Message
It is such a rich journey to dive into a single Hebrew word and discover its hidden imagery and concepts. This week’s message took us into the deep Hebraic concept of Truth vs. Falsehood. We find within the Hebrew word for truth, “emeth,” the ideas of faith and firmness. In fact, the form of each of the three Hebrew letters in this word have two “feet” touching the ground. The Hebrew word for false, “sheqer,” also has three letters. The form of each of these three letters only has one “foot” touching the ground. This visual gives us a deeper concept of falsehood being unstable and truth being firmly planted.
Karen expounded on these ideas by taking us into Numbers 13, the story of Israel, poised before the promised land, sending spies to evaluate the land. Of the twelve men sent into the new land, only Joshua and Caleb spoke, “We are well able to take the land!” Despite what was seen, giants living in the land, they spoke the truth of God. These men were of good courage and saw the promises of God before them. The other men spoke the word, “nevertheless,” containing within its Hebraic meaning the concept, “to cease.” Karen stressed the lesson that ONE WORD spoken wrongly or out of falsehood can halt the course of your destiny. This lesson is a continuation of the message that we must give our tongues a break. We must be careful to whom we are speaking, what we are speaking and even what thoughts we entertain in this season. We must be as Joshua and Caleb, not speaking merely facts but instead, speaking the truth of God.
May we be of good courage as we face the promises of God in this new season. May we have self-control as we respond in word and thought to the things that lie ahead. May our tongues be in a place of rest and our hearts be firmly planted in the truth of God. May we not curse others or curse the land.
Worship
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” -Proverbs 19:21
Sunday morning, Karen awoke hearing the Lord sing, “Overflowing,” one of Jerry Shockley’s songs from his album, “Yehi Or” (the Hebrew translation of “Let there be light”). Karen felt strongly that Jerry, a member of Olive Tree Connections, should share this song with the congregation during corporate worship that morning. Jerry had stayed up all night working on his new website ( http://www.jerryshockley.com/ ) and was very weary. He didn’t think he had the strength go to church Sunday morning because he was so tired. Karen had been unable to reach Jerry that morning to ask him if he could play. After laying down to sleep, Jerry was awakened by the Lord speaking to him, “Go to church, Karen needs you.” Jerry’s wife, Patty, shared the confirmation in her spirit that he needed to go to church. When Jerry arrived, Karen asked him to sing the song, and called up some of the other musicians to join him. There was a lovely time of worship as a result of this corporate obedience to the voice of God. I love to hear testimonies of the body being in tune with one another. We serve a mighty God that is confirming His voice to us all, if we will listen.
