Purpose and Provision ~ Part Two

March 9, 2013 at 12:00 pm (Remodeling the Mind) (God, growing, humility, learning, light, the Father, the Lord's Prayer, the Spirit, truth, Yeshua)

Matthew 6:9-13 ~ Yeshua (Jesus) speaking…

You, therefore, pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven!
May Your Name be kept holy
May Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us the food we need today.
Forgive us what we have done wrong,
As we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
And do not lead us into hard testing,
But keep us safe from the Evil One.
For Kingship, power, and glory are Yours forever
Amen.’

Notice how there are no I’s or me’s in this prayer?? It never struck my “see chord” much over so many years of repeating and reviewing this prayer. I did, what I believe most do, assuming Yeshua (Jesus) was addressing the disciples (many) and thereby using the us’s and we’s so as to include all (including all who would read later).
Yet as I was led sometime ago to sit at Yeshua’s feet over each word; being taught anew to redefine them and remodel my mind to their keeping; something more seemed to be emphasized. Looking over Yeshua’s words in general, especially in the book of John (ok, I admit this is my favorite gospel 🙂 ) I was struck anew how little Yeshua emphasized Himself and He – being the Father’s Son, that’s saying something! He instead kept “throwing” everyone’s gaze back to His Father, giving Him credit for…everything.
I re-read the prayer and the Spirit led me to the emphasis what you see above. This prayer is not about me/us! Its meant to remind me/us exactly that! Ahhh, humility 🙂

Now I am all for those who say the Spirit leads them to make this prayer personal; indeed all scripture becomes personal when we follow Yeshua. Though a word of caution may be due. The brightest light, strongest pull, and greater significance to all we do must be the Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yeshua’s Father, the Spirit’s Sender, our Father in heaven; whose name is kept holy. It’s the reason I make no claim for “my” words on this blog. If it has not come from me, can not be created by me, its not mine! Truth came/comes from no man/woman in originality; only God can manufacture the truth. And…He gives it to all! Yes, the wicked and righteous alike. So no speciality can be made for any one Child of God. It is our flesh, that seeks special significance apart from being part of the body. Wow! What a contrast to today’s rhetoric:

Find your purpose.
Believe in yourself.
Dream your dream.
Speak your mind.
Stand up for yourself.
You matter.

The list goes on and on. One of the Father’s greatest disturber’s of “the peace” throughout the Bible was His offense to our need to make ourselves stand out. He makes absolutely no apology about emphasizing it’s not about us! For us, yes. About us, no. I believe this is one of the greatest hindrances to people’s desire to follow God of all time. It’s where every single sin has it’s origin. You could say satan’s motto is “Look how god made Me!”

Now notice the order.

Give us the food we need daily,
Forgive us for the wrongs we have done, as we forgive those who have wronged us.
And lead us not into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One…

The reminder of how we tend to participate in the larger picture. We as a whole body. Then the request to keep us safe from the evil one. This is no coincidence in spoken order. Everything….everything God does has profound purpose! Everything Yeshua said, how He said it and in what order promotes the keeping of the Father’s name (character) holy. Its meant to teach us more about the character of God. So we know Him more. This is the soul purpose of His every word and deed; the motive of Yeshua’s heart. His complete, undelayed obedience to the Voice of the Father who led Him in all He did. The Father really is/was His GPS unit (God’s Perfect Salvation). Though way more reliable and trustworthy than any satellite operated device by far. One could say we come with such a GPS as a standard feature. Its the evil one’s intention to disrupt and convolute this GPS with temptations hard wired into the rest of our “mother-boards”. It’s God’s intention to bring us home through testing and proving this GPS units trustworthiness as we listen more intently to Him. For those who have used the man-made version of a GPS, you know this device only gives you the next step in the route verbatim. Not every step all at once. Thankfully :-). How nice of God to make sure even this device would reflect His ways; though it’s doubtful the “designers” were aware of it. This God-given gift is held by the hands of the Spirit. The “signal” is kept strong through Yeshua. Nothing can separate us from Him! The signal can never be severed, only the directives ignored. Make no mistake the Father’s will is being done and He is intend on guiding us home!

Think of something that tries your patience; 7 seconds is trying, 7 minutes borders on severe disturbance, 7 hours is a flat out testament to the fact that you are not God but fully human only. Now recall that the minimum amount of time we know of for all of this earths existence is 7000 years. Seven thousand years of more human failure than any accountant could try to conceive; failure to see the obvious…God. In little and big ways, in nature, in the sky, in all He has created…ugh! we are a hard sighted people! There can be absolutely no doubt that God must be intent on bringing His precious lambs home! When we ignore a directive; just like the man-made GPS; God immediately recalculates the route. You can almost hear Him say “Off route, recalculating…”
…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

There’s a power hinted at here and in other passages…connected to forgiveness and prayer. Connected too, to the giving of the Holy Spirit.

John 20:21-23 ~ Yeshua speaking…
“Shalom aleikhem! (peace be upon you) Yeshua repeated. “Just as the Father sent me, I Myself am also sending you.” Having said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Ruach HaKodesh! (Holy Spirit)” If you forgive someone’s sins, their sin’s are forgiven; if you hold them, they are held.

Matthew 16:15-19 ~ Yeshua speaking…
“But you,” He said to them, “who do you say I am?” Shim’on Kefa (Simon Peter) answered, “You are the Mashiach (Messiah), the Son of the Living God.” “Shim’on Bar-Yochanan (Simon son of John),” Yeshua said to him, “how blessed you are! For no human being revealed this to you, no, it was My Father in heaven. I also tell you this: you are Kefa (Peter – which means ‘Rock’) and on this rock I will build My Community, and the gates of Sh’ol (hell) will not overcome it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
**See also Matthew 18:18

Confirmation of Yeshua’s internal “operating system” – John 12:49-50 ~ Yeshua speaking…
For I have not spoken on My own initiative, but the Father who sent Me has given Me a command, namely what to say and how to say it. And I know that His command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told Me to say.
** See also John 14:8-26…this includes much about the “operating system” of the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion:

> We say the we’s and our’s for a powerful reason in this prayer. Even if we don’t fully comprehend it, it was given us to say as it is, and we must obey. Trusting the Father and His knowledge of that which He gives. Respect it, its no small thing.

> Also with the emphasis on the Father, the YOUR Kingdom, YOUR will, YOUR Name (character). A reminder of who’s who, and what we are really for. A glory that has never, will never, can never be ours, but His and His alone.

> A focus on the order of all things Yeshua says, asking Him why…desiring the purpose behind each thing He said or did; for the purpose of knowing the Father more, not our significance. This comes in a totally different dimension than “getting to know God”. We desire to know Him…just to know Him.

> Lastly we see how we can be kept within His holy will, by continuing to listen to Him, obeying what He says without hesitation, and finding His voice more and more trustworthy in the doing of His will. This protects us, guides us, brings us Home. Its not a robot-making procedure. Its a safe-keeping…insurance…if you will. Actually the only insurance one can invest in that fully guarantee’s all it offers…forever. 🙂

Grace and peace in Yeshua the Messiah ❤