Hosea 6:3 So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.
In Exodus 33:13 Moses asked God to let him know His ways. Here in Hosea, the prophet is urging the people to press on to know Him. He assures the people that God is findable and approachable, and even willing to approach them. As sure as the dawn, as gentle as a spring rain.
The assurances in Hosea are not just good for Israel of old, but good for us today. Be encouraged to press on to know He is knowable, approachable, and gentle. The outstretched arms of an honest seeker will lure God near like nothing else. His going forth is as certain as the dawn. He will come like the spring rain that comes every year.
So let us press on in our upward climb, to ascend to place He calls us to.
"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along..." He calls you. (SOS 2:10 & 13)
Do you say you are not beautiful? Don't you know that beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder. We are the apple of His Eye (Psalm 17:8). Praise is becoming to the upright (Psalm 33:1). And if He says we are beautiful and are to arise up and come along, then that's what we should do. We should resist the tendency to be unwilling. We should resist the temptation to be ungatherable. We should press on, even if what we press through is the belief in our own worthlessness.
Press on... Press on.
You can't make yourself worthy of Him. You can only humble yourself before Him and allow Him to raise you up and make you beautiful and worthy by His own hand.
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6 comments:
Mara, [on another matter in case this doesn't get through on Charis' blog...
hope you get this,
Yankton South Dakata
http://dss.sd.gov/elderlyservices/domesticabuse/centers.asp
Yankton Helpline and Women's Shelter Yankton: 665-4811. Crisis Line: 665-1448 ...
shelters in Yankton/near
http://www.sboard.org/SHELTERS/SD.HTM
Women's Shelter 510 Broadway Yankton SD 57078 Business #: 605-665-4811 Hotline/Crisis: 605-665-1448
it might be Best for her to call and arrange 'transport' outside of Yankton, if her life is in danger...
let me know you got this, ok,
I will also post this on your blog
Jane
Thanks Jane.
My husband passed this info onto the gal that needed it.
Mara, I'm putting this here [due to the many posts on the other--it's related to the women/art topic-knowing God, soul destruction-toxicity, etc]
I thought/mulled over this, had to purge or allow God to purge the 'old thinking' there too, that came from the resentment inside, that does tend to color my lens a bit-not that the observations weren't correct but the MOTIVE wasn't, I still have to watch out for that 'hostility' I wallered in the days of my more rad-secular feminist rebellion, etc.
Anyway, after God and I sorted through all that junk, He brought to my attention, Lydia, in Acts, the woman who created coats and gave them to the poor--
for past year God has been showing me things here and there in Word about 'creativity' and us being in His image. There is however that line too, about loving our works of hands and neglecting him [all over OT this one--and I do see that a lot on blogs, as well as the love of 'things', things that are all going to 'burn up' if you know what I mean...God has been doing two things here with me,
1. showing me how my 'eye' sees dark-oppression--negativity, including about myself and
2. showing me how the 'other extreme' is hiding in looking/hiding in those things as a Refuge, to not see the ugly in world, in our selves
More and more, I am seeing things, like it's this tightrope we walk on, tip to one side and you fall into one extreme, spiritually--religion says we are to hate those things, like anything to do with personality, self, creativity--to women more so [women are to completely hate self, as both sinner and as woman IN religion]
but to hate the world and things in the world is not to hate objects or creating them...another extreme.
And God just brought this to me, it varies I think from individual [where Paul said, do not judge what one eats,etc, but don't be stumbling block---in other words, we are not to leave people feeling condemned, but show them the way of Grace and growing IN that Grace, etc., they are God's servant, so forth,
and only God knows His timing in working with His individual children, so anyway, so for me, personally, God has been showing me the extremes, the bi-polars, and how the enemy uses both, that spiritual wickedness, to destroy us, mostly though,
to Destroy how We see God. Image = mirror, so how we see ourselves is how we see the mirror image of God. And vice versa [how I see it], and that goes for creativity too, we are not to 'abuse' the things of this world like the unbelievers but that doesn't mean we are to hate our personality either-that creative side NOR allow it to die. God created it, in all of us, its what we Do with them, etc.,
con't below
Religion/misogyny is robbing women of their God given creativity, that is what I observed. The thing is, the women who are not wrapped up in the death misogyny religions, are not wrapped up in woman hate. So they aren't hindered, where as, I think, religious 'guilt' does yes, hinders and kills, the life spirit of creativity, does that make sense? One thing that I noticed a lot about women who are goddess centered [or nature] is that they see the Beauty, apart from man/husband, of Women, and it shows in their art,
where as, in the others, that was lacking, in a huge way. Its like there was this huge avoidance of any image of the female, OTHER than the submissive 'wife'. The hate of female-and so, it shows in the 'lack' of female representation in their work and this goes to colors, all of it...its like the 'spark' is gone. So I prayed about that, and God referred me to His use of colors and His artwork--and the works of Israel-in the OT, it was Israel that had the most beautiful of Temples, and both men AND women worked on them...their Creative side, given to them By God. And then, He referred me to Lydia, the coats,
so not done there yet...but I think, its that use of 'telling women to be sober' that has been distorted--to this type of puritanical brown sackcloth vision about themselves and the way they see woman. I don't think, that is what God intended, in the term 'sober'. Not at all, but Misogyny has done a wonderful job, using those terms, to rob women, from their God given personhood--made in HIS image, not their 'husband's image, but in HIS image.
