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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Yada: The Hebrew Concept of Divine Intimacy
True relationship with God involves intimate knowledge that goes beyond religious activity, illustrated through the powerful metaphor of a spouse's embrace and the Hebrew concept of "yada."
• Experiencing the difference between a physical embrace and the heart-to-heart connection that happens during intimate moments
• Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:21-23 about those who performed religious acts but whom He "never knew"
• The Hebrew word "yada" carries deeper meaning than intellectual knowledge—it implies intimate relationship
• Religious activities without heart connection are like "hugging a board"
• God desires relationship over religion, though systematic good works have their place
• Our heavenly Father enjoys working alongside us, even through our mistakes
• Unlike some earthly fathers, God delights in being with us during mundane moments
• The blood of Jesus continually cleanses our "temple" so the Holy Spirit can fully dwell within us
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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
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Shalom to you and your home.
It was just the other day, while I was in my office, that I heard someone coming up behind me and it was my wife. And she walked up behind me and just quietly put her arms around my neck and just said I just wanted to give you a hug and I couldn't turn around and hug her back, but I could hug her from the inside out. While she was hugging me with her arms, I was hugging her from my heart and, funny thing, she could feel that, just like I could feel her arms, but I could also feel her heart, her hug from the inside, and we hugged each other and we just hugged there. We just stayed there for a minute and actually our breathing, uniquely enough, our breathing kind of changed to. We kind of breathed the same and my heart rate, I could actually feel a calm and a warmth and a love come into me and flow from me and we joined together. And I tell you what we knew each other. I knew that it was my wife, not just by the sound of her voice, not just by my empirical knowledge of what it is to feel like when she's around. But it was more than that. There was an intimate exchange that was taking place from the inside and from the outside. But from the inside, but from the inside, I could feel my wife, I could feel her love and she could feel me and she could feel my love. And that's what we both wanted. We wanted to know each other, we wanted to just kind of be there and hang out for a while, just like that. And we did. And you know what, uniquely again, uniquely enough, after we had kind of just hugged there for a minute or two, whatever length of time it was, I felt full on the inside, I felt full of love, I felt content, I felt like, ah, you know that feeling of where everything is right, it was righteous man and there was joy and there was peace, and I felt her love. But I also felt the kingdom of god, because in the midst of that was the very presence of god himself, holy spirit. Holy spirit was hovering around and in that and reveling in that together with us, because he was delighting in the fact that we were one.
Speaker 1:Now there's an interesting passage that is on the other end of that equation, and when I say passage, I mean from. The scriptures is on the other end of that equation, and when I say passage, I mean from the scriptures, from the Bible, and it's from John, excuse me, from Matthew, matthew. Matthew Matthew's Gospel, chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. And I just want to read it to you from the New International Version.
Speaker 1:And Jesus, he's talking to his disciples, as well as actually a large group of people, followers that had come from a variety of different backgrounds and had traveled some distance just to hear his voice, to hear the words that come from him, words of life, the words that come from him, words of life, but also, perhaps, healings miracles. They came because they needed a touch from God, and so Jesus is giving to them what has become known as the Sermon on the Mount, and it is one of the longest recorded teachings that we have of Jesus. And in John, chapter 7, verses 21 through 23, jesus says something really, really potent man, he goes. Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, will of my Father, who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day Lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. From me, you evildoers.
Speaker 1:Now some people have come to say that that means that Jesus is really de-emphasizing miracles, signs and wonders and that we really shouldn't be too concerned about those things, because those things have ceased to exist in the first century AD and we no longer see those things take place. We now have the written Word of God and we no longer need to have these things like they did back then, and that argument is empty. It is unfortunate, but nonetheless it exists. And that's exactly not what Jesus is saying. Right, he's not implying that. There's something deeper that he's getting at, and that is that there's this real aspect of knowing God. You see, that's a relational thing.
Speaker 1:The other stuff was just perfunctory, it was religious, it was like these are things that I've done. See, look what I've done versus having a relationship with God and responding to things that he gives to us from that relationship, and we act on them, we obey them, because we have relationship, not a to-do list. I have a relationship with my wife. Yes, there are things that need to be done, of course, and I do them, and she does them for me, sometimes because I ask her, sometimes she just does them because she knows that's what I would like and we have a relationship, we have that and God has, or at least wants that with us that we would have, that we have the ability to receive from him his embrace, not just his to-do list or or us being able to function in these dynamic things like signs and wonders, but to know us More than anything. First and foremost, that we would know him and to have him know us.
Speaker 1:Now there's a Hebrew word concerning to know, or to know someone, and I use the Hebrew language because it's so rich, it's so full of meaning, and also it is the original language that we have, involving the scriptures, that and Greek and Aramaic. But Hebrew carries such a rich understanding of this concept of to know, and in Hebrew the word for to know is yada, which has a, and it can even involve sexual intimacy to know. So let me just break that down a little bit more. Break that down a little bit more. Beyond intellectual understanding, while, granted, yada can denote simple acknowledgement or comprehension, it often carries a deeper meaning of personal connection and intimate experience. Right, it's not just having simple acknowledgement or comprehension of something, or some call it mental ascent, but it has a personal connection and has an intimate experiential dynamic to it. I like that Personal intimacy.
