IMAGE AND THE STAIN

     Growing up and working almost my entire life in the entertainment industry, I have constantly been around those whose lives are all about the image they present to their audience. From hairstyles to makeup, clothes to the brand of tools they use in their art, it’s all about keeping up and maintaining the image. But being behind the scenes I have had the privilege to know and hang out with many “stars” and see them when they were not on. More often than not, the image they are known for and the ‘real person’ is very different from each other. Privately most are almost always much smaller than the image they have come to be known as. Just like everyone else, they have the same challenges and difficulties we all face. But one of the tragic side effects of those whose lives are built upon an image is their proclivity towards being personally haunted in a way; and very often tormented. Many times to the degree that they are not able to lead normal lives. For them, normal is not who they really are, but for whom they have portrayed themselves as.
     As I stood behind the drum riser at a recent show I attended, watching throngs of adoring fans pressing frantically towards the stage as they raised their hands in the air longingly towards the band and in one rhythmic motion with the music, I suddenly found myself standing in the silent gaze of an epiphany. At that moment, for the very first time, I saw things as they really were and not as they appeared to be. My eyes began to swell with tears as a deep and profound sadness flooded over me. Suddenly I understood!

     Nothing has ever changed since the fall until now… man prefers worshipping the creature and the creation rather than the Creator of all things from whom he came. We make gods of men. At that moment I not only realized how difficult it is for those being worshipped; but also the tragic reality that those worshipping have no idea what they were doing, they cannot comprehend the depths of their own depravity as they do. But ignorance, in this case, is not bliss.
     First, let’s set the record straight: Man was created ‘IN THE IMAGE’ of the One who has no beginning and no end! Man IS NOT the original, but a mere reflection of the Original.
     There is no other God and Creator but the One, YHVH (pronounced YaH-Weh) and His Son, Y’shua/Jesus, and the entirety of His creation is subject to Him, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! The four living creatures around His throne continuously bear this out in their declaration, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME!” 

     We cannot comprehend the beauty of His majesty or the glory of His splendor. It is unfathomable in our fallen state. If we had just one glimpse, one split second to gaze upon it with our eyes so that we might become enlightened in the understanding of our finite state, we would come apart, crushed by the very weight of thinking that we who were created by Him and for Him, would ever worship or glorify anything but the Uncreated Holy One Himself. Yet we do it, day in and day out.
I was reminded of the verse in Isaiah where it says, “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the Potter be esteemed as the clay; shall the thing made say of Him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of Him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?” But arrogantly, we do this very thing.
     We live in a generation of incredible technology advancements, the rise of artificial intelligence that inspires a culture to be visually and viscerally charged. We are utterly obsessed with the image. Whether it’s obsessive dieting and exercising, image altering plastic surgery or liposuction; collagen and botox injections to bizarre body art and insane piercings, they are all ways of attracting attention to ourselves as we seek love, adoration, and approval. From politicians to athletes, movie stars to rock stars, and yes, even religious celebrities… the list goes on and on leaving no one out. Our obsession with the image portrayed and the image perceived amounts to nothing more than an infatuation with the creature over the Creator. In simple terms it is called, idolatry. But little does anyone realize that it is a preoccupation with death itself. The bottom line is this, because of sin we are all dying, as is all of creation. It’s nothing new.  King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon had his own ‘creature worshipping’ experience that resulted in his eye-opening, life changing encounter with the Living God.
     The fallen state of man cannot contain or sustain such glory. At best it can only reflect it. Think of it this way: when you shine a light at a mirror, it doesn’t absorb that light into itself, but instead reflects it - deflecting the light away from itself. The mirror itself can neither absorb nor store the light. For man, such self-glorification is a burden, a crushing weight too great to bear. Rather than being a blessing, when he attempts to draw it to himself and hold onto it, it utterly destroys him completely. 

