The G-d Who Remembers His Covenant (Ex 2:24)

During those many days the king of Mizraim (Egypt) died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.  Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to G-d.  And G-d heard their groaning, and G-d remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  G-d saw the people of Israel–and G-d knew.
Exodus 23:23-25 ESV

Let’s tease this one out a bit at a time:

During those MANY days…

That is to say, those days were not merely a few; the time between Moses’ fleeing Egypt and his return was 40 YEARS (Acts 7:30).  That is more than my lifetime, and more than half of some of your lifetimes.  This process is over in a few chapters for us, but for the sons of Jacob, this process was like the pulling of saltwater taffy, or the long drawn-out process of forging a strong sword.  Think Glamdring, or Narsil. Over and over the machine turns, and the taffy is stretched farther and farther.  Over and over the hot steel is reinserted into the flames and the bellows inserts more air into the process, stoking the coals that much hotter, to the place where more and more impurities are removed, yielding a weapon that will not yield when the battle gets hot and long.

the king of Egypt died

This says that the breaking point was the one who already had a motive for killing Moses died.  At that point, and at no other point.

and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.

Finally, the Scriptures record, Jacob’s seed groaned.  Even in the bowels of a slave, something within intuitively, instictively knows when enough damage has been done.  This is a moment of stillness in the bondage, a moment to ponder because of the death of the Egyptian monarch.  Maybe they will let us go finally.  No Pharaoh to drive a building program, and no need to drive the engine of this Ruler empire.  And, in this moment, the groan and the sighs are released.

Their cry for RESCUE from slavery

They did not just want relief.  Isaac’s born wanted someone to rescue.  They wanted deliverance.  They may have not fully understood the implications, because they were being beaten in the brickyard, and building Pithom and Rameses, but they cried for RESCUE.  Something deep within the spirit of even the most broken slave knows that slavery is not right, and that LIBERTY is right.

Came up to G-d

It arose as incense to the ears of the One who could rescue them. G-d’s heart as Father is for rescue.  He is a compassionate Father.  He is an affectionate Father. He is a tender-hearted, not-distant, Father.

And G-d heard their groaning

It was in the moment of temporary transition, when the King of Egypt died, that the King of Kings, the Man of War, heard the groanings of his יחיד.

Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.”

And G-d remembered his covenant with his friend, his חיד, and his son, and at that moment of stillness, the plan of rescue went into motion.  And of all the people, G-d selected the man who lied about a speech impediment (more on that later), and who really did not want the job.  But G-d would not pick someone that was not able to communicate deeply the nature of G-d.  G-d wanted this unconfident Exhorter who was blocked and found himself on the backside of the desert in the Arabian Peninsula (Galatians 4:25), who could communicate the nature of G-d to this generation of slaves.  That is what it takes to break the back of slavery.  An Exhorter.
And G-d didn’t remember his covenant the way a man who forgot his appointment with his doctor suddenly remembers.  I say that when the text says, “G-d remembered his covenant”, what it really seems to be saying is that “G-d mentally, emotionally, and with the fullness of His Spirit dwelt on and obssessed over it.”
He brooded over it, just as the Sun of Righteousness arises and flutters over a sick, infirmed situation with healing in His wings, and just as the Ruach Ha-Kodesh fluttered over the chaotic, turgid maelstrom of defilement in the gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 (see what I did there?).  He brooded over the desolation of tohu ve bohu.
He brooded and knew.  It occupied his thoughts deeply.  And who thinks more deeply and comprehensively about the release than Father.  He thought of the days when a generation of sons would RISE from a generation of slaves, and of the days when He would be the one to RAISE them up.
And here is one of the reasons Deuteronomy is my favorite book of all and is the heart of the whole testament.  Here is one of the reasons Deuteronomy governs the whole canon, and why you should get INTIMATE with this book:

and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Deuteronomy 1:31

Father heart of G-d, gang. Period.  Eat that, breathe that, live that.  There is a compassion in the FATHER heart of Father G-d.
He is the G-d who remembers his covenant.

