The Be One Life

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength together a one.

What Do You Believe About God?

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Take a moment with us to  just notice your breath. Inhale deeply, exhale with a sigh. How do you feel?

The same breath that fills our lungs is the same breath that moves through all of creation. All of us are breathing finite portions of the Eternal’s Infinite Breath.

Just as the trees breathe, and the winds blow, we find ourselves living, breathing, and moving alongside them. We are never separate from creation; we are always an integral part. 

We’ve often been taught to think of ourselves as separate from creation, and even separate from God. We’d like to challenge that belief today with a simple question:  What if we are not, and have never been outside of the wholeness The Eternal created, but rather living within it?

What we believe about God shapes what we believe about life, and about ourselves.

Exodus 20:7 states, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…” The word for “name” in Hebrew is shem, which refers to the character or essence of something. Here, the Eternal is telling us not to present His character in a false way; to not to lie about who He is.

The worst lie we can tell is a lie about God.

When we begin to believe lies about God, it changes our worldview. The lies we believe distort our perception of everything: life, ourselves, and others. What makes this so difficult is the fact that the most convincing lies often contain a kernel of truth.

In Traveling Light, Eugene Peterson describes a heretic as: “a person who chooses a single item out of the entire body of truth… and makes that the only truth.” Partial truths can distort our understanding of God. If God is only seen as vengeful, we live in fear. If God is only distant, we feel alone and disconnected. Heretics use these partial truths to abuse, coerce, and manipulate us for their own benefit. These distortions shape how we see ourselves and the world, robbing us of the truth and freedom the Eternal so lovingly gives us. Instead, we begin to live as if we are separate, unsafe, or disconnected.

If we look at creation, we see that nothing in nature lives in fear of being what it was created to be. The trees are not afraid of growing. The ocean is not afraid of the tides’ ebb and flow. The moon is not afraid of passing through it’s phases. 

Everything belongs. What if we do too?

If we form our beliefs about God from what has been revealed through scripture and through creation, 

we begin to see a fuller picture. Romans 1:20 says that God’s nature has been clearly seen through what has been made. Acts 17 tells us: “In Him we live and move and have our being…”

When we begin to see God through creation, something shifts and we enter into the full human experience. We stop trying to find God outside of life, and begin to recognize that we are living within it. We are not here to observe creation; we live as participants within it. We live, move, and have our being as part of creation, not beside, beyond, or outside of it.

Seeing ourselves this way, as an integral part of all creation changes our perception and our experience. We learn that we don’t have to reach for wholeness; we simply need to remember it.  It’s something we’re already and have always been held in.

The Eternal is the creator of everything and is everywhere.

Each of us individually cannot fully comprehend the Eternal, but we do get glimpses of it within ourselves, in others, and in nature. We are each made in the image of God, and we each carry attributes of The Eternal. Yet even all of humanity together, cannot fully express the fullness of the Eternal.

In Job, The Eternal describes the vastness of creation, and asks Job if he understands it. And the truth is, he didn’t and we don’t either. But maybe we’re not meant to; maybe we’re meant to live in it, just like the rest of creation. The birds don’t need to understand the sky to fly. The ocean doesn’t need to understand itself to move. And perhaps, we don’t need to understand everything about God to exist as children of God.

When the Eternal revealed His name to Moses as YHWH, God described Himself as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness. According to Numbers 23:19, the Eternal is not human, not subject to changing, but instead remains faithful and true.

We are created by The Eternal, and we each carry different expressions of the Eternal’s nature. Some of us  may see God as love, others as wisdom, and still others as creativity.

All are true. The Eternal is expansive and without limit.  It is not either/or; it never was. It is both/and.

We like to think of it like standing on different sides of the same mountain, each of our viewpoints is a slightly different experience, yet the mountain is the same. Just like creation holds diversity without division, we can too. We all have different perspectives and different experiences, but we are created by the same Source. We all come from and take part in the same Infinite Breath.

Wholeness has never required sameness. It holds it all. We are already whole beings living within the wholeness of creation. We don’t have to reach for it, we simply need to remember it. 