Speaker 1:The word yadah is used in Genesis, chapter 4, verse 1, when describing Adam knowing Eve, implying a physical, intimate relationship. Same thing goes on further where Abraham knew Sarah the ethic of sexual intimacy, but also experiential knowledge In the context of knowing God. Yadah goes beyond abstract knowledge. It involves entering into a relationship with God through obedience and living according to his will. We experience God by entering into relationship and then responding to the things that are on his heart. And then responding to the things that are on his heart, things that he has written already and things that he speaks to us now the Logos and the Rhema Right Logos was established and written already and the Rhema what he speaks currently and is alive right now the Word of God, right to have relationship with God through obedience and living according to his will. Interesting. We're doing it his way. We're having relationship with God his way, and him knowing us involves him giving to us an embrace, him give it to us and embrace.
Speaker 1:Have you ever held someone who isn't capable of responding back or doesn't want to respond back? It's like holding a board like a piece of wood. There's nothing there, like a rock, whereas if there's something alive, relationally and healthy, when we receive an embrace or an encounter like that, there's a response that's generated not just to us but also from us back or an encounter like that, there's a response that's generated not just to us but also from us back. That's knowing the giving and the taking, the interaction relationship. That's what God wants with us. That's what he's called us to. That's one of the highest places for us to live, because that's eternal, that's not just temporary. That's one of the highest places for us to live, because that's eternal, that's not just temporary, that's eternal. We're called into eternal relationship with God, with God Eternal, secure. That's significant. That produces such a peace, that produces such a security to know that we are eternally in relationship with God by virtue of the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross and his resurrection from the dead and his ascension to the right hand of the Father and the fact that he is soon coming again. The full cycle, the full circle, the full picture of God being God, fulfilling his word and, in so doing, demonstrating to us love, not just religion.
Speaker 1:Again, now it's good for us to do things systematically. We've covered that already. It's good to do things in order. It's good to do things because they need to be done Taking care of orphans, take care of widows there are certain things that are good for us to do that would be considered religious, good religion. But then there are other things that are just not. That way I don't have a religion with my wife. I have a relationship. Now there are some things that we do. We gotta clean the house, do the dishes, take care of the yard, all the stuff right, just the stuff.
Speaker 1:Religion, but way more than that, that embrace that intimacy, that deep intimacy of sexual intimacy. Embrace that intimacy, that deep intimacy of sexual intimacy, but also the intimacy that comes from, just as my wife did wanted to give me a hug because she wanted to experience that, and in that there was such a richness, because that's really what occupies the majority of the time, right? Sexual intimacy is great, but we can't live there all the time. Now, in early portions of relationships, it can seem like that's never-ending. But eventually things change and there's other aspects to relationship that come into play and though they're different, they're nonetheless rich and fulfilling and sometimes they actually supersede sexual intimacy, sexual relationships. There are some things that are actually above and beyond that. Different, yes, but maybe, perhaps, if we allow ourselves to think that way, we might even experience it that they are higher than that, more significant than that. Some of them love relationship with God, that they supersede that type of intimacy, but they have that picture within them of relational connection to know.
Speaker 1:The Hebrew Bible also uses Yadah to describe God's knowledge of humans, which is often understood as a loving and intimate awareness. A loving, intimate awareness. A loving, intimate awareness. His knowledge, his knowing of us, his desire for us to have a relationship in which we know one another. We just don't do a relationship, we live a relationship out, so that those words I never knew you will never need to be spoken to us. There's no need for you to walk in fear or concern about that.
Speaker 1:If you are in a living relationship with Jesus and if those thoughts come to you, those are not thoughts that come to you from God. Those can be hangovers from your former way of living, or they can actually be things that come against you by the powers of darkness themselves, and they need to be addressed accordingly, because the truth is God has pursued you and he's pursued me. He's pursued us. He has pursued you and he's pursued me. He's pursued us. He has pursued us and we have responded and made a decision to repent, to turn and change our mind and change our ways and to open ourselves up to receive his kingdom within us, in which his kingdom, his life, his life, begins to do within us what we could not do ourselves in order for us to be who he's called us to be, which we couldn't be on our own without him. Apart from him, we can do nothing, but through him, who strengthened us, we can do all things.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, you know what it's like to have a relationship and when you have a good relationship and that love that energizes you, where you know that you can do anything, because you are so loved that you can do anything, because you are so loved, I can do anything. That produces faith. Love produces faith. Yes, the word of God, the loving word of God, produces faith. Faith, that undeniable knowing that it's going to happen, undeniable knowing that it's going to happen. Hope is that feeling that is an anticipation of something good. Faith is the knowing that it's going to take place. All based upon love, all propelled by love. We serve a loving God who has pursued us, and because he has pursued us, he has made a way for us. He has provided for us that which we could not achieve on our own, and so when we stop trying and we open ourselves up to receive the love of God, he's able to transform us from the inside, so that we can not just be that rock that God hugs, but we can be that one that receives the embrace of God and responds by giving an embrace back. Hallelujah, by giving the embrace back, not just by receiving it or not the one who's just giving it. Look at what I've done. No, no, look what we've done. Look what we're doing. Look what we're. Look what we've done. Look what we're doing. Look what we're doing.