     There is only One who is worthy of such glory because there is only One who is incapable of pride. So when glory and adoration is continually lavished upon the fallen by the fallen, the ramifications are negative and ultimately, destructive. Once he thinks himself something, pride has its way and he is doomed. He thinks of himself as a little god, whether he admits it or not. At that point, the image is stained.
     What is the story of redemption? Boiled down it is about being saved from sin! It’s life that comes from death. It’s God buying back what was His to begin with but had fallen into slavery, by putting to death the very thing that caused that slavery to begin with… the flesh. That fall and enslavement caused man to enter into the exact same depraved mind Lucifer had when he lusted after the glory of God. In our fallen state, our flesh craves glory. It denies that it is fallen; it seeks to establish its own supremacy and worships the images of self, eventually, vilifying and disregarding it once it begins to decline and fade. That in and of itself is an abomination to God. Why? Because to worship the creature is to spit in the face of the One who created it.
     The remedy for this curse is found in what Jesus said, “Take up your cross, and follow Me. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of Me.” As are all the things of God, it is the exact opposite of the way we think. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Opposites. Jesus said, “Whoever who seeks to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Paul said, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” 

     In ancient times, anyone hung upon a tree (the cross was a tree) was considered to be accursed by God. So being publicly hung on a cross demonstrated the person’s wretchedness and unacceptable state to God, but Jesus became that curse in order to buy us all back. Though the instrument for killing the flesh is a difficult one to grasp, by implementing its power moment by moment, it opens the doorway to real life; not just here, but in the one to come.
     Because of the original sin our flesh remains cursed and dying. We need to see it as such. There is no eternality in our flesh whatsoever. Go walk some graveyards. We are dying! But even in its dying state, our flesh does not want to accept its fate or its state, cursed. We do whatever we can to numb and distract ourselves from our condition. Eventually the curse catches up, the image fades, and its final state of death is achieved and the penalty for sin is accomplished. When Paul wrote, “Wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from the body of this death?” he was in Rome. A common form of Roman torture was to strap a dead body onto the back of a living human being. Between the rapid decay of the attached dead body spreading into the living one and the sheer terror that process produced, a horrifying and unbelievable death was experienced. It’s easy to see how his observation reflected a spiritual reality to him. Our fallen flesh is that dead body! This temporary and frail body we live in is not glorifiable, no matter how you try. 

     I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying you won’t fail from time to time, but as you think about these things and are unafraid to be honest with yourself, if you are serious about living your life for God to the fullest it can be experienced or understood, eventually it will transform you and the life-giving properties that follow will lead you directly into the presence of God. As the Scripture says, “God opposes the proud, but gives His grace to the humble!”


© 2011 Steven Bliss

CRACKS IN THE WALL

            Unbeknownst to most well misinformed evangelicals in western, and other forms of Christianity around the world, the rug is slowly being pulled out from under their feet, and what they have known and accepted as “church” is beginning to crumble. The walls that have surrounded it for centuries are been being pulled apart brick by brick. Its disassociation with its heritage and historical roots has produced an alarming level of arrogance and misguidedness in its roll in the world in general, as well as its true eschatological destiny. In other words, because they refuse to connect themselves with their historical past and familial ties, they cannot comprehend nor perceive that the past is the future. The central theme at very heart of Judaism is the command to “remember” the stories and events that will one day shape its future. But only a small contingency within Christianity itself embrace Israel’s past as their own. It has forgotten that its present and future history is intrinsically locked arm in arm with Israel’s historical past and her redemptive future. Not only with the land, but the Jewish people themselves.

            There is a reason why God has had the physical descendants of Abraham repeat the feasts and festivals over and over again. They are not just reminders of God’s past faithfulness, but a rehearsal for something they will go through in the future. By continually rehearsing it they will recognize it when it reappears, revealing the power of God’s faithfulness as not only something He did in the ancient past, but is then presently tangible causing their faith to become ignited and sustaining. As of right now, within the Jewish world, most who do Pesach year after year do not see what I have just said as so, though it stares them squarely in the face. It is not only their past they celebrate, but their future. Even worse, Christianity, which has separated herself from such things, sees such feasts as irrelevant and disconnected. Instead, she aligns herself with unbiblical holidays and pagan practices such as Easter, not given to her by those who followed Jesus, but rather those who persecuted the womb from which He came. Unfortunately, by embracing them as tradition, they demoralize her own state of consciousness, further widening the gap between herself and her own spiritual bloodline.

            As modern Israel is surrounded by the war cries of her enemies and prepares herself for an impending conflict of Biblical proportions, the majority of Christianity distances itself, as if unrelated, not recognizing that she too is a target on the radar of God’s enemies.

