My Joyful Heart

The past few days have been very rewarding for this grandpa. First, our two granddaughters and son from Texas surprised us with a visit last week. They were visiting South Florida so a phone call meant that we would go pick them up and spend a day or so together. These girls are growing faster than the months pass in the year. In the few hours we spent together, there was a visit to the Natural History Museum along with the Butterfly Gardens and Museum. Since these princesses love their pizza, what better way to spend a meal together than a mini-pizza party? Discussions were uplifting and enlightening. The little ones asked many questions about their dad and where he used to live and what he did when he was their age, six and eight. It was a time for nostalgia as well as first hand teachings. The evening was finished off with the girls talking grandma into a nice relaxation massage, then off to bed. Up early the next morning for return to the airport…very sad departure but mighty exciting when they arrived in Texas. The airport was locked down due to a bomb threat and from what I have heard; they whiled the time sleeping and playing electronic puzzles. Yes, we miss them. The time is always just too short!

So, the evening here at home was very quiet and still. Spent Thursday regrouping and preparing for our grandson to come on the weekend. We have been looking forward to this visit for quite some time. There was a period when we didn’t know if we would be able to carry on our routine of a summer visit from him. It all depended on the recovery of my injury. The blessings were generous – YHVH ensured that I would be able to walk and participate somewhat in this teenage boy’s activities. To top it off, his dad also came and decided to spend the week.

 

Our grandson and his dad will be staying the week with us! Monday was mostly getting to know each other and catch up on all the events that happened in a young man’s life from last summer. The next day, Tuesday, normally is a day when our congregation volunteers to help feed the homeless. Grandma mentioned this and both father and son rose to the occasion. So we went to a nearby church where the preparers and feeders gather. My son and grandson stepped right up to help prepare and package the food. After that, they joined us downtown for the passing out of the food boxes. Talk about two people who fit right in! I don’t know for certain, but I say they have done this very generous behavior before. Both of them expressed how good it was to see this event taking place. Our son later managed to materialize some much needed provisions for the Food Ministry. What a welcomed blessing! In the afternoon, son and grandson visited the museums while grandma and I returned to complete our customary Tuesday work.Our  behavior was very eye opening for me. I will address this in a moment or two.

The rest of the week is scheduled for some hands-on projects “in the garage”. I won’t go into detail about brewing Irish Red Beer. The details blow my mind, but I am so totally impressed! Today was one of those “garage” days!. Tomorrow we plan to visit a nearby theme park and let the teenager see what this old man can do! He should have no problem watching me sit on a park bench in the shade. I bet I can out last him! But who knows? We haven’t tested it yet!

Having the children and grandchildren home is very heart lifting. Situations and habits have changed over the years. We all get caught up in so much “stuff”. We can find more reasons why we can’t visit and be family than reasons that we must visit and be family. Just as my son told me the other night, if we were to spend more time together we would have less questions and more time to just be with one another. So true.

Too often our visits are for a quick meal and light table talk. Romans 14:17-19 tells us “For the kingdom of Elohim is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,  because anyone who serves Yeshua in this way is pleasing to Elohim and approved by men.  Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” In Colossians 3:12 we are told “Therefore, as Elohim's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

The world dictates such a rapid pace that we, even though we strive to not be of the world, just being in the world we are influenced by this rapid lifestyle. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated it simply: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” It is the patience of nature’s own Creator that guides ‘her’.

I am certain that my family is not the only family on the fast track. I hear from many who express dismay that they can’t see their loved ones more often. A thing to keep in mind, for those of us who practice not being of the world, we can become entrenched in our work to ensure we don’t get caught up and led astray. Here is my eye opening experience: Sometimes we can be so intent on doing the “right” thing, following Torah, etc., that we do not afford an opportunity for others to join with us in just being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. It is not necessary to always be doing something monumental and earth shaking, sometimes just sitting in the room and being with someone gives tremendous heartfelt rewards. This is what the Father asks of us. Trust in Him, be with Him and let Him take care of us. Psalm 103 tells us that man will wither like grass, but YHVH’s mercy is from eternity past to eternity future on those who fear Him. His righteousness extends to their children’s children; with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

Yes, visits from our children and grandchildren uplift our hearts. There is a special glow that comes from just knowing they are in the house. This must be the feeling our Father infers when He says He delights when we are in His house.