The Author of Those Ezekiel Posts

David and Eric at Cracker Barrell
Many of you are no doubt aware that there are posts on Ezekiel that have begun to show up on my blog.  Posts not written by me.
First of all, if you have noticed, then here is the post that gives some small detail of the man behind those posts, all of which have been sanctioned for publication here on TPH.
Permit me to indulge a small blurb on him.
His name is Eric Hatch.
I first met Eric while I was sequestered at Evangel University during my season in graduate school (AGTS).  Back then, he was very passionate about things like Kazakhstan (if you do not know what Kazakhstan is, then it is part of a greater region that deeply has my heart, including a major swath of nations that constitute the lion’s share of the world’s global Muslim population), and well-considered communication, and a deeper relationship with our great King and Husband.  His heart is truly noble, though he might not admit that.
I reconnected with him regularly and more intentionally a few years back after several years of intermittent conversation.  I specifically reconnected with him because Father told me it was time to do so.  And the more I have talked with him, the more rich the conversations have become.  Much of our conversation on his part, has been framed with the cavernous wisdom he brings to the table as we discuss matters scholarly and theological, especially from the more Reformed sides of our like-precious faith.
His is the sort of Teacher that deeply considers the Scripture and methodically mines out and polishes nuggets and fathomed treasures.  These gems are then polished, lightly placed upon cashmere cloths, and then deposited in the accounts of his listeners.
Truly, when I talk about the Redemptive Gift of Teacher, this man excels many of them, and though he would never say it in light of the many tests, trials, and the ways in which Father has refined him in the crucible of the last 15 years, he truly has grown into a masterful Kingdom lapidarist.
Above is a true reflection of what this man’s friendship does to my spirit.  And, yes, that is my spirit shining through in the picture of us at Cracker Barrel.
Those posts on Ezekiel are things the like of which we have studied over a long course of Saturday mornings the last several months, and he has been the one to open my eyes to the gems that glimmer in the works of Ezekiel.  For the record, Chapter 23 is probably one of the more powerful gems in the book, as vulgar and pornographic as it is at time.  While I will not spoil the why of the pornographic language of Chapter 23 (I will leave that to Eric to expand upon), I will say it is worth due consideration.  The book is more than Chapters 1 and 37.
For those of you that are SLG tribesmates of mine, I would use the series of Eric’s posts to augment the way you read this second-favorite book of the Old Testament of mine (Deuteronomy is my favorite).  I would consider the various hard things which Eric brings to light.
And I would encourage you to drink deeply from my friend’s well.  His are thoughts worth considering, and I count his friendship among my most-treasured.
 
 

