Veils

The subject of veils has been swirling around in my heart for months.

During the resurrection season, I read about the veil in the Temple. The veil in the Jewish temple was about 60 feet high and 4-5 inches thick. This veil hid the Holy of Holies from the people who were attending the temple for sacrifices. Only the High Priest could go behind the veil and that, only once a year. The access to the Father and His powerful glory and holiness was extremely restricted.  The mercy seat was on the other side of the veil. People, on their own, are not pure enough to approach Him. Even the High Priest had to enter with the blood of a lamb sacrifice to prevent his own death!

This is what the Jewish rabbinic writings say about the temple veil:

“The thickness of the veil [of the Temple] was a hand-breadth (4-5 inches thick).  It was woven of seventy-two cords, each cord consisting of twenty-four strands.  Its length was forty cubits, by twenty in width.  It was made by eighty-two myriads of damsels, and two such veils were made every year.  It took three hundred priests to immerse and cleanse it [if it becomes unclean].”

This was a MASSIVE barrier! It took 300 priests to handle it if it needed to be cleaned!!?? 

It had beautiful colors and the images of angels woven into it!

“And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubim thereon.”    2 Chronicles 3: 14

At the time Jesus cried out from the cross and released His spirit to the Father, the temple veil was torn in half.  Jesus was the final ‘lamb sacrifice’. He is the Lamb of God. His sacrifice satisfied what was needed to create access for us to the Father. The Innocent died in place of the guilty. We couldn’t make a way for ourselves. God took the initiative to put in place this perfect plan so we could be restored to Him.

The veil ripped from top to bottom; from heaven to earth!! As thick as it was, it is said that it would be like ripping a 60-foot phone book!

The scripture also refers to the ripping of Jesus’ flesh during his torture as the ‘tearing of the veil of his flesh’. By this, we have access to the holy place—the heart of God. We enter by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and are restored to the Father.

“…which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil…”  Hebrews 6: 19

Today, as I was praying--my attention turned to wedding veils. I suddenly deeply missed that my father was not at my wedding to lift the veil.

I love wedding veils. There is such a mysterious beauty about them. I also love the tradition of the bride’s father lifting the veil and presenting the bride to the bridegroom.

This picture of the Father removing the barrier between the Bride and the Bridegroom is so powerful. And then the ceremony of the marriage covenant seals “what God has joined together, let no man separate”.

There are so many beautiful mysteries in the gospel and I love the imagery of it all.

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3: 18

Isn’t that wonderful? The veil has been removed by the Father through the offering of Jesus… and we are joined together… being deeply transformed by the working of His Spirit.

Sure, the Officiant in a wedding ceremony is important--but really only a faciliatator. It is the Father who lifts the Veil and presents the Bride to the Bridegroom.

 A marriage made in heaven.

I "See" Your Boundary and I "Raise You" a Wall!

Boundaries are an important part of life. We have to know where our territory is and where it isn’t. Within our own territory, we have authority to have dominion for God’s purposes. We steward it and how we manage what we have been given is our gift to God who gave it the first place.

At some point, we can confuse stewardship with ownership. When we forget that we are just passing through and we try to establish some kind of self-kingdom, we are sure to fail—or at the very least, be miserable with our results even though it may look prosperous.

When it comes to our personal lives, not possessions, this is especially tricky. When people violate our personhood by abuse and with the disrespect of control, we can become desperate for that to not be repeated.

Many of us have had people cross our personal and emotional boundaries to the point that we have shut down access. Since the reasonable boundaries of mutual respect were not honored, we build a wall. 

Land boundaries are often invisible but their reality and presence are understood and respected. Isn’t it funny when you see a neighbor mow their yard EXACTLY to their boundary line? It is an invisible boundary, but it is noted and observed.

Land boundaries are permeable. We can cross into another’s property and they into ours… as long as there is respect. Disrespect or offend that trust – and watch how fast a privacy fence goes up!

We live in a society of people who self-protect in a lot of different ways. Trust has broken down and fences have gone up. I can remember a time when ‘cyclone’ fences were popular—and then someone came up with the solution of inserting those plastic strips that can be woven through the chain link to restrict what can be seen. 

Emotional boundaries are no less real. Avoidance of community and relationship are skills gained after the experience of having one’s life invaded by people who were not invited or took advantage of our openness.

“Well, fine. That reasonable boundary was ignored. Time for you to hit the wall!”