The idea that Israel is a microcosm of a macro reality does not exist within the thinking of most within churchianity. That the “whole house” is under attack is a concept not engaged whatsoever. Everywhere you look Christianity’s once strong influence has either been removed or is in the process of being torn out like one pulls dead flowers from the bed after their beauty has faded and fragrance gone. As she withers, Christianity’s disassociation with Israel and her own Hebraic roots rapidly make her an enemy of the state. The war is not just coming to little Israel in the Middle East, but to Christianity as well worldwide.

            Right now, there’s still time to change one’s mind as it were… to go in the opposite direction. That is precisely what the ancient concept of the Hebrew word for repentance means. In Judaism, to sin is considered temporary insanity because in your right mind, you would never do what you have done. The word teshuvah, translated to repent, is the idea of coming to ones senses, changing ones mind, and going in the right direction. We cannot change the past or what has been, nor can we change the immensity of erroneous thinking and false teaching that permeates the entirety of Christianity; but we can engage the Nehemiah principle of “one brick at a time”. What do I mean by that?

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem after an incredible change of national thinking in captivity with the daunting task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he commanded each individual who participated in the rebuilding to have a brick in one hand and a sword in the other. To break that same idea down for us, when we change our perspective from separated entity to a whole house view, we begin to see each person’s responsibility to rebuild the walls of their own understanding thereby contributing to the rebuilding of the greater walls as a whole.

But it first requires a “change of mind” on our part, teshuvah, resulting in a redirection of affection. Then, and only then, will the pieces fit rightly together, brick upon brick, stone upon stone.

            What is coming in the not so distant future will be terrifying. The unimaginable will stand before us. What was once only science fiction and myth will rage before our eyes in reality. At that point, the Bible will no longer be just words on paper bound by covers; but life itself to those who are willing to eat from it. There is no middle ground with God. No shifting or shadows. You will either be with Him, or against Him.

            Not only is Israel the nation in crisis, but the entire house of God itself! Its power is waning because it is a house divided. If desperate times call for desperate measures, then it’s time to act; and the first order of business should be, in my opinion, the realignment of God’s people with God’s people!

             

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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GPS

Ah, the wonders of modern technology. They never cease to amaze me. There is nothing more amazing to me than pushing a little icon on my smart phone, inputting an address in a city I’ve spent no time in, and this pleasant voice comes on to gently guide me turn after turn until I arrive at my destination. She can tell me whether or not there is heavy traffic; detours to avoid, and even give me several different options as to routes. She is my Global Positioning Satellite Representative! 

No more maps, no more need for magnifying lenses to see the tiniest of print. No more arguments with someone in the car who gives directions based upon their interpretation of the map as you drive; only to find out you went two miles out of your way. No more cursing or throwing objects as you realize that the map you are looking at is ten years old and the road you are looking for no longer exists. No more getting honked at, cussed at by unforgiving individuals who have never lost their way. It is precise and as up to date as the moment you turn it on.

I love to travel, but traveling to new places, especially alone can be somewhat daunting. Case in point… I was recently in Boston, a city I have no experience navigating. I hate the feeling of being lost or unsure about where I am. I have photographic memory. Once I go somewhere, I could come back twenty years later and remember ever little detail (as long as it hasn’t changed too much) and go directly to a place as if I just went there. But Boston was unexplored territory for me. My hotel was on State Street almost at the harbor and looking at the map, coming from the Logan airport seemed a bit daunting. My GPS got me there flawlessly. She repeated the next move several times. There was a moment of trepidation as I went in a long tunnel underneath the harbor from East Boston. She stopped talking to me. There was no more GPS. I was a little worried as when I came out there were several options, but only one I was supposed to take, and the others would have taken me way out of my way. But just as I came out from the tunnel, and only about 200 feet from my turn, she spoke! I was so relieved.

