Pronouncing YHWH, the Tetragrammaton Name for God

A tetragrammaton is a 4 letter word derived from the Greek word which means “to consist of four letters”. So the 4 letter Hebrew word for God (יהוה) is commonly transliterated (written in letters or a word using the closest corresponding letters of a different alphabet) into the Latin 4 letters YHWH.

I believe that the Lord has shown me that the true and actual speaking of what I have always been taught to be this unpronounceable tetragrammaton YHWH, is not Yahweh. No. It is signalled to us by the root meaning of its transliterated Hebrew word יהוה which is "TO BREATHE".

Now normally when we pronounce a word we breathe it out. So for instance, when we pronounce this tetragrammaton word YHWH as Yahweh, we breathe it all out expressing it with the vowels “a” and “e” which we have been taught are implied in it because otherwise it would be unpronounceable.. However, if instead of pronouncing it as YAHWEH, we breathe this tetragrammaton half in and then half out rather than speaking it all out, I believe that God has shown me that we can pronounce it without any need for any implied vowels.

Thus, to say YHWH in this manner, we breathe in expressing the 2 sounds of the first 2 letters of the tetragrammaton, bookending them around our inhalation sound (as “y-breathein-h” with a long breathe in sound). Then we immediately follow this by bookending the 2 sounds of the last 2 letters of the tetragrammaton around our exhalation sound (as “w-breatheout-h”, with a long breathe out sound). In other words, the sounds of this word YHWH are y-long-inhale-h followed by w-long-exhale-h!  So YHWH is not really spoken, it is breathed! We breathe-speak it by merely breathing half of it in surrounded by the “y” and “h” sounds and then half of it out surrounded by the “w” and “h” sounds without any use whatsoever of our vocal cords (since they can only operate in the exhale mode)!

Thus in this manner, this word YHWH may be breathe-spoken without the need for any vowels whatsoever because the sounds of our breath inhaling and exhaling replace the embedded vowels between YH and WH. And as a further confirmation of this revelation, this breathing in and out of His name YHWH implies another root meaning of its transliterated Hebrew word יהוה which is “TO LIVE” because all life breathes in some way in order to live.

Psalm 150:6 - Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Try it for yourself. Then you will find as I have that with a very small amount of practice you can quickly become adept enough at breathe-speaking it in this manner that you can very nicely and naturally incorporate it into your prayers between sentences….

Oh Lord my God, I praise you….breathe in and out signifying reverence for this name.

Oh heavenly Father, I worship you….breathe in and out signifying reverence for this name.

Oh Sweet Jesus, I thank you for being who and what you are….breathe in and out signifying reverence for this name.

Mighty Holy Spirit, I thank you for expressing your power in my life every day, breathe in and out signifying reverence for this name.

Amen.

God's Work is to Reach God's Rest!

Isaiah 64:6b - ….all of our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (to God)!?!

If all our righteous deeds are no better than our unrighteous deeds to our Holy God, how can we possibly do anything to please Him?

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are His workmanship, created IN Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without FAITH it is impossible to please Him….
Well here’s our answer. We are called to only walk by faith in the good works that God Himself gives us to do with Him. 

Hebrews 4:6 - ….just as David….speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

But how do we know which works are from God and which might be actually originating from ourselves?

John 6:28 - 29 - They said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM HE HAS SENT.”

So each of our works of God are to be works of faith in Jesus Christ, not works that are done apart from faith in Him.

John 15:5 - I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.

Colossians 1:10 - ….so….walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every GOOD WORK.  

Romans 4:4 - 5 - Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, HIS FAITH IS CREDITED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Romans 14:23 - ….for whatever is not from faith is sin.

These verses lead us to the understanding that whatever we do in faith in Jesus is a good work of God and will not end up being a filthy rag to Him. This understanding leads us into peace with God and the very presence of that peace confirms to us that we are actually doing God’s will.

Colossians 3:15 (AMP) - So let THE PEACE (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live].

