Monday, September 25, 2023
Welcome to the 2nd edition of The Dauntless Dwellhouse. I aim to highlight joys and reflections from my place at the intersection of planet earth and the unseen Kingdom of God. Dwelling on earth and simultaneously in heavenly places, my blog posts leverage my experiential knowledge with exhortation for impacting right where we really live.
This edition is dedicated to the word "door".
New cycles begin for us a new thresholds and doors.
We've now entered 5784 on God's Hebraic calendar, the year of the 4 is a gate, or a door.
What I'm Celebrating
The calendar that the God gave to the Hebrews.
I'm writing you on the Day of Atonement, in the midst of the Fall Feasts (yes, these are what the world knows as Jewish holidays). Jesus himself celebrated these feasts, and I enjoy the meaning of their symbolism and the nuances of their cycles quite a bit (it took me awhile to learn about this being very Gentile in my background).
I'm still Gentile of course, but now I feel more connected to the history of what happened when God came in the flesh as His Son, Jesus. I don't celebrate these fall feast days with rituals, but rather with respectful recognition (and often, secret pleasure that I know about them).
And then I notice things... for example, I notice that at this time of year the dreams Holy Spirit gives me always feel really significant. They seem to paint for me a metaphorical image of the year ahead of me, and they usually contain a lot of mystery. I watch how my spirit aligns with His times.
I'm also celebrating that our Heavenly Father is One who loves to celebrate! Even though much of Jewish tradition today contains a leeriness born of their need for the covering of sins, I can recognize that Father set three feasts (parties), not fasts (nor solemn assemblies--although there are available times for that) on our yearly cycle. The Jews don't 'have' the Cross as I do (they haven't embraced nor engaged it's significance), nor the precious One's blood upon that Cross, nor the indwelling of Holy Spirit...yet. I pray that Jesus removes the veils through which they see Him and I hope in a future where many more true Hebraic bloodlines can see Him and commune with Father through Him by His own Spirit.
What I'm Learning More Deeply
I woke up today thinking about my Heavenly High Priest (Jesus); how utterly perfect He is in His position as such, and how I know He intercedes for me and my family. I woke up thinking about the true character of Jesus as I've come to know Him by first-hand stillness, and how I look forward to knowing Him more. [Hebrews 6:19-20]
Heaven is always speaking, and is very intentional in focus and orientation, yet Heaven celebrates too, after all Heaven is on God's Hebraic calendar. While King Jesus is always cultivating His Kingdom, even as Adam was told to keep and watch after the Garden, we each have a place where we live and move and have our being in our own geographical localities. Many of us are called to look after them. This is an anointing that we can each have and God works with us through it to show us how to be good stewards of these areas and entities.
Prophets calls this an Issachar role (Issachar was one of the 12 Tribes of true Israel) and the Hebrew word "shamar" links to this concept of "keeping watch after". Jesus does this over me since I'm in His Kingdom on earth, and am a part of His own inheritance. I do it over the areas I've come to know are mine to "shamar" (things like my family, extended family, and even where my authority lies in my neighborhood and city). I'm learning much more about how to accomplish this in the spiritual realms through the interface of my human spirit and God's Holy Spirit -- and even His angels. Ask God what you are meant to "shamar" this year; see what happens!
A Quote I'm Pondering
Just this morning, I sat quietly in cooler morning temperatures on my back porch and heard Holy Spirit whisper:
You are not of this world.
See John 17:16-20 in your favorite translation and embrace truth. We are new creations in Jesus, and the world and it's systems don't recognize us, but we are seen from Heaven, and loved beyond belief!
Thank you for reading the 2nd edition of this blog.
From my dwelling to yours, from our dwelling places to the world, let the habitation of His Presence deploy and diffuse.
You are a dauntless dwellhouse.
Dwell well,
Donna