Pip, My Solar Panda
(Sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon)

Pip, my solar panda, lives by the sink
And frolics on my windowsill, a happy bear, me thinks.
Oh, Little silver toaster, loves that rascal Pip
And shares his dreams of faraway things, while the faucet goes, “drip, drip …”

"Oh, Pip, my solar panda, lives by the sink
And frolics on my windowsill, a happy bear, me thinks.
Oh, Pip, my solar panda, lives by the sink
And frolics on my windowsill, a happy bear, me thinks."

Together they imagined, what it was like outside,
Pip, he kept a look-out with the toaster at his side.
Neighbors, kids and butterflies would smile at the sight
And sometimes, Jess, the neighbor’s dog, would give them all a fright …

(chorus)

Oh, little Pip and toaster and drippy faucet thought
The sun would always shine each day, but alas the sun did not.
One gray day the clouds came out and hid the sun behind
And Pip, he lost his will to dance, the joy he couldn’t find …

Oh, Toaster juggled bread and drippy faucet tapped,
But cold windowsills and big gray clouds made little Pip feel trapped,
Oh, how he longed for sunshine, his heart it nearly broke …
And then, surprise, he felt the sun and that little bear awoke!

(chorus)

"Fear thou not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee: yea I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."

What is God's right hand of righteousness? Righteousness does not mean, just being real good. Because being good alone, doesn't impress God at all. He doesn't offer you His right hand because you earned it. In fact, the only way you can receive it is by admitting that you have not lived up to His or even your own expectations. Can you just say, "Man, have I blown it and I need your forgiveness God and I need your help forgiving myself too."

Just to make it clear, here. You can never be bad enough that God will say, "Ok, you are just toooo bad for Me …" Nor will He ever say, "Hey, you are impressive, I need more people like you!". High marks, low marks all the same to Him. So, if you find yourself in either category, the good news is … He doesn't choose by your abilities or mine. It was what He chose to do for you that matters.

You know the story. Key words here: Golgotha, the three crosses, Jesus in the middle. The other two guys were up there for something they had done; He wasn't. One guy says:

"Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom …"

Jesus replies, "Assuredly I say to you; today you will be with me in Paradise."

Was this criminal really, really good? Nope. Was he, really, really bad? Yep! Was he the first recipient of God's grace and mercy made available to us through the death and resurrection of His Son? Yep.

Tetelesti. What does it mean? Jesus last words spoken before dying. "It is finished." This debt has been paid in full. Will you honor Him by accepting what He has done? He knows your heart.

Just like the thief on the cross, he was stuck. Couldn't change a thing if he wanted to. All he could do was to give it up. Funny thing though, just when you are ready to give up … there He is.

Kept by The Names Of God

Why does God show Himself to us through different names?  As we study the Old Testament, we find that nearly every time God reveals a new name for Himself the people are either facing a new challenge of some kind or are experiencing tremendous breakthrough.  Something is happening.  It’s not business as usual.

Following the plight of Israel from Genesis on through the prophets, is like watching Him perform a passionate dance with His people, who all too often drift away or are prone to taking the lead.

The God of Israel was not interested in titles that would make Him look good.  He chose names that would be like beacons or signals in the dark to a nation of stubborn people who, although He called them His own, their eyes and feet were constantly moving away. Just the same, He never stopped calling out to them, giving them new names for reaching Him, that explained where His heart was:

But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the One who formed you says, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

Had the people of Israel not followed Him through these events, He would probably have been nobody more than, “a God,” to them.  A generic name which could fit any other deity.  Had God left them out on the dance floor of history alone, to pick and choose their own partners, this little prosperous nation would probably be a lot different today than it is. 

God is a God of relationship.  You can tell this by the way He names Himself and His people.  He even told Adam to give names to the animals.  And who named Adam?  He did.  His name means, "man from the red earth".  Adam gave His wife the name Eve, which means, “to breathe and to live.”  If God wasn’t interested in relationship, He would not have put so much value into names.