I am not saying we should unquestionably trust everyone—but to snap to the extreme and trust no one is not the answer.

God help us pull down the walls and have neighborly fences. You know, the kind we used to see in old TV shows where people would meet at the fence and chat about their lives… and then eventually begin meeting for coffee… and then backyard BBQs?

“A brother offended is harder to be won than a fortified city; and such contentions are like the bars of a castle.” (Proverbs 18: 19)

So many are offended in life. An offense is a case built and protected by the conclusion of the offended. That is a tough exterior to break through. It is a wall.

And then the most peculiar wall of all is when someone is offended on behalf of someone else’s offense! This is someone who has seen another person go through something and has picked up the offense and ‘made it their business’ to support the offense!

Sounds a lot like meddling, doesn’t it? Don’t you just love a meddling neighbor? Hahaha Well, some people do—as long as you buy into their offenses and help them build a case against someone else. Ugh.

Proverbs 26: 17  "He who, passing by, stops to meddle with strife that is none of his business is like one who takes a dog by the ears."

  

Years ago, the Lord told me, “If you cross a fence to pick up an offense, you are trespassing for sure!”  I was all twisted up at the time on behalf of a friend who had shared a wrong she had suffered. I soon saw that it wasn’t my battle and I was NOT to help her build a wall.

We are called to reconciliation.

Build your pretty fences, if you must. 

                  But let’s not build walls or help others build them.

Funny thing about walls. 

              When you are looking at one, you can only see one side of it.

Psalms 16: 6  “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

"I now baptize myself..."

I. Love. Baptism.

When I was 11 years old (I think!), I was baptized.  (I’m not entirely sure about my age—but I am crystal clear about the event.)  I’ll never forget it.

I went to the front of the church one Sunday morning because the Lord had been stirring in my heart and it occurred to me to go talk to the minister at the end of the service. I’m not sure I had ever seen someone do that before, but I knew it was right. 

I filled out an information card and was told I would be baptized. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I had ever seen anyone baptized!

Not knowing what to expect, I practiced baptizing myself in the bathtub at home. I would try to hold my breath as long as possible because—who knows if the minister is going to “say a few words” while I was under?? I had to be ready. ((Smile!))

Our church had one of those baptismal tanks that was behind the choir loft and had a mural of the Jordan River on the back wall. I had stared at it many times—but now I was in the water!  The minister made his pronouncement of my dedication and lowered me backwards into the water and brought me back up again. 

The sensation I had when I came up out of the water was as if I were absolutely new. I didn’t discuss it with anyone but kept it to myself.  I marveled at this clean feeling—as if my heart had been wiped blank.  It was astounding and is one of my most treasured memories.

I’ve seen baptisms in ponds, lakes, swimming pools, tubs, rivers as well as in tanks in a church building. Every time, I celebrate with the new believer and pray he or she knows the presence of God in that moment.

Whenever I have heard teachings on baptism, it is compared to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  This is such a powerful truth for us! Baptism is certainly a symbolic act of our identification with the redemptive work of Christ and is an act of obedience for new believers.  

Romans 6: 4-5  We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

I Peter 3: 21 says baptism is also "the pledge of a clear conscience toward God."

I feel like baptism is also a picture of that curious phrase Jesus used of being “born again”.

John 3: 3-5 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

Don’t you love Nicodemus? I can be such a literal thinker, too. I totally ‘get’ him. I am so glad he asked that question!

Being lowered in the baptism water could be like entering again into a water-filled womb. We come up out of the water—out of the womb water—and breathe in our new life. 

                                                        Born.  Again. 

Baptism is such a testimony of how Jesus delivered us out of darkness and raised us up in His power to start a new life. We start again as innocent babies in the Lord and grow as we spend time with the Father, absorb the nutrition of His Word and are led by His Spirit. 

What a glorious, fantastic new beginning – the gift of Life – that offers us everything because it cost Him everything.

Please share about your experience of following the Lord with the act of baptism!

Love,

Marcie Elliott-Smith

My Struggle with "Community".

Community. (Webster): an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location.

From the second grade to the middle of the 9^th, I lived in the same town with the same friends—going through school, activities and social stages together. It was a strong, healthy foundation for growth. I had very close friends and excelled in school, band, drill team and social situations.

Then that changed.

Literally, not figuratively, a tornado hit our house. We lived on the outskirts of town in a tiny old house—and wouldn’t you know that a tornado that came to our area hit our house!?

