#countingup

There is tolerance that doesn’t care. That just looks the other way and goes about its own business. Indifferent tolerance. • Then there is the opposite: the kind of caring that cares for everybody, no matter who they are—but doesn’t allow them to step outside the path you believe to be good for them. Suffocating tolerance. • And then there is compassionate tolerance. The kind that recognizes another person’s right to grow, their need to travel along a path and get there on their own—and yet has the compassion to be there for them when they are lost. • True compassion has room for a thousand private journeys. • Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth • 🌱Scripture Reflection: Romans 15:1 “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” • Examine the dignity of your compassion. For compassion to be complete (and enhance the other six aspects of compassion) it must recognize and appreciate individual sovereignty. It should boost self-esteem and cultivate human dignity. Both your own dignity and the dignity of the one benefiting from your compassion. Is my compassion expressed in a dignified manner? Do I manifest and emphasize majesty in my compassion? Does it elicit dignity in others? Do I recognize the fact that when I experience compassion as dignified it will reflect reciprocally in the one who receives compassion? • 🌱Exercise for the day: Rather than just giving them charity help them help themselves in a fashion that strengthens their dignity. 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/COE_jzqA11a/?igshid=1eqizpfk50tqq

It is written that through the study of the secret wisdom, the final liberation will come with compassion. Not with judgment alone. Now the wisdom is no longer secret. Sages and masters have found ways to make it accessible to all. Those who learn it and spread it, they are bringing divine compassion and redemption to the world. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: 1 Corinthians 1:30 “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.” Compassion must include humility for it not to be condescending and pretentious. Hod is recognizing that my ability to be compassionate and giving does not make me better than the recipient; it is the acknowledgement and appreciation that by creating one who needs compassion G‑d gave me the gift of being able to bestow compassion. Thus there is no place for haughtiness in compassion. Do I feel superior because I am compassionate? Do I look down at those that need my compassion? Am I humble and thankful to G‑d for giving me the ability to have compassion for others? 🌱Exercise for the day: Express compassion in an anonymous fashion, not taking any personal credit. 🌱Attribute of God: HOD ShebeTiferet or Splendor and Majesty in Harmonious Beauty 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Peace “UnSecret Wisdom” Today is Day Five of Week Three (19 days in the Omer) 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/COBHzdSAYjy/?igshid=1ttqloozcxcd1

Nothing can hold you back—not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it. If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power. The very first step of change is so powerful, the boundaries of time fall aside. In one bittersweet moment, the sting of the past is dissolved and its honey salvaged. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: Isaiah 40:31 “...they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Discipline, like love, must enhance personal dignity (see week one day seven). Discipline that breaks a person will backfire. Healthy discipline should bolster self-esteem and help elicit the best in a person; cultivating his sovereignty. And that does not compromise the discipline; on the contrary it fosters and enhances it. Does my discipline cripple the human spirit; does it weaken or strengthen me and others? 🌱Exercise for the day: When disciplining others foster their self-respect. “Redefining the Past” 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 7: MALCHUT ShebeGevurah or Sovereign Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/CN0KfXJA8Bh/?igshid=kzadp36q41gr

Everything a human being is given comes in a finite package. Even the tablets Moses carried down from Mount Sinai were defined and bounded. And so, when G‑d saw Moses mourning over the broken tablets, He said, “Your powers were focused when you smashed the tablets. For now you will receive a Torah you may extend wider than the sea.” When a human being fails, he shatters the treasures G‑d has put in his trust. But then he cries and picks up the shards to restore what he has ruined. That is when he discovers that G‑d Himself was hidden inside. That is when he discovers the Infinite. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: I John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not (yet) made perfect in love.” For discipline to be effective it must be coupled with commitment and bonding. Both in disciplining yourself and others there has to be a sense that the discipline is important for developing a stronger bond. Not that I discipline you, but that we are doing it together for our mutual benefit. It takes just as much discipline to be merciful to others as it does to learn to completely love yourself. Perfected Love in partnerships, truly, can only be attained through mutual obedience that is practiced without fear of punishment. 🌱Exercise for the day: Demonstrate to your child, spouse or other how your bonding with each other is an essential ingredient in discipline and growth. How can you do a better job at creating a safe place that encourages practicing healthy discipline and promotes bonding in perfect love? “Breaking Limits” 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 6: YESOD ShebeGevurah or Foundational Beginnings in Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/CNymrdZA-Ys/?igshid=11l8eeqzgi1du

Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities . . . (Deuteronomy 16:18) Think of yourself as a city. You have four magical gates: the Gate of Seeing, the Gate of Listening, the Gate of Imagining and the Gate of Speaking. Magical gates, because an Infinite G‑d enters your finite city through these gates. An infinite G‑d who cannot be squeezed within any place or boxed within any definition, but chooses to dress neatly in a wisdom called Torah—and these are your gates by which wisdom may enter. That is why all the world competes to storm those gates. They want you to see the ugliness they see, hear the cacophony they hear, imagine the nonsense they imagine and speak without end. And then, you will desire all they desire and no room will be left in your city for that Infinite G‑d. You only need master those gates and the city is yours. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: John 12:472 “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” The results of discipline and might without humility are obvious. The greatest catastrophes have occurred as a result of people sitting in arrogant judgement of others. Am I arrogant in the name of justice (what I consider as just)? Do I ever think that I sit on a higher pedestal and bestow judgement on my subjects below? What about my children? Students? A judge has to be the most humble of creatures, recognizing that he sits in judgement not by his own merit but only because G‑d gave the right to judge His children. 🌱Exercise for the day: Don't judge anyone unless you are doing so selflessly with no personal bias. “The Four Gates” 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 5: HOD ShebeGevurah or Majesty, Glory and Splendor in Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/CNvm6INg7zZ/?igshid=1jg4v19swzvrc

Before you were formed in the womb, your days were numbered and set in place. They are the chapters of the lessons you came here to learn, the faces of the wisdom this world has to teach you, the gateways to the treasures this lifetime alone can bestow. A day enters, opens its doors, tells its story, and then returns above, never to visit again. Never—for no two days of your life will share the same wisdom. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Effective discipline must be enduring and tenacious. Is my discipline consistent or only when forced? Am I perceived as a weak disciplinarian? Have I become an apt pupil? Growing in Grace takes consistent effort. In the iconic words of Master Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.” 🌱Exercise for the day: Extend the plan you made on day two for a longer period of time, listing short-term and long-term goals and review and update it each day, and see how consistent you are; if you follow through. “Life in a Day” 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 4: NETZACH ShebeGevurah or Victory in Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheOmer https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsunzsAKbI/?igshid=xy9fuylmeobb

Day Two of Week Two (9th Day of the Omer) “Wisdom and the Rebel” 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 1: GEVURAH ShebeGevurah or Strength in Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱Wisdom of the Rabbis: The rebel is far closer to wisdom than the complacent child—as an ox is more powerful than a lamb. He needs only a wise person who will guide him to harness his energy. Then he will bring much good to the world, as the ox that plows a field. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: Proverbs 6:6-8 “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider its ways and be wise.” Examine the discipline factor of discipline. Is my discipline disciplined or is it excessive. Do I have enough discipline in my life and in my interactions? Am I organized? Is my time used efficiently? Why do I have problems with discipline and what can I do to enhance it? Do I take time each day for personal accounting of my schedule and accomplishments? Does my discipline include the other six aspects we’ve been reflecting on present in God’s nature, without which discipline cannot be effective and healthy? Exercise for the day: Make a detailed plan for spending your day and at the end of the day see if you've lived up to it. 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #biblestudy #bible #torahforchristians #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #SacredWisdom 🌱 #ancientroots #WakingEve #SHEcountstheomer https://www.instagram.com/p/CNnvvw7Ankl/?igshid=jnvqnp2njamv

If love (chesed) is the bedrock of human expression, discipline (gevurah) is the channels through which we express love. It gives our life and love direction and focus. Take a laser beam: Its potency lies in the focus and concentration of light in one direction rather than fragmented light beams dispersed in all different directions. Gevurah - discipline and measure - concentrates and directs our efforts, our love in the proper directions. Another aspect of gevurah is - respect and awe. Healthy love requires respect for the one you love. 🌱Attribute of God: Week 2: GEVURAH or Strength of Character, Fortitude Day 1: CHESED ShebeGevurah or Loving Kindness in Character Building 🌱Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness/Self-Control 🌱Wisdom of the Rabbis: To achieve wonders takes a heart both humble and fearless. Yes, two opposites. But also from two opposite directions: The mind awakens the heart to its nothingness. And by this, the soul G‑d gave you is bared in all its brazen power. - Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth 🌱Scripture Reflection: Proverbs 3:12 “For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” The underlying intention and motive in discipline is love. Why do we measure our behavior, why do we establish standards and expect people to live up to them - only because of love. Even judgment of the guilty is only to express love. In other words punishment is not vengeance; it is just another way to express love by cleansing anything antithetical to love. Tolerance of people should never be confused with tolerance of their behavior. On the contrary: love for people includes wanting them to be the best they can and therefore helping them be aware of anything less than perfect behavior. Ask yourself: when I judge and criticize another is it in any way tinged with any of my own contempt and irritation? Is there any hidden satisfaction in his failure? Or is it only out of love for the other? 🌱 #countingtheomer #shavuot #countingup #pentecost #wordofgod #messianicjew #hebrewcatholic #bibleverse #faith #bible #pesach #passover #readyingtheBride #growingrace #wakingeve #SHEcountstheomer https://www.instagram.com/p/CNl12jogrgJ/?igshid=wwrl60uskw3w