BetSeber

 We are currently studying Luk 4:31 -37 So Jesus went down to Capernaum, for the first century Jew this was a loaded statement. In current Gauteng, South Africa it meant Jesus (volunterily) went down to Hillbrow. The whole Gallilea was epidemically stricken with poverty, but not the poverty of finding a different work kind of poverty, the poverty that there was no solution for. There were different classes, the rich and elite, the noble people were the Romans, they owned all the land in the area. Then the Jews had to lease the land from them to do farming on. The money they made from the leasing the ground to do farming on went mostly for the Roman Taxes, then for Jewish temple taxes then lastly they had to eat from their farms. In modern day archaeological sites, no shops have been discovered in Capernaum, illustrating that there were no excess to sell, they literaly lived from the hand to the mouth. 

Ok enter the scene radical Jesus, I want to see all the aspects and dimensions of Jesus, I want to see His multicoloured jacket or robe, this is a new dimension, this is radical, ghostbusters, weird, unique, truth are stranger than fiction Jesus, this is the Jesus that keeps me awake at night with awe and wonder – like whaaaat? How did that happen? Like UFO style Jesus, like mystery Jesus. 

So the people where on their way to kill Him, they wanted to murder Him, have you seen any horror/thriller movies lately? Imagine the killer is chasing the victim, the victim then just casually and peacefully walks past the killer in the other direction, this is not something I have seen in the movies, but this is what happened here. Truth is stranger than fiction, ladies and gentlemen. I have always had a normal healthy obsession with the unexplained, oh oh oh here we go again. 

29 They mobbed Jesus and threw him out of the city, dragging him to the edge of the cliff on the hill on which the city had been built, ready to hurl him off. 30 But he walked right through the crowd, leaving them all stunned.[aa]

This escape was very remarkable. It is remarkable that he should escape out of their hands when their very object was to destroy him, and that he should escape in so peaceful a manner, without violence or conflict. There was another case like this where Jesus also just slipped away from His killers in John 8:59

Maybe this shows us that we have more power than what we realized? Can we calm the inner demons in other people just like Jesus did? May God teach this to us. 

Did Jesus turn invisible? Did He make them blind? What happened here, I want to know, Please Lord share with me the secrets of what happened here, and why is it in the Bible? What is it that you want us to copy and paste with this surreal escape in our life? Maybe this was Jesus first miracle and not the transformation of water to wine? Or the miraculous catching of all the fish? 

Maybe this is also something that we can pray for, as we walk more and more in the Spirit of God, will God too make us invisible for our enemies. 

Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 

Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 

This is my newest addition to my prayer life, please Lord will you please make me your Safe place, your happy place. This is so sad what Jesus is saying here, that so many people will reject Him, in a world filled with so many people being angry and bitter towards God, I want to be His happy place, the place where He feels completely loved, in my brokenness off course, the place where He feels wanted and needed, the place where He feels He is appreciated, the place where He feels acknowledged, I only have feelings of gratitude towards Him, He has never disappointed me, He has always just impressed me. 

I want to be His Happy Place. I want to tell You how awesome You are, I want to brag to you about you, all you have done for me, if I were you, I would have kicked out myself 35years ago, but You never gave up on me, I want to be your happy place. I want you furthermore to teach me daily about unconditional love, I want to soak up your presence to be more like you, I want to become like. I want to be the widow that was open and receptive towards your help, I want to be the Naaman that was healed, please let me be Your happy place, Your safe place, the place where you are welcomed here, I’ll run out to meet you outside my apartment, I’ll give you a deep bear hug, I will say to you, I’m so glad you are here, I’m so glad you came to me. I want to be Your happy place. 

Just like on an airplane the safety precautions are to place the oxygen mask on your own mouth and nose first, I believe it is the same with the Spiritual Journey. God will not instruct us to teach on something we have not yet first experienced. He will heal us first, then instruct us to go an minister to fellow pilgrims. We will share from our first hand experience. One of my favourite testimonies was when I started walking intimately with God about 6years ago, I had just stepped out of an abusive relationship, and I asked God to heal me so quickly so that I could be an asset in His Kingdom. He did heal me miracouesly quick. 

