I love this verse! A perfect list of characteristics to live by! The fruit of the Spirit as modeled by Yeshua! If I had to choose one of the nine that I feel has been on my heart to improve on lately, it is definitely patience. My husband has great patience, so he is always helping me with this.
I want my children to have as deep of a love for this verse as I do, so we are introducing it early! To celebrate Pentecost, we sat down and crafted over some felt for a while, tracing nine different fruits and cutting them out! After that, we finished up by making labels for each of the nine characterists. It was a good time! I had been excited to do a felt board activity and I am very happy with how this turned out! Makenna had a fun time with the felt board...she wasnt too upset when she reallized that felt fruit doesnt taste quite as good as the real thing ;)
You may have heard the tzitzit are only for men, however, in the spirit of testing everything, I was compelled to look into this matter further. On a random night not too long ago, my husband and I came across a video teaching that caught our interest. After watching the short teaching, which was supporting that the Bible (specifically Numbers 15:38-39) teaches that tzitzit are for not only men, but women too, I asked if we could look into some original text for this passage. Jeremy helped me narrate my way through some verses and pray with me about this. Neither of us had put much thought into this matter prior to this. I was feeling more and more convicted by the second and by the time I went to bed, my new tzitzit (aka: my husband’s old tattered pair) were attached to my undershirt awaiting their maiden voyage with me the next morning! I thought I would feel self-conscious wearing them, but once I put them on, I immediately felt more at home in my clothing than I ever had before! It still amazes me how often I am reminded to keep all of the commands just from a single finger sweep along my side while walking around all day long!
Human beings rely on reminders everyday! Simply put, we forget things often. Why not accept the reminder that is commanded to us, rather than make up our own (WWJD bracelets, cross necklaces, etc). What is the point in altering a God-given command to remind ourselves and be a set-apart body to fit something that blends in? I mean, many people will ask me about my tzitzit, and it will give me the opportunity to talk with them about this passage, but few people would ever ask anything if they simply saw me wearing a WWJD bracelet. I’m not saying we can’t ALSO do other things to remind us of these things, just that we shouldn’t let those things replace what the Bible ordains.
Some people take the following verse and apply it to the wearing of tzitzit:
“A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God”. (Deut 22:5) NASB
HOWEVER, I would question where in the Bible they find that tzitzit are strictly a man’s clothing. And furthermore, proof that tzitzit are even considered to be a garment in and of themselves!?! To me, this verse is commanding against cross-dressing. Others may wonder: Did women even wear 4-cornered garments? Or were 4 cornered garments only for men to wear? Again, the Bible doesn’t say.
What the Bible DOES say, is:
“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot”. (Numbers 15:38-39) NASB
Some translations begin that verse off by saying: “speak to the Children of Israel or speak to the Israelites and tell them…” but regardless, when going back to the original language for the phrase “sons of Israel” or “children of Israel” or “Israelites”, the word used is b’nai. B’nai translates as men. HOWEVER if there is a crowd of 1,000 women with just a single male present, that single man rules over all the other women, and the term used is b’nai. Proof of this is found many places in the Bible. A couple other places where the word b’nai is used, is when referring to the commandment to not eat unclean foods, as well as when referring to the commandment to keep the Biblical festivals. Clearly, those commandments are not only for men, but women too! To finish off this thought, I will state that IF Yahweh had wanted to refer to ONLY MEN in this verse commanding that tzitzit be worn, then He would have used the word ‘z-char’ in place of ‘b’nai’. This is what He chose to do when commanding circumcision, and many other commands that are specifically for MEN ONLY.
So, after learning all of these things, and praying for wisdom and guidance, I was convicted to wear my own tzitzit! It truly is amazing what happens when we TEST EVERYTHING for OURSELVES! The process of sanctification is a lifelong process of spiritual growth and understanding of the Scriptures. This process is never-ending and leads only to a deeper and deeper love for our Maker!
For a detailed perspective on the commandment to wear Tzitzit, Check out my husband’s blog HERE.
In my young age, I am sometimes ignorant. I am actually quite ashamed and embarrassed to admit that only recently, via the Pastor at Oak Grove, were my eyes opened to this passage of scripture.Prior to this enlightening event, if you would have asked me if I was a Mary or Martha, I would have replied “well I’m no Martha, that’s for sure – because I am not exceptional with a broom or a frying pan.” Silly me, I was missing the point! All I was thinking was that Martha would make a good housewife. (Eek!) Much to my chagrin, I Knew little of the different ideals between herself and her sister Mary. In fact, I'm not even certain I related this question this the following passage in scripture at all! I was so blind...