The next day, as I made my way through Boston, I needed to get somewhere specific, but the streets were a little confusing as some of them are close to 300 years old. They wind around much like European streets. As her voice came on with my first instruction and she took me exactly where I needed to go, I thought to myself, “Man I wish I could hear God’s voice like that instructing me moment-by-moment, turn by turn, just like my GPS.” How nice it would be to avoid the hazards and pitfalls, and quite honestly, the traps laid out to knock you off course from accomplishing His purposes for your life. Why can’t it be THIS EASY? After all, there are a lot of voices out there as well as signs constantly prodding us to go this way or that. But God knows all the shortcuts. As I walked on I thought about the amazing reality that a satellite in space picks up my signal, tracks me precisely and guides me. But the limitation is that it can’t protect me. It doesn’t even know my name. So as precise as this is, how much more is God! He knows every detail of who I am. Things I may never know about myself, He does. At that moment I thought, wait a minute, the acronym G… P… S! God’s Protective Services! Perfect… that’s it! All I have to do is stay connected, and unlike the one in my hand that when the battery goes dead you’re out of luck, His is continual and only requires my personal interaction. It’s that simple.

Yes, I know God is not at our every beck and call, but I also know that He is watching over me and keenly aware of not only my every step, but also my next move and my future moves. He wants me to get it right; to arrive at my destination, especially the one He has for me… even more than I do.

But the question remains… why can’t He just tell us? Why can’t we hear Him like my GPS girlfriend, or whomever He sends us on His behalf say, “In 220 feet, your destination is on the right” or “In 1.2 miles turn left on Straight Street and then go .5 miles and turn right on...” Why is it we have to make so many wrong turns along the way that could have easily been avoided had He just made it crystal clear?

The conveniences of modern technology are astounding. They are precise, taking away all the guesswork. But maybe that’s the point. We would never walk by faith if everything were all laid out for us! There’d be no need for it. It would be as impersonal and robotic as the voice on my GPS. What kind of life would that be? Not a very exciting one, that’s for sure. After all, that is what makes us unique. Walking by faith and not by sight.

I am extremely grateful for my Sprint service that provides me with my GPS. It made Boston a breeze. But for me, when it comes to the matters of life and the decisions that really count, though walking by faith is far more challenging and difficult… the reward of arriving at my appointed destination has a profound and extremely long lasting level of satisfaction that comes with it. It won’t just be my GPS saying I am done shutting down, but ultimately God Himself saying, “Welcome Home!” I’m so thankful for the relationship I have with God through the sacrifice of His Son that has provided me with His GPS. Though it doesn’t come with detailed instructions for getting me there, it keeps me safe along the way as I take each step trusting Him.

To You they cried out and were delivered,

in You they trusted and were not disappointed.

Psalm 22:5

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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THE DEVIL ROARS

It is unnecessary to ramble on about the times in which we live. All one needs do these days is open their eyes, get out of bed and turn on their computer, television, radio, iPad, iPod, Smartphone, or whatever electronic device that’s out there, and poof… instant connectivity to the world. The “news” today, unless all you read is gossip, ranges from bad to catastrophic in a split second. We are living in unprecedented times, to say the least.

From what I see, and in my humble opinion, we are seconds away from entering the times the Bible calls, “woes and sorrows”. They will escalate out of the impending war that immanently awaits the Middle East. Israel will be invaded by a multitude of demonically charged warriors intent on the total destruction of the state, all existing Jews; with the occupation and control of Jerusalem as its prize. But take heart, though much of this will happen, it will only momentarily succeed. It will be thwarted by the greatest Event in history.

But for now, we who watch are stuck in what I will call “the meantime”.

We have entered the most perilous times in the history of man. It is strangely similar to those days the Bible describes as “the days of Noah”. There is a war being waged, in the natural, but even more so on the battlefield of reason in the mind of every human being on this planet. We are bombarded in the sanctuaries of our thoughts moment by moment. Massive amounts of information are being flung at us at speeds faster than our minds can even process. The gates to our souls have been breached. Not only those of adults, but those of our children. You may think, “children have been exposed to many things for a long time”, that may be, but now they know things no child should ever know. They desecrate the sacred places of their hearts with images and all kinds of deceptive weavings of darkness that, on the surface, seem innocuous, but in its most heinous plan, seek their utter depravity.

The cry goes out… We need more! Make it faster! More stimulation, more noise, more chaos! Silence lost its golden touch. We have opened ourselves up, in the playground of our minds, to the unholy. We do not realize that the war for eternity is won and lost in the battlefield of our minds. We see the gratification that comes from knowing as some sort of fulfillment. We imagine that we won’t succeed, that our children won’t succeed, without it. We see nothing wrong with it, justifying its close proximity and access to our souls through the gates of our eyes and ears, smell and touch. Worse yet, we see its detractors and antagonists as disconnected and counterproductive; out of touch with the times and progress itself. Sadly, those who have bought into such fallacies have believed a lie.