Ezekiel’s Hard-Edged Gloom… and a Glimmer

Second from Really, God?: Recognizing The Real God in The Book of Ezekiel, an ongoing series of blog posts
To see the first of this series, please click here.
By Eric Hatch
June 27, 2018
A note by way of introduction – Regardless of your level of understanding of The Bible, I say “Thanks for your time consideration!”, and after you read, please share your Comments below.
As we continue to look through some of the lesser known parts of The Bible, and specifically into the Book of Ezekiel the prophet, I must provide a bit of “Truth in Advertising”.
I admit that Ezekiel, though colorful and fantastic in its narrative, is… at times… hard to read.  This prophet, along with many others, share similar (read: repetitive) phrases throughout the book, and his stories and pronouncements of “The Word of The Lord” speak the same judgments on multiple nations, although they are from different points of view.  They tell God’s people in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to follow God’s path toward fulfillment.  They speak harshly about the violence toward the poor and alien among God’s chosen people and in their neighbors.  They speak in graphic terms (what American audiences might name “NC-17” descriptions) about the adulterous and wicked idolatry of even the priests of God’s Temple in Jerusalem.  However, this trumpeting of the reality of Ezekiel’s national decline seems to mirror our “enlightened” modern generation.  Both ages of humanity hear these words of warning and blessing over and over, and like most of those in the USA and other cultures who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord, the Israeli nation started to disconnect from (what the New Testament’s Apostle and Prophet Paul called) their “form[s] of godliness” in the religious ceremonies, and then, they start “denying the power” of those forms (2 Timothy 3:5).
Now, we can’t deny the jagged edges of The Major Prophets (called “Major” not for their influence as much for the size of their biblical writings).  Yes, Ezekiel reveals the hard-to-stomach truth of God’s gloomy judgment (7:9-13) –
“I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you.
I will repay you for your conduct
and for the detestable practices among you.
Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you.
See, the day!  See, it comes!
Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed!
Violence has arisen, a rod to punish the wicked.
None of the people will be left, none of that crowd –
none of their wealth, nothing of value.
The time has come!  The day has arrived!
Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve,
for my wrath is on the whole crowd.
The seller will not recover the property that was sold –
as long as both buyer and seller live.
For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed.
Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve [his] life.”
Yes, in a Bible Dictionary, this passage would provide a proper example of “Doom and Gloom”.  As God commanded, Ezekiel and all of the Prophets proclaimed Heavenly Father’s holiness and His inability to go against His own nature to simply excuse or overlook the sin of His chosen nation Israel.  Ezekiel woke up his countrymen to God’s irrevocable death sentence, an appropriate response to Israel’s violence, desecration of The Temple of God (Chapter 8), and adultery and prostitution with other gods and nations.
Let me emphasize a word of caution here about God’s righteous judgment.  As you read through Ezekiel, and if you have never read Chapters 16 and 23 of Ezekiel, seriously, sit down with a somber tone before reading them.  Ezekiel, receives “The Word of The Lord”, which describes Israel as an abandoned, unwashed newborn, then as a young and pretty peasant woman.  God matures her and describes His people as twins in Chapter 23 to represent the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel.  God also lavishes gifts on her as a doting Father, then marries and clothes her in gorgeous wedding attire as her Bridegroom.  Yes, these are strangely mixed metaphors here, but Ezekiel wants his audience to remember the roles filled by God the Father and Christ, The Husband of The Church.   And though God made Israel and Judah into an attractive blessing to the nations around them, they cheated on their Creator, sold themselves into sexual slavery, then gave themselves willingly to their enemies.  Israel and Judah went whoring with other gods, and Elohim disgraced and destroys them for this purposeful betrayal.  Seriously, the horrific language of Chapter 23 stunned me the first time I read it, and it pushed me into a deeper meditation on knowing God’s love for His followers and correctly doing as He directs.
Clearly, God’s wrath reaches an end for His chosen people Israel, especially in light of the later chapters of Ezekiel, where He gloriously restores them to a place of prominence, including the entrance on previously unseen “Prince of Israel” onto the religious and political stage, who was and will be fulfilled in the comings of Jesus Christ.
Yet, even with a future hope in the minds of the prophet’s readers, we should recognize the level of heartfelt love and personal treachery, which God describes about his relationship with His nation.  As the One True God and Father of Israel sees it, His people walked out on Him, sold themselves away to His enemies, and gave away their holiness for almost nothing.  Do we not see the treason?  As believers in the God of mercy,  this is not the example of a slight mistake.  We have become the worst of enemies: those who turn away from what is holy and good and turn toward sin, selfishness, disobedience, and evil.
So, instead of seeing Israel and humanity as the victims of a harsh judgment by a tyrant God, let us know God and His chastisement in its correct fullness.  He must discipline us for our sin.  The acts of rebellion require condemnation, but because He shows mercy, He always offers restoration.  We will show this in detail… in upcoming posts.
Thank you for your consideration!  Does God, as revealed by Ezekiel, surprise you?  Either way, please make comments below.
I pray, “Make those who read this siblings in You: Lord of Lords, Señor Jesucristo, Yeshua HaMashiach, Isa ibn Miriam (عيسى ابن مريم), Eesus Hristos (Иисус Христос).  In Your name I pray; Amen!”
 
