consider His friends to be our friends? Do we consider how we should treat His friends?

This may give us something to think about. A friend sent my husband an email with what I will loosely call a joke that went something like this: A man died and went to heaven.

When Peter greeted the man at the front gate, the man asked Peter, “What’s the difference between heaven and hell?”

Peter replied, “Come along with me. I’ll show you.”

So, Peter led him to the first room and opened the door. When the man stepped in, he immediately inhaled the great aroma of stew cooking. As he looked around, he saw emaciated and unhappy people standing around a pot of stew and others lying on the floor. The man noticed that all the people had a 36 inch spoon strapped to their arms and, when they dipped their spoon into the stew, they could not bring it to their mouths.

How sad, the man thought, that they are all inhaling the wonderful aroma of this stew and, yet, could not eat the stew because of the long spoon.

Peter then took the man to the next room. Opening the door, the man’s nose detected the same wonderful aroma of stew. However, all the people looked healthy and happy, yet, they all had a 36 inch spoon strapped to their arms.

Why, he wondered. Then he saw it. As each person came to the stew pot, they dipped their spoon into the stew…and fed each other!

Sobering thought, isn’t it?

Do you remember who was called the richest man in Bedford Falls in It’s A Wonderful Life? Nope, it wasn’t crotchety, old Mr. Potter. It was financially-challenged George Bailey.

While the bank examiners and the sheriff search for George, believing he has misappropriated the bank’s $8,000, he wishes he had never been born. After an encounter with Clarence, the second-class wingless angel, George experiences not having been born. After finally coming to the conclusion that he really does want to live, he dashes home.

In the meantime, Mary has spread the word of George’s dilemma with the bank examiners and dozens of townspeople come to his rescue, bringing all the spare change and dollars they can find. As George’s hero brother arrives and raises his glass to toast his big brother, Harry pronounces George the richest man in town.

Why? Because he had so many friends that he had helped.

At the end, George opens the book Clarence has left for him. George reads the inscription Clarence wrote, “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”

No matter how much money you make during the day, no matter how many deals you close, how many hamburgers you turn, how many diapers you change, how many letters you type, how many garbage cans you empty, how many stocks you trade, or how many patients you treat, at the end of the day, after brushing your teeth, putting on your jammies, pulling back those cozy covers, crawling into that comfy bed, and laying your tired ol’ head on that puffy pillow, the heavenly measurement of your success for the day is not how many zeros you added to your checkbook. It is this:

Did you bless someone today?

At day’s closing, ask yourself…

* Did I love someone?
* Did I encourage someone?
* Did I use my gifts to the Father’s satisfaction?
* Did I make a difference in someone’s life today?
* Did I give willingly and generously, even out of my lack, to meet another’s need?

Would someone call you the richest person in your town?

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

Last time, we looked at a condensed explanation of covenant. Without it, you would not have the appreciation for what I am about to tell you. (If you haven’t read it, you might want to read it first. You can click on it here.)

A covenant partner was one who was considered as a member of the family. Most covenants consisted of a full-coverage policy that blanketed not only the person with whom covenant was made but also the person’s entire family. Therefore, each would make a vow to take care of his covenant partner and his family if anything should happen to him.

Only death could part the two, as Ruth said to Naomi, “The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me,” (Ruth 1:17 NKJV). That was covenant language.

Several years ago, when my sister-in-law Vicki was having some difficulties in her life, the Lord led me to do something I had never done before, or since, nor had I ever heard of anyone else doing it. He told me to give her one of my belts.

As I did, I told her that, when she underwent any difficult situation, she should wear it, and I would pray for her. She has worn it on several occasions…under her blouse though. It wasn’t her color!

As I lost the final draft of the note I gave her with the belt, this is basically what I wrote:

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me…”

“…for (His) strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.”

Because we have taken on the Lord’s Name together, we have an eternal covenant with Him and each other. The belt was a symbol of a man’s strength. Therefore, the exchange of belts was symbolic of giving your covenant partner your strength.

