Ancient Path of Obedience: I was blind and now I see

Photo by Leigh (Kauai)

Ancient Path of Obedience

I was blind and now I see

Leigh Caruthers

I was blind and now I see. 

Words have never struck home more than these when I started on this narrow path.  As a new follower of the ancient path of obedience I found myself having to unlearn what I had been told my entire life. It was hard to realize I had the answers the entire time within scripture yet I had not truly dug in. What changed in my life to make me search for Yahuah? A life full of wrong turns and wrong ways. I always felt unworthy and unloved. None of that was the truth. I was blind to my own self worth in Yahuah (YHVH) and in the body of Yahusha (Messiah).  My husband and myself both had great paying jobs.  We could travel and spend money on most anything we wanted yet we both struggled with finding happiness. We couldn't even find it within the walls of the local mega church with all the bells and whistles even though they put on a great concert every week. We wanted opened eyes and filled hearts.  I prayed and prayed and soon the Father spoke softly in my ear, seek me. 

Jeremiah 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Seek me

So I began in the beginning. As I read slowly and meticulously through Genesis I realized how alive and beautiful the word of Yahuah is. He planned everything in exquisite detail specifically to benefit and provide for us. How had I missed him? How had I missed Messiah in all of it? Yahuah and Yahusha were there together in the beginning. 

Genesis 1:26  And Elohiym said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Taken from E-Sword : word for "image" or "likeness" H1823 in BDB

Elohiym said, "Let us make man in our image."

Looking into the word "image" or "likeness"  in E-Sword in Hebrew script דּמוּת

(demûth) and we also see in the paleo Hebrew script listed above for the word. What is interesting about Paleo Hebrew is the word picture that emerges using those ancient paleo Hebrew letters tells us a deeper story. 

In Hebrew we read right to left. The first letter is a Dalet which can mean door, move or entrance. Next letter is a Mem which means water, chaos, blood. Followed by a Vav which is Nail , Secure, Add/and. Ending with a Tav which means cross, mark/sign, covenant. 

What I read (which may differ from your interpretation) is: Our entrance secured through the covenant of blood. A clear explanation of what our Messiah provides for us in the very word "image" or "likeness". To have eyes that see we must dig deeper. A great place to start is with the language that Yahuah wrote the 10 commandments (Devariym/words of the covenant) with his very finger. It was not English!! 

From there the word literally exploded in my mind. What was happening? I was seeing things I never saw before. The scales were falling from my eyes. I could not get enough of the word and I read all I could in every free moment. I started watching teachings and listening to recorded scripture while working. It was on all the time in the background of my daily life when I was not able to sit and read. Then I stumbled across a channel that opened my eyes wider than I thought possible. They were reading out of a Cepher and used the names of Yahuah and Yahusha. I wanted to know the name that Messiah heard when He was living. I didn't want a substitute name that He literally never heard nor did the word (or letter J) exist in His time. I wanted to call on His name or as closely to it as I could get. If the names had been substituted then what else was changed? Then like a flood I realized everything I had been taught was wrong. I was going to have to unlearn and relearn everything. More importantly I realized to be able to see we have to walk away from the world. 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Love not the world

I prayed on these words. What does this mean for us? How do we change? I found all the answers in scripture as I continued through the words given by Yahuah. I found myself wondering what do I really give to Yahuah in return for all that he provides for me and has given to me? Was my devotion to Yahuah as strong as his commitment to me? Messiah suffered a torturous death. For me and you. Do we not owe him our obedience to the Father that he came to bring us home to? Are we so selfish and self centered to honestly think he suffered in ways we cannot understand just so we can live a life he would never have lived? Aren't we to walk our lives as closely to how he walked and lived while in the flesh. I had so many questions. One undeniable truth is that He sent his son, Yahusha, to save the world from sin before there was even a world. Yahusha is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. How could I have ever questioned my worth to Yahuah and Yahusha? 

Revelation 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the cepher of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.