And this peaceful state within us signals us that we have actually entered into a place of rest with God.

Hebrews 4:1, 3, 9 - 11 - Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering GOD’S REST, anyone may seem to have come short of it….For WE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ENTER GOD’S REST…. (consequently) He once again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David….“TODAY if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For THE ONE WHO HAS ENTERED GOD’S REST HAS HIMSELF ALSO RESTED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, as God did from His. Let us labor (in faith) therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

All of these verses teach us that we need to learn to hear and obey His voice which most times come to us in intuitive thoughts and / or a bad conscience that are beckoning us to change our minds and / or the direction of our life. As we try to do this we will normally stumble around for awhile since we are not all accustomed to His voice and His ways.

However, if we stay open to Him and willing to be obedient to Him, we will eventually find His way which will lead us into that peaceful state which signals us that we have entered His rest. In so laboring to reach peace and rest, we will be doing His work of faith and pleasing Him.

Hebrews 4:15 - 16 (AMP) - For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. (Therefore) Let us fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

This is our work from God! It is our labor of faith that leads us into His good pleasure with us and then into a consequent release of God’s power from His Throne of Grace into our lives!

1 Thessalonians 1:2 - 4a - We give thanks to God always for all of you….constantly bearing in mind your WORK OF FAITH and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father….

2 Thessalonians 1:11 - To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the WORK OF FAITH with power….

Revelation 15:3 - 4 - And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are YOUR WORKS, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are YOUR WAYS, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? YOU ALONE ARE HOLY; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS have been revealed.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in THE WORK OF THE LORD, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 16:14 -  Let all that you do be done in love.

Godly Dieting

Godly Dieting

Dieting can be a time of sacrificial worship if we feel moved to exercise our faith in God by in His power, obeying the following verses....

Romans 14: 22 - 23 - (personalized) The faith which you have (to eat something), have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves (to eat). But he who doubts (if he should eat something) is condemned if he eats (it), because his eating is not from faith; and whatever (eating) is not from faith is sin.

Proverbs 3:5 - 6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

When we move in this kind of faith, God will direct our dieting for us and He will reward us for exercising our faith in Him and His wisdom to take us to the weight that He desires for us.

What day is the New Testament Sabbath Day?

The Christian faith has been divided over the issue of which day of the week the Sabbath day should be under the lordship of Jesus. The 7th Day Adventists believe that the Jewish Sabbath day starting on Friday evenings at dusk and ending on Saturday evenings at dusk is today’s Sabbath Day while most other Christian sects believe that Sunday, the Lord’s Day, is to be honored as today’s Sabbath Day. Pretty much all Christians believe that on that day we honor God by resting from our works, just as He did when He finished His work of Creation.

But what does the New Testament tell us about the Sabbath Day?

Well, since the Old Testament gives us the Sabbath Day instruction as the 4th commandment of the 10 commandments that God gave to us through Moses to obey, He has appropriately given us the 4th chapter of Hebrews as the place in the New Testament wherein He most instructs us about the new Sabbath. Here He also emphasizes that the new Sabbath is a day of rest.

Hebrews 4:1, 3, 9 - 11 - Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering God’s rest, anyone may seem to have come short of it….For we who have believed enter God’s rest….

(consequently) He once again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

“TODAY if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

So, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

For the one who has entered God’s rest has himself also rested from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Here the Holy Spirit states that every day in which we believe that we hear His voice speaking to us is a Sabbath day in which we are to rest from doing our own works. This admonition expands and improves upon the 4th commandment by telling us to honor everyday in which we hear Him speaking to us as being the Sabbath day. This New Testament overriding of the 4th commandment as it was given through Moses in the Old Testament written on stone tablets is also clearly stated by the Holy Spirit in….

2 Corinthians 3:2 - ….you are a letter of Christ….written….by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

And Jesus Himself expressed this improvement in the Sabbath when….