Speaker 1:You know that happened to me not too long ago where I was doing some woodworking in my shop and I was not really achieving what I wanted to see take place. I just, it seemed like I was all thumbs and all left feet. I just, it was just, it wasn't working and I was frustrated. And I started getting more frustrated and pretty soon I was. I had myself tied up in knots on the inside and I heard in the midst of all that, I heard the Lord speak to me.
Speaker 1:You see, we have a relationship that is not just okay one hour in the morning and then I'm off to the races and my relationship is with God. One hour in the morning and then I'm off to the races and my relationship is with God one hour in the morning. That's good, that is a good beginning. But to have an ongoing relationship in which we abide, which we are dwelling and he's dwelling and we're dwelling together and we can dwelling together and we can speak to each other at any point in time in a variety of different ways, and we have that constant connection, that continual awareness that we are connected. Well, I have that with God in my relationship, thank God. That's really, really, really available. That's really where it's at. Yeah, yes, and so. And then this is that, me being all twisted up. God said to me David, stop, he goes. First of all, you don't have to be perfect right away. In fact, you're not going to be most of the time. There's going to be a process right, and he goes.
Speaker 1:And I like doing these things together. I like doing them with you. I like doing them with you. In fact, let me show you how, if you just relax and learn to laugh at your mistakes. And let me show you and let us do this together, shall we? I said you want to do this. You want to work together with me Because, as your father, I want to work together with you. I love doing things together with you. Wow, to have your father say that he loves working together with you, even when you make mistakes.
Speaker 1:Because, see, some of us have had fathers that when we have worked together with them earthly fathers you know we work together with them. We make a mistake, we give them the wrong wrench, whoa, it's like all hell broke loose, or it was just. We never saw our fathers work with them. They were never around, or they took off before we got to know them, or they took off, they abandoned ship, right, or the list goes on. They were not quite able to, you know, do things together with us. That was comfortable or beneficial at all, or at least not on our end. So we didn't have any example, but we craved it Deep inside.
Speaker 1:We've all craved to be affirmed by a father figure and to do things together with our father. Everyone, whether you admit it or not, you have that inside. You just want to have God, to have God. My father say that. The father of fathers say my father say that. The father of fathers say I like you settle down, man. I like working with you. You're all tied up because you can't enjoy that, but you could just relax and you laugh at yourself. And no, I, I'm not putting pressure on you. I want to do this together. He wants to know me. Yeah, not just in a hug, but in the things that I do throughout my day.
Speaker 1:He wants to do them together, sometimes as a quiet partner, sometimes with good advice, but together, sometimes with you know good advice, but together, tied together, we have the unique ability to enjoy our relationship with God. Because he has given that to us within his own life, because he enjoys having a relationship with us continually, on a regular basis. He loves looking at us while we're sleeping. He loves looking at you while you are doing some of your most mundane things, like a father looking at a child. And he is just that Like we at times have found ourselves looking at our children and just wanting to look at them, saying, wow, look at what they're doing. It's God with us, that's Emmanuel, god with us and God in us, abiding in us.
Speaker 1:We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, meaning he dwells within us and he loves it. He loves it Because the blood of Jesus has made us clean. The blood of Jesus continually makes our temples clean and we need to invite the application of his blood continually because we live in a fallen world and sometimes we do. And we need to invite the application of his blood continually because we live in a fallen world and sometimes we do fallen things still and we need forgiveness, we need cleansing, and in that cleansing comes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit fully. And so, as we are fully cleansed, he is fully free to dwell within us, because he can't abide with sin, but he can abide with blood. He can abide where it's clean. We're loved, we're known, and he wants us to know him.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, let's pray.
Speaker 1:Father, here we are, we love you. Thank you For showing us that you know us and that you want us to know you. Relationally, there is a reality that's come as a result of you, holy Spirit, manifesting Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. We exalt his name, we lift him high, we look to become like him, because he is our Lord, he is our Messiah, he is the one who sent to be our Redeemer, lord Jesus. We love you, we honor you and we look to be like you and to receive your embrace and to embrace you, to know you and be known by you, to live and to receive your embrace and to embrace you, to know you and be known by you, to live and dwell within your kingdom, together with you and one another.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and we just express these things in your name, lord, as you would do amen, amen, amen, lord Jesus Christ, your name, amen. Alright, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire, at gmailcom, or you can type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you, adios amigos.