How does the Lord God of Israel speak to us today? Do you know? Are you sure? Do you know what His voice sounds like and how to apply it to your life? In the next few weeks, as we retrace your journey of your own personal “Exodus,” I want to take a few short minutes and help you to unlock your “inner ear” and your “prophetic eye” so that you may truly see and hear, hear and do, and become all you were created to be in this life for His glory. In this study, we will study the physical attributes of major parts of the body and explain their hidden meanings to how they can be understood and used to unlock the TRUE “purpose-driven life” that lies inside all of us. It is only by understanding how our Father speaks to us that we truly will understand 1. What He is saying to us 2. What He wants us to do 3. What are future is and 4. How we can most please Him.

 You will notice that I did not put in this list that you will be happy, comfortable, wealthy, feel good, be fulfilled, etc…because for far too long preachers and teachers of the Word have been telling us that this is the “end game” of why we serve God to begin with. Folks, I hate to be the one to tell you, but it is not about US! It is about HIM, HIS glory, HIS comfort, HIS peace, HIS wealth, HIS fulfillment, etc…When we truly understand that the members of our body have been given to us for this end and this end only, we will truly find ourselves at the foot of the Jordon River awaiting our final ascent into the Promised Land. I encourage you to take the time to read through this article slowly and ponder the thoughts and truths that you will find in it. When we “pause” life to seek what it has for us, you will find that LIFE is found only in the “pause.” Hit “pause” and you might discover that He just might give you more time to “Play”!

 FIRST THINGS FIRST: Do you want the most out of this life? Do you want to experience all that you can be in this life? Do you desire to receive all that God has for you? If your answer to the above questions is “yes,” then we’ve discovered your problem already. Your focus is on YOU and not on the One who made you. Trick question? Not at all. The Greco-Roman, American-Christian mindset immediately focuses on OUR circumstances and how following God will make us better, richer, happier, and more fulfilled. The Hebrew mindset that is entrenched in the things of Yahweh immediately responds with a resounding “NO,” as the Hebrew desires that YHWH will get the most out of his/her life and that HIS Kingdom will grow to be all that it can be. The focus of the Hebrew is on his Creator, always realizing that we are the creation and the servants of our King Yeshua, our Messiah and salvation. The Hebrew lives to serve the King and is not interested in any other interests but the interests of his King. If the King decides to bless the servant in this life, then “Baruch HaShem!” (Blessed be the name!). If the King decides not to bless, the same servant says, “Baruch HaShem.” The servant that focuses on his purpose realizes that the blessings of this life are irrelevant to his calling and a moot point to his mission. His highest mission in life is to give not for the sake of receiving, not for the sake of the other person, and not even for the sake of the mission. His “soul” purpose for existing is to serve and give for the sake of the Giver. It is to please the Giver. It is to think, act, speak, and breathe for the sake of pleasing and fulfilling the Giver…the Giver of Life. Now that we understand that it is all about Him and not about us and our comfort, we can now try to discover the secrets of how to leave the “Egypts” of our lives, journey through the desert, and reach the Promised Land, thus truly fulfill the Great Commission.

 OUR GOAL: To truly be the children of Yahweh that our ancestors never were: To be children that would fulfill the “Shema” (Hebrew for “hear and do”); To truly reach the “Promised Land” in THIS life for His glory. To accomplish this, we fall back to the secret of the disciples that was penned so clearly in the words of the Apostle James in his own letter, “to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” James, a very Jewish disciple, was clearly referencing what he grew up daily reciting: The Shema of Deuteronomy Chapter 6.

 1 "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 But, you may be asking, how do I do what I don’t understand? This is where a “purpose-driven life” comes in. If you truly want to get the most out of this life, then you have to know and understand how He speaks. And He speaks ALL the time and mainly through our five senses:

•  Eyes: What we see,

•  Ears: What we hear,

• Mouth: What we say and taste,

• Touch: What we experience, and

• Nose: What we smell

 Let’s revisit the exodus story as an example. The Israelites were in bondage and slavery to men. They cried out to their God. He answered them by sending a savior (Moses). He first had to prove to His people that He was truly worth following (the purpose of the ten plagues). Then, He had to show them that He had the power to crush their enemies (the Reed Sea). He then had to meet with them face to face for instructions on how to navigate through the dessert (life). He then let them prove their ability to “Shema” (hear and do). Lastly, He led them to the land that was promised (joy and fulfillment). This is the pattern our Father desires us to follow to lead us to life…NOW!

