dependence, submission, surrender, yieldedness, reliance
This will be Part 1 ... Submission!
This is where I am at in my life now with certain issues in my appetites, how to raise my children and submission in the home. It all ties back to those 5 words and how we chose to act on a daily basis in response to The Father.
ענה 'anah in the Hebrew is the first word I find in the Scriptures on my search for "submi*" (submit, submission, submitted). It means "to be occupied with [someone else's wishes, desires], to bow down, to weaken oneself, to be humble or to be afflicted". It is thought to be a word from the root word meaning "to testify as a witness" or "to praise with song". This tells me that my life should be a "song of praise" to the Father as I humble my own desires and replace them with His, as I weaken my appetites and give them over to His. Our Sabbath School has been talking recently of the walk of the Israelites through the desert and their incesant complaining. (Oye!) One thing they complained over was their lack of food. It's not that they lacked substance as much as they lacked variety. But God provided "Bread from Heaven" and "Water from the Rock" both the apostles tell us signify Christ Himself for their every need (not want) and they yet found room to complain. Don't we often do likewise? Isn't Christ to be the fulfillment of our every need? And yet we complain ...
My life should be a like a loud voice pronouncing solemnly
that He is King, I am not.
One of the things I get so frustrated with my children about is when they refuse to obey me. Nothing gets me more worked up then when I have told my daughter be her 1 year old or 4 years old to stop doing something or start doing something different and they continue right on doing what they want instead of what I have told them. It can easily exasperate me!
God is slow to anger, yes, but even He comes to a breaking point. In the Book of Numbers that we read yesterday in our Sabbath School we are told that God basically tells Moses to get out of the way and He was going to destroy the whole lot of them! Moses fell on his face and interceded for the people and told Aaron at the same time to take a censer of incense and run through the camp and atone for the wicked people.
In a previous passage we had just read talking about Moses the Intercessor I, without thinking too much about it, wistfully said "I need a Moses in my life" ... my friend sitting next to me said wisely "We have One" ... of course referring to Christ who is in the Heavenlies, our daily Intercessor and Advocate". (1 John 2:1, Romans 8:34). Then as I read the passage I referred to above with Aaron going through the camp with the incense and Moses on His face pleading before the Father I could just imagine Christ and how often He has to fill that censer for me!!
Do we comprehend how many times our lives are in the balance and the Father has come to His breaking point ready to destroy us individually or as a nation and Christ is there interceding, pleading for us.
Even Moses though got tired and finally gave up with Korah and Dathan and their wickedness - there was no more intercession ... judgement had come and they were found lacking.
SUMBIT while there is time. Ask Him to change your complaining into a "song of praise" and your appetites into what He desires for you. Learn to submit in every area of your life and teach your children while they are young and formiable how to submit in a Christ-like manner. I used to think (even up to yesterday) that parenting was all about getting our children to obey, but as I consider the things I am learning ~ it is about submission of wills, which I guess I have always known to some degree, but this makes it so much clearer. Children's wills to the parent's, wives' to the husband's and ultimately husband's to the Father. God has set up order and we must learn to submit. It is a LIFELONG process from the time we are babies to how ever long He gives us in our journey. As I tell my older daughter, "You can learn to obey now and have an easy life or you can make your life very hard ..." How true for us too as we learn to obey God's will and not our own. I am thankful for my Intercessor as I learn ... and continue to learn ...
In looking further through the 80 verses that use this word 'anah I have come to Leviticus in speaking of the Day of Atonement. It is the word used and translated "to afflict your souls". Many have translated this word on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) to mean "to fast". Certainly fasting is one way to submit before the Father (Ezra 8:21) I am not desputing this fact, but the picture it gives me is this:
when we afflict ourselves in some way
by means of submitting ourselves to God
it is a way for us to be more "at one" with Him
It's not just about a 1 day a year event, no it is a daily, one day at a time Sweet Jesus, thing. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day [and] night before thee ... Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted (anah) [me] with all thy waves. Selah. " Psalms 88:1, 7 Make us glad according to the days [wherein] thou hast afflicted (anah) us ... Psalms 90:15 May we be glad in our days that we learn submission ...
Not that we can by any means work out our own atonement (at oneness) with Him, but that by submitting we are saying I want to be "at one" with Your Purposes LORD, not my desires, will or purposes. There was an offering made on that Day of Atonement and Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that we are to be living sacrifices ... He who does not "afflict his soul" is cut off (Leviticus 23:29). If we do not submit to Christ and humble ourselves before Him are we also not cut off from Him?
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble (anah) thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled (anah) thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. Dueteronomy 8:2-3, 6
[It is] good for me that I have been afflicted (anah); that I might learn thy statutes. I know, O LORD, that thy judgments [are] right, and [that] thou in faithfulness hast afflicted (anah) me. Psalms 119:71, 75
Speaking of our own LORD, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted (anah). He was oppressed, and he was afflicted (anah), yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Isaiah 53:4, 7
"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten (anah) thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words." Daniel 10:12
We can submit or be made to submit. Blessing follows submission. Christ submitted Himself to the Father through His death ~ how much more I need to submit! He took my place in my penalty ~ oh, how much more I need to submit! We need to be a Daniel, submitted and chastened before God, in a position that God can hear our prayers and respond. Not because of anything we can do, because it is all by His grace anyhow ...
Let us not be ignorant, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for you." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (Romans 10:3, Ephesians 5:21-22, Hebrews 13:17, James 4:7, I Peter 5:5)
I want to live this kind of submitted life in all aspects unto the LORD! I desire His grace and I need much of it ... therefore teach me LORD to live a life of submission.
Bless and be blessed,
Michelle
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