I will share in my next post about more of the somewhat obscure parts of Ezekiel.
 
 
 

DID PART 2 Session 5

 
When G-d tells you to do something, it is because you can.
You may not have it now, but you can grow into it.
 
DID has been hugely oversimplified.
We need a larger grid.
 
Danger of being too narrow.
 
Suppose a hypoglycemic blacks out and a resta and does a whole lot of stuff.
 
What if her blackout is a DID blackout and not a hypoglycemic blackout?
 
There are an awful lot of AHS’s that masque as a part.
 
AHS’s do not take with spiritual cleansing.
Parts will take with cleansing.
It is nearly impossible to do healing or nurture with an AHS.
None of the tools work with an AHS.
Can’t get resolution.
 
One portion of the spirit that is engaged provides a safety net.
 
We can integrate AHS’s into original self without realizing it.
 
A solution is the sword of the L-rd.
 
Leviathan residences
CSF
SINUS
LUNGS
CARDIOVASCULAR INCLUDING LYMPHATIC
DIGESTIVE
KIDNEYS
REPRODUCTIVE
 
Covenants
Something that is portable, with a tax collector
5 levels of holiness
 
Covenant on birthright
Simplest form is someone who cannot get justice
 
Curses
A Subset of the Covenant
 

  • Victims can curse the perp
  • Families of the victim
  • Community of the victim
  • Curses by G-d

 
Trauma bonds to time
 
German flavors of SRA, Germanic brand of witchcraft are the dominant
 
Structures that have to do with SRA
Burials
The most cruel artform of SRA is to bond the victim to the perp through a Mock funeral.
 
 
 

DID PART 2 Session 4

Lost time
Deleting a portion of time of our history can result in our disconnection from our timeline.
Arriving at the other side leading to us wanting to erase that time period from our timeline.
You can erase that time period, and it is effective, just like an amputation.
 
If you reject part of your time, you are rejecting part of yourself.
 
Which can create the doorway for synthetic time.
 
Rejecting a patch of our time, it has horrible ramifications for the cumulative nature of time.
 
When you are dealing with SRA, high probability of time.
Drowning
Strangulation
Purpose of death is to create a breach in your timeline, or replace the time with something else.
 
Three replacements

  1. Synthetic time-blocks the flow
    1. Not found one good for this. But looking for a life that has absences of cumulative markers.
  2. Someone else’s time-this person can control you through a piece of themselves that is in you.
    1. Diagnostics-if I ask the question of “do you ever feel as if you are completely not yourself, as if someone is living your life as you?” spirit goes positive or negative.
  3. Reversal mechanism-siphoning out into someone else, and you feel drained in terms of resources.
    1. Diagnostics-frame it theoretically “if someone else was taking life out of your life, who would it be?”

 
When there is a trust relationship, you know there will be no judgment or ridicule. You can ask the bizarre questions and they can feel relief.
 
What is the repair process like?
 
We go back to Christ and G-d again and again.  The story of Christ is of his burial and resurrection.
 
Immerse yourself in the study of time when you are working with SRA DID survivors.
 
Look at the area of fruitfulness.
 
Approach every encounter with a sense of wonder.
 
Time is something to be sanctified and redeemed.
 
One other aspect that is fairly sophisticated.
 
Dealing with sexual intercourse with those who are trafficked.
 
Adam was imprinted with two messages
The first was abundance. Birds, mammals, fish, etc.
The second was beauty.
The creative power of G-d to make beauty.
 
It is fascinating that the Temptation for Eve was lack of abundance.
 
There was supposed to be a spiritual sync for Adam to give Eve the spiritual transfer in sex, so Eve’s spirit could bond with Adam’s spirit and receive not just love and oneness, but also the spiritual data of abundance and beauty.
 
