Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The word contrite in Hebrew is ‘dakah’ which means one that is crushed to pieces. Paul wrote of being a ‘living sacrifice’ holy and acceptable to God. Being a living sacrifice means we often can walk off the altar. To be a continual living sacrifice we need to renew our minds day to day! Let your mind be renewed — off the things which are worldly and onto those things which are Godly. When our minds are focused on those things above, on His holiness, His righteousness, His grace, and His mercy — we realize that we can always be closer to Him! We understand what Isaiah meant when he said, “our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags before the Lord.”
When God provided for Himself the perfect sacrifice, His Son, 2000 years ago — His heart bursted! His heart was cut through — cut for you! God desires you to be a living sacrifice and a necessary ingredient is a heart that has been cut through by God’s sharp knife. When you allow your heart to be continually cut through by God’s Spirit, then your life will be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable before Him!
It’s wonderful what God can do with a broken heart, especially when we give Him all the pieces!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we just celebrated one of the highest holy days of all the feasts of the Bible, Yom Turah (Feast of Trumpets) known in modern times as Rosh ha Shana (Head of the Year).
On the Hebrew calendar, we're at the end of the month of Elul. This particular month the shofar is sounded once a day as a call for the people to repent as we approach the Hebrew month of Tishri.
Often in the Bible you will see the word wind or breath. The root meaning of these words, both in Hebrew and Greek, is almost always Spirit. It is important to keep in mind that we can never dictate which direction the wind will blow. It would be absurd to think we could! The wind blows as it will. And in the same way, the Spirit of God blows where it wishes. Well if this is so, how can we be filled with the Spirit? Must we jump up and catch it and just hope for the best? No.
In Biblical times, the economy of the world was largely agricultural, so the meaning of “yoke” was easy to comprehend. To plow a field, you would place a yoke on a cow, ox, or horse with a plow attached and drive the animal forward to break up the ground preparing a field for sowing.
A prayer frequently heard at the conclusion of Orthodox Jewish services is “Ani Ma’amin” translated, “I believe.” The full prayer is. “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Mashiach; and even though he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait each day for his coming.”
After Yeshua’s (Jesus) resurrection, He showed himself to the apostles several times. Once, they were fishing, and Yeshua met them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter was there, back at his craft, but swirling with inward emotions. The anguish of his recent denial, three times, exactly as Yeshua had predicted, mixed with the amazement and perplexity at the empty tomb, and finally the astounding relief and joy witnessing the risen Lord. Peter was on an emotional roller coaster for days, but the issue of his denial remained unresolved.
Just about every Hebrew prayer begins by saying, “Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha Olam” which, translated, means, Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the Universe. Now think about it, King of the Universe! Wikipedia defines “universe” as, “the composition of all the planets, stars, galaxies, the contents of intergalactic space, and all matter and energy”. Hmm…that’s a lot to be king over!