It was ordained before we even existed strictly to save us. He didn't just send him, he condemned him to die the death of a criminal on a cross for all of mankind and as we learned above looking at the Paleo the cross or Tav is also a covenant with us. By his stripes we are healed. The weight of those words had not ever hit me the way they now do. Was everything nailed to the cross like we have been taught? Not only was I blind but deaf prior to this walk because the Father does speak through the words of scripture. We just choose to block out what we don't want to deal with. 

The world tells us :

• Stick to the path of least resistance ("wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction.") 
• Go with the flow. 
• Don't rock the boat. 
• Fit in. 

All lies by the adversary that wants us to be complacent in our walk. Lukewarm. If we want to know him we have to willingly give up our lives to him. A vast majority of what we participate in the world is of the world and not anything that is of Yahuah. This includes all the "holi days" and celebrations of the world. If the entire world participates in it then it is of the world. To be set apart is exactly what it sounds like. Set apart. 

1Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Peter 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohiym: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

A word of caution. Being a set apart peculiar people is not easy. It can make you feel lonely. The truth is you are stepping away from the world and closer to Yahuah and that is beautiful! Do not let your mind trick you into thinking that you need anything or anyone other than Yahuah! 

Psalms 73:26  My flesh and my heart fails: but Elohiym is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.

What are the first steps towards the ancient path of obedience? 

• Pray
• Seek Yahuah with all your heart.
• Pray
• Read all of the scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
• Pray
• Keep Sabbath
• Pray

These are the first steps onto the narrow path that leads to the narrow gate and into the Father's house. Join me next time as I discuss what keeping Shabbat is all about and why it is one of the first steps to leave the world and step onto the ancient path of obedience.   

Blessings and Shalom!

Photo by Leigh (Stones River Murfreesboro TN)

A Morning Page: Unfolding the Strait and Narrow

Art by Andrea

 

A Morning Page:

Unfolding the Strait and Narrow

Andrea L. Sims Ph.D.

A look at "Morning Pages"

Some of you may be wondering what exactly is “A Morning Page”. I came across the term while researching ways to get out of me and onto paper what is swirling around inside. When a key word or recurring thought just won’t go away, it’s my way of exploring further—selah-ing—if you know what I mean: selah: pause and calmly think on this. When this happens to me, I take it as from Yah and I begin. I’m a scribe-type, so I make a note in my journal and leave enough room around that initial note so that I can go back and fill in what is to come. Because one thing leads to another with me. 

A Look at “Unfolding”

That’s where “unfolding” comes in. “The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). This understanding that Yah’s word brings can be understood as unfolding, or as Brown-Driver-Briggs shows us, Yah’s words are a doorway in the Hebrew mindset. Strong’s H6605 tells us that unfolded can be seen as being opened wide (literally or figuratively), to be loosened, to be ungirded. I have declared before Yah for years that “I open my heart wide to you: nothing hidden, nothing secret, nothing held back”. So, when I began to consider blogging, the word “unfold” was just there, and I knew I needed to take note of it. To understand further what “unfolding” means, we can look at its antonym: folded. “. . . folded together as thorns” (Nahum 1:10). Strong’s H3588 gives the word “tangled” when defining it, like thorns (Strong’s H5518) or stubble (Strong’s H7179) and dry (Strong’s H 3002). 

Without understanding from Yah's Word, we are snared in a tangled mess.

I am thankful that Yah’s word opens the door for us—"We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we are escaped” (Psalm 124:7).

Art by Andrea

A Look at Choices

Once we “are escaped”—freed to seek understanding—we then have some choices to make. Choosing is one of the three great powers Yah gave us: the power to think (our mind), to feel (our emotions), and to choose (our will).  Through the Prophet, Jeremiah, Yah gives us a directive: “Thus says Yahuah, ‘Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the ancient paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). As our Creator, Yah is telling us how to find what we all want and need. The metaphor comes to mind of the manufactures’ instructions for best use  that accompany many appliances: Use it the way it was intended if you want it to work well and last longer! That makes sense to me. He created us and knows what we need. 

