Bride's Song

  On September 5, 2021, during Sunday worship I had this impression that Jesus was walking down the aisle by me with a lion at his side.   I began working on this painting.   I never know quite what will happen when I paint.   I thought the lion I was to paint would be majestic and wise looking but the lion instead was youthful, with eyes of anticipation.    I knew the painting wasn’t finished so I kept seeking Holy Spirit for what belonged in the fore ground.   The following week in Sunday worship I had the impression that Jesus was handing me a container of oil.   As I pondered many ways to depict oil in this painting an ancient oil lamp settled into my spirit.   This painting was emerging during the Jewish feasts of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.    I sent this painting out to my tribe, Incense Rising to see if they had any insight as to the meaning of this painting.  I certainly had my thoughts but I knew the richness of God...

My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me. I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of my hands.  My Father, who has given them to men as his gift, is the mightiest of all, and no one has the power to snatch them from my Father’s care.  The Father and I are on.   John 10:27-30 TPT So many voices clamoring for our attention.   Emotionally charged voices everywhere we go, across every part of our lives.   Who are we listening to?   Who is telling us the truth?   Who can we trust? Even in the most trusted environments such as church and family we can hear the wrong voices.   It is not that people intentionally want to give speak things that are not true but they are sometimes speaking out of what they know, their own agendas and what the world says, not what God says. There have been several times in my life where this battle against d...

  My heart is on fire, boiling over with passion.  Bubbling up within me are these beautiful lyrics as a lovely poem to be sung for the King!  Like a River bursting its banks, I’m overflowing with words, spilling out into this sacred story.   Psalm 45:1 The Passion Translation I discovered the incredible passion of this psalm over 25 years ago walking in the misty morning on the coastline of the Olympic Peninsula.    I was on vacation with my family and got up at dawn and decided to walk the beach and talk with God.   I opened my NKJV Bible to Psalm 45 and started to read it as I walked along.   I don’t think I had ever read this Psalm before or if I did, I did not understand the depth of these words.   My heart felt like it was about to explode.   My heart became filled with words that I couldn’t seem to speak.   My silence was actually singing deep inside my soul and spirit.   When I returned to my home in New York, ...

In the Bible there are relational titles such as husband and bridegroom in reference to the LORD and Yeshua/Jesus .  The LORD refers to Himself in terms of a husband in reference to His relationship to Israel .  Yeshua alludes to Himself as the bridegroom as He preached about the coming Kingdom of God and in regards to His presence among His disciples.  We see this concept explained and elaborated on also by others writers such as Paul and John in the New Testament in reference to the Church, the bride of Messiah.   The relationship of husband and wife is the most intimate relationship there is. We see this from the very beginning of time.   And Adam said, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  Genesis 2:22-23 This relationship between husband and wife produces new life...

    One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.  Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus,   but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.    Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”    But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?    Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand u...

  The Hebrew word, Chalah means, “to grieve, to be rubbed worn, to entreat, travail, to be wounded and to be weak.” (H-2470, Strong’s)  Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the LORD.   “Thus, says the LORD of hosts. In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”   Zechariah 8:12 There are many Hebrew words for prayer but this word implies an intense seeking of God.   In Zechariah the nations are earnestly seeking the God of Israel; there is desperation and a great need to know Him.   There are times when we pray in desperation for God to reach into our situation and intervene.    We are rubbed worn, even grieved as we cry out to God to answer our deepest need or the deepest need of a loved one, a friend, a nation or even a stranger.   The only thing...

  What kind of sacrifice is pleasing to God?  To answer that we need to look at the root of worship. Hebrew has only one word for the worship of God and that is s hachah . (H-7812, Strong’s)   It appears over 100 times in the Old Testament scriptures.   There are other words in the Old Testament that are translated as worship but they are used in reference to worshipping other gods, not the only true God.   Shachah means, “to bow down, to depress, to prostrate oneself before God in worship and in homage.”   This word infers humility, making oneself low before God.   Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool- He is holy.   Psalm 99:5 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.    Psalm 29:2 Oh, come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.   Psalm 95:6 Throughout scripture we see people fall on their face and worship the LORD.  ...

  As I researched the Hebrew words for commune I found that several of the Hebrew words related to speech, not unlike our word communication.   When researched further I found a word that conveyed the Hebrew idea of communion but was not necessarily translated specifically as the English word communion.   What I found interesting is that the two words have the same parent root in Hebrew and only differ by their last letter. D abar   H-1697 (Strong’s #) Dabar is a verb that means, “to speak, to commune, to say, to speak, to arrange in order, to converse.”   And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune (speak, converse) with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.    Exodus 25:22 KJV This is a Hebrew word where the ancient form is full of imagery.   The dalet   is a pictograph of a door ...

  Mark 4:35-41 This has been a difficult season 2020 and now early 2021. Not only has it been a year of dealing with COVID-19 but everything in our world seems upside down. What is good is labeled evil, what is evil is considered good. If you don’t agree with what is popular, you are canceled. Executive orders are at an all time high and freedom seems to only belong to the lawless. As an intercessor my heart was weary. Intensive prayer had been going on for over a year. I was irritable and didn’t want to hear anyone’s opinion on anything. I sat doing a jigsaw puzzle in our house by the lake. As I tried to forget about the stresses of life I just got more angry. I heard in my spirit, "get in the bottom of the boat." I knew that voice was Jesus. I tried to ignore that voice and continue to entertain my frustration but the voice came again, "get in the bottom of the boat." I knew what the LORD was showing me if I continued to entertain these negative thoughts they woul...