The God of My Salvation LIVES!
Praising Yahweh, thanking Y'shua,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
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Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
A Long, Lonely, Sabbath
If I were Mary Magdeline, or John, I can't imagine what this day was like-- a never-ending day of silence, bewilderment and anguish. If I were one of Y'shua's followers, friends, who had stayed until the end, this Saturday Sabbath would've found me mostly immobile and going over everything I had seen and heard from the day before, endlessly. The words of my Lord, my Rabbi, would've stuck in my head and played over and over again like a song on an old, scratched, vinyl record.
When he asked, ""Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me)," would I recall the section of the Torah that started that way? Would I know that he was referring to the writings of David when he said those confusing words? Would I recite God's words, written through David, in my mind? Would I put the last few days together with words from ancient times? Would I realize David was prophesying about his distant relative? Would these words bring me comfort?
I hope so.
Trying to imagine,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
When he asked, ""Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me)," would I recall the section of the Torah that started that way? Would I know that he was referring to the writings of David when he said those confusing words? Would I recite God's words, written through David, in my mind? Would I put the last few days together with words from ancient times? Would I realize David was prophesying about his distant relative? Would these words bring me comfort?
I hope so.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
“He trusts in the Lord;
let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
But you, O Lord, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.
Psalm 22, from the New International Version
Emphasis mine.
Trying to imagine,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Life Changing Pea Soup
Not really, this post is just an excuse to encourage you to read a friend's blog. She's got a good bit to say and, believe it or not, it was pea soup in God's hand that inspired her post. We never know what He will use to open our heart's to Him.
Enjoy this recipe, but more importantly, enjoy her post!
Start with:
1 bag of split peas
*Quick Recipe
Canned Ham (16 oz), cut up, 1/2 inch pieces (I often use Dutch Colony Cooked Ham)
6-8 cups Chicken Broth
1 Bay leaf
3- 5 stalks Celery diced, 1/4 inch
Carrots cut to 1/2 inch: 3 full carrots or equivalent amount of baby carrots chopped
1 med Onion, chopped
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (Allspice will work)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp of chicken stock base
Salt and Pepper (white) to taste
Place place all ingredients in a stock pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer until split peas have turned to mush. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best. Should be done in about 2 hours (?).
*Not Quite As Fast Version
Ham bone with ham on bone or saved ham pieces, cut, 1/2 inch
(if no ham, use some canned ham-cut up, 1/2 inch pieces)
6-8 cups Chicken Broth
1 Bay leaf
3- 5 stalks Celery diced, 1/4 inch
Carrots cut to 1/2 inch: 3 full carrots or equivalent amount of baby carrots chopped
1 med Onion, chopped
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (Allspice will work)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp of chicken stock base
Salt and Pepper (white) to taste
Some people will cook ham bone in water to make stock, you can do this, but I don't. If you do, boil bone in 8 cups water until done, remove bone, pick meat off bone and cut to size, cut any meat that fell off bone, during boiling, to size. Then place the rest of the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer until split peas have turned to mush. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best.
When I have a ham bone, I place the bone and all the ingredients (except bouillon) in the water, and bring to boil, them simmer. When bone is done, I remove it, make sure the ham is right size, add more ham from can, if needed, and add bouillon and simmer until done. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best.
----
I think pondering about God changing my "taste" is a pretty scary thing; I like my preconceived notions, they fit me well... maybe too well, maybe they fit my flesh perfectly, ouch....
I hated pea soup as a kid, now I really like it. I discovered I liked pea soup when a new way to make pea soup found me-- pea soup made new.
I guess we need intimate settings where we can't escape, where we are forced to confront ourselves.
Wondering what other "taste" of mine, He might change, what else will be made new, AND thanking Mandi for helping me think this way,
k8t
P.S. If you don't understand that last bit, read this!
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
Enjoy this recipe, but more importantly, enjoy her post!
Start with:
1 bag of split peas
*Quick Recipe
Canned Ham (16 oz), cut up, 1/2 inch pieces (I often use Dutch Colony Cooked Ham)
6-8 cups Chicken Broth
1 Bay leaf
3- 5 stalks Celery diced, 1/4 inch
Carrots cut to 1/2 inch: 3 full carrots or equivalent amount of baby carrots chopped
1 med Onion, chopped
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (Allspice will work)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp of chicken stock base
Salt and Pepper (white) to taste
Place place all ingredients in a stock pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer until split peas have turned to mush. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best. Should be done in about 2 hours (?).