Reader, you are following me along as “one thing leads to another”. I hope I don’t lose you along the way! (No pun intended!)

A Look at the Ancient Path

So, at this point, we have to ask: What is the ancient path? Actually, it says, paths, so we must first define “path” and then describe it to discover the many aspects of it. 

The word “way” in Hebrew is derek (Strong’s H1870) and literally means a road, but figuratively it means a course of life, actions, and behavior of men. It stems from H1969 and means to walk. It is similar to the word “path” (Strong’s 5410) which means a beaten track, a pathway, to travel. 

This has led us to the point I want to make. Yah has instructions for our best life. His instructions are called his Torah and includes all of Scripture—from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:20. And he tells us how to begin our journey in a simple yet profound statement:

 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because narrow is the gate, and troublesome is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). 

You can see now why I titled this blog “Unfolding the Strait and Narrow”. Strait can be understood as “confined” or “affording little space”. I see “single file” when I think of strait. Most of us know what narrow means: limited or restricted. And Yah has clearly set before us this choice: The wide gate and broad way, which leads to destruction which the “many” have chosen OR the narrow gate and the troublesome way, which leads to life, which the “few” have found. Interesting that troublesome is plainly stated. It seems Yah wants us to know something about the choice we make. It makes me wonder if the “few” were searching. And if the troubles are a sifting of sorts: who will stay in spite of the troubles and who will fall away because it’s too uncomfortable. Hmmmm.

I wanted to look a bit closer at these two “ways”—the choice we must make between the two: the one leading to destruction and the other leading to life. I have not gathered an exhaustive  list of choices (all that are possible from the Scriptures), but I have gathered a comprehensive list of choices (enough to give a good idea of what is discussed). That’s the researcher in me speaking, just so you know! 

Let’s take another look at Jeremiah 6:16 when considering the choice we are faced with:

• We are to stand.
• We are to see.
• We are to ask.

Then Yah says there is “the good way” that we are to walk in. The result will be rest for our soul. But those first spoken to about this choice declined. They said, “We will not walk therein.” When my eyes were opened to the ancient path, I said, “Yes, I will walk in it.” I’m discovering and rediscovering what Yah has called me to—learning, unlearning, and relearning His Ways. 

A Look at Yah’s Ways

Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please Yahuah, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of Elohiym! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Psalm 67:2 “That your way may be known upon earth, your Yeshu’ah (Salvation) among all nations.”

Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.”

Jubilees 23:26 “In those days the children shall begin to study the Torah, and to seek the commandments, and to return to the path of righteousness.”

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “And now, Yahsar’el, what does Yahuah Elohayka require of you, but to fear Yahuah Elohayka, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahuah Elohayka with all your heart and with all your soul, to guard the commandments of Yahuah, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good.”  

Psalm 119:30 “I have chosen the Way of Truth . . .”

Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Proverbs 3:17 “. . . her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace” (speaking of Yah’s Wisdom).

John 14:6 “Yahusha (Messiah) said unto him, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.”

Psalm 119:1 “Blessed are the undefiled in the Way, who walk in the Torah of Yahuah.”

Psalm 119:30 “I have chosen the Way of Truth . . .”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Proverbs 8:32 “. . . blessed are they that guard my ways.”

Deutronomy 28:9 “Yahuah shall establish You a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you shall guard the commandments of Yahuah Elohayka, and walk in his ways.”

Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.”

Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”

Art by Andrea

A Look at Man’s Ways

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Proverbs 13:15 “. . . but the way of transgressors is hard.”

Psalms 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”

Psalm 1:6 “. . . the way of the wicked shall perish.”

Psalm 146:9 “. . .but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.”

Proverbs 15:9 “The way of the wicked is an abomination unto Yahuah….” 

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

Summary of My Thoughts

I could go on—there are so many Scriptures that talk about The Narrow Way, The Path Yah calls us to walk, but I want to just collect my thoughts and share them with you.