The apostle Peter emphatically shouts at us though the corridors of time, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the entire world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” We are exhorted to guard our “hearts and mind”. We are even told to symbolically put a helmet of Salvation on our heads as a part of the armor of God! But here Peter moves from urging to warning. BE ALERT AND OF SOBER MIND! It’s a charge, a command as it were, to become keenly aware and self-guarded. Why? Because the warfare of darkness is not about what you can see or rationalize, it’s about stealthily obtaining territorial control of your mind for the purpose of allegiance and possession! We’re not talking about the possession seen in the Exorcist, though that certainly does happen, but something far subtler, far more surreptitious; it’s for control of your eternal existence. Proverbs 23 says, “as a man thinks in his heart, so he is”, which corresponds with “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” If possession is 9/10’s of the law, then the battle for control is about law, and the way that warfare is waged is by the bombardment of the mind with misinformation that leads the mind into the deconstruction of truth and reason, replacing it with false evidence that appears real. In other words, creating the ultimate state of fear.

In the art of bass fishing it’s all about the lure. Bass are lured into biting by the things that catch their eye. The more shiny and flashy you make it, the more seductive its movement, the greater the potential for the fish to be attracted and deceived into taking the bait, thereby turning a harmless little piece of nothing into an instrument of death. So it is with us.

I can still remember the old Smokey the Bear commercials when I was a kid. They always ended the same way, Smokey holding a smoldering match saying, “Only you can prevent forest fires”. The point was YOU were the only one who could prevent it from happening by making the right choice. Today, I say the same thing to all of you, “Only you can prevent the destroyer of souls from having his way with you”. You have the choice moment by moment as to what you allow, and what you don’t. Only you are in control of the decision to be aware or ignore what is right in front of you.

So in the same way both Joshua and Elijah charged Israel so long ago, I charge you… “Choose this day whom you will serve!” The consequences are eternal. Choose wisely.

© 2011 Steven Bliss 
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BRAVE NEW WORLD?

Just as I was beginning to sing Kumbaya followed with the hopeful refrain “The Sun’ll come out tomorrow” from the Broadway musical Annie, I read an article about a new phone app that’s about to be released that will allow you to urinate on your phone and instantly tell you, I kid you not, whether or not you have an STD!

Very few things out and out shock me these days. After all… I’m from the Peace & Love generation. We did it all without reservation, and we were darn proud of it. We protested; wanted racial equality, got high and enjoyed breaking the rules. We were unashamed and unbridled. We strove to break with tradition and disassociate ourselves with our stuffy ridged parental past. We were the generation that would change the world.

But as with all revolutionary ideas that come and go, along with those who dream them, my generation got older and we eventually started seeing the error of our thinking. Though some things still resonate, much of our impetuousness faded into the sunset of our no longer ‘drug induced’ minds. A funny thing happened on the way to the revolution: WE HAD BABIES!

Suddenly responsibility, that ugly word we all hated hearing from our parents, sprouted little arms and legs. With the advent of parenthood and the need to fill the mouths of the little chirping birdies in our nests, we were rudely awakened to the understanding that life wasn’t “all about us”.

As the years moved on and we hit our 50’s, we find ourselves living in what appears to be a world out of control. The days of Red Ryder BB guns and Flexible Flyer snow sleds have been replaced with Glocks and crotch rockets, as well as video games that are nothing more than war simulators used to sharpen the skills of their players for actual combat, thus making them into stealth warriors.

We had no idea how priceless it was that no one actually knew where we were… after all who cared? But now we live in the GPS world where our cell phones are capable of communicating with pinpoint accuracy our exact whereabouts at any given moment… even as we sit on the porcelain thrones in our homes! YIKES! What we thought was old fashioned, and pine for, and the simpler times from which we came, have all but vanished into extinction.