*Not Quite As Fast Version
Ham bone with ham on bone or saved ham pieces, cut, 1/2 inch
(if no ham, use some canned ham-cut up, 1/2 inch pieces)
6-8 cups Chicken Broth
1 Bay leaf
3- 5 stalks Celery diced, 1/4 inch
Carrots cut to 1/2 inch: 3 full carrots or equivalent amount of baby carrots chopped
1 med Onion, chopped
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (Allspice will work)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp of chicken stock base
Salt and Pepper (white) to taste
Some people will cook ham bone in water to make stock, you can do this, but I don't. If you do, boil bone in 8 cups water until done, remove bone, pick meat off bone and cut to size, cut any meat that fell off bone, during boiling, to size. Then place the rest of the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer until split peas have turned to mush. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best.
When I have a ham bone, I place the bone and all the ingredients (except bouillon) in the water, and bring to boil, them simmer. When bone is done, I remove it, make sure the ham is right size, add more ham from can, if needed, and add bouillon and simmer until done. Stir periodically. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper works best.
----
I think pondering about God changing my "taste" is a pretty scary thing; I like my preconceived notions, they fit me well... maybe too well, maybe they fit my flesh perfectly, ouch....
I hated pea soup as a kid, now I really like it. I discovered I liked pea soup when a new way to make pea soup found me-- pea soup made new.
I guess we need intimate settings where we can't escape, where we are forced to confront ourselves.
Wondering what other "taste" of mine, He might change, what else will be made new, AND thanking Mandi for helping me think this way,
k8t
P.S. If you don't understand that last bit, read this!
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
The Bible is God's Testimony About Himself
For many (many) years, especially as a child, I had great difficulty reading the Old Testament of the Bible. What I saw was a collection of stories (they are stories in the sense of a recording of events-- as a child if you said you were going to read me a story, I immediately categorized it as fiction-- not true) about people who did confusing, strange, some good and many bad things. Between this thought and the fiction underpinning I had, I could not figure how the OT was so important and what I was supposed to be learning. David and Goliath was interesting, a good underdog "story," but that was about it, especially, if you kept reading and came upon David's other stories. In my young mind, David was not a role model, why was there so much about him?
At 40, I finally have come to understand, well enough to actually put into words, that the Bible is God's testimony about Himself. It is through the events recorded and the people and things integral to those events that we learn who God is.
God could have told us that He sees, He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Sees, but like a good documentary, He showed us that He is the God Who Sees when He records for us His interactions with Hagar (Genesis 16).
He could have told us that He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Heals, yet He has shown us through the myriad accounts of physical and spiritual healing throughout His testimony.
He could have told us that He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Is Salvation, The One Who Saves, yet, instead, He sent His son, Yehoshua, Jesus. Yahweh manifested Himself in human form, became human, and is the salvation for every created thing.
The next time you are reading scripture, literally, the testimony of Yahweh, don't look at the people in it too closely, don't try to learn who they are, remember it is His testimony about Himself, focus on Him, learn about Him.
Remembering WHO it's about,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
At 40, I finally have come to understand, well enough to actually put into words, that the Bible is God's testimony about Himself. It is through the events recorded and the people and things integral to those events that we learn who God is.
God could have told us that He sees, He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Sees, but like a good documentary, He showed us that He is the God Who Sees when He records for us His interactions with Hagar (Genesis 16).
He could have told us that He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Heals, yet He has shown us through the myriad accounts of physical and spiritual healing throughout His testimony.
He could have told us that He is our God Yahweh, the God Who Is Salvation, The One Who Saves, yet, instead, He sent His son, Yehoshua, Jesus. Yahweh manifested Himself in human form, became human, and is the salvation for every created thing.
The next time you are reading scripture, literally, the testimony of Yahweh, don't look at the people in it too closely, don't try to learn who they are, remember it is His testimony about Himself, focus on Him, learn about Him.
Remembering WHO it's about,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com
----
Please include the following statement on any distributed or linked copy: By Kaet Johnson. © faceofagirl.com. Website: faceofagirl.com
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