Ask Jesus to use the Hebrews 4:12 sword to separate out with surgical precision of every part of that person’s humanity to the whole person and nothing besides the whole person, so that the person is restored to wholeness the way Jesus wants them.
 
G-d’s capacity to restore.
 
Not a question of G-d’s love.
A question of G-d’s ability to transform Saul of Tarsus.
 
Hezekiah could have been DID.
 
Immersed in your spirit in the understanding of G-d’s healing power.
 
G-d had Rahab married to one of the princes of the tribe of Judah, and had her delivered.  Rahab was cleansed in her spirit so she could be purified as part of Jesus’ family line.
 
 
 
 

DID SESSION 2 Part 3

 
Terms of Engagement
The social contract that people bring to the table
 
Four Types of Social Contracts That Are Unhealthy

  1. People who do not want help, but rather legitimacy from having a therapist.
    1. They say or imply with their actions, “I am legitimate because I have a therapist”.
  2. Denial: Called by G-d and working through denial.
  3. BEWARE People who have a problem already diagnosed.
    1. They run their whole psych profile through with you.
    2. The trap you run into is when you work on what they want you to work on, it is not going to work. Then you get the blame because the problem was not fixed.
    3. “I have been to another therapist and they could not get it.”
    4. Some of these individuals are allergic to responsibility.
    5. They may have critters.
    6. Ask them if they are open to you doing your own diagnostics.
    7. Many times, people of Asian descent can have that issue, because of the dragon, and they want to boil everything down to Leviathan.
    8. Negotiate for right to rediagnose. Negotiate for the opportunity to run you own set of objective diagnostics.  What if the issue is somewhere else?
    9. You will have to ask them for the right to look somewhere else.
    10. And honestly, this will boil down to Yes or No.
      1. If they are willing, move forward.
      2. If they are unwilling, there is room for little else.
    11. The Religious spirit. Boiling G-d down to a formula. They say something like, “I checked the boxes, and G-d, you are responsible to meet me”.   They are convicted that therapy or the way forward is supposed to look like one particular way, when there may be a different path that is better for the partnership of clinician and client.
      1. If they will entertain a discussion of G-d having multiple options for His agenda, then you can move forward.
      2. When they have a baked-in commitment that G-d has to meet me this way, then there is an issue.
      3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is a solid example of someone who did not have a baked-in commitment that G-d had to meet them in a particular way. If we are willing to run with the conviction that G-d’s care for us may take any number of different forms, and we are willing to walk in flexibility with how G-d meets our needs or brings good out of a bad situation, and thus leave the solution up to Him, we run a high risk of having a really neat glory story.
      4. If it begins with the presupposition that they have to get to peace, or calm, or [fill in the blank], when G-d might want to grow a number of other areas, even if such growth results is a more messy SEASON, then we need to wait on working with them.

 
See if someone came in under one of those four frames.
 
Looking at Robert’s individual.

  1. Progress that has been lost.
  2. No progress at all.

Sometimes we get temporary progress that gets lost.
Robert has authority to push the enemy back.
It also says that the critters have protection.
 
 
Covenant with an Organization that leads to others paying taxes. Moabites and Ammonites.
 
Look at Psalm 106 as a point of reference for discerning whether a Covenant with an Organization is present.
 
The spine is the firstfruits.
Damage along the spine through structures, that protect covenants, that protect critters along the spine.

From a Noble Subject: Rum Cookie Recipe

 
Arthur writes:

TESTING THE LIMITS
I know a number of people who have a fragrance anointing (See Mercy Season album for a description). They cook, and their cooking releases some spiritual dynamics.
I have someone who clearly has this anointing, but they told me an interesting story about sending a recipe to a non-believer who was having a tough time with her family.

