8.17.25 ~ Complete the Cycle

Good Morning!

If you strip life down to its bare biology, we are just creatures who move, breathe, eat, digest, reproduce and die. Deep down, however, we know that’s not why we’re here. The body is a vessel. It’s not the destination. A purely physical life can be full, but never fulfilled in just the physical existence. The body needs food to live and the soul needs meaning to thrive. This is why the Torah, in yesterday's portion, says

“And He humbled you and suffeed you to hunger and fed you with manna that you nor your fathers knew of, that He might make known to you that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God“” (Deut. 8:3)

The scripture says a human being does not live on bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Later, in the same chapter,

"you shall eat till your full, feel satisfied and bless/give thanks to the Lord your God… Be aware that you do not forget the Lord your God. (Deut. 8:10,11)

I underlined the word manna and bread in the text. Have you ever considered the difference? Enquiring minds want to know :-)

The manna comes from above, 6 days a week, without our participation (Ex. 16). The bread is  produced from seed, grown,  harvestedI and baked; a 10 step process from seed to oven, requiring our participation. It’s a full circle or a full cycle of spiritual intimacy and reciprocity of love to the One Who gives us all things freely to enjoy.

In our Zoom call, Sabbath morning, we detailed out this reciprocating relationship, emphasizing the importance of always recognizing and giving thanks to the One Who provides everything: full belly (Deut. 8:10), my house (Deut. 8:12), my wealth (Deut. 8:13) and the devastating trap of what happens when I think that I've done it on my own (Deut. 8:18-20).

When I fail to recognize His involvement in everything I have, the reciprocating cycle is broken and the effects in my own life are tragic. Anything that gets in the way of that full circuit is sabotage, It blocks the flow and circulation resulting in a very stagnant environment.

The bread that we live by,  represents anything in the physical world. It can represent our livelihood or anything that’s physically sustaining you; from your work, to your pleasure, to your addictions...the stuff that 'you' just have to have every day or you'll "die".

What happens when the flow from heaven reaches you but you’re not giving it back to the Almighty? You received it but the gratitude where you’re supposed to lift that "bread", but the lifting never happens? The consequence of an ungrateful action creates an iron and brass ceiling, blocking the cycle of receiving and giving thanks.

Yet, through my ungratefulness, to the One Who provides everything, the energy has to go somewhere. Where does that vitality, that life force go? Sadly, it feeds some other part of yourself. When it’s not elevated and lifted it feeds self importance. It feeds vanity. It  feeds self-indulgence and, overtime, it develops spiritual complacency, which becomes spiritual numbness. It numbs the very desire, the very will to connect with my higher power.

The more you consume, the more you earn the more and the less you give it back to the Maker and the Creator, the more it begins to develop a slight narcissism. It feeds directly into your ego and you are now regressing . Ugh!

That's why there is such a strong warning in Deuteronomy 8 and that's why, as Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians,

"In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18)

Ever wonder where he got the idea from :-)?

Enjoy the zoom teaching! Complete the cycle with the One Who gave you all things! Live life beyond just a biological organism eating, drinking, reproducing and dying. Bless His name. Steward what He's given you and enjoy the fullness of His gift into your life.

Happy 29th day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil. The Fall Feasts are coming! Where will you be giving thanks?

Shalom!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3.8.25

Good morning! Have you ever considered the meaning of the 153 fish that were caught by Yeshua's disciples in John 21:4-12? You remember the story, right? It's the story many of us have experienced too often in our journey...we've been 'fishing' all night long and NOTHING. Then, with a listening ear, we grab our nets one more time, and with a mighty heave we throw the net in a different direction over the boat, and...my oh my, the boat's about to sink because there are so many fish in the net; yet the nets don't break. What a story! What a miracle! What 'fish finding vision Yeshua had'! What obedience; especially after doing it for so long 'my way'. What an enigma that Yeshua already had fish cooking on the shore when the boys arrived! What wisdom he displayed in His instructions to the boys! Am I listening, acting, and throwing in the right direction? Are my nets empty (Matt. 4:19)? Have you ever felt like you're outside the camp, isolate...
Read more

3.20.25

Good morning! Yesterday, we learned some essential truths about how to 'be still and know that He is God (Psa. 46:10). Today, I want to ask you a different question based on life's ability to throw a wide variety of circumstances at us!  One of the most difficult situations is when we are threatened by someone or some circumstance. Have you ever been threatened?  Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished.  Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time.  But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Yeshua, living a Torah lifestyle, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened.  It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, then again...but we all know that in one form or another t...
Read more

3.22.25

Good morning! Shabbat shalom! Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-) By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32). As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to ...
Read more