God put His Name on Israel not because of who they were.  He did not look out and see them, full of perfect potential and say, “That’s them, they are the ones I want!”.  When He chose them, they were not even, “a people”.  He raised them like children.  His desire was to become a father to them.  It still is.  Abba Father is one of His other names and we will study it later. 

When the Bible was being translated from Hebrew into other languages, there were certain aspects of the Jewish culture that were not completely understood by the translators.  One example is that, where the Hebrew language has a spectrum or wide range of meanings for individual words, English often has only one meaning to cover it.  That is why, in our Bible, every time we read the name God, it could have a different meaning.  Here are some examples.  First you will see a passage of scripture that the name God is found in and then a discussion of what that name means:

[ELOHIM]

“In the beginning, God (ELOHIM) created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

This is the very first mention of “Elohim” in scripture.  This name means Creator God who by His awesome power speaks the world into being.  He is the one who began it all. There is no one greater than Him.

The name Elohim is the plural form of El or Eloah and is one of the oldest designations for divinity in the world. Although the name is in plural form, it is not used to indicate belief in many gods.  Rather, it is used to emphasize the majesty of the one true God of Israel.  Christians see in this name a hint of the Trinity;  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Three in One.

[ADONAY]

"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ And Abram said, “Lord (ADONAY) what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?’”  Genesis 15:1-2.

ADONAY is a name meaning Lord and refers to ownership, as in the slave/master relationship.  Abram understood this relationship.  He had his own personal slave whom he had purchased, Eliezer.  Sarai had her own personal slave too, Hagar.   

In Bible times, a slave was not what we would perceive them to be today.  Our American history has clouded our thinking of what it is like to be a slave.  In Israel, if a man purchased a slave, that slave belonged to Him.  But that person was supposed to be treated well.  This slave was supposed to be protected, cared for and treated like family. 

Male slaves underwent circumcision along with other men in the family.  They participated in the Passover celebration.  This was not so with the hired, paid help though.  Therefore, when Abram saw that he and Sarai could not produce an heir for His name, he knew that Eliezer, his servant could be trusted to carry out this very important title. 



1 Peter 2:16 tells us, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants/slaves of God.”  How does this apply to us?

In the beginning, we belonged to our Creator, Elohim.  Right?  We were His.  Then, Adam and Eve disobeyed; in doing so they sold out to God’s enemy, Satan.  The Bible tells us that they became slaves to the Kingdom of Darkness. Sin became their master and ours also through them. 

Good news though! God and His Son already had a plan in place.  Yes, the decision to give man a choice, who he wanted to serve had turned out badly.  But that was a decision God and His Son were willing to allow. This did not come as a surprise to either one of them. They were prepared.  This was just not the outcome that they would have hoped for.  

Jesus bought us back again with His own blood.   Why?  Because He always considered us to be His.  ADONAY is a good Master.  He is willing to, “fight to win,” for us and He did.  He set up a plan to buy and redeem us back.  Then He followed through even though it required great personal sacrifice.

  Why does God show Himself to us through different names?  In our society, today, we categorize everything.  We have an accountant to do our taxes.  We have a mechanic to fix our cars.  We have a banker to handle our money … that is why it should be refreshing to know that:  

When we need a doctor, He is YAHWEH ROPHE, the God who heals.

When we feel invisible and need someone to see us, He is El ROI.  The 

God who sees me.

 When you find yourself in a state of inner conflict, He is YAHWEH

SHALOM.  The God of Peace.

God introduced himself to Moses in Exodus, chapter three as:

“I Am who i AM.” I am YAHWEH.  That’s who I am.  I will be to you whoever you need me to be.

Who do you need Him to be today for you?  Let’s find that Name of God and pray it.