All of our hurts and pains can be transformed into a beacon of hope for fellow pilgrims, so please can we broadcast and declare it out to the heavenlies – please Physician, heal thyself, come and heal us, book us in into your emotional healing ICU in order for us to tell the world, to sing a song about all that you have done for us. 

I once heard that the root meaning of the word testimony is for God to do it again, so we want to be mass producers of your testimonies of how you helped us, so that we can spread around your gospel, your good news here on earth. 

Physician, heal thyself: I once was stuck in a hopeless, loveless, meaningless relationship. Even though the person looked good on paper, he just did not tick all my boxes, I was constantly in prayer about this, then God orchestrated me to go on a 4day breakaway to the Cape with a friend of mine, I saw and tasted that the void I was experiencing in this relationship was valid, as I was right there was more, God had higher ambitions for me than to settle for mediocrity. May God too take you on exciting road trips to confirm the questions you are brewing in your pressure cooker. 

Editors note Luke did not capture the full sermon, only bits and pieces of it, so my first prayer is, let me tap into those wonderful and gracious words that was spoken on that day, please will you speak to me also those wonderful words. I want to hear from you, the words that was spoken on that day in Gallilea. 

Secondly God’s words are beautiful, it is not harsh abusive words, it is gracious. So this is my second prayer, please transform me daily into your image, unlearn the language I have learned in this broken world, and teach me your language of grace and wonderful things 

in awe of the beautiful words of grace that came from his lips

Sometimes I will listen to a sermon online and I will feel as if I’m getting a hiding with a rod, I feel condemn, guilty, and just plain gagga will feel not nice, other times I will listen to a sermon, I’m thinking in the lines of Rob Bell, Alan Storey and the words will be filled with grace and hope and light, this is the way how I also see Jesus’ teachings, it was full of grace, hope and love. May we have an abundance of teachers that really walks in the footsteps of Jesus. 

– the word in Greek is charis, may all our words that depart from our lips be filled with charis. that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

Some people their presence feels like a hot chocolate with little marshmallows on it on a cold winters day, or some people’s presence feels like Hug in a Mug the marshmallow tipe of Hug in a Mug this is the Christ I follow, His presence is sweet and warming, pure indulgence. It feels like coming home for the first time, I pray that we may feel this daily, moment to moment. Secondly I pray that God marinate everyone I meet in His Gentle, gracious marshmallow spirit, I’m done dealing with bullies and abrasive sand paper kind of people, I’m done dying from a million little paper cut wounds, I want this gracious bubble around me. 

It is done! 

21 Then he added, “These Scriptures came true today in front of you.”

Firstly please acknowledge and ponder, meditate and think about this for a moment – this was Jesus at the beginning of His Ministry, He did not have to die to accomplish this healing, we already have this from the beginning of Jesus entering the scene. The moment Jesus enters the scene the healing starts, no hard works, no church going tick list, no acts of services – were you part of the church choir or how many Sunday School lessons did you host? Nothing na-da, His healing is from the moment go. From the beginning, so please accept this healing irrespectively of your sinful nature, even though you had road rage yesterday, He is still offering healing and compassion. 

Secondly, maybe the reason why we experience so many heart aches is for us to see a new dimension of His Creative Forces on healing? I made a note in my journal about a week ago that there is no limit to His creative forces on healing. I was working through a conflict situation with a family member, then a very special princess came to confide in me with her daddy issues. From an objective perspective I could see that her father was treating her unjustly, he was in the wrong, I coached and counselled her, but while I was giving her advice I also had the opportunity to revisit my current situation and turmoil. This was a new dimension of the healing that Jesus wants to give us. 

It is done, the healing is already there for us, all we need to do is take it. The feast of healing, like a buffet table already has been prepared, all we need to do is dish it up. The gifts are already around the Christmas tree, all we need to do is open it up. May God daily reveal this concept to us, we do not need to hurt anymore, the healing is already there, the medicine for our broken hearts are already in our cabinets, we only need to take. It is done. It has been done for the past 2,000 years. May we daily learn how to tap into this source of healing, and may this give us a platform to teach other Princesses how to tap into it. 

Just an editors note – one of my most intelligent life coaches gave me this advice – when you want to meditate on something, hoping for the answer to reach you, do something mundane like washing your car, I just did the dishes – then the answer will find you. While I was washing the dishes the song – Seize the moment, seize the day came swimming in my thoughts, I immediately transformed it into a prayer – please teach me to seize every single moment, to capture the healing you have in every single holy moment you have given us. 

Just to recap every single hurt, bruise, cut we have experienced is a new way for us to tap into His Healing, I’m convinced that He has a creative miracle in store for every single hurt, sometimes the healing comes in the form of a public apology, yes I have had that in the past, it was at his birthday party, where he apologized with a microphone in his hand, giving me the credit for the positive impact I have had in his life. So may we daily notice the different creative forces of healing He wants to bestow on us, and remember bigger test, bigger testimony.

From a compound of G1 (as a particle of union) and τείνω teinō (to stretch); to gaze intently: - behold earnestly (stedfastly), fasten (eyes), look (earnestly, stedfastly, up stedfastly), set eyes.

This specific item on the agenda, on us walking in the Spirit – see previous podcasts about walking in the Spirit and the journey, i.e. first you get your Superhero power, then the rumors start going out, God starts sending Kings and Queens to you, just like what He did for Solomon, then you start receiving positive upbuilding compliments, then you reach this stage in your journey, random people start noticing you, they start keeping tabs on your journey, positive tabs. 

I have been on a serious,Spiritual enlightment journey for the past 6years already, in the first 4years I really went into the wilderness, I lived in an era of isolation, just soaking and immersing myself into God, the transformation process, I was the butterfly in the cocoon. During this period, I did not use any social media on the level that I’m currently using it, I was silent all those years about my intense, intimate relationship with God. The only small little change I did was placing my cover photo with the words *You make me new* on Facebook for the past 4 years I was randomly tagged into different social events photographs. I stumbled (in a pub – I’m really not holier than thou) into someone I met twice before, his first comment was that now you have become a church girl, so the days of partying is over for us. I was stunned, it was such a small little change I thought, even though my profile pic on Facebook was still a shot taken at a new years eve party, his first knee-jerk reaction was about the small subtle change. 

So take it from me, even if you try and hide your intimate, fiery walk of God, just like the people’s eyes were locked on Jesus, people will start noticing your intimate walk with God. There is this scene in 28 Days with Sandra Bullock where her sister tells her that people notice her when she walks into a room, but you too realize this, and furthermore may it not freak you out, like the way it freaked me out about 3years ago in the local pub. 

May you see the gazing, the fixing of the eyes on you as an opportunity to shine your light even brighter in this dark and broken world. Furthermore our prayer is please Lord, fix my eyes on you, like the way it happened in that synagogue 2,000 years ago. Remember when Peter took his eyes off Jesus he started to sink, I do not want to sink anymore, I want to keep my head above the water like the song-prayer from Avril Lavigne. 

Lastly there is this moment when you minister to someone, there is this holy sacred moment when you realize their hearts are open and they are attentive to your every word, you have their full attention, this is why I do what I do, this is why I want to help people, for this holy sacred moment what Jesus experienced here, may you too experience this, may we experience it daily, may we transform normal moments into moments of meaning, purpose like this one, may every encounter that we have be transformed into a Luke 4:20 moment. 

and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him. Amp Classic Bible

Everyone stared at Jesus, wondering what he was about to say.

Every eye in the place was on him, intent.

This is my first prayer for you and me in my life, may every new hallo declare their agenda and purpose in our life. Just like Jesus declared His agenda and purpose in our life, may every new hallo also do the same. May we experience it in the Spirit, may we see it in dreams, but may God reveal the purpose of every beautiful flower in our journey we call life. See previous podcast about the flowers on our journey. We all meet people for a reason, either they are a blessing or they are a teacher or they are a student or they are a lesson. I recently met someone, I was very vulnerable, I thought and I hoped that he would be my knight in shining armor, my happily ever after, my frog I kissed then would transformed into a prince. Instead he was only a means for me to run even deeper into God’s arms with my broken heart. I wished I knew what I know now, please God reveal to me the reason why every new hallo is in my life. 

I think this is one way for us to avoid disappointment, as if God reveals to us their true purpose in our life, we will not be disappointed again. 

Jesus’ mandate in our life is to heal and restore, to comfort and to bring good news, He is not in our life to condemn, may we see a new aspect daily, moment to moment of the restoration and healing that He promises. 

The uber significance of this text is so profound, so holy and sacred. You see in Jewish cultures they have parshas, ever week of every year for thousands of years they study and read the same scripture in their synagogues and at home. Currently (editors note while I’m writing these notes!) we are on 24 May – they are currently reading through the parsha in the title of Behar (it is their 32 week of the new year, as their new year is around September, different than the Gregorian Calendar) they are currently reading from Torah - Torah: Leviticus 25:1 – 26:2 Haftarah: Jeremiah 32:6-27 B’rit Chadasha: Luke 4:16-21; Acts 4:31-37

So on that moment when Jesus stood up to read from the Scriptures, the fact that He was chosen to read from the Scriptures is actually a subtle hint that He was a Jewish Scholar, maybe also a Pharisee, He was highly esteemed in the scholarly circles already at this stage, but out of all the texts – it was not random, this was the part that He had to read, it is just so profound to me. He reads about Himself, that specific parsha could have been on the condemnation in Jeremiah that God declared towards Egypt, but God planned it exactly this way that Jesus’ first public reading was one of the most beautiful parts in Scripture. Stop pause, may this holy sacred moment also amaze you daily. 

I think so many times we are so busy hustling and bustling that we miss the small little details, this is why I selected this picture as the icon for this podcast. While I was working through the heartache my angel, marshmallow friend, the one that actually spoke life into the Podcast journey, brought me a piece of chocolate cake to remedy my broken heart, she attached a white flower, the whole gift is just so profound and deep. This morning I posted it on my Whatsapp Status with a short story about it, she commented did you notice the golden, sparkly strip on the glad wrap, it was only then that I realized how profound this gift was, as we have been on a whole week journey about the glory of God coming down as Glory Dust, may we daily notice all the small, but profound little nuances God makes for us. 

I want to zoom in and focus on the little bit of being glorified by all – Jesus received a ship load container full of compliments, He received a lot of likes on Facebook and Instagram. May God too give you positive affirmation of you shining your light in this broken and dark world. May He use all the creative power He can esteem (and remember we serve a limitless God) to give you compliments of the positivity you produce in this world. 

I have once had someone that saw my videos on Youtube then came to visit us, Bet-Seber a house for women who needs emotional healing, at that stage I did not realize the impact the videos had in this world, she was an exhorter and she is a compliment factory, she just shared so many positive testimonies about how the videos impacted her life, my wish and my prayer for you too, is may God also send beautiful people like this Princess on your journey to tell you that your light in this dark and broken world do matter. 

I have once heard it said that it takes seven compliments to cancel or neutralize one insult, may God use all His Creative Force and Inspiration to send us those seven compliments for each lie that we believe in with the devil. God did not make us to play it small, it is for His Honor and His Name sake that He wants to build us up, little by little. May people really start noticing you, may they tell you what beautiful qualities God has woven into you, but the other side of the coin is also true, may you be transformed into being having the black belt like in karate to give out unique and uplifting compliments to the people around you. May we all become compliment factories. 

In the amplified classic Bible the verse is: being [j]recognized and honored and praised by all. I declare this over your and my life. 

He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure. – may our Godley presence be as pleasurable as a chocolate brownie. 

From G5346; a saying, that is, rumor (“fame”): - fame.

There is a certain magical thing that happens when you are walking and living in the dunamis power (see previous podcast) of the Spirit. People starts noticing you, people start talking about you and they refer other people to you. 

I work as an Oral Hygienist, in our new patient form we have little question on the form: where you referred to us by someone else? When we operate through the Spirit, we have a Spiritual referral platform, before you realize it, God starts sending all these amazing people to you. They all have golden nuggets just for you, to assist you, to guide you, to teach you, or sometimes you are the teacher. So I pray that God will touch your eyes today so that you can start noticing the positive fame that is spreading like a wild fire about you. 

My most radical testimony of my fame was when I received a whatsapp from someone (a complete stranger!) that had a dream about me. 

The reason why I selected the picture of the flowers, this is how I see our journey, God did not intend for us to make it on our own, He wants to colorize our life with these beautiful flowers along the way.