So let’s return to something simple: We are not separate from God, creation, or wholeness. We exist within it right now and in every breath. The invitation isn’t to figure everything out, but to rest into that truth. 

The kingdom of God is both within and among us (Luke 17:21). Wherever we are, The Eternal is, and wholeness reigns. 

Whole and Good

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What if the lie in the Creation story is not “The Fall,” but something much more subtle and far-reaching?

What if the deepest lie carried through our world religions, philosophies, marketing strategies, and cultural messages is the belief that we and the world are innately flawed?

This worldview is so insidious that most of us rarely notice it. It whispers, “If you do one more thing, then you’ll be whole.” It looks and sounds good. It grows on a beautiful plant that mimics the truth. It looks nourishing, wise, even holy. But once we ingest it, our entire worldview shifts.

Instead of seeing with an ayin tov, a good eye, we begin to see everything as flawed, including ourselves. We blame one another, nature, our bodies,  time, and circumstances. We treat our lives like projects instead of experiences. We treat mistakes as character defects rather than lessons in the human journey. We even begin to treat the human experience itself as something to escape.

But in the beginning, the Creator called it all good, very good.

What does it mean, then, to be made in the image or likeness of God? Does it mean we all look like God physically? We don’t look exactly the same, and Numbers 23:19 reminds us that God is not a man. Does it mean we share characteristics of God, like when someone says you remind them of your parent? Do we share God’s spirit? Genesis 2:7 says that the Eternal God formed man from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, and man became a living soul. Perhaps it is that our spirit is a part of the Eternal God’s spirit, and that is what makes us made in the Divine image.

The Eternal created humans in their image, both whole and good. The Eternal is a spirit with no beginning or ending who created all life in our world. Humans were made differently from all other life because the Eternal lovingly placed a portion of that eternal, infinite spirit within our finite bodies. We are eternal spirits with finite bodies, not bodies with a spirit. The combination of the two, spirit and body, makes us human and makes us a whole soul. Every person is born whole, lacking nothing. That is why the Eternal lovingly formed each of us in our mother’s wombs, making us beautiful, complete, and whole. The Eternal looks on every person and says we are “very good.”

In Hebrew, wholeness is shalom; it is the state of something fully formed, completed, or finished. A related word, shalem, means complete or whole. That is how the Eternal created each of us: whole, with all the potential we need already within us.

Yeshua pointed to this wholeness when he named the greatest commandment:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29–30) Wholeness is lived when these four elements–heart, soul, mind, and strength–work together in unity. Yeshua lived from this place of wholeness to show us how to reconnect with the Eternal and awaken from the delusion that we are broken or separate.

Many of Yeshua’s teachings on wholeness are misunderstood today because the Hebrew word shalom is often translated as “peace.” Peace is only one aspect of wholeness. When the angels sang at Yeshua’s birth, they were proclaiming wholeness on earth (Luke 2:14). When Yeshua healed people, he sent them away in wholeness. When he prepared to leave his disciples, he said: “Wholeness I leave with you; my wholeness I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27)

Yeshua came to open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the truth that we are already whole, and to give us an example of how to live from that wholeness in connection with the Eternal. When we awaken to this truth, we can also accept that we were created good and can return to the good life at any time. The Hebrew word for good is tov, which means functional, or operating as designed. Its opposite, ra, means dysfunctional.  Humans were created good, with the freedom to choose actions that are functional or dysfunctional. People are not completely good or completely bad; they simply choose to operate in functional or dysfunctional ways. The Eternal, though, is wholly good, and our goodness flows from being created in the Divine image.

Yeshua recognized that he could not live functionally in a world full of dysfunction, illusions, and lies without maintaining unity and oneness with the Eternal. He taught that while no person always chooses good on their own, with God all things are possible. His life demonstrated how we can operate out of wholeness and goodness when we are aligned with our original design.

The Bible, then, is a story of relationships and restoration. In the beginning, humans lived whole and good, walking with the Eternal. We lost that connection when we believed the lie that we were lacking something; that we could become like God by grasping for more rather than living from the wholeness already within. This is our human story, but it doesn’t end here. 