Thank you Father for the blessings you have bestowed on us the past few days; may these days come more often, may they reach a point when there are no more questions, only just sitting and being with one another, in Your quiet peace. B’Shem Yeshua Meshikhenu, Amein!

Shalom and shalom

Pinchas 

a/k/a Frankly speaking all the time…

Stuff That Makes Me Think

This all started out so simple and easy. Then I started looking for something to back up what I was thinking. Well, I guess I have a lot to learn! No backers that I could shake from the trees! Take for example: When I was asked how can I say that Yeshua was here from the beginning and did not necessarily have to go through the Bethlehem experience, I got a big non-verbal, non-physical slap in the face. So, me being me, I can’t let it lay. So I decided to pursue this line of thought because I thoroughly believe it; but again, me being me, I can unlearn and learn again. So, I went looking for some of that “show it to me in writing and I will believe it” proof to offer to anyone who wants. That is, those of little faith!

So, I went looking and ended up with Targum Jonathan; and in Genesis 1 we find the following (I did not add to or take away, but I did cut through some the readings to get to the point, to prevent this from becoming a Scripture Study and I am the last one to tell you what you have read… I have hard enough time telling you what I have read).

From Targum Jonathan:

…and the darkness called He night; and He made it that in it the creatures might have rest. And it was evening, and it was morning, the First Day.

And the Lord said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate between the waters above and the waters beneath.

And the Lord made the expanse, upbearing it with three fingers, between the confines of the heavens and the waters of the oceans, and separated between the waters which were below the expanse, and the waters which were above, in the collection (or covering) of the expanse; and it was so. And the Lord called the expanse the Heavens, And it was evening, and it was morning, the Second Day.

[skip down a bit now] …And He blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth. And it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Fifth.

And the Lord said, Let the soil of the earth bring forth the living creature according to his kind; the kind that is clean and the kind that is unclean; cattle, and creeping thing, and the creature of the earth, according to his kind. And it was so. And the Lord made the beast of the earth after his kind, the clean and the unclean, and cattle after their kind, and every reptile of the earth after its kind, the clean and the unclean. And the Lord saw that it was good.

And the Lord said to the angels who ministered before Him, who had been created in the second day of the creation of the world, Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl which are in the atmosphere of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every reptile creeping upon the earth. And the Lord created man in His Likeness….

So, the way I could read this, Yeshua, one of the angels that ministered to Him, was created on the second day. But it does not say that! It says, YHVH said to the angels who ministered before Him, with Yeshua present, “Hey gang! I have a great idea. Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness… The implication here is that everyone appeared (looked) the same as YHVH, and Yeshua was there from the very beginning. Look at the very beginning, again...

Targum Jonathan: 1. At the beginning (min Avella) the Lord created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was vacancy and desolation, solitary of the sons of men, and void of every animal; and darkness was upon the face of the abyss, and the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord breathed upon the fce of the waters.

[JERUSALEM TARGUM. In wisdom (be-hukema) the Lord created. And the earth was vacancy and desolation, and solitary of the sons of men, and void of every animal; and the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord breathed upon the face of the waters.]

And he Lord said, Let there be light and to enlighten above; and at once there was light. And the Lord beheld the light, that it was good; and the Lord divided between the light and the darkness. And the Lord call the light Day; and He made it that the inhabitors of the world might labor by it; and the darkness called He night; and He made it that in it the creatures might have rest. And it was evening, and it was morning, the First Day.

Here we have the first instance of the Father separating the dark from the light. We soon learn, as we explore, that the darkness can only occur with the absence of light, and that for absolute darkness to be, there can be no light whatsoever. And since we have learned that He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then we can safely deduce that He will not go away for a very long time and so we will not have to suffer in total darkness. … and the Lord call the light Day; and He made it that the inhabitors of the world might labor by it. This also shows the strength of our Heavenly Creator.  In the beginning, it was all dark… He overpowered the dark with the light and He has maintained that His light will never go out… thus darkness can not succeed when we look to the light. The initial development was an earth without form and void…He made a slight adjustment, for us… you and me!

So, I have gotten very far away from the comment by the man who said Yeshua was not here until His human form birth. He also said there were no days until the ‘sixth’ day, as we call it.