The lady baked the cookies and had her family over for some holiday cheer. She wrote our Noble Subject and said, “Your cookies are magic! My family had such peace and joy while eating them.”
Now, I have never found someone before who could impart anointing to a recipe! And, as we often say, one is just a data point, not a pattern.
But here is the recipe for you to try. Bake the cookies, take them to the crankiest people you know in your neighborhood or at work, and let’s see if there are any “measurable, verifiable, sustained changes” through this recipe.
If so, I think our Noble Subject should quit her day job and write a recipe book to improve the peace and joy in this world!
Rum Cookies
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Ingredients:
1/3 cup (and a little more) butter
1 scant cup powdered sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon rum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Apricot Jam for filling
Walnut halves
Glaze: About 1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar and enough rum to make glaze consistency
Directions:
Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat. Add rum, vanilla, and baking powder, mix. Add flour and combine to make a medium stiff dough. Roll out on lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Place on greased parchment paper-covered cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
Make a sandwich cookie with two cookies using apricot jam in the middle.
Make glaze with rum and powdered sugar, a bit of a thick consistency, and then heat in microwave for about ten seconds. Spoon glaze on top of each sandwich cookie and top with walnut halves.
With a 1 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter, the recipe makes 30 sandwich cookies.

DID PART 2 Session 2

DID PART 2 Session 2

There is a better way…

Your spirit was designed to lead.

The specific process of counseling.

The fractal of four

Father Son Spirit Kingdom

Bring that fractal into your counseling.

Each of these has a particular application in our daily life.

Father is about community and people.

Jesus Christ is about reconcile all things, not people. He came to change us from victims to dominions

The Holy Spirit is about nature.

Not often talked about.

Look at these as a facet of

When a client is able to be life-giving to someone else, is the kingdom.

Kingdom is about your legacy

Connecting with others. Was that a community, a dominion, a nature, or a legacy component?

Dominion, is the issue of the Son. Celebrating the power of Jesus as dominion.

With the creation stories, it is the people that G-d meets with in the context of creation.

That was a Father moment, that was a Jesus moment, that was a Creation/Spirit moment, that was a legacy moment.

Savoring moments.

Intentional about savoring the fractal of four.

G-d is at work helping us with our spirits, if we will deepen and engage.

The discipline of savoring in three parts: thinking, speaking, or writing. Where is your strength?

When you move into a counseling situation, your soul often steps to the front. When you move into the place that during the session, G-d is going to meet you, that is where the power, presence, and glory can surprise you. ANTICIPATE.

The primary purpose of meeting with an individual is to encounter G-d.

The new is more invigorating than the old.

The bigger the problem to solve, the more G-d can show up and the greater the playing field.

If you are engaged as a healer, it is an unnatural for your soul. You will turn to meds or sour, unless your spirit is awakened, and unless you are encountering G-d.

If I can identify it if I can define it, I can be much more effective in being intentional at putting together a strategy for solving the issue.

We have been fed a lie that hearing G-d’s voice equals maturity.

Seeing is a possible way of his voice.

Permission to lead visually.

“Really, God?”: Recognizing The True God in the Book of Ezekiel

The first in ongoing series about lesser known parts of The Bible
By Eric Hatch
A note by way of introduction – many readers are at this blog because they like to study The Holy Bible.  Others of us have only skimmed that Childrens’ Bible gifted to us by religious relatives.  Hopefully, some of us only know bits and slivers of scripture.  Whatever level of familiarity we have in our Bible studies, know this – I consider it a high honor to share about God’s revelation of Himself to Humanity.  For your time, I say “Thanks for your consideration!”, and after you read, please share your Comments below.
 