Whenever someone or something reminds us that we are already created whole and good in the image of God, our relationship with the Eternal is restored. Yeshua taught this human experience in the parable of the prodigal son. He showed us how to live as children of the Eternal, whole, good, and deeply loved.

Perhaps this is what his life, death, and resurrection reveal most clearly: that Nothing, NO THING, not suffering, not failure, not injustice, not sickness, not loneliness, not even death, can separate us from the Creator. The lie says we are broken and need something more to be fixed. The truth says we were created whole and remain held within the Eternal, always.

We experience liberating peace when we unravel the lie, spit it out, and refuse to plant its seeds in our lives or in the world; then we begin to recognize shalem olam, the wholeness and goodness of ourselves and all creation. The human experience is not evidence that something is wrong with us. It is simply the embodied experience of being human with all of its highs and lows. In this lifetime, it is the only experience we have, so let’s choose wisely.
Our prayer is that we live as those who trust that we were created whole from the beginning and that we walk with the Eternal in that truth, here and now.

Child of God

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What we believe about God shapes what we believe about ourselves and each other.

Let’s take a moment to pause here and examine some truths that have been clouded over. The easiest way to remember truth is to take a deep breath, our direct connection to The Eternal.  

Many of us were taught to approach God from a place of distance: as though we were born fundamentally wrong or broken. That teaching has shaped how we pray, how we judge ourselves, and how we relate to one another. It has formed us in fear instead of trust.

It’s time to remember and return to what has always been true beyond the noise, the shame, and the stories handed down to us through the generations.

Remember reveals a simple yet powerful truth: we were not born separated from the Creator.

You were not born a sinner as some people want you to believe. That belief is a great lie and delusion that has been passed down through generations, harming people’s lives and their relationship with the Creator and with one another. We all know, or have at least heard, the most quoted scripture in the Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…” If God loved the world, why would the Eternal create us as sinners?

The Creator never did!

Genesis 1:26–27 tells us that humans were created in the image of God, and verse 31 says that creation was very good. Genesis 2:7 teaches that we became living souls when the Creator breathed the breath of life into our bodies. That breath, spirit, is not separate from God; it is of God. God’s breath in our lungs is what makes us living beings.

We are eternal spirits, made in the image of God, living in mortal bodies. Ecclesiastes 12:7 reminds us that our bodies return to the dust, but our spirits return to the Eternal. This is why Yeshua quotes the Psalms, saying, “You are gods” (John 10:34–38). And just as Yeshua was a son of God, we too are children of God.

Take a pause and breathe deeply. 

If this is true, then faith is not about becoming someone new. Rather, it is about remembering who we already are. This remembering requires our active participation.

Some believe Yeshua lived in oneness with the Eternal so that we would not have to do anything. That is far from the truth. He lived to show us the potential for oneness with the Eternal that exists in all of us.

“May they all be one as you and I are one,” Yeshua prayed (John 17:21). He desired that we experience the same unity he lived with The Eternal. He also said, “Greater works than these will he do” of those who believe and do as he did (John 14:12), because we too are children of God.

Yeshua promised that the Holy Spirit would bring to remembrance all that he taught (John 14:26). This gift allows us to access the wisdom the Eternal has already placed within us. When Yeshua said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9), he was naming our identity.

John affirms this when he writes that those who receive Yeshua are given the right to become children of God, born not of flesh or human will, but of God (John 1:12–13). Paul offers a third witness, saying that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16–17).

We are born good. We are born whole. But the chaos and dysfunction of the world cloud our minds and cause us to forget who and whose we are.

If everything God creates is good, and if God’s power is unmatched, then a deeper question emerges. Why does the world look the way it does?

Everything the Eternal creates is good. There is no stronger power than God. Look at the order and function woven into creation; how nature works together to sustain life. If all of nature follows the Eternal’s design, why is there chaos, harm, and destruction in the world?

Might it be because when God created humans, we were given the ability to choose. We are free to choose between function and chaos, between serving self-interest or living connected to the Eternal and to creation as designed?

Many choose self-interest over God. In doing so, they create chaos, lies, and delusions for personal gain, harming others and teaching others to do the same. Through this chaos and deception, humanity loses the memory of who we truly are: children of God.