  

      

Made banana pudding tonight. It was a little lumpy. I decided to blame it on the bananas. So, I called it, "Tapioca Banana Super Bowl of Pudding". Maybe it will become a super bowl tradition. Then again, maybe I will learn how to get rid of the lumps before the new season starts or even how to make the lumps look more like footballs. Ha, ha, it really wasn't that bad, I mean, if you like fake tapioca, er, lumps ... and I do so maybe this was all intentional. (O: Truth be told, I didn't even watch the game. Where is this post going anyways?

1.  The Importance of Relationship

A.  Where was Jesus before He came to earth?

1.    Read John 17 (Text for lesson)

This is a direct prayer from Jesus to His Father.  He is in the garden.  The timing is right before He is to be taken into custody; soon, the trial and crucifixion will begin.

Jesus acknowledges His mission on earth and concludes that He has carried it out.  God has granted Him authority over all the people, that He might bring them into eternal life. All who will come.  Eternal life with the Father comes only through knowing and coming into relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.  

Now Jesus is thinking of who He was before leaving His Father’s side and coming to earth.  You see, before He came to earth, He was always at His Father’s side in that place where God abides.  We call it heaven.  Use your imagination for a minute and picture this …

The Father and Son working together during the time of Creation.  The Father and Son sitting together in the heavenly throne room, on their thrones.  See the Son at the right hand of The Father.  They are communicating and planning.  They fully trust each other. They are inseparable. Then, one sad day, one throne sits empty …  

Jesus' whole life has been about honoring His Father's wishes.  Working to bring about His Father's purposes, whether on earth or in Heaven.  This is the way He brings His Father Glory.  And His Father shares the glory with Him.  Oh how He now, in John 17:5, is missing those "Glory Hugs".  He pleads: 

“Father, glorify Me in Your Presence with the Glory I had with You before the world began.”

He knows it will still be a little while before that will be possible.  There is still something left that He must do first.  But Jesus is homesick and just wishing that it could all be over with, already.

Read John 1:1-3.  Who is The Word of which this passage speaks and what was He doing?  Who was He with?  We see that Jesus is known by other names as well. 

You may also read, Genesis 1:26.  Notice how God uses the word “us” in this passage.  Along with the above scriptures, you will see where Jesus was and what He was doing before He came down to earth to be with “us”.  Take note of John 1:14.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His Glory, the Glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of Grace and Truth.”

Now we know why that second throne in heaven was empty.  The Son had a job to do and that included taking on human flesh. How did Jesus make it through His journey, from there to here and back again?  Where did his strength come from?  After all, now He was just a man, living under Adam’s curse.  What kept Him going to the very end?  One more question.  What was the hardest part?

Jesus was truly a human in every sense.  His physical body felt all the pain that He was subjected to.  Emotionally and mentally he was just like us.  The crown of thorns being thrust onto His brow, the beating he took and then the task of carrying His own cross (which, incidentally, was ours) up the hill to the place where it would be mounted for all to see.  Did He feel the discouragement?

Scripture tells us Jesus collapsed under the weight and had to have help.  His physical body took on unimaginable trauma.  His heart was pounding, broken.  His mental state was devastation.  But His spirit was strong and determined.  Why?  He had complete trust in His Father’s ability to facilitate the plan which they had agreed upon and to bring Him safely home on time.  Why?  Because of relationship.   

Jesus also had vision.  He knew the plan well and its timeline.  He and His Father had built it together.  Even though He was now a man, He knew even as a man what He had to go through to get it done.  The hardest part was not feeling the trauma and pain afflicted onto His physical body though.  It was the agony of being separated from His Father.  Relationship.  I think it can safely be said that, without that relationship, it wouldn’t have gone as well.    

When the sins of the entire world were thrust on Jesus, as He hung there suspended between heaven and earth, God the Father had to turn away from Him.  He was alone and cried out: 

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

This was the voice of a mortal man crying out for understanding even though, spiritually He was determined to see it through to the end.  He knew the plan.  He even knew what to expect.  He knew He had to keep going to get through it.  But it hurt so much … 

He had to finish what He had started.  He had to have complete faith in God that when the plan was complete, He could go home.  But why this terrible strategy?  Why did it have to be so painful?  So violent …

The Bible says, God hates sin.  That is why He could not look upon His own Son during that period of time.  Jesus was covered, saturated with the sins of the world, crying out in anguish. His Father, for the first time ever, was helpless, unable to protect or comfort Him.  These were restrictions they had placed on themselves.