That experience in itself is remarkable and strategic. Enough of our roof was compromised that it was raining in my bedroom. I slept through the initial impact, but awakened to find water coming in, the windows imploded and my mother setting out pots to collect water as an act of panic.  (Of course that was futile.)  A crater in the dirt just beyond our doorstep revealed where the tornado dipped to the ground. In addition to roof damage, our water well was destroyed. Being poor, we did not have the money to replace the pump on the well and could not continue living there. 

Dad was already traveling to other towns to make a living -- not finding decent pay for work in our town. With our house destroyed, we began moving around with him. 

This is where my sense of community was hijacked.

I attended six high schools in less than three years. Right at the critical point of growing and maturing in a place of accountability and social stability, my world spun. Yep, like a tornado.

Being an introvert by nature, I learned how to extrovert enough to meet people and establish myself in a group immediately. I wasn’t picky. I was a social chameleon. At each school, I associated with different crowds of people depending on who took me in first: partiers (although I didn’t ‘party’--well, kinda...it was the 70s), academic buddies, rodeo goers, beach lovers, ‘social’ kids.  I was everything.  I was lost.  But I was among the functioning—even excelling—lost.

This is not a long blog post about my path through adolescence but rather my journey to understand how I relate to community.

I had a lovely counselor a few years ago that identified that because of my chopped up teen years, I did not learn how to contribute to community. I knew I needed to belong to ‘someone’ while I was there, but I did not see that I was needed. Therefore, I did not invest. Knowing we would move in 5 months, what was I supposed to do? 

The other thing my counselor identified was the benefit of how I stayed in touch with the friends I left behind at my original high school.  I sent hand-written letters to over 20 people EACH WEEK; sharing with them about my life and things that were happening in my family, etc. This was before the days of copy machines and word processing, PCs, and free long-distance calling, so I was handwriting the same thing over and over again each week. Basically, I was super-journaling! And through this process of thinking, writing and relating, I was able to emotionally process all the change that was happening.  I didn’t understand the therapeutic benefit at the time!

Moving so often set up a critical pattern of social development in me. I learned how to identify and belong to different kinds of groups—but I didn’t learn how to be known.  Really known.  I was friendly, caring and interested…but guarded.  As an adult, I had another opportunity to live in a town for a long time that challenged this pattern and I enjoyed about 20 years of relational exchange that was very healthy. It was my do-over. :)

Since then, a few heavy life blows came my way and I experienced extreme set back on how to relate again. A tornado in life "hit my house and disabled my well beyond my ability to repair it on my own". 

I need you. 

I am still learning how to move past the shell. 

Just yesterday, I was asking the Lord to crack open any remaining false wall around me and He quickly brought the scripture to mind:  Matthew 5: 15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” God help us to open up to each other. To be fearlessly known. To fearlessly love.

I love the scripture of the disciples praying and hiding for fear in a locked room and Jesus appeared in the room after His resurrection. (John 20: 26)  Fear is a locked room.  Jesus will appear where we are hiding if we invite him. He found and called Gideon when he was hiding. (Judges 6:12) He has the key to our locked rooms.

I am understanding, again, that to enjoy community—you cannot be afraid of being known. You will only enjoy and benefit from community if you are willing to be known. And God will only be glorified when your light shines so others can see your good works and glorify the Father who is working through you.

We live in a society of secrets. A culture that lacks trust. People are afraid of being judged and misunderstood. We in the Lord must have the courage and humility to be known.

It’s funny—but even in my design business, I prefer to do all the design work ALONE--while the client is not at home! I prefer to let the client walk in to enjoy the finished work.  With God’s sense of humor, many of my recent projects have not worked that way! I have learned to do the work while the client is watching! Dudley teased me when I first had the Driskill holiday décor project. He said, “How are you going to get the entire hotel to evacuate so you can get this design done?” hahaha  BUSTED.

When I go to a social situation, it is an excruciating process. A million excuses can go through my mind as to why I should avoid it. I fight to get to the other side—and I am always glad that I do!

And so, here is my little life. I can’t wait until I get it all together before I let you in. Come on into my messy place and see how good God is---right where I am. It’s not all pretty, but it is glorious. 

I love you, my sweet community.  