Paul speaks of this strong delusion in 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12. This  forgetting that is not our essence. It is a condition we have learned.

When we remember our original design, our innate goodness and wholeness, living this truth becomes our way of life. 

Through the Holy Spirit, it was revealed to Yeshua that he was to shine a light on humanity so that we could clearly see once more who we truly are: eternal spirits made in the image of the Eternal God, living out eternity connected to the Eternal God right now (John 1:4–5; John 8:12), not in some far-off place or distant time (Luke 18:29–30). Yeshua teaches that the kingdom of God is within us and all around us here and now (Luke 17:20–21). 

He also illustrates our awakening to the truth that we are children of God through the parable of the son who took his inheritance early and left his father’s house. When the son came to the realization that he needed the father’s provision and returned home, he was received with compassion and restoration (Luke 15:11–22). In the same way, when we see the light and remember that we are children of the Eternal God, and when we return to live according to the Eternal God’s natural order, we are welcomed into connection, protection, and provision. 

As we remember, we can live abundantly with the Eternal God, walking whole and free from the bondage and baggage of the lies and deceptions placed upon us.

Yeshua invites us to follow his example, not to admire or even worship him. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,” he says. “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). Yeshua desires to guide us and lighten our load as we walk through life. He also teaches, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:24–25). Yeshua is not speaking of physical death, but of the death of the selfish ego that keeps us captive and causes us to lose sight of our original design. 

He reinforces this call to lived obedience when he says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The disciple John expands on this truth, writing, “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him… Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 2:29–3:3). Living as children of God sets us free to have life, and to have it abundantly.

The invitation is to live aligned. We don’t need to escape the world; we simply need to live in light of the truth. We can continually refuse harmful lies. 

What heals us (and the world) is remembrance, not shame.  What restores us is truth, not fear.  What reconnects us is living as children of the Eternal, grounded in goodness, guided by wisdom, and choosing order over chaos time and again.

Life is about remembering our worth as God’s children. We don’t have to prove it; we just have to live it. 

Appointed Times

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During these days that some people are referring to as uncertain times, let’s remember a promise from the YHWH (God) of all creation that says, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22 ESV)  YHWH established the times and seasons to continue on no matter the circumstances. We can always trust that YHWH is in control. He has appointed days for His children to worship, remember, and celebrate. Let’s take some time to consider these days that YHWH created for us to connect with him, so that we can grow into our calling of being holy.  As Peter said in 1 Peter 1:14-16: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Many people celebrate holidays every year such as easter, christmas, valentine’s day, halloween, and thanksgiving.  Some people only go to church service on christmas, mother’s day and easter. These days can be great times for families and friends to get together, but did you know none of these days are found in the bible?  They are not YHWH’s appointed times. Have you ever considered what YHWH says are his holidays or Holy days? Did you know that YHWH set aside several days in the bible that are Holy, set apart for Him?

Leviticus 23 lists the appointed days of YHWH, they are:

  1. Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5: 12-15; Isaiah 56:1-7)
  2. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12; Exodus 13:1-10; Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 4:1-8; Deuteronomy 16:1-8)
  3. Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14)
  4. Feast of Weeks or Harvest (Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 23:15-22; Deuteronomy 16:9-12)
  5. Day of the Blast or Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25)
  6. Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32)
  7. Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Booths and Eight Day Feast (Leviticus 23:33-44; Deuteronomy 16:13-17)

