Author: Bp. Justin Elwell

Sharing snippets of life with those who happen by. Husband, father, bishop, scholar, hiker, and homesteader. Attempting to build a natural bridge between today and ancient faith-style living. If you didn’t enjoy today’s post, stop back, there’s always something new tomorrow.

The Long and Winding Road

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

When driving at night, with only our small headlights, it’s hard to see why a road is winding. Why can’t the roadway be straight?

It is only during the day, when we see with the sunlight, that we begin to understand the winding roadway which we have traversed. The hills, streams, and massive boulders avoided.

As Yeshua taught, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

In Psalm 23:3 David writes:

יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי-צֶדֶק, לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ

“He leads me along circuitous paths of righteousness for His names sake.”

The Hebrew translated as paths, מַעְגָּל/ma’gal, does not convey a straight or easy way, as it implies a rut where a wheel turns; rather it is rooted in a word meaning circular.

The way the Lord brings us in life is not always the direct or straight way. What? Doesn’t it say that He leads us in paths righteousness? It does.

The way He leads us is often circuitous, indirect, not the short way. As we travel along the way, with the light and perspective available to us, it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to see what He is leading us to avoid.

It is only in His glorious light, when we see apart from the perspective of need or want, that the circuitous way of our lives come into focus.

Yet, even though He leads us indirectly to our destination, along the way He has made, He makes the way straight, righteous, correct, according to His plan, His purpose, and under His control.

He will not leave us to wander, or as orphans stumbling in the darkness, He blesses us with the light and direction of His Son, the Good Shepherd, by the in-dwelling of presence of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16).

Now, walk in that assurance.

Be well. Shalom.

The Finish of Moses

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

We often wrestle with failure, either present or past. Failure, whether actual or apparent, when viewed through the lens of faith, isn’t failure at all if done as unto the Lord, in faith (Ro. 14:23).

Moses failed. He failed as a prince of Egypt. He failed as a fledgling Hebrew leader, killing an Egyptian and fleeing for his life. He failed as a father and husband, “truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me” (Ex. 4:25).

He wrestled as a shepherd. He wrestled with calling. He wrestled as a leader. He wrestled with obedience. He wrestled with death. He wrestled with promise.

Failure seems final. It is not. Wrestling seems disobedient. It is not. Death seems an end. It is not.

When Moses failed, the failure was due to the direction of his intent. Himself. When he wrestled, it was with the object of his faith. God.

God recorded Moses’ failures to show his humanity; He revealed his wrestling to show his heart.

In the end, Moses did not fail (Ro. 8:28). No, he finished (II Tim. 4:7). Moses, as Jacob before him, wrestled with many failures and with God, and he was delivered.

When Yeshua/Jesus stood face to face with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8) the entire flow of his life came to fruition in the face of Yeshua, finally seeing the face he longed to see (Ex. 33:18-20), and perhaps there he heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant, before you is the delight of your Lord” (Ps. 37:4; Matt. 3:17).

Unfortunately, Moses in Christian theology finds his finish, his end, in Deuteronomy 34. His finish, the end of his race, his “well done” moment, was in the presence and face of Yeshua in Matthew 17.

Could there be any better finish?

Abide in Yeshua, and He will abide in you (Jn. 15:4-11). There the crooked ways will be straightened, the wrongs righted, all things worked together for our good, to His glory.

Be well. Shalom.

Passover Meditation #3

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

When is it dayenu?

The Passover Seder is a generational event; not only with those present, but with those who were, and those who are yet to be. It’s just that type of moment in time. The text itself leads us to believe this.

One of the most recognizable elements of the Seder is the singing of דַּיֵּנוּ/dayenu. While only a couple stanzas of this section are usually sung, in total, there are fifteen stanzas. Five stanzas speak of the deliverance from Egypt, the next five of the miraculous provision in the wilderness, and the final five of being with God.

The melody of dayenu is memorable, haunting, exciting. When done with heart and spirit it lifts us beyond our present circumstance into an unlikely place: contentment.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil. 4:11-12).

Paul’s thoughts here always remind me of dayenu. דַּיֵּנוּ/dayenu literally translates: enough for us. The usual construction of the stanzas flow in this manner:

“If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgements on them; [it would have been] enough for us.”

“If this … but not this … דַּיֵּנוּ/dayenu.”

Paul is sitting in a cell; yet, he speaks of being content with his circumstance. It is a recognition of the Lord’s will, even in the midst of terrific hardship, but it is also guards against the loss of joy.

The heart of dayenu is joyfully recognizing the grace of God’s provision. Every year we sing dayenu – “enough for us” – with an immediate memory of all that is pressing in on us: the present Egypt. Yet, dayenu.

For Paul, his dayenu might have sounded something like: “Had He saved me by the blood of Yeshua/Jesus, but not delivered me from this cell, dayenu.”

It is a difficult lesson, perhaps among the most painful, but the Lord has given us a yearly exercise to help us strengthen our present dayenu, to reflect on the grace of His supply, however that might appear.

But when is it enough? Watch this.

“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (Jn. 14:8).

On the evening of Messiah’s Seder, Philip says, show us the Father, and it will be “dayenu,” as dayenu is also translated as “sufficient.” How does Yeshua respond?

“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” (Jn. 14:9).

When it is dayenu, enough for us? When we know, and are known, by Yeshua. That is enough for all eternity.

Be well. Shalom.