The world has changed. Here in America we were promised change, and change we got. But it wasn’t the change our emotionally charged hearts were looking for. This change is destructive and far-reaching. We were sold a bill of goods… and much like the statement several months back by the former speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, where she so poignantly quipped, “We just need to pass this bill and then we’ll find out what’s in it”, we received the beautifully wrapped package that on the outside tantalized our eyes, but on the inside was rife with destruction and poison.  We believed it was for our good, just as some will believe a cell phone app that allows you to urinate on your phone is a good thing. But the truth is, not so much.

Our thinking has gone awry! We have lost our way. We have traded reason for convenience and wisdom for equality and correctness. If we had only been willing to open the package first we would have seen the poison that lay waiting inside. But that’s the problem with pretty packages, now isn’t it? The eyes are bigger than the stomach. Unfortunately these days the consequences of such actions far outweigh the benefits… and sadly, many of the consequences are irreversible.

Funny isn’t is how sometimes after getting all the things you thought you really wanted, you find out you never really wanted them after all, like cell phone apps that go beyond the unthinkable.

© 2010 Steven Bliss
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THE INVESTED SOUL

    When we have been divested of all we possess and taken to the end of the end where all things hang in the balance. When we arrive at that place where hope and hopelessness stare each other face to face and a single decision determines our destiny. It is there, in that empty void where all that was becomes insignificant and all that was once possible appears veiled and vague... at the turnstile of bewilderment where the mystery of faith wrestles past the heart and emotions for position and voice; in one single moment so infinitesimal that reason itself cannot lay hold; conviction is born out of the impossible and the unimaginable takes shape. It is there that the invested soul looks beyond the seen and hears the Eternal voice speak saying, “We are ONE!” 

and agrees… 

            Such are the mysteries of God, and such is the hope of man.

© 2010 Steven Bliss
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YADA: THE WELL OF TRANSFORMATION!

Very few things can transform a soul or bring greater peace than the power of true intimacy. We crave it because it satisfies a longing deep in our hearts. We were designed for it. Though it takes on many forms and faces in life, the intimacy I’m referring to here is that which takes place between God and His greatest creation, man.

Human beings are strange creatures in many ways, as we all know. We often tend to run from the very things we desire the most. Case in point, God created man for His own pleasure and intimacy with Him, yet it seems to be one of the most difficult things to engage in for so many. A perplexing concept in many ways, though I have come to realize women have a much greater capacity for intimacy and a far deeper grasp of it’s power than do men. It’s just the way they are made. Women are designed as receivers and understand the idea of being known in a way that men cannot conceive of. So in a spiritual sense they are quick to receive the idea of being filled by God in such an intimate way that it produces life. As we dive a little deeper into this subject, I believe we will have a greater appreciation for not only the unique design of women, but also ourselves as human beings and the God who desires the deepest levels of relationship with us.

The best way to unwrap this idea is from a Biblical perspective, which comes from one single Hebrew word. That word is yada (xdy) (pronounced yah-dah). Most of us have never heard of this word, or for that matter have a clue as to what it means; but as we untie the ribbons on this very special package, our concepts and perceptions of intimacy are more than likely to change.

The word yada on the surface means ‘to know’, acknowledge or understand. But this rarely used word from the Bible evokes an even deeper sense of knowing than just what comes from some sort of head knowledge or comprehensive awareness.

Yada is first used in Genesis 4:1 when it says, “Adam yada (knew) Eve and she conceived and gave birth…” It’s important to know that God Himself told Moses this story and specifically chose this exact word to communicate the deepest levels of knowing that a man and a woman can experience. In context, Adam knew Eve through their sexual intimacy. Why? Because it is there that they became echad – ONE! Even today the idea of ‘knowing’ someone in a relationship way between a man and woman refers to their going beyond just a friendship status. We’ve all heard the term, “he knows her in a Biblical way”. The word yada is where that colloquialism comes from. It’s one thing to know someone closely as a friend… to understand and connect with who they are as a person. I have several people in my life that I would classify as “intimate” friends. They know and love me in spite of my weaknesses and imperfections, as well as my failings. Their love for me is unconditional. But the knowing that is described in Genesis 4 is actually God’s greatest desire for us to have with Him. He longs for it and paid a heavy price to secure it; that being the sacrifice of His Son. Yada goes far beyond just intimate friends.  