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”Hebrews 9:22.

In the first law which God gave to Moses, God required animal sacrifices because He needed a way to demonstrate the severity of sin, the cost of rebellion, the death that sin brings, and the price that must be paid to be redeemed.

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”  Galatian’s 4:4.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”  Isaiah 53:7”

“Knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:28-30

"It is finished" is the English translation of the Greek word Tetelestai, which was the last thing Jesus' said before dying on the cross. Tetelestai comes from the verb teleo, which means "to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish." It's a crucial word because it signifies the successful end to a particular course of action. The word means more than just "I survived." It means "I did exactly what I set out to do."

Holy God and His Precious Son had lived up to their own Word.  Without the perfect Lamb of God shedding His own blood, there could have been no forgiveness of sins.  They put us first.  No wonder, when John the Baptist was baptizing in the river Jordan and saw Jesus coming, he cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world!”  John 1:29 

Do you realize that the love God had for His Son and the love Jesus had for His Father could only be matched by the extravagant love they both had for you and me?  John 17:24-26 says:

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world …”

Now, read Ephesians 1:4-

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His Sons, through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the one He loves.  In Him we have redemption through His blood …”

Do I need to say anymore?  Ok, just one more thing.  Turn to Luke 4:1-8.  During the temptations of Jesus, Satan took Him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple.

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 

What the human part of Jesus had to hear was, here is your chance to show the people who you really are without all of the suffering.  They will believe that you are the Son of God when you jump off the pinnacle of the temple and God’s angels come to rescue you on the way down.  They will be flat on their faces worshipping you before your feet touch the ground.  That’s what you want, right?  But what was Jesus’ answer?

 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  Luke 4:12.  Yes, Jesus knew that He could have gone the easier route and canceled the traumatic, painful "cross event".  He chose not to though because He wasn’t looking for more power or someone to worship Him.  He had all the power He wanted with His Father.  He just wanted us to be with Him and His Father …  and without the shedding of His blood, the power of sin could not have been broken. 

In closing, God could not look on us either, until Jesus did what He did.  Sin separated us from God too.  He had to make a way to break it's power.  He loved us and wanted us to be together.  His first choice of animal sacrifice was temporary. That is history.  To think that anymore bloodshed or sacrifices are required would be an insult to Him. The sacrifice of His Son was mutually planned from the very beginning to cover it all.  Was there ever such a great love as this?

Many so called "gods" are dead and buried.  They made no claim of returning to life or having a plan to bring us all together again.  They were not willing to sacrifice a thing.  Some of these "gods" are still demanding blood.

Our God demanded blood and then provided the blood he demanded.  He provided it Himself.  And He did it for us, for relationship.  

When you are going through hard times, remember, you do not have to be alone.  Relationship matters.  Jesus couldn't see His Father either but He knew that He was there.

Jesus sent back the Holy Spirit after ascending to Heaven.  As a human,  The Son could only be one place at a time.  But the Holy Spirit is not limited by time, space or location.

Here's the best part though.  Remember the empty throne next to the Father?  It's filled again.  Imagine the celebration when the Word returned, triumphant.  "Glory Hugs" for everyone!

God bless us all and teach us what we need to know so that we can be a conscious part of what He is doing.  Like His Son, we pray:

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven …" 

  

       

Funny how things just come to you during times of study.  I have been reading about the crucifixion of Christ and what it means to us who believe.  There are so many details that make up the whole story.  Moment by moment thoughts pass through our minds and then, suddenly, it seems that someone pushes the pause button.  This just happened to me.