 In short, here is what we learn:

• The Father allows the enemy, circumstances, and life to overcome us for a purpose. He desires that we cry out to Him. Not for complaining, but for intention. The full surrender of our ways (our senses), the intention to BE His and not just to have a god. His entire intention is to get us to the place where we will admit that we need Him and HIS ways. HaShem (a Hebrew name for YHVH that means “the name”) always uses every circumstance as an opportunity to speak to us some spiritual lesson that will lead us closer to the Promised Land.

o Question: What are the circumstances, obstacles and problems of the last year of your life? How about your entire life? Have there been any circumstances or situations that seem to repeat themselves?

 o Action: Take a piece of paper and write down the events of the past year, whether they were good, bad, or ugly. How many of the events that were the not-so-fun events can you truly say you had victory over? During which ones did you truly understand what His voice was saying? How many did you just survive?

Then, write down as many events in your entire life that you can remember. Categorize the events and look for patterns. Then ask yourself the following questions:

Did the event originate with something you did or with something someone else did?

Back to the five senses: This next question is a bit strange but critical: Which part of the body and what emotion was engaged in the event? Was it the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the feet, legs, etc…Was there anger, resentment, sadness, depression, joy, happiness, relief, etc…?

Jim Staley Passion for Truth Ministries Missouri.

The Father uses the parts of our bodies and the emotions we carry to send us subtle prophetic messages. For instance, the physical eyes are designed to see things in this world. But every physical part of us also has a spiritual counterpart. The inner part of you also has eyes and these eyes are also designed to see. Both sets of “eyes” operate under the same law: Pr 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. This fundamental fact cannot be overlooked. The eyes are the gate to the soul and cannot be satisfied. What our eyes “focus” on in the natural is a direct parallel to the spiritual. If your focus in the natural is on getting ahead financially and you seem to be spending a lot of time and energy focusing on obtaining wealth, then this means that your spiritual eye is starving for wealth…true wealth. This means that there is not enough “focus” on the “Kingdom of God” which brings true wealth beyond measure and a peace beyond comprehension. The lust of the eye toward material things is a misinterpretation of the deep longing of the spiritual eye to obtain fulfillment of finding its’ purpose in the Kingdom of God and then actively “looking into” and acting out that purpose for the greater good of the Kingdom (body of Messiah). When the inner eye is given precedence over the desires of the physical eye, the purpose and destiny of your life will be revealed and your journey out of “Egypt” (circumstance) will begin.

 Jim Staley Passion for Truth Ministries Missouri.

Before the Israelites experienced the plagues and went out of Egypt, their focus was heavily on the sweat of their brow and the daily grind of life. It was only when life became extremely difficult and the plagues came that they begin to “look” up and see their Elohim. YHWH could easily have shown His face, Pharaoh would have let them go, and they would have left. But He chose to use a PHYSICAL circumstance to get them to turn their “eyes” to Him. He wants us to learn how to SEE!

Like all the body parts, whichever part leads is the one that becomes your destiny. The life that is led by the physical eye and its never-ending desires will be unfulfilled, always longing for more of what seems always just out of reach and never at rest. The soul that focuses on strengthening the spiritual eye by emphasizing what is important to Adonai and seeking Him day and night will build up His Kingdom and create lives like streams of living waters. The life that is intently focused on how it can further the message of Torah to the nations through the spirit of Messiah will receive a richness and depth that is beyond all the gold and silver in the world. When you begin to “see” that your entire existence as an Israelite is to be a light to the nations by spreading this message by using your time, your gifts, your finances, and your very breath, then and only then will you begin to reach the stride of your destiny. Only then will your lungs be full with the very breath of God. To this “eye” belongs a true shalom and peace that prepares you for the next part of your journey toward the Holy of Holies as you move out into the dessert: The Decision at the Sea. Conquering the Battle of the Mind.

 

Jim Staley