Undivided

Well, here I am up to my ears in Hebrew, trying to get what God originally MEANT out of the words people have molded His word into, shaping the original Hebrew into our own first languages so we can read and understand for ourselves.

Undivided.

Anyone remember a Twila Paris song from the early 90's? Used to be one of my favorites. She sang from her heart, on top of a cool pop sound from those days, "Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name!" Here it is on YouTube: http://youtu.be/wqfYRqBgGP0

This past week, I was reading Ezekiel in the One Year Bible and came to this verse: (11:19) "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."

The verse Twila sang from was Psalm 86:11 - "Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name."

Using Strong's concordance online and a host of other websites and resources, I proceeded to piece both of these verses apart word by word, finding and defining the original Hebrew words for each English phrase. And I learned a LOT. I really did; I could write messages and blog entries for weeks going in a plethora of directions. (God's word is so rich with meaning!)

But. Through great effort, I am centering my focus for this blog entry on the two Hebrew words translated into "undivided" in the New International Version of the Bible.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew; the New Testament was written in Greek. And, today, I would like to introduce you to Echad and Yachid.

The word "echad" was used in Ezekiel when God said He would give His people an UNDIVIDED heart. When the Psalmist prayed for an UNDIVIDED heart, he used the word "yachid." Different, but the same; the same, but different.

"Echad" in Ezekiel indicated God would give His people a heart undivided; not separated or broken into parts. The hearts of many joined into one united force. Singular and all together. Deuteronomy 6:4 uses "echad" when it says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE."

"Yachid" is more numeric; it means ONE, like counting. It means "unique" and "solitary." Genesis uses "yachid" in referencing Abraham's only son Isaac.

So how does all that apply to us today? Both scripture passages are true. Though they have nuances of differentiation, they can work hand in hand.

God wants His people to have ONE heart, to stand undivided as God's face to the world. We, as God's children, live these days in a fractured, divided family. God's desire is for us to be united as one; as HE is one. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE."

I believe God wants us to forget about the issues we disagree on and unite over where we DO agree. God is LOVE. God is accepting and forgiving. God wants to heal individuals and heal nations. God is a great big, huge, loving God and nothing is impossible with Him!

Let's look away from the hairline fractures that can so greatly divide us... and focus on the huge, solid, sturdy masses of truth that unite us.

Secondly, God wants to put in each of us an UNDIVIDED heart so we will honor Him with our whole lives; our whole selves.

(HEART, by the way, has the same root meaning in both verses. It means "inner person, mind, and will.")

I want to be solid inside myself. Don't you? An undivided heart, to me, connotes peace, stability and tranquility.

So.

When God's children, each strong inside with an undivided heart...

come together as one group, with a united, undivided, collective heart...

that is something powerful!!

 

Look out, World. Love in FORCE is here and you are going to change. Things like hurt and hatred are tiny and weak in the face of God's great, huge, all-encompassing, undivided, loving heart.

And that is my prayer for us today.

WOW!!!😄 

Good things are on the way. Amen.

Learning This Evening

Hebrews 5 says Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered. Suffering, alone, is not good, but God can bring beneficial results from suffering.

God put in my heart that I have gained wisdom through things I have suffered. 

We do not gain wisdom WHILE we are suffering; when things are going on, it's the best we can do to process what we are experiencing and push forward as best as we can.

Wisdom comes later, when there is time and space between us and the suffering. We remember. And, as we remember, we can learn. God has a lot to teach us from our experiences if we ask and listen.

Like they say, hindsight is 20/20 😊

Hebrews 5 also talks about being able to consume God's word as milk or as solid food. Milk is the easy stuff; learning God loves you, learning He will never leave you, learning He will provide everything you need.

Solid food involves taking it up a notch. Moving from the 100 to the 200 level classes. Learning discipline; learning to distinguish good from evil. Building and continually strengthening your relationship with God. Asking God to refine you, and surrendering your whole life to His scrutiny so He can tell you what pleases Him and what needs to be changed or needs to go. Solid food is challenging- sometimes not comfortable- and requires a higher level of commitment.

God loves you the same whether you like your milk or desire solid food.

But solid food makes a person stronger than simply sipping milk.

Hebrews 5:14- "But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

I am chewing on this verse and seeking further clarity on the matter of HOW we distinguish what is good and what is evil.ii

More to come! Time to get ready for bed and an early morning. But it will be a FRIDAY morning! So I think I will manage just fine. 😜😄😎i