Friday, April 13, 2012

Crossing the Jordan!

My friend Moreen is the person God picked to walk with me through my wilderness season. Sometimes help arises from a place that we do not expect. During our visits we would talk about the things that were on my heart both large and small and she would give me such a Godly perspective. I learned about the stages of grief and came to understand the process of loss. I went through the tears and the anger and the arguing with God. I asked her out loud questions that I wanted to hear the sound of the words. Words that I had not spoken to anyone and wanted someone to hear me say, "Why?" "Why me?"  She heard me bargain and tell her that if I was a better person, a better mother, a better wife would I have a different outcome. I always said I wouldn't cry this time, but having a place where you can say outloud those things you can't even say to yourself, well that is powerful. And slowly but surely the wounds began to heal. And I took off my lens of trauma- you know that perspective that sees everything through the pain, and I saw the world again with clear colors and vibrant tones. Towards the end of my visits, we would just talk about our grandchildren and how they were growing up. We talked about my first tea party with my 10 month old granddaughter. And she told me about the safari in the backyard with her 4 year old grandson. And I smiled and thought about all the good things in my life that were still in place. And she looked at me and said, So you have reached acceptance. And just like that, I knew I had reached the end and it was time to cross over my Jordan and go into the promised land.
And as I left, she wished me Godspeed on my journey. And I watched as she went back to the wilderness to help the next hurting and broken person to the edge of the river.
Passover has many blessings! This year crossing the Jordan was one of mine.
This is Pastor Susan Living the Everday Prophetic Life and enjoying the promised land.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Prophetic in Passover

    Passover is such a time of deliverance and freedom! A time to celebrate the power of God as we tell again the story of the powerful deliverance of the Hebrews from the Egyptians who held them in slavery. We celebrate a going forth to the promised land as well as a coming out of bondage! As Christians we get an understanding of what Jesus our Messiah was doing on the night He was betrayed. We see and understand that the incarnate Christ was participating in the Passover event which was a physical portrayal of His sacrifice for our salvation. During Passover, four cups of wine are drunk. These have great significance to us as Christians. The first cup of wine was the cup of sanctification or freedom.We celebrate that God has provided a way to freedom for us by providing Jesus our Messiah who was without sin.   The second cup is the cup of deliverance and instruction. We celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and as Christians we celebrate our deliverance from the bondage of sin. The third cup, the cup of Redemption is the one we as Christians understand to be the The Lord's Supper. The third cup is a powerful reminder of the sacrifice of the cross, the blood shed for our redemption.  The fourth cup is the cup of praise, part of the Hallel, the going out and celebrating. This cup is the one that our Messiah told His disciples that He would drink the next time with them in His father's house. I believe we will celebrate the fourth cup of covenant when we celebrate with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. There is a fifth cup that is not drunk. It is the cup of Elijah. This is the cup that the Hebrew leave on the table and open a door waiting for Elijah to come as the forerunner for the Messiah. As Christians we believe that Elijah is one of the prophets that will come in the last days to witness to the second coming of Christ. The four cups represent the I will promises of God of freedom, deliverance, redemption and thanksgiving.
      There is hidden meaning in the Hebrew alphabet for the Hebrew word for Passover which is spelled Pesach. We can look at the three letters that create the word and find the hidden meaning in the letters. The first letter is Pey the middle letter is Samekh and the final letter is Chet. The letter Pey original symbol was of a mouth. It means an expression or vocalization of speech or breath. Passover is an important vocalization of the story of the Messiah. The second letter is Samekh which is a circle or ring. Think of it this way, in the calendar year we circle back to Passover as we again remember our salvation. It is a symbol of the prodigals coming home as they circle back to their roots. It is a symbol for healing and springing forth of the new year. Think of it as a symbol for a cycle and a spiritual rebirth. Passover is always on the fourteenth of the month of Nissan which is in the springtime. The final letter is Chet which is the symbol for new life. It is the picture of a gateway. Also the Chuppah the Jewish wedding tent is symbolized by the Chet.
    So let's put it together and see what the letters in the word are telling us. (Pey) There is a telling of the story (Samekh) the story of the healing and springing forth, a story that is to be told over and over again in the springtime cycle of new life (Chet) that shows us the gateway to our salvation, our wedding if you will to Christ our Saviour.
     I love how everything in Passover points to our salvation even the hidden clues in the Hebrew word Pesach..