Let’s take a trip back to earlier times… maybe last year, for some of us!
Look back to the moments when you were a new reader of The Bible, whether a seeker in younger (or older) ages or a preschooler whose parents selected some of the most kid-friendly stories of the “picture Bible” or (a personal fav!) The Old Testament of “The Brick Bible”, where the dioramas are made of LEGO’s… yes, it exists!
Got those moments in your mind, Ms. or Mr. Reader?
Show of hands, now — how many of you started reading of The Bible in the book of Ezekiel? (Looking… shielding eyes from the spotlights…) None? Is that a grand total of zero?
Show of hands, once more — raise an arm and hand if you can remember any more than two stories in Ezekiel. (Squinting… hearing crickets … hmm, even the praying mantis in the back has her arms down!)
So, among an audience who wants to study The Bible, we don’t read Ezekiel much, we likely only know two of the stories from Ezekiel, and for 99% of you, there are parts of Ezekiel you have NEVER read.
You may have read all of Ezekiel, Mr. / Ms. 1%.  However, do you remember how Ezekiel wrote with vulgar, graphic, maybe even pornographic language to describe his people’s shameful activity? Yes, I’m serious; it is in Chapters 16 and 23.
Now, I know that, even after reading this series, pastors won’t plan a sermon series on Ezekiel for the next 48 Sundays.  The book presents some difficult passages to interpret from the pulpit or even a seminary.  However, as adult Christians, we create a level of dangerous ignorance when we don’t read The Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.  If we neglect reading this important part of God’s Word to us, we fail to recognize some of the attributes of God.
Similarly, we do not understand or proclaim all of God’s story when we study and share about His grace without describing His holiness and His Law.  For example, why would we even mention His grace if we have not disobeyed His Law?  As well, what makes sacrifice, including the perfect death of The Lord Jesus Christ on His Cross, even necessary?  It is the active rebellion in sin by humanity.  Because we fail to follow God’s Law, we require His grace to stand in His presence and to receive eternal life.
So, please join me as we study Ezekiel, as it will provide us with a clearer view of God’s plan and love for us.  As we grow in our awareness of Ezekiel and all of scripture, we will move away from Satan’s deceptions and our preconceived notions of God.  Then, instead of false ideas about God, we will more fully know His character, Law, and grace, which will point us to their perfect revelation in Christ.

The Detailed Yet Unstudied Picture of God by Ezekiel

Now, looking to Ezekiel’s writings, most of us, even those among us who have read the whole Bible, rarely remember more from Ezekiel outside “The Valley of The Dry Bones” vision in Chapter 37 and what I would call “The Wheel Within a Wheel” vision in Chapters 1 & 2 (when God choose and called Ezekiel as His prophet). These two could become the front and back covers if anyone wrote a novel about Ezekiel.  For some Christians, we may have also heard the “Stand In The Gap” verse (22:30), which pastors and other leaders sometimes use to encourage prayer ministry.
All of these passages exemplify Ezekiel’s recorded visions and commands from God: larger than life, almost psychedelically vivid, waking dreams of God’s terrifying power, righteous judgments against His rebellious people, and promises of sovereign restoration for those who repent.  Still, these tiny portions only make up about 5% of the Book of Ezekiel!  Let the author confess here: I have often misquoted and used as pretexts these and other scriptures to support my own “pet doctrines”.  This misinterpretation, called “eisegesis” in technical terms, occurs when we go to The Holy Bible with our own presuppositions, instead of seeking The Lord’s direction.
As a consequence to our use of the Book of Ezekiel as a pretext, and even then only knowing a few verses from his stories, we end up acting like so-called “Christmas and Easter Christians”, nominal believers who attend congregational worship at our convenience or out of tradition.  Sadly, when we only try to learn about spiritual reality occasionally, we do a great disservice both to God (you become a less faithful steward of your talents and responsibilities) and to your family, friends, and acquaintances (they don’t see the need or benefits of seeking God’s discipline and training).
Neglecting to study Ezekiel, other Major (Jewish biblical) Prophets, and any part of The Bible doesn’t just mean we miss an artistic and cinematic portion of God’s words for us. We don’t just lose a portion of scripture, which would cross cultural boundaries in a media-soaked world. No, we most importantly hide some of God’s revelation of Himself from Humanity.  If you haven’t read and studied Ezekiel, Isaiah, or other prophets, sadly, you can unwittingly accept false ideas about God, such as The Prosperity Gospel or what I would call “One God under Nationalism”.  These deceptions keep you from experiencing the just discipline, true grace, and full love of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, which Israel’s prophetic writings foretold… but for many of us, we don’t know much of what the prophets said of Jesus!
Thank you for your consideration… and receive this blessing in my prayer for you:  Lord Jesus Christ, let all who read this seek you, drawn by You, Holy Spirit, embraced by You, Heavenly Father, and saved to Your holy discipline, Lord Jesus Christ!  Make those who read this siblings in You: Lord of Lords, Señor Jesucristo, Yeshua HaMashiach, Isa ibn Miriam (عيسى ابن مريم), Eesus Hristos (Иисус Христос).  In Your name I pray; Amen!”