Y’shua/Jesus prayed in John 17, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…” He’s talking about a level of intimacy that few comprehend; not just some mystical woowee woowee… but the actual union oneness! This is the very heart of God. He wants to be one with us in the most intimate way. WOW! This picture of sexual intimacy, in its most holy intent, evokes the most powerful union between two people. No wonder the enemies of God have polluted and perverted it since the beginning. Even the demons know this. They work extremely hard at trying to prevent man from being one with the One who created him. Why? First because of its power, and second because the fruit of that power is called “life”! If the fruit of a man and woman’s deepest knowing of each other produces life itself, how much greater is the level of life that is birthed from the yada that God wants between Himself and man?

To look at it from a different angle, religion, which is not based in, nor promotes intimacy, only brings emptiness, insecurity, inferiority, doubts and throughout the centuries, death. How many of you have been hurt by religious institutions and people? I know countless numbers who want nothing to do with God, because of people or organizations. Religion keeps God at a manageable distance. There is NO LIFE! God forbid we get too close! But relationship, which is what Y’shua/Jesus sacrificed Himself for so that man could be restored to truly  yada God, is based in intimacy… and that intimacy births life!

Let me give you an example.

We all know the story of Moses and the Burning Bush! Moses was willing to go up to the mountain where this strange and mysterious bush was burning  and yet not consuming the plant. The mountain rumbled and quaked. It inspired fear in all who could see it. Yet Moses wanted to get close. He wanted to know. And so he did. God rewarded his faith with an invitation… a sort of “Come on in Moses, take off your sandals and stay a while”. It was there the two of them began an intimate relationship. As the relationship developed, Moses was no longer afraid, but longed for the intimacy he was experiencing with YHVH. It was transforming him cell by cell! Moses and God yada each other and that yada inspired some of the greatest moments in Biblical history!

On the contrary, after the exodus from Egypt, at the base of Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel after seeing all the miracles and the power of God on their behalf wanted no part of intimacy with God. When they saw the rumblings and thunders and the fire of God on the mountain in Exodus 20, they were afraid to come close. They said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” The fruit of their fear was the golden calf… religion. Each time Moses went before the Lord his face radiated with the power of that intimacy… but the people couldn’t handle seeing him like that, so Moses wore a veil.

Just as the lack of intimacy between a husband and wife almost always bears the fruit of separation, confusion, doubt, mistrust, infidelity, and sometimes divorce, so the lack of intimacy with God does the same thing. It creates distance, faithlessness, unbelief, waywardness, and even death of the relationship.

Often times we think we are spiritual just because we happen to believe a certain way or we do all the “right things”. But all those things do not necessarily equate to a relationship with God based in yada. Paul described it like this in 2 Timothy 3:5, “a form of godliness, but denying its power.”

King David was the only one in the entirety of Scripture that God called, “A man after His own heart”. He understood that yada is the very heart of God. He comprehended it even as a young boy, and he pressed in after it his whole life. He wrote songs that conveyed his yada of God as he conversed with the Lord in the most intimate of ways. This was unheard of at that time, yet David broke all the rules. Even in David’s sin and transgressions, he knew God wanted to be intimate with him. That doesn’t mean he didn’t reap the consequences of some of his actions, but David knew there was no better place to be than in the intimate presence of God.

Even at the End Of All Things, yada is still at the heart of it all. Y’shua/Jesus said in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you…” The word "knew" is directly connected to the ancient Hebrew word yada. He is saying they were never intimate! God is not interested in religious works as much as He is in hearts that pant after Him, longing to be one with Him in the deepest and most intimate way.

So today, where are you in that process? Are you like the children of Israel, or are you like Moses… or King David? Does your heart long for that level of knowing and being known? Are you willing to be fully vulnerable and transparent before the One who knows all things?

Maybe a good place to discover where you are is by looking at your intimate relationships. What level of relationship do you have with those you love and how deep are you willing to allow yourself to go? It may just reveal something about your own personal relationship with God?

So maybe today is that day? Maybe today you willingly immerse yourself in the deep well of intimacy with the One who loves you more than you could ever know, and allow yourself to be forever transformed by it.

I’ll leave you with this thought… This is how Paul described his heart in Philippians 3, “I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”  I used to think that lofty proclamation was an unattainable level of commitment and vulnerability. Then I discovered the word yada. Now I see it in a different light.

A little manna for the mind.

© 2010 Steven Bliss
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