Mark 2:27 - He said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

So the Sabbath for Christians is no longer just one particular day of the week but it is to be every day of the week in which by faith we hear Him speaking to us! However, so many Christians have not yet understood this concept so they continue to honor the Sabbath as being just one particular day of the week e it Saturday or Sunday.

Romans 14:5 - One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord….

I believe that it is not our place to judge nor to regard with contempt anyone who decides that one Sabbath day per week is to be set aside and honored. To condemn such a one for this doctrinal difference would be in effect, the same as placing a stumbling block in their walk with Jesus!

Romans 14:10 - 13, 19, 21 - 22 - But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Therefore, we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another…..so it is good not to….do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Each person will have to stand before God and give an account for their doctrines so I believe that it is sufficient to merely suggest this interpretation of a this questionable doctrine to them and then leave it to God to convict them of the truth of it.

John 16:13 - But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth….

John 8:31-32 - Jesus was saying to those….who….believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The truth of an everyday Sabbath, listening to and walking with His Holy Spirit sets us free to rest in Him and to worship Him every day of the week in spirit and in truth.

John 4:23-24 - But an hour is coming, and now is (today and everyday), when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.”

So, I believe that having faith in Him for our salvation and resting in His promises every day of the week is His true Sabbath Day of rest for today’s Christians and leads us into His immense promise-blessings.

Hebrews 4:3 - For we who have believed enter God’s rest.

Isaiah 58:13 - 14 -  “If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day,

And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,

And honor it, desisting from your own ways,

From seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word,

Then you will take delight in the Lord,

And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth….

God's Judgment upon Hollywood

I believe that the good Lord has allowed Sony Pictures and Hollywood in general to be attacked, blackmailed and defeated at the hands of North Korea's hackers because of their steady flow of ungodly movies for so long. From now on the entire movie industry has to change almost all of their modus operandi or they too will face a siilar fate as has come upon Sony. However, I believe that the Christian segment of the movie industry will escape this wrathful judgment from God.

Romans 1:18 - 19, 21 - 22, 24 - 25, 26 - 28, 32 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them....For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.....Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie....

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper....and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them!

Romans 2:2 - And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

America's National Shaking

Psalm 18:7 - Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because God was angry!!!

I read FB posts and comments often decrying how Mr. O and his minions are ruining our country with their awful liberal policies, their corruption of our gubmint and their incompetence to deal with national emergencies, and I believe that those posts and comments are right and true because they are Scriptural….

Luke 21:25-27 - “There will be….on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and from the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world….

But I have come to also believe that those corrupt, incompetent liberal politicians and these difficult events that are occurring in our land are all merely tools that our good Lord is using to shake up the majority of those in our nation who have been idolizing big gubmint and therefore have not been believing and / or not trusting in God Himself.

Deuteronomy 32:21 - They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.

So I am writing this post of exhortation to you who do believe in God and in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to give you some Scriptures that I believe may help you to be more trusting in Him and more focused upon Him personally, no matter what evils seem to be coming down upon America to ruin our country.

Romans 8:28 - God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Then, in your own trusting faith in Him and His word , all of the bad that you are hearing about in our nation you will begin to see (as I do) as actually being, in the long run, for the good for our country and our straying and / or spiritually lost citizens.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you (Satan), you meant evil against (our country), but God meant it for good in order to bring about (His desired) result, to preserve many people, (eternally alive in Jesus).

Through all of the shaking that God has had to allow to happen to America as He has tried to teach our ungodly citizens just how terrible for them and for our country it is to abandon or not believe in Him, your focus upon Him and not the shaking, will stabilize you personally….

Isaiah 33:5 - 6a -  The Lord is exalted….and He(!) will be the stability of your times….

Faithful Christians who are focused upon Jesus in all of their affairs have no reason to shake in fear of what our politicians or what their political parties are now doing to America because….

