Welcome to Renaissance Woman and the first post of 2023!
I will be continuing my study of Isaiah 45:7 in the upcoming weeks but, for today, I am sharing a poem. This poem is inspired by one of my all time favorites: [i carry your heart with me (i carry it in] by E.E. Cummings. You can read it here.
Resolution
My Love, we've counted down another year
As years are measured by the clock
Time has come to remember and
Spend a moment taking stock
Of where we've been and where we are
How far we've come and have yet to go
To make a brand-new resolution
Though what may come I cannot know.
My Love, we've ascended heights
Far above all I could have dreamt
But lows there have been as well
Traversing them left me spent
You, My Love, were always with me
You led, You guided, sustained, upheld
I must admit-as I look back-
There's been no good thing You've withheld.
My Love, I look to this new year
One resolution only can there be
And that is to not resolve at all
Because I do not know-I cannot see
No resolution-I choose Your rest
For I do know this one thing is true
Day by day, age to age,
You bring me deeper into You.
The wonder is we are never apart
I am carried in Your heart-I carry You in my heart.
This week’s post is a poem inspired by various musings. The study I’ve been conducting on Isaiah 45:7 has been foremorst in my mind and I was recently blessed with the opportunity to spend some time in nature. I had expected it would be a time to more deeply experience the Holy Spirit and, while it was, it didn’t happen the way I thought it would. I’ve been thinking on that experience as well and then remembered 1 Kings 19:11-13. The result of all of that is this poem.
Desideratum I had a great gift given me To seek a place I could be still I had come to the trail's head And I started up the hill I felt myself battered & crushed Convinced all Man touches he destroys And I needed time to be away Escape from all the noise.
I wanted time alone with You Without my mind being swarmed By all the screeching clamoring I wished a deeper connection formed With no more concrete underfoot I was sure I'd hear the sound Of Your voice-but though I listened close I heard nothing from the ground.
A storm was brewing in the mountains And though it wouldn't reach me for some time A breeze arose which refreshed and cooled Soothed me during my climb I was sure as I ascended And the air around me thinned I'd hear You speaking loud and clear But You were not in the wind.
At last I reached the hilltop There was no one else around I sat down to rest a bit On a small bench I had found I wondered if I'd hear You now That I sat still on my own But all I had was certainty I was not sitting there alone.
Your Presence was there with me And at once I began to sing A song of Your lovingkindness I felt my soul within take wing Buoyed by no strength of mine But a stirring deep inside I heard You sing along with me From that place where You abide.
Nature is all well and good It is important to take rest But I need not ever search for You I remember how I'm blessed In You I live and have my being Your Spirit lives inside of me And I do not need to look elsewhere We exist in seamless unity.
I rise and begin my descent In a very different mood Than the one I had started in I am healed and renewed This truth I have I must declare Perhaps I will write a poem And tell all Your Love Purpose Is to make each heart Your home.
Interlude I went out walking Late at night The moonlight Was so bright My shadow walked beside me. I needed time for thinking And I sought A good spot But I could not Make out the stars above me. Too many lights glowing Mankind's tries To lighten skies Blinding my eyes To the beauty I might see. It set me wondering Of thoughts enshrined By a Darkened Mind In attempt to find An image of who we might be.
If You're a sun burning Living Fire We can desire But would expire If we dared to approach You; Are we the moon hanging High overhead Utterly dead Our light instead One that is endued? Or are we stars shining Containers of light Pinpricks in the night Scattered but bright Each with our own hue?
I see the day dawning No more night To our sight You the light The only one we can see. A glimmer of understanding What is true Us made anew An image of You Our light born in unity.
Haste this Day's coming With all restored In one accord And You adored O, Great Father of lights!
I began a word study on John 3:16 over the weekend because I have been thinking about the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt”. While I don’t feel contempt for scripture-far from it!-I have been thinking about certain verses and how familiarity with them can definitely breed complacency. This is especially true with John 3:16. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard it quoted and have quoted it myself. It can be found on t-shirts, hats…it is one of the most widely known verses in the Bible. With this in mind, I asked myself: am I sure I know what this verse is saying? Can I be certain I know what it means? That answer is, of course, no: the Holy Spirit always has something more to reveal. And so, I started a word study on John 3:16.