So, when your human strength falters, and you need someone to come alongside you from whom you can draw strength, I will be there. My belt is yours.”

I should have added Ruth’s sentiment to Naomi, “Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the LORD’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!” (Ruth 1:16-17 NLT)

As Jesus knew the meaning of giving up of one’s life for another, His words echo throughout the halls of eternity, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends,” (John 15:13 NKJV).

A friend will readily exchange his life for his covenant partner. I would lay down my life, if necessary, to save my covenant belt partner, Vicki.

Vicki later returned the kindness, giving me one of her belts. So we made the exchange, just as David and Jonathan did. I also nicknamed her David, and I am Jonathan.

As we have seen, covenant is a very special bond between two partners, whether between you and the Lord or you and another. When a difficult time surrounds a very special friend or relative of yours, or even when all is well, you may want to do this for her or him, giving that person the comfort of knowing that someone will come alongside to lift her or him up in prayer.

This exchange works two ways…one, the owner of another’s belt may wear it knowing that the other person is there beside him/her, interceding for him/her and offering encouragement and strength; two, the other can wear the belt of the one who is in need of prayer to intercede for that one.

Is there someone with whom you can exchange the gift of a covenant belt and share strength and defense, standing before the Lord and interceding for each other?

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

Continuing on our thought from the last post of a BFF, a best friend forever, what does the Bible say about the term “friend”? And how were they connected forever?

The answer? Covenant.

In ancient, Hebrew times, Israel needed to make treaties with certain nations in order to be in agreement with them for several reasons and would enact a covenant.

Covenants were made between individuals, between a king and his people, between two groups or nations, or between God and a man or His people. Not only a treaty of peace, covenant was an agreement or alliance of marriage or friendship.

This agreement required each party to make promises, which were sealed with signs, pledges, or oaths and were never to be broken - ever!

The sacrifice of flesh most often ratified covenant. It was a very serious action taken to solidify one’s agreement with another. The animal’s flesh was cut in two and then the two agreeing parties walked through the pieces of flesh, which was a walk into death, meaning that death was the result for breaking covenant.

Abiding by the conditions ruled each partner’s relationship. This agreement consisted of a full-coverage policy blanketing not only the covenant participant but also his entire household. So, if one died, the benefits and blessings of covenant were still extended to the rest of the family. At the conclusion of cutting covenant, each participant was considered to be a friend.

Over the centuries, the covenant understanding of “friend” has completely lost its meaning. To comprehend it a little better, let’s take a peek at the most revealing and tender of all covenants of friendship between those in the Bible…that of David and Jonathan.

Scripture says that “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul…Then Jonathan and David made a covenant…And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” (1 Sam. 18:1, 3a, 4 NKJV)

In essence, he stripped himself of all his personal possessions, essentially naked to the world, defenseless and vulnerable, giving it all to David, and laid down his life for his friend. This was the covenant exchange.

In this exchange, when the occasional trading of robes took place, it meant that identities and authorities were interchanged, symbolic of “putting on” the other, which irreversibly connected the two as one in an eternal bond of covenant friendship.

From time to time, an exchange of weapons would take place, symbolizing protection against the other’s enemies. It was an inherent obligation to lay down one’s life, if necessary, to defend and protect the other from his enemies, as Jonathan did for David when Saul sought to kill David. Jonathan vowed to protect David and David was bound to reciprocate.

The definition of ‘ransom’ means that which is given in exchange for another as the price of his redemption. As Jesus gave Himself for our redemption and walked out that covenant-walk of death, we join Him in agreement, becoming His covenant partner and friend, for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” (John 14:6 NKJV) through His sacrifice of flesh.

In His covenant exchange, Jesus stripped off His earthly robe of habitation and laid down His life for us as His friends. This was the exchange of identities, and, when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, our spotted garment of sin becomes His and His robe of righteousness becomes ours, irreversibly connecting us in an eternal bond of covenant friendship.

Jesus stated, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13 NKJV) A friend will readily exchange his life for his covenant partner’s life.

So, is Jesus your BFF?

~~Blessings, Lynn~~