Hebrews 13:6 - ….we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

When we keep our focus upon the Lord and give Him all of our fears and burdens for the country as it is being shaken, I believe that He will supernaturally move to calm and soothe and sustain us….

Psalm 55:22 - Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

He and He alone is our stronghold during these difficult times of our nation’s shaking, as the Scriptures tell us over and over and over again….

Psalm 62:2 - He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

Psalm 16:8 - I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Acts 2:25 - For David says of Him, ‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

Our loving God, in His ongoing efforts to save America’s citizens’ souls from His ultimate holy wrath upon them for their sins (in hell and the lake of fire), will on occasion have to shake up various aspects of our nation, in order to show people that all of the things that they are relying upon in this world, except for Him and His unshakable kingdom, are ultimately unreliable!

Hebrews 12:27b - 28 - ….those things which (can be shaken in this world will be shaken but those that) cannot be shaken, will remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe….

So, it seems to me that our good and kind Lord Jesus has deemed our national sin of idolatry to now need some very severe correction!

Romans 11:22 - Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is very hard on those who disobey, but very good to you if you continue to love and trust him.

Now in order to correct our nation, I believe that He had to allow some of our nation’s very evil politicians to deceive our people in order to get voted into power over them, so that they could rip them off while also ruling them with severity!

Ezekiel 34:3-5 - You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

I believe that He has allowed the devil to shake us and our nation up through these evil politicians actions. But I also believe that He has only been using their evils temporarily for this purpose.

Luke 22:31 - “....behold, Satan has demanded you (America) from My (Jesus) power into his in order to sift it like wheat, to the very verge of the overthrow of (many of its citizens’) faith. but I have prayed for you (America), that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again (to Me with ALL of your hearts) , will strengthen your brothers (fellow citizens).”

So during this temporary shaking of our nation, as long as we committed Christians stay humbly focused upon Jesus, He and He alone will be our blessed hope that eventually all will be well for America and for us.

Titus 2:11-15 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself up for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Hebrews 6:19 - 20 - This hope (Jesus) we have as an ANCHOR of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast….

A simple doctrine of heaven and hell

I believe that many Christians cannot explain a simple doctrine of heaven and hell. So here is my version of such an explanation. Heaven is a holy place occupied by our holy God. Here He expresses more and more and more forever His love for all of His children and His angels who agree with His will and therefore are allowed to reside here. Those who disagree with His will are not allowed to reside here, it is that simple.

Every child whom God allows to die is automatically taken here to reside by the holy angels. Every adult human being is given time and opportunity to decide whether they want to spend eternity with God and His goodness in heaven or not. If a person does, he or she must first repent of their sins and then receive God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior in order to get here.

Any adult person who does not want to spend eternity with God (Who is every kind of goodness personified), has been given the evil abodes of hell and the lake of fire as the places in which they must eternally reside. In them there is no goodness whatsoever, only God's wrath and indignation as expressed to them in awful pain, torment, shame, misery and despair.

To go there, humans must make a conscious, stubborn decision that they do not want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God's only way for them to go to heaven. It is not God's desire that any human beings go to these 2 evil places. It is their own desire to disagree with God and His will for them that sends them there.

In giving all of us our own free will to decide this matter here on earth, God had to have a place for those who choose to be His enemies to eternally reside. So these 2 places, which were prepared by Him for His rebellious angels who decided in heaven to become His enemies, are also the places He has for humans who do the same here on earth.

The difference between humans' and angels' judgments are that angels were created in heaven and experienced all of the joys and bliss of that place and then decided to rebel so they are given no chance by God for salvation, whereas humans are given only tastes of both heaven and hell here on earth and then over time they can decide one way or another as to where they wish to reside. Heaven is all goodness, earth has the presence of both goodness and evil but hell is all evil!

When we choose to love God and Jesus we also choose to spend eternity with them and their goodness in heaven because it is God's will for us to do this. In effect we agree with His will when we do this and this agreement with Him saves us from hell and sends us to heaven when our days here on earth are over. It's that simple.