I begin any study on scripture with a prayer to the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of my understanding and then I open my Comparative Study Bible and reference books. I use many references when doing a word study. I want to know as much as I can about how the word I’m looking at was used elsewhere in scripture, how was it used in the vernacular of the day, and what interpretations there have been by other teachers past and present. I started with looking up the words in both the Strong’s and Young’s concordances and then took a look at the commentaries I have. While I did find a few interesting things I hope to share at a later time, my attention was diverted off my selected verse. I’d prayed about John 3:16 but the Holy Spirit turned my attention to a word study I’d done a few months ago on baptism. The teacher during Sunday morning’s Zoom church message spoke about the beauty of baptism which made me realize I needed to take a second look at that previous study. Thus, this post will not be about John 3:16 but rather John 3:5. Again, I expected one answer from God and He pointed me toward something else.
I’d first done the study on John 3:5 because of a social media post I’d seen talking about the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. I didn’t disagree with anything the post had said about the importance of baptism and the Eucharist but I wasn’t sure I agreed that baptism was the subject of John 3:5. Curious, I did a word study, made some notes, and then put them aside until last night when I picked up one of my reference books. Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament said “That water points definitely to the rite of baptism and that with a twofold reference-to the past and to the future. Water naturally suggested to Nicodemus the baptism of John which was then awakening such profound and general interest; and, with this, the symbolical purifications of the Jews, and the Old Testament use of washing as the figure of purifying from sins”. The scriptures listed by Dr. Vincent for reference are Psalms 51:2&7, Ezekiel 36:25, and Zechariah 13:11.
Psalms 51:2 states “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” while verse 7 says “Purge me with hyssop that I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Zechariah 13:1: In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” The Amplified Bible has Ezekiel 36:25-27 as a reference scripture for John 3:5 so I’m including the passage in its entirety rather than merely verse 25: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness: and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.”
I wholeheartedly agree these scriptures speak of a cleansing that comes from the hand of God; a washing for which immersion was symbolic. I also wholeheartedly agree Nicodemus was aware of John the Baptizer. Doctor Vincent says as much and references the sending of priests and Levites to question him as related in John 1:19-282. The statement I question is “water naturally suggested to Nicodemus the baptism of John”. Dr. Vincent says “Jesus’ words opened to Nicodemus a new and more spiritual significance in both the ceremonial purifications and the baptism of John which the Pharisees had rejected (Luke 7:30) John’s rite had a real and legitimate relation to the kingdom of God which Nicodemus must accept3.”
Very well. That sounds plausible. Except, Nicodemus is still confused. He asks in John 3:9, “how can all this be possible?” Nicodemus was missing something and I seem to be missing it too. It got me wondering: if Jesus meant baptism, why didn’t he say baptism?
Turning to the Greek words, “Water” in John 3:5 does mean “water”(Strong’s reference G5204) and “born” carries the definition of “to procreate, regenerate, be born, bring forth (G1080). There is nothing here about baptism. The word translated baptize in other scriptures does not appear anywhere in the chapter and is not, in fact, a word that has been translated at all. The Strong’s reference number is G907 and the word is baptizo. It would have been very simple for this passage to clearly say baptism if indeed baptism is what Jesus meant.
Why is this important to me? Let me share verse 5 in the Amplified Bible: “Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and (even) the Spirit, he cannot (ever) enter the kingdom of God.” This is a serious statement. It’s of solemn importance I understand what this means. All I know for certain at this time is that small word study I did months ago did not go nearly deep enough.
I will continue this study next week.
Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John Chapter 3:5. Born of Water and the Spirit, Page 91
Vincent, Marvin R., D.D.,Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John Chapter 3:2. Rabbi, Page 89
Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John Chapter 3:5. Born of Water and the Spirit, Page 91
This coffee mug was a Christmas gift from my Mother. The phrase on it spoke to me but I was not purchasing things for myself so put it back on the shelf. My mother had seen and surprised me with it. In case you can’t read it (I’ve had the mug for some years and it’s been through many washings), the phrase is “Each new wave rearranges the patterns in the sand so we can pretend our footsteps are the first”. I can’t tell you why this phrase spoke to me the way it did but, as the Holy Spirit has worked in me, opening the eyes of my heart to the truth of who Jesus is in me; I have garnered a deeper understanding of this phrase. Even though the Holy Spirit has been at work in God’s people for over 2,000 years, each revelation is new to me. When my eyes are opened to see, it’s a brand new discovery.
For instance:
There was a time I used to read Matthew 27:46 where Jesus cries out “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me?” and thought I understood how He felt. There have been so many times when I’ve walked through such darkness I was certain God had forsaken me. I couldn’t hold that against Him though because He’d forsaken Jesus too so at least Jesus understood how I felt. This is a terrible belief to hold and I thank God He didn’t let me keep it for long. The Holy Spirit led me to Hebrews 13:5 where I read, and the Amplified translation says it best: “Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” While this passage is more about financial worries, this promise of God appeared to hold true for every aspect of my life especially when the verse 16 says “So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say, “The Lord is my Helper [in time of need], I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”
Here was a thought: If God promised to never leave nor forsake me, was my belief that He had forsaken Jesus mistaken?
I began to read the bible with this question in mind and saw Isaiah 53:4 which states, “surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by Him and afflicted.” This struck me. “Punished by God” is how I saw Jesus’ sufferings and death but this scripture appeared to tell me that wasn’t true. Then the Holy Spirit drew my eyes to 2 Corinthians 5:19 where Paul writes “…God was reconciling the word to Himself in Christ” and Colossians 2:9 which states “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” With these two passages ringing in my mind, I began to question my interpretation of Matthew 27:46. If I were incorrect and The Father had not forsaken His son, what did Jesus’ words mean?
Then came the day when the Holy Spirit answered that question. I was reading Psalm 22. I cannot count how many times I’d read it before and felt David’s pain but had NEVER realized what was going on. The opening lines of this Psalm are exactly Jesus’ words on the cross. I have read the writings of bible teachers who have said that every Jew within earshot would not have needed Jesus to say anything more. They would have known the Psalm in its entirety just hearing the first lines and would know exactly what He was saying. What was He saying?
Even though David wrote this Psalm hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, this entire Psalm is about Him. As the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to that truth, I read through the Psalm in dawning wonder. Passages leapt out at me. “He trusts in the Lord, they say, let the Lord rescue him” (verse 8) I found paralleled in Matthew 27:43. I discovered the horror and shame of crucifixion in verses 16-18 of the Psalm: “they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display, people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”
I read David’s words and saw that they mirrored Jesus’ agony. I continued reading and knew for certain God had not forsaken Jesus on the cross for the Psalm itself declares Jesus was not forsaken in verse 24: “He has not hidden His face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
The Psalm ends on a note of exultation. Verse 31 says, “They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” The last words of the Psalm, “He has done it”, are exactly Jesus’ words when He cries “It is finished!”
I couldn’t believe it. It was like I’d never read the Psalm before. My entire mind was flooded with revelation and I had an entirely new bible. I also had an entirely new understanding of Jesus’ cry on the cross. I read the Psalm again and then went back to Matthew 27 to read the entire passage. And then I read it again because I finally saw what Matthew’s gospel was saying. Jesus’ cry on the cross was not a cry of agony at being abandoned by God. Rather, it was a shout of triumph. Even when the situation looks as bad as it possibly can, my God shouts His triumph.
This was a brand new discovery for me and the Holy Spirit and I delighted in it together. I felt like I’d been the only one ever to have seen this to be true even though, at the same time, I knew I could not be. Indeed, I am not the first nor will I be the last but it doesn’t matter. I delight in my seeing. Those who have already seen share my delight and I have an equal share in the delight of their having seen. Even though many have walked the shoreline of this particular revelation, the Holy Spirit made the sand smooth so that I felt my footsteps were the first. He makes it smooth again once I’ve passed so that another can discover Him for the first time.
*All scriptures are quoted from the Amplified and NIV translations.
Renaissance Woman 
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