Lastly, here’s a preview of the next three posts about the obscure and more well-known parts of Ezekiel.

The Hard-Edged Gloom of Ezekiel (Posted on June 27, 2018)
The Powerful Storytelling and Drama of Ezekiel, and how they tell who God is (To Be Posted June 30, 2018)
The Visions of Ezekiel, the Most Colorful Old Testament Prophet  (To Be Posted July 3, 2018)

DID SEMINAR PART 2-Session 1  

Article from this week.

Sci. American

Could MPD explain life, the universe, and everything?

In 2015, there was a woman who had blind alters that were not using the sight centers of the brain.

There is this other thing that knows stuff, that operates in the brain that does not leave the same footprint in the brain that we do not usually.

Malcom Gladwell: Blink

The last generation of DID therapy went sideways and toxic.

Therapists are supposed to be healers, not wounders.

Let me show you what went wrong and how we can work together in am more functional, effective manner.

Become learners, not learned.

Freud was committed to mystique.

The detachment between clinician and client has contaminated our modality.

Every single pack of woundedness is different.

Clinician and client need to be partners in this journey together, rather than the clinician being the expert, like Freud, detached and acting upon the client.

Every single session is a new discovery session.

Our learnedness, becomes our greatest liability rather than our greatest asset.

John Wimber said, come to every new deliverance session with an empty toolbox.

We have damage because the therapist does not know that every day is a new day, and this is a new time for each session.

Sonship and Bridal Identity

Sonship is taking the initiative.

In the silences of G-d, use some principles, get up and do something.

In the bridal position, wait for the Bridegroom and respond.

Bridal position is a journey. What today might be like versus yesterday.

We have to move between taking initiative, and waiting.

Move from active, sonship, fix a problem, to watching and waiting, and seeing what the L-rd is going to do.

In the traditional modalities, it has been very heavy-handed sonship.

And that has caused damage.

We need to use both.

We need to do the dance.

Being a healer is extremely contrary to our design in many ways.

Have you seen a waitress with a tray above her head and moving above the crowd?

Knee-kickers.

Staring at computers and coding.

Violation of designs.

Five Areas to Embrace as healers that are contrary to our design

1) Powerlessness: We like power.

2) Lack of Safety: We appreciate safety.

3) Lack of Closure: We like closure. We like night to day, work to play, open to close, we like finish lines.

4) The Solitude: We are broadly made for community, and we are not allowed to share. The most intensely wonderful and intensely negative experiences have to be celebrated in private.

5) The Lack of Validation: We are designed by G-d to relish validation. Healers love to give validation. From their point of view, today is ugly. For us as therapists, there is always the “yes, but”. Often, the only validation you will get is in eternity, not in time.

Personality changes can occur in the therapist. They become melancholy.

Addiction

Sickness

Those five things are soul issues.

If we don’t grieve properly, we will find compensation in our soul and body.

We were designed to find compensation in our spirits.

Our spirits were designed to carry us.

G-d trains us to respond to him through his initiative. This is the bridal position.