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is LIVING AND ACTIVE and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ABLE TO JUDGE THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTIONS OF THE HEART.

I have been counseling a lovely young lady who turned to Jesus when her love relationship with an unsaved young man began to go sour. Up until recently she had been dealing with her ex-boyfriend but he just kept getting harder and harder for her to be with. This is because he is an admitted alcoholic and a pot addict who keeps elevating the use of those drugs more and more in his life over his relationship with her. 

However, whenever he decided to stay sober, they would have the greatest of times together so this led her to keep at it with him for so long in hopes that he would overcome his addictions. He paid lip service to wanting to do so but his confessions just did not turn into actions.

Well, one night it all came to a head when she was given a ride by one of her male friends to his house to see him. When he let her in, she could tell that he was quite high. When he asked her how she got there she told him that this nice fellow had brought her there. He reacted to this news with insane jealousy and began to yell at her and to push her around. He didn’t strike her, he just yelled at her and exerted his superior strength over her to dominate her and to shove her here and there.

So in fear she grabbed her bottle of mace and sprayed it at him. He screamed from the effects of it and fled to the bathroom to clean it off. Then she called the police to report the incident and to seek their protection from his rage. When they arrived and assessed the situation they sided with her and asked her if she wanted him arrested. She said no because by then he had calmed down and somewhat sobered up. Then she left his place.

The next day he e-mailed her that he was ending their relationship permanently because he did not feel safe around her anymore! He then told all of their mutual friends that the two of them had had a fight and that she had maced him and that he had called the police on her but he did not have her arrested because he felt sorry for her! This of course was a total lie and a reversal of the true facts of the matter. Unfortunately, it was believed by most of their mutual friends so they began to shun her even to the point of becoming rather hostile towards her. None of these so called friends even asked her to tell them her side of the story. They just abandoned and in so doing, they shamed her.

So we discussed how she, like Jesus, was being falsely accused and crucified emotionally by the devil through her ex and them. We saw him as being in the devilish tag team spirits of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, wherein the seemingly nice Dr. Jekyll spirit was being used by Satan to entice her with their great times together into a place wherein the obviously evil Mr. Hyde could come forth to “gaslight” her (this term comes from the movie “Gaslight” in which these 2 personalities in a man are depicted as emotionally and physically tormenting a naive young lady until he died). We saw this brutal, lying, “gaslighting” spirit as exactly that which Satan was employing through her seemingly nice boyfriend to conceal his evils (when he was high) from their friends and to deflect them from seeing his evils by falsely accusing her.

Well, after months of the emotional pain that she had been suffering from all of their adversity towards her, she confided to me that she was wearing out and at times she felt that the situation was utterly hopeless. She told me how she wanted vindication and she also wanted her very nice boyfriend to overcome his addictions and come back to her without this split personality. To this I felt moved to advise her to just keep her focus upon Jesus and Jesus alone so that like Peter who focused his attention upon Him and was able to miraculously walk over a storm in his life, with Him she would be able to walk over this storm in hers too.

A couple of days later the Lord led me to this living and active passage for her in His word…

Hebrews 12:1b - 3 - ….let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set  before us, fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider Him who has ENDURED such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Truly, this passage was living and active in her life, was it not? I see it as being so alive and focused upon her current circumstances that it could have been written just for her! I also see it as a special exhortation from God to her for her to continue to endure the evil that is happening through all of them towards her personally. Then, in His own good time, He will take her into the vision that He gave her of a joyous life with a husband of His choosing (either this man saved or someone better)! This thought is also backed up in the following verse….

Habakkuk 2:3 - “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.

THOUGH IT TARRIES, WAIT FOR IT; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

And IMHO, in this passage as well….

Isaiah 51:22 - 23 - Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God, Who contends for His people,“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling, the chalice of My anger; You will never drink it again!!!

“Instead, I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’ You have even made your back like the ground And like the street for those who walk over it.”