These days help to sanctify us and prepare us to live in the presence of YHWH in Eternity (Exodus 31:12-17; Revelation 21:22-27).  Each of the appointed times points us to Yeshua (Jesus). The Sabbath points to the rest will have in Yeshua (Matthew 11:28-30 and Hebrews 4:8-11).  We see Yeshua in the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread in that he died on the day of Passover making him our Passover lamb and He removed the old leaven of sin from our lives (John 19:31-34; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  Yeshua is also the firstfruit wave offering because He was raised from the dead on the day of the wave offering (Leviticus 23:9-14 and Mathew 28:1-10). This makes Yeshua the firstfruits of the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-26). The Feasts of Weeks or Pentecost is when Yeshua sent the helper he promised, the Holy Spirit (John 14: 15-21 and Acts 2) The Day of the blast or Trumpets points to when Yeshua will return (1 Corinthians 15:50-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).  When we observe the day of Atonement, we can look to Yeshua as the final sacrifice for atonement (Hebrews 10:1-18). The feast of ingathering or booths points to Yeshua’ return when He will gather up his people to dwell with Him (Matthew 24:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Revelation 22:1-4). Yeshua and the Apostles observed these days (John 4:16-30; Matthew 26:17-29; John 7:1-39). Paul, the apostle and other followers of Yeshua continued to observe these days after Yeshua’s death (Acts 2:1-2; Acts 12:1-5;Acts 13:14-25; Acts 13:42-49, Acts 15:21; Acts 16:13; Act 17:2-3; Acts 18:4; Acts 20:13-16).  

Observing these days was so important that Paul says not to let anyone stop you from observing the sabbaths, festivals, and new moons (Colossians 2:16).  If YHWH says these are his days and Yeshua and his disciples after him observed these days, should not we, as YHWH’s children, observe YHWH’s appointed times over any other holidays?  The Lord made this promise to Soloman that holds true for all his people: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV). What actions are we taking to humble ourselves and turn to the way of YHWH so that YHWH will shine his face on us and answer our prayers?

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year!  Wait. Did we catch you off guard? It’s the beginning of April. What are they talking about?!?!

Have you ever wondered why the new year starts in the winter when its it cold, dark, and most of nature is dormant?  When the trees are bare and most of creation is resting and/or hibernating, does it really feel like the start of something new?  With winter comes dropping temperatures, short days, and long nights. While we believe it’s a beautiful season to rest and reflect–we aren’t so sure it is the time to start something new. Haven’t you always wondered why new year’s resolution never seem to work or they don’t last?  We have, and willpower aside, we realized that we are out of step with the rest of creation. Beginning the new year in the middle of the season of rest is simply out of step with the Creator’s design.


See, the YHWH’s (God) timing is different from man’s timing.  The Creator created everything with an order and a purpose. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

 

YHWH put seasons and times in their respective places for a reason. He set the new year to start in the spring when the temperature begins increasing, the days start getting longer, and new life begins.  We see this in multiple places in scripture:

It was on the first day of the first month, in the six hundred and first year, that all the water from the great flood of the earth dried up and Noah opened the covering of the ark (Genesis 8:13). Man and animals saw dry ground again and started a new life that day, that new year.  

In the book of Exodus, the YHWH told Moses that the beginning of the year, the first month of Abib, would be the month of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The final plague, where the Israelites homes that were covered by the blood of the lamb were passed over and the exodus from Egypt took place during the first month of the new year. This was a new beginning for the children of Israel, having been freed from slavery in Egypt. It was also the beginning of God leading them to the land he promised Abraham more the 400 years before. (Exodus 12-14)

Later, on another first day of the first month, the YHWH had the tabernacle erected where HE would dwell among His people (Exodus 40).  After 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites crossed through the Jordan river on dry ground into the promised land in the first month of the 41st year after leaving Egypt. Again, the start of a new life in the land Yahuah promised started at the new year. (Joshua 4)

This first month of the year according to Creator’s timing is marked by new life and increasing energy. Before Noah left the ark he sent out a dove and it brought back an olive leave. This olive tree was a sign of new life (Genesis 8:10-13). The word for the first month, Abib (אביב) , is a Hebrew word that means young ear of grain. There is also a feast of first fruits in the first month of the year (Leviticus 23:9-14). At what point in the year do we see fresh young grain or harvest first fruits?

The book of Esther tells us that the Israelites began calling the first month of the year Nisan while in Assyrian captivity (Esther 3:7) .  We also know that historically, the month of Abib or Nisan has fallen in March or April. Our Messiah, Yeshua, was crucified and rose again during the first month.

It it clear that the YHWH never intended our new year to start in the winter, but rather in the spring.  The spring is the time to begin new projects and look forward to what is to come. Most importantly, it is our time as a community to remember our Passover Lamb and His ultimate sacrifice to make deliver us from sin and death.

 

Let’s start anew this new year…in Him.