Well, for me, for now, I am latching on to the teachings I receive from a very understanding Orthodox Jew – it was he who showed me that Yeshua appears on every page of the Bible. Yes, we refer to Him as the Messiah, and we understand most of the already fulfilled prophecies that make Him possible, and my Orthodox friend, would not go that far, but he went far enough to show me the truth of the Word that I am studying. (My friend did not denounce Yeshua either)

Lets call it a day on this; I have more questions than answers right now.   He called the darkness night so we creatures can rest.  Laila tov.

Shalom and love you one and all.

Pinchas, a/k/a Frankly Speaking all the time.

The Glue of the Universe: The God Particle

The Ocean Rose

A very fascinating week. Who would have thought that so many scientists would openly agree with one another and yet openly disagree as to why? This has been one of those weeks that I find myself rooting for positive answers about “where” we come from yet I read in my tech manual, Torah, the answer is very simple. “He” created us. That is easy enough. But not good enough for those human kind who think they could do it better if only they had a heads up on the protocol that the Father used.

Along comes the God Particle. Now, real scientists won’t call it that. Properly referred to as Higgs boson. But the guy who did call it that is absolutely delighted. The phrase "God particle," coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman, is the latest uncovering (they won’t say discovery until they prove that it is new and not always been hanging around) of scientific experience concerning the universe. From all that I can gather, this is the particle that gives all, as in ALL that is contained in the universe, mass. It is the glue that holds it all together, including the space between the particles. Yes, that space must be held together also. So, I won’t show my ignorance by explaining, you are quite capable of researching it and drawing your own conclusions.

I want to take this opportunity to gently help the scientists to understand that the answer was given many years ago. It is contained in a book called the Bible, layman’s account, or more “technically” referred to as Torah! In order to understand that YHVH created the universe, we must first acknowledge that He wanted to create the universe. It was not an experiment gone awry. Our Heavenly Father had a thought and He turned the thought into a reality. From that moment on, He took control of anything and everything that was and would be. The Father’s will is the spiritual force for the entire universe. Everything He brings into being, He has the dominating force to ensure it is in rhythm with everything else. Imagine, having such a Divine thought process as to be able to secure the forces necessary for all forces to operate. Hence, the God particle!

By time the greatest minds of this earth have this figured out, they will be no further along than before the atom smashed and offered up its data. They knew before going in that something was holding everything in place. They were not attempting to prove a Big Bang theory. They only want to know what is holding everything in place. Well, call it what you will, Higgs boson or God particle. It is there. Now, tell me how it works. Don’t come up with some theoretical hypothesis. Make your answer as straight forward and simple as Genesis 1:1 to 2:3. I didn’t say it was easy to accept. Because man is as man does, we aren’t willing to exercise that part of our given brain that can conceive thoughts as our Father did. For some reason, if we can’t make it happen, then it doesn’t count.

We talk about ‘being in the Spirit’. What does that mean? YHVH was, in my mind, fully in the Spirit when he created the spiritual force necessary for all forces. A separate and singular force working in conjunction with all other forces to sustain this universe and all that is within it. And get this; these very specific spiritual forces keeps each reality alive. And the Divine Will of the Father is the root of all reality and it draws its own force and continues in existence fed by the root. Thus, He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

When my first grand daughter was born, my wife was involved in growing roses. She would take the seeds and plant them in egg cartons and bring them to the office to bask in the sun from the windows. As they grew, they reseeded themselves. Due to the close proximity of the various roses, there was apparent cross pollination. One plant survived this encounter and was a beautiful pinkish rose. The only one like it in the little garden. We could not determine who the “father” was but we were sure about the “mother” through looking at the petals and leaves, etc. So, long story short, the rose was given the name of our grand daughter, Ocean. It is the "Ocean Rose."The rose is now about eight years old and is still the only one of its kind in the world. Over the years it has born many buds and produced many flowers. They are still the same as they were from the very beginning. The root of that rose has not changed. It is the same as yesterday, today and I expect into days to come. 

 

Our Father is extremely generous with his data. He permits us to investigate and try to sort out just how He did it. But He knows us well. He is not about to let us have at the creation of the root so as to prevent us from destroying that which He thought so Divinely to create. I also believe that He wants us to know more about Him and that is why now, and not before now, He has permitted the grasping of the knowledge that there really is a God particle. Is it possible that YHVH saw fit to honor physicist Leon Lederman for even suggesting that YHVH had a role in what Dr.. Lederman was looking for many years ago? Through faith and trust, He will take care of our every need.

Shalom and shalom,

Pinchas a/k/a Frankly Speaking All the Time