(Wait!! Don’t come over here right now!! I am wearing sweats, have no makeup on and my deck is covered in pollen. )

(A leader in our church community replied to this blog with this song (below). Amazing anti-community song from the 70s! Pretty much sums up how one can be walled-off. Wow!)

http://youtu.be/JKlSVNxLB-A

Love,
Marcie Elliott-Smith

Put Yourself on 'Soak' !!

Soaking. The slow, deliberate saturation of a thing. The process used to remove stubborn stains in fabric. The process used to prepare the cleaning of a cooking dish when solids are otherwise hard to remove. The process of a substance permeating the surface and saturating matter beneath the surface. The process used to soften and prepare ground for growth. 

The scripture is full of reminders that we are to meditate on the Lord and His Word. In recent years, adding inspired music to times of meditation has been referred to as 'soaking'. Soaking is a tool that helps us allow the Holy Spirit to center our affections on Him…to be pulled away from the pluralism of the world and our culture and be identified with the Oneness of Who He Is.

We are often so saturated {soaked} by the river of words and influence that never stops through television, music, computer interests and the chatter of people. It is no wonder that when we attempt to still ourselves before the Lord that we are challenged regarding quieting our mind and spirit!  It is so refreshing to find an oasis of purity when we slow down our day and even bring it to a STOP…and give Him our undivided attention.

Soaked by the world!

Sometimes we are so pulled, stressed and burdened, we may feel we are unable to give Him our undivided attention. That is where the beauty of soaking helps. During a dedicated time of soaking, play inspirational music and allow your spirit to be still. Letting the music help quiet your mind, your spirit is able to rest and receive the stirrings and watering from the Holy Spirit. 

For me, I think it is especially helpful that the mind has something to follow (the melody). During quiet meditation (without music), I find that it can be a struggle to still my mind. When this is happening, my spirit and my mind are in a tug-of-war! It is practically impossible for me to receive anything from God in times like that! 

Recently, I have enjoyed reading scripture for a while and then settle down to ‘soak’/listen and REST. I remember the scriptures and find that my spirit prays them; asking for those words to bring change in my life that I would be transformed to be more and more in His likeness through the power of His word.

If this all sounds odd to you, I challenge you to try it!

I didn’t even know where to start but had heard of soaking as being a helpful exercise for learning to rest in His Presence and recognize His communications. I opened www.spotify.com and searched for soaking music. I have found that I love the anointed instrumentals of Pablo Perez…so you can search for music by that artist’s name for a starting place. (Also, Kimberly and Alberto Rivera!) There are several styles of soaking music, so pick through selections and see what appeals to you. For instance, some music has lyrics added but that can be distracting to me as I tend to concentrate on the lyrics. Because of that tendency, I usually choose strictly instrumental music. You may like music with lyrics or make your own mix of selections! I am also very careful to choose artists that are NOT new age oriented or of any other influence than the Holy Spirit. 

The movement and substance of the Holy Spirit is often referred to as water, ‘flow’, refreshing, anointing oil, wind, fire, peace, love, joy, mercy… etc. It has been my experience during soaking meditation to sense the moving, speaking and filling of the Holy Spirit in the stillness of my spirit. The depth of God fills the depth of YOU.

Psalm 42: 7-8 
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.

Depending on what He wants to do for you in a particular session, you may find that you fall asleep! That does not prevent Him from working but may actually be Him drawing you into a peaceful rest. Pray before you begin that the session will be what He wants it to be. (I like my pillow and my blanket on the couch—or a dimly lit room. Create a space and atmosphere that works for you!) Ask Him to cleanse your heart from anything that displeases Him and yield to His Presence. Some of you give so much that you are more depleted than you think! REST your spirit during this time and let Him fill you with peace and strength.

NOTE: This is a time of refreshing! Remember---SOAK!  Don’t strive in the spirit to intercede, ‘try’ to hear, etc. Learn to be still and be quiet. (That said, I have had Him lead me through some intercession and laying others at His feet; but let the agenda be HIS. Go into the time with the resolve to FOLLOW.)

I hope you will practice the presence of the Lord with this exercise and find the benefit of finding a fresh focus on Him and as well as being assured of His love, direction and purpose for your life.

Psalm 46: 10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 119: 48
“I reach out for your commands, which I love,
                                that I may meditate on your decrees.”

  Go    ahead!    Play   in    the    Rain!

 

Psalms 131:2 – “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

Psalms 4:4 – “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah.”

Psalms 37:7a – “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him …” 

Matthew 11:28-30 -” Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Love,

Marcie Elliott-Smith