The choice we have set before us is summed up in Jubilees 12:19-20—Abraham’s first recorded prayer: 

“My Elohiym, El Elyon, you alone are my Elohiym, and you and your dominion have I chosen. And you have created all things, and all things are the work of your hands. Deliver me from the hands of evil roachoth who have dominion over the thoughts of men’s hearts, and let them not lead me astray from you, my Elohiym. And establish me and my seed forever that we go not astray from you henceforth and forever more.”

In making his prayer my own, I took the next step: I re-baptized myself in my son’s swimming pool using the words from Isaiah 11 and in the name of Yahusha Ha’Mashiach, renounced my own way and accepted Yah’s Ruach (Spirit) of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, Fear, and Reverence—the Spirit of Yahuah. 

I had written a song about 20 years ago, prophetically, I believe, because the words were not true at the time but have since become my experience. I had lived with a deep sadness which affected everything in my life. But no longer.

The lyrics: I will sing to you a new song, Yah.

I will sing to you a new song.

A song of joy, a song of gladness.

A song of praise, not more sadness.

I will sing to you a new song. 

My sadness is gone. Yah’s Ways are as simple as that . . . and as profound. 

Art by Andrea

Ancient path of obedience: A friend of Yahusha. By Leigh Caruthers

 

Ancient path of obedience: A friend of Yahusha

Leigh Caruthers

Yes, I’m a friend of Yahusha’s. Yes I know him. 

First let me explain who Yahusha is to me. He is the risen son of YHVH (Yahuah). Yahusha is the Hebrew name we understand to be that of the person Jesus. My journey started almost 4 years ago to find a closer relationship with “Jesus” and that led me to Yahusha. There was so much more to understand than I could have ever imagined. Unbeknownst to me, my feet were stepping onto the ancient path of obedience.

 

Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 

Matthew 7:8  For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

 

These words in Matthew are so simple yet have a richness and depth that I had never seen all the years I read them. With open eyes and a ruach (spirit) thirsty for living water. I would soon realize what seeking would bring to my understanding. No longer would I lean to my own understanding but on that knowledge imparted by Yahuah, our Father, and Creator above all. 

 

You see, I was the woman at the well. My ruach (spirit) was parched and dry from a life of carrying heavy burdens: shame, blame, guilt, and fear. I was a walking, wounded, empty shell of a person. My vessel was broken and empty. How would I ever hold the living water? I prayed. Yet I held onto those burdens daily keeping them secured tightly upon my back. "I deserve this struggle,” I told myself. I felt unworthy to be forgiven and by those actions I was keeping myself from freedom. I had the keys to the chains the entire time. I only had to give up, set down those burdens, and call out to him.  

 

John 4:10  Yahusha answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of Elohiym, and who it is that says to you,  Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. 

 

John 4:11  The woman said unto him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then have you that living water?

As I prayed and read the scripture like I had so many times, I realized something very important I had overlooked. Yahusha had nothing to draw the water out of the well with. The reason is simple. He is the water!! The living water of Yeshu’ah (Salvation)!! 

 

John 4:13  Yahusha answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:

 

John 4:14  But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Are you parched in your soul? Has life become so heavy and dry? Then come to the well of Yeshu’ah (Salvation)!! 

Why do we ever not choose Yahusha? How do we not raise our hands, tear our clothes, and throw dust on our heads and scream “Yes I want to know Him!!”

Yahusha is life everlasting. He is our bridegroom and our first love. He is the air that we breathe and the only living water and bread of life that will sustain. Yahusha leads us to the Father!Nothing is as it seems!

Matthew 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy theTorah, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

 

Matthew 5:18 For amein I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one yod or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah, till all be fulfilled.

 

Matthew 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Matthew 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Parashiym, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

 

Yes, you’ve seen me following in the footsteps of Yahusha. I follow him along the ancient path of obedience. I delight and take refuge in his Sabbath, the feasts and commands of Yahuah, and the ordinances of clean eating for a healthy and long life. 