Jane
That should be 'temple' not temples, lol, but in Solomon, God went through elaborate and the Finest of detail-beauty, a lot there He opened up to me, while reading,
some of the differences, well main one I can think of is like, with the Christian blogs [sure there are exceptions to this but I'm referring here to 'religious culture and culture because I saw this some in the other blogs from America that weren't Christian--just not As much, so it IS the patriarchal culture influence].
But first one, top of my head, is where they did more childs-oriented art that was Textbook, there tends to be more homogeneous style--consumer market, etc., and the more religious the more Prairie it was,
where as, and most of the blogs of textile-art are from Europe/UK and Australia, in their works, what ever they are, there was, one, Way more color, not just browns and two, more 'female' imagery, more 'girl child' imagery [female child within], more abstract-freedom of movement expressed, way, way Way more playfulness of female expressed, and not AS 'consumer market' homogeneous.
Like, not as much copy-cat..type of craft look. Another Huge thing, is just how much European women pull from Nature--in their works, didn't see that at all in the Christian blogs. Even the website itself, huge difference, on all the Christian blogs two things, that stand out--[and American blogs actually] the Immediate reference at the Top of page, of 'married to Wonderful husband/children' as if to make SURE that number one, Husband was at the ATTention center OR that the Badge of being a Christian, was at the top, with all the 'right' religious hip devotions, etc., to make sure, all saw that 'they were doing the expected' as not to be ostracized for Deviating from that',
where as, on the others, the mention of being married, was either small wording at top and not the First thing mentioned, the focus instead was their Art and why, they do art, and all the other references to Husband, came more in the middle of blog, it wasn't in this Apologetic 'oh, I do art' way, but more as a 'my husband Compliments my inspiration' way,
does That make sense? Its almost Mara like you can SEE the 'guilt' in the religious, put it that way. and Guilt, WHY?
As if, in doing art, they are deviating from that gender role Rule that religion lays down in cement...That, THAT is what I noticed, even in some of the better art blogs.
I don't think--that is the influence of Jesus, no way, but the harmful influence of misogyny in religious culture/western patriarchal culture.
Jane [see above posts-end of continued]
OK, lol, one more thing ,
when reading over to be sure I didn't miss anything--it dawned on me, I did this too with my blog, not at first, but then the 'guilt' of well you're a Christian and you need to conform to 'that image', etc., that Patriarchal image I am finding,
why is it, we feel we have to plaster our faith like a Badge of Warning????
And that is just it, just came to me, Christian women Self-Police themselves to the point where they kill their personhood--that internalized misogyny. Legalism, botta bing, that is Exactly what it is--creativity dies in legalism.
[secular legalism does this too to women] That is what it is, a huge part of---the self policing and fear of policing by others.
WOW! Where there is no policing there is that room of her own, to be free enough, to experiment and express--she's free from having to 'check' herself with the other cults of personality folks. Too much 'freedom' [no, its not freedom, its lawlessness, correction] there will tap into the dark side [probably where I saw a lot of the more distortions too in art/how I term it the more anti-God they were...though I don't tend to hang out on those blogs much].
Referring here as to how the spiritual influences the expression in art or lack of, etc.,
so then, the question is I suppose, is just how much self-monitoring and self-policing we as women do, as we are Taught, is legalism and destructive to the very Image that God made us to be? And its not just religion but the abuse that we internalize too--religion sanctions that abuse, so its a double whammy.
And in the art-it Really shows, even the way the layouts on the blogs are done...Oh, that is what I wanted to says, there Were some Christian art blogs I saw from UK, the difference there though, is that it wasn't displayed like a badge--not as much, but references in posts here and there...and it didn't come across AS legalistic--gender rules, so forth,
now, remember, majority of all these women, were married with children, so its not that having children and being stay at home worker that limits--but the doctrines the women Believe--and well, it's a really good revelation as to just how much, misogyny [and other factors like class and race] do influence the mirror image of how we see ourselves AND how we see the world, and I would include, how we see God. The patriarchal-male centric culture kills the 'Female'. Make no mistake about that one...
Jane
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