“As Jesus and His disciples were on their way (to Jerusalem), He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” LUKE 10:38-42 (NIV)
Mary and Martha represent two different kinds of christians. One is never settled. This person allows life to run them. They often -though not always- serve the Lord, they just don’t listen to His call for rest (Matthew 11:28). The other, has a firm assurance and knows both when to serve (John 12:1-8) and when to sit.
Trying to picture this scenario, we can gather that it was just before Sabbath and a good sized crowd would have collected at the feet of Yeshua inside of Mary and Martha’s large home. This was the village of Bethany, where Yeshua was raised, so many of the people He grew up around would have wanted to see and hear Him again, as He didn’t go home often. Martha was growing anxious about providing food for all of these visitors in her home, and Mary was figuring the people didn’t care about a free meal, they cared about sitting at Yeshua's feet and hearing Him teach. Still caught up in the moment, Martha felt the need to serve these people, when the better choice was not to serve, but to sit and rest in Yeshua's presence.
Still, the most shocking part of this passage is when Martha goes up to Yeshua and says “Lord, don’t you care.....?!?!?” The priority to Martha was serving these people, and she felt so strongly that she built up the nerve to approach Yeshua while He was teaching and state the Mary needed to leave the lesson and help her with meal preparations! Martha didn’t think she was out of line in asking this, she didn’t think it was unacceptable! An underlying lesson here is that we need to get our priorities straight, with important things before urgent things. I wonder though, how often we put our anxieties at the forefront of our talks with Yahweh, our urgent matters, BEFORE our important matters. Let’s go to Yahweh first and foremost in our good times and secondly in our rough times!
I couldn’t help myself from trying out this recipe for a special treat this Sabbath! I found it online and modified it just a bit to make it whole wheat and dairy free! My mouth hasn’t watered so much in quite some time! Try it out for your loved ones!
RECIPE:
1 pkg. dry active yeast or 2 1/4 tsps of loose granulated dry active yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup warm tap water
2 3/4 to 3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp salt 4 Tbsps sugar
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs – beaten 1/3 cup chocolate chips 1/3 cup raisins 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Topping: 1 small egg 1 Tbsp sesame, poppy or chia seeds
Directions: place yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 cup warm tap water in small container. Mix with fork and let sit for about 5 minutes to test if it is good yeast (it should get foamy). While that is sitting, mix the salt, sugar, oil and beaten eggs in medium bowl.
Add foamy yeast mixture. Add 1 cup of flour at a time until dough is easily turned out of bowl and then place your dough onto a lightly floured kneading surface.
Knead dough until it is no longer sticky, adding flour only as needed. Once dough can be handled without sticking to your fingers, and it is smooth and elastic, place it in a larger bowl and cover it with a dishtowel. Move your bowl to a warm area where there is no circulation (I put mine inside the microwave).
Let dough rise for two hours. It should about double in size.
To ensure your yeast worked, punch the middle of the dough while it is still in the bowl. If it has worked, you should see some gas build-up in the bread deflate.
Remove the dough from bowl and knead in cinnamon, raisins, and chocolate for 2-3 more minutes.
This recipe makes one large loaf!
For three stranded challah, cut the dough into 3 equal lumps. Roll each lump into a rope about a foot long. Braid like you would hair.
For six stranded challah, cut into 6 equal lumps. Roll each lump into a rope about a foot long. Braiding a six stranded challah is not like braiding hair, but it isn't too hard to grasp. Look up a how-to video online if you are not sure how. It is very pretty when finished! Transfer your braided loaf onto an oiled baking stone.
Cover and let braided loaf rise once more, for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Topping: in small bowl, beat one egg. Brush loaf with egg. Moisten finger with egg wash, then dip it into your seed topping. Press seeds into each section of the challah. This will make your challah very shiny and golden.
Cover with foil to prevent burning the top.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 45+ minutes until golden brown. Half way through, remove foil topping.
The entire world seems to view a new year as a new beginning. A fresh start. There is something about a fresh start that seems to invigorate the spirit. Many people take advantage of a new year and come up with a "resolution". Usually they consist of being healthier (losing weight/eating better) or some kind of schedule to read through The Bible or exercise. Undoubtedly, the majority of these resolutions end up fading away after just a short time.
I have come to the realization that most all resolutions are going to fail. Really, they are doomed from the beginning, having no foundation to stand on. Why is there no foundation? -Because we are trying to fit this new thing into our already busy lives. This same pattern seems to be prevalent in many peoples Christian walks with Yahweh. We get on a "spiritual low" and begin to feel a disconnect from our Lord and Savior. It only makes sense to say that this happens to us because we are trying to fit Yahweh into our lives rather than submitting and handing back the reigns of our daily lives to our Maker! He will handle with care!