Are you searching for a closer relationship with the Father, our Creator, and Maker of all things? Come along with me in this biweekly blog on the journey along the ancient path of obedience laid before us that leads to the narrow gate and into the Father’s house!

The Golden Rule

 

Matthew 7:12  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Torah and the prophets. 

 

Matthew 7:13  Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction and many there be which go in thereat:

 

Matthew 7:14  Because narrow is the gate, and troublesome is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.

Blessings and Shalom to you and your house!

 

A Morning Page: An Unfolded Life

A morning Page: 

An Unfolded Life

Andrea L. Sims Ph.D.

Writers write from these three places: who they are, what they know, and where they are on the journey at the time. And we write, sometimes for ourselves, but more often for others—our family, others on the same kind of journey, and for the generations to come—hoping to pass on truths and traditions about living, learning, loving, even dying. I saved a quote I often consider before sitting down to work on a writing project:

“The two most engaging powers of an author are

 

to make new things familiar 

and familiar things new” (Dr. Samuel Johnson).

Then I ran across Matthew 13:52 and figured Dr. Johnson must have known his Bible:

“Then said he (Yahusha) unto them,

‘Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.’”

I’m not saying that I’m instructed unto the kingdom of Heaven, but doing an in-depth study of the Kingdom is on my list of next projects!

But, you see, I have this challenge to face at that moment when I put my fingers on the keyboard. I call it “ocean clutter”! Things start stirring inside me—deep places, secret places where memories, ideas, dreams, quotes, random thoughts, snatches of past research, first lines from books, and so much more—drifting around silently, moving from here to there by forces completely unseeable. Here’s a sample of what’s floating around in me presently:

It's time for some things to end

and other things to begin.

Landmark:  The barrier between right and wrong.

Get your own life.

Come out of her my people.

Guard your gates!

Let it go!

Trust the process!

Stretch your tent curtains!

Nothing is as it seems!

Think on these things.

Live an undisturbed life.

Commune with your own heart.

Be available but not involved unless invited.

Restraint.

Refuse to be controlled by the clock.

Today: Stay in it!

Hardened: get stronger!

Then my task is to try and make sense of my ocean clutter, rounding it up in a big net, sorting it all out and make it meaningful and useful, if not for me, then for someone else.

I have heard, in passing, that mankind in general has a public life, a private life, and a secret life. I find that interesting for several reasons. Years ago, I began declaring before Yah that “I open my heart wide to him: nothing hidden, nothing secret, nothing held back”. I’m wondering if that “secret life” is our life “hid with Messiah in Yah” for the believer and something else for non-believers. I have known those who have had their “secret life” be revealed, and it’s not a pretty experience. 

In Hebrew, the word “unfold” is pathach (pah’thack), H 6608, meaning an opening, disclosure, or entrance. Psalm 119:130 in the Amplified Bible reads, 

“The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light,

 their unfolding gives understanding 

(discernment and comprehension) to the simple.” 

It’s this “unfolding”—this revealing and disclosing that Yah is requiring of me, for his purpose. I haven’t always known that. It’s an uncovering of my inner life for others to see as I seek to unfold his word. 

For years, I also declared the following with a surface understanding of each word:

“I choose life and blessing—

Your Way,

Your Will

Your Purpose

Your Plan

Your Time.”

And over the years each of those words have come to mean more to me. I discovered that the spiritual scholars of old searched for four things: the literal meaning, the implications that could be discerned, any connections within the Word (two or three witnesses), while hoping to find revelation from the Ruach as they studied.

And recently I learned that in Hebrew, each letter in a word opens a whole world of meaning in itself! This kind of study is called Tedusha.

 In future blogs, I plan to take each of the words in my declaration above (way, will, purpose, plan, time) and share what I am learning as I seek the four levels of understanding (literal, implications, connections, and revelations) and explore each letter in the word from the Hebrew understanding. Along with each word, I will share my process and my many questions as things surface. Whew! Living an “unfolded life” is not for the faint of heart!