The ragged, thorny crown, what does it represent?  In Genesis,  Adam and Eve, because of their disobedience are told that they must leave the garden.  The consequences have begun.  They are trading lush green landscapes for ragged thorns and weeds.  Blessings for a painful curse.  Read chapter 3, verses 14-19.  God speaks to the serpent:

"Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals!  You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel."

To Eve God spoke, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;  with pain you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

Then God said to Adam: "Cursed is the ground because of you;  through painful toil you will eat of it all the day of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."  Adam and Eve left the garden sorrowful that day and wishing they had not taken God's goodness, provision or instructions for granted.

As I was studying the sacrifice of Jesus, His crown of thorns made me wonder.  See, this ring of thistles wasn't just the final touch to Satan's devious, yet failing plan.  It wasn't a "designer" piece of Jesus' crucifixion wardrobe.  It wasn't even just one more attempt to mock Jesus while He had Him where he wanted Him.  Although that is what Satan intended.  Nobody puts The Son of God anywhere He doesn't choose to go.

Jesus could not and would not be mocked.  He willingly wore this crown of thorns for us.  He wore that splintery crown recognizing the curse which He was breaking.  See, thorns are actually seeds ... They represented fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a last-ditch dig of Satan to hurt Him. They pricked His scalp and made Him bleed.  The blood ran down His face and Satan smiled thinking he had won.  He knew so little ... about the blood.   

Before the fall, were only good seeds and these good seeds produced other good seeds.  After the fall, even the seeds changed.  And the bad seeds reproduced more bad seeds.  Just like sin reproduces sin.  Jesus could have rejected the crown, refusing to wear it but He didn't. These thorns were symbolic of man;  Full of beauty and goodness in the beginning, but severely twisted and mutated by sin.  

Like the soldiers below, they mocked and made him bleed.  But making Jesus bleed was the wrong thing to do. See, the one who represented the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not very knowledgeable, himself, or he would not have done what He did.  But then again, it had to be done.  It was all predetermined from the beginning.  Not that Adam and Eve would fail,  but that this sacrifice may be required.

Satan couldn't even be original.  He himself was following a predetermined course. Apparently he must have forgotten about Moses's rod which became a serpent and devoured Pharoah's magician's serpents.  And now this crown of thorns which was intended to mock the Son of God was being raised up high above their heads ... just like the serpent on a pole in the desert which brought healing to the people of Israel.  Now, who was mocking who?

This crown was symbolic of all that Christ was doing for us.  He took the thorns and thistles of adversity meant for us and wore them upon His own head.  At His heels soldiers struck and mocked him but it wasn't really them.  They were just pawns also, in service to the serpent.  God had the enemy right where he wanted him.  Satan thought he had the upper hand, boy was he wrong. Those nails that pierced Jesus' hands and feet nailed him instead.

When Jesus walked out of that tomb, the enemy realized something that maybe even we haven't fully understood.  God's love for us.  Satan misjudged the power of  Love.  But we don't need to.

 

"... listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the One who formed you says, 'Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine.'” (Isaiah 43:1)

 

I believe I have learned a very important lesson in life. Life is not all about me. My happiness, well being and contentment is not all that matters. I will now step down from trying to be the center of my universe.

People are allowed to fail me, as I will also fail them. I will not let these failures … theirs or mine, define and destroy my life. I choose to forgive myself and others and move on.

I do not have to understand others. They are free to think differently than me. I will not try to control them nor will I judge them when they do something I disapprove of.

Bob Dylan recorded a song, "You Gotta Serve Somebody".. We all make our own choices. Those choices influence moments and take on a lot of power in our lives. In fact, they become our lives.

I am called to be a witness, not a judge. I will witness to the grace of God and how His Power has transformed my life. No man or woman; no bold set of new ideas or creative energy; no universal force other than the power of Jesus Christ could have brought me this far. 

I am commanded to walk in love, even if I do not understand. I am encouraged to pray for wisdom and assured that He will give me what I need. I am not the center of my own universe, but I am the center of His …

How can this be? I will trust Him with my life.