 

The new year starts on the first new moon after the spring equinox.  This year the first day of the first month is around April 5-6. Look up at the moon for a tiny sliver of light and see for yourself.  Let’s celebrate the start of the new year at the time the Creator appointed. Happy New Year!

 

Unity Bound in Peace

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Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. -Ephesians 4:3-4 (NLT)

What is peace? How can we live in it? Peace is not just the absence of war. Peace is a blessing from Jesus; a state in which we are reconciled with God. We have peace when we are one with the Source. Jesus created all things and in him all things are held together. Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Let us meditate on how can we live together in peace after we first accept the beautiful gift of peace from Jesus. It is this peace that bonds us in unity.

Paul, an Apostle of Jesus, wrote in Ephesians 4 that we who believe in Jesus should “make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” We are called to use peace as the bonding agent to keep us united in the Spirit. Being united in the Spirit is not about everyone having to agree about everything, but about the whole body agreeing that Jesus is the head. The unity of the body of believers is motivated by our one glorious hope for the future, the hope of eternity in heaven with Jesus. This foundational hope can lead us a live worthy of our calling!

How can we continue to keep this peace and be one in the Spirit? Paul gives some insight into this in Ephesians 4:2; “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”

Let us answer this call by God to live our lives in peace with one another! This teaching has great application to our marriages. The bond of peace helps us to act as one with our spouse. When we cultivate peace in our marriages by practicing humility, gentleness, patience, and making allowances for each other’s faults because of love, we will be united in the Spirit. Be One in the Spirit!

Cultivating Wholeness: Caring for your soul

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You are beautifully and wonderfully created by God as a living being; made in His image. In forming you in His image, God breathed life into you and gave you an eternal soul or spirit like His. It is this soul that makes you who you are, not your appearance, your status, your job, or your interests. It is your soul that makes you a child of God and separates you from all the rest of creation.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
-Psalms 139:13-14 (NLT)

While each soul is unique, they have one thing in common, our souls long to be connected to God. Your soul is always longing to be satisfied, whether it be with praise, acceptance, respect, and love from others or from greed, lust, pride, and selfishness; but none of these desires can satisfy the soul. Satisfaction and true joy can only come when your soul is connected to God.

In order to connect your souls to God, your whole being must be in tune: heart, mind, body, and soul; this is wholeness. We often look at ourselves as a physical person that has a soul and focus on maintaining our bodies, our emotional wellbeing, and our intelligence, while neglecting the soul. Our souls need care too. We care for our souls through spiritual disciplines like spending time with God by reading the Bible, praying to God, meditating on His word, worshiping God, singing his praises, following God’s commands, and loving like Jesus.

We think, “if I could just get in shape, I’d be happy”; “if I learned how to do that, I’d be happy”, or “if I could find my soul mate, I’d be happy.” While there is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy and finding happiness in these things, the problem is none of them are self sustaining and the happiness will not last, because we will want more and these things cannot continue to provide that.

If we want to be satisfied and find joy, we must cultivate wholeness by connecting our heart, mind, body, and soul to God. God is the only unlimited source of love, acceptance, forgiveness, truth, and grace that we can connect to and be satisfied. Everything else will leave you wanting more because it’s supply is limited. As you develop your unique yoga teacher voice, discipline is a critical step. Cultivating your own wholeness through spiritual discipline provides you with the insight and soul space you need to help your students do the same.

Be One

Unbreakable Marriage

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Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have an amazing marriage that would last happily ever after like the fairy tales?  

 

That kind of marriage does exist and it is no fairy tale.  

