Inspirational

A Hug for God

Posted on by Marla

I hugged God today
I knew he’d come
He promised he would
I saw his face in the tiny child
Called Jesus, Savior of the human race…
I felt him snuggle up close to me
In my embrace…
God, the great I AM
Held within my arms…
The one who created me
Is alive and I am free…
Now I can lay me down in rest…
Go to sleep in peacefulness…
God was hugged by me I confess
Messiah, Redeemer, Good Shepherd
Gentleness…
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised
I held you today…
Simeon, my precious son…
Life is sweet
When everyone…
Opens their eyes and fully beholds
The redemption in the face of God. 
I held God in my arms today…
God smiled in his special way…
I was held by my child today.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill June 5, 2017
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:23-35 New International Version (NIV)
Inspirational

Deeper, Higher, Fuller, Wider…

Posted on by Marla

Oh, take me deeper into your realm…
Let my soul soar as you take me higher and higher
To the place where you dwell…
In the quietness of your heart, your consciousness,
To see, as you see.
To act, as you act.
Until your likeness changes me…
Closer than a heartbeat…
Saturated totally and completely metamorphosed into who You are!!
Loved by you, until I love like you…
I surrender my heart, my mind, my spirit…
Jesus…
I AM, