Pamela vonderLuft

… and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. (Leviticus 23:40)
This is the heart desire of our God.. it is true that there are times of mourning as in the Day of Atonement which comes five days before this feast.. but He also desires and provides for us to have joy. 🩷

This passage has really stood out to me… it is the place where the second of the two great commandments is first recorded:
You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:17-18)

Mark 16…
Here is great hope for us ~ Jesus, in verse 14 rebukes the eleven for their unbelief and hardness of heart!
And yet following this He immediately commissions them to go into all the world and preach the gospel…He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Their unbelief did not disqualify them from His call. Again, this holds out great hope to us… that we too can come to Him from wherever we are and be restored and even commissioned into His work.

For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light… (Proverbs 6:23)
I am impressed this morning as to how His commandment(s) are like a beacon or even a lighthouse shining in the darkness to warn and to direct us that we might avoid utter destruction. Yet, so thankful that if we stumble and fall there is a way back that has been provided. We can confess our sin and seek to turn away from it and be forgiven, washed and cleansed. And restored to the first estate of God’s intent for us.

What does the LORD mean when He says, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake…?’ Is this in reference to the original curse recorded in 3:17?
The Lord was ‘grieved in His heart’ and ‘the Lord said in His heart..’ Some would suggest that God is very ‘other,’ but He created us in His image and for relationship with Him. It would be good if our hearts were freed from evil intents so that we might be in closer harmony with our Father. How is this to happen? The heart realm is very contested ground.

Yes, I agree. God walking and conversing with men appears to be the first estate which was lost in great degree. Adam and Eve were able to communicate freely with the Lord God until they rebelled and ate.. then they tried to hide themselves for something had seriously changed in their very beings. 😔@johannes