 

That unbreakable marriage is between Jesus and His church. Saying yes to Jesus and becoming his follower is like a wedding ceremony where you are becoming part of the bride of Christ, the church, and Jesus is the groom.  During His time on earth, Jesus never married in the traditional sense; however, he did commit his life to his bride, the church. Every disciple of Jesus, comes together as one in Christ to make up his bride, the church.  Ephesians 5:31-32 says,

 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”  

 

When we confess that Jesus is Lord and submit to him, it is like saying our wedding vows, beginning the covenant of marriage. Jesus established the Lord’s supper as his marriage covenant with us at the meal with the apostles the night before he was crucified as we read in Matt 26:26-28:

 

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

 

When a believer is baptized into Christ, washed with his blood, and transformed into a new self by the Holy Spirit, it is like the Holy Spirit is the wedding officiant pronouncing the couple husband and wife, sealing the covenant, adding the believer to the church and making them one with Jesus.  Romans 6:3-4 (ESV) tells us,

 

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

We are no longer the same old person living with sin, but a new, complete person made whole, through the blood of Christ. Best of all, we are part of the bride of Christ, the church, sealed with a covenant the no man can break. This is a marriage of our spirit to Jesus and it is the only marriage that is sealed for eternity.  There is no ‘til death do us part; there is no divorce between Christ and the Church, we are His bride forever.

 

Now that is unconditional love.  

This is the kind of love and marriage we want everyone to experience.  May we always celebrate our spiritual marriage to Jesus through our lives, and let it reflect in our actions so that others may experience Jesus’ love.  

Be One.

God’s Power in Our Prayers

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Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

 

Let us continue to pray with and for all believers everywhere because there is so much power in prayer, dear friends. Why is it that we don’t pray more? God does amazing things for us when we pray. The fullness of God works on us, around us, and through us when we pray. Cultivating our prayer lives is an amazing, life changing practice.

The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, can be a very confusing concept that is difficult to fully grasp on this side of heaven. While we are certainly not experts on the Trinity (sorry!), we can tell you that the all of the Trinity is at work when we pray. When we are adopted into God’s family through Jesus, God sends the Spirit into our hearts to cause our souls to call out to him (Galatians 4:4-7). Prayer is our intimate and powerful soul connection to God.

There are several parts of the Bible that talk about God working in our prayers. All of the Trinity is present in prayer in Ephesians 6, the Holy Spirit in verse 18 and the Father and Son in verse 23. Romans 8:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us and prays for us when we can’t express ourselves in words. When we sin and ask for forgiveness, Jesus, the Son, is our advocate before the Father pleading our case (1 John 2:1). Whenever we pray to God, the Father, He will answer our prayers and supply us with whatever we need (Matthew 7:7-11; Philippians 4:6; 1 John 3:21).

Isn’t it a blessing to know that God gladly works on our behalf when we pray? This allows us confidently call on God with the assurance that He will hear us and answer us. We pray that God blesses you as you pray for others. So let us pray everyday for our families, our marriages, our friends, the church, and for those who are still seeking the peace that comes from following Jesus!

 

Be One!

Soul Care Vs. Self Care

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The idea of self care has permeated our culture. Everywhere you turn, you are encouraged to take “me time” or to “treat yourself.” There is nothing inherently wrong with self care. We do need to care for ourselves. In order to love well, we have to be physically and emotionally capable of doing so.

We know that taking time to relax, recharge, and reset are not inherently wrong. But what happens when the usual tools of self care are not enough?

What happens after you spend time alone (or with friends)? After the vacation? The manicure/pedicure? After the shopping trip? The gym? The yoga class?

What happens when you practice self care but you still feel a hollow place of longing from deep within?

Let me introduce you to soul care.

But first, let’s explore some differences between self care and soul care.

 

Self Care vs. Soul Care

Focus: Me Focus: God, the Source
Purpose: Disconnect to recharge, restore, reset Purpose: Connect to the Source of all that is good & beautiful
Result: Quick, temporary results; usually external Result: Intentional, multi-dimensional internal change

 

What is the soul? The soul is that place of deep longing. It is the life and light within you that needs to connect to the Source of all light and life. It is the part of you that knows that there is something more–that there are greater depths to explore and more meaning than what we see.

Why soul care? When you begin a practice of soul care, you are jumping into the deep and wide river of the Source’s love. You are choosing to continuously connect and reconnect to the Source. You realize that the focus is not yourself, but you will change. You are committing to slow down and pay attention to what is happening in your inner world.

A few soul care practices that we use at Be One Yoga are Meditation, Silence, Prayer, and Storying.  You owe it to yourself to not only practice self care, but to practice soul care to connect your soul to the Source, the only answer for the longings of the soul.

The Be One Life

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