The Good Way, the Rest for Your Soul

August 4 of this year was one of those restless, sleepless nights I've been having quite often. I was given a personal word from Holy Spirit that night that I do not feel released to share. However, I was also given words that I do know are for all of us, because since that date I've gotten two more witnesses.  The Lord woke me that night at 3:33 a.m. and so I turned over to Jeremiah 33:3, recalling the message from that verse:
"Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
I asked the Lord, "What things? What great and unsearchable things do you wish to tell me, Father?" Immediately in my spirit I heard this answer: "What is required of you, O man, but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly before your God?" (Micah 6:8). 

The first witness of that word came very quickly, less than an hour later, as I listened to a message from Marsha Burns. She quoted Micah 6:8, but then said this: "Never look for justice in the world but always GIVE IT. " I lay awake for a long time that night, pondering all the injustices we are witnessing in the world right now, from the violence and trafficking perpetrated upon innocent children, to the sick, corrupt politicians and judges promoting lies and excusing crimes with no penalties. Injustice is an outrage to so many of us right now! But Marsha's word shifted my focus. Suddenly my thoughts were no longer centered on my outrage, but rather focused on how I can go about affirming and applauding justice and mercy, wherever I can give it, and wherever I may find it.

I spent more time in prayer that night and then heard again the Voice of the Ruach: "These, my child, are still and forever the things that must be cultivated in your heart of hearts: Justice, mercy and humility. These traits sum up the method you are attempting to follow in your caregiving. This is the ancient path, the good way; the rest for your soul."

Since August 4th I've allowed those words to ruminate often in my spirit. Now, today, we read the Torah portion called EIKEV.  If you do a careful study of this portion (Deuteronomy 7-12), you will quickly see a pattern emerge. Moses is speaking to the generation of Israelites who have made it through the 40 days of wilderness wandering and testing. He summarizes the wilderness experiences their fathers endured and makes it pretty clear that if we are going to become the people that God calls us to be, we must endure suffering.  In Deut. 8:10 Moses says, "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands."  

Are you feeling like you're in the wilderness right now? Are you in a dry place or a place of suffering? Know that it is a place of testing, a time when God peers deep inside the heart to see how you are responding. Will you harbor resentment and anger or will you  open the door and invite Him in closer?  Will you remain humble or will you rebel in pride and arrogance? 

In Deut. 9:5 the LORD says to Israel, "It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people!"  

I have learned that humility really is listening to and following God's commands because this is obedience. One who does justice, loves mercy and walks humbly before Him is without question one who is walking in obedience and one who is submitting his will to the will of the Father. This surely must be the bottom line for our Heavenly Father, even as it was the bottom line for our earthly fathers!  

In fact, if we move the timeframe all the way from Israel's first possession of the land (after their exodus from Egypt) to the second great Exodus from the nations and into the restored Land of Israel, we see a definite pattern. In Ezekiel 20:35 the LORD says, "I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant.  I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against Me. "

We are His sheep and He is our Shepherd. We will pass under His rod of judgment, counted one by one, face to face. Then we shall know true Justice, even as we have given it. Then we shall experience the deep, deep Love and Mercy of Yeshua our Redeemer, even as we have extended it. Then we shall walk ever so humbly before our God!

These, my child, are still and forever the things that must be cultivated in your heart of hearts: Justice, mercy and humility.  This is the ancient path, the good way; the rest for your soul.

P.S. If you are interested, you can find a teaching I have done on the Torah parsha Eikev in this youtube video (link below).  Shabbat Shalom and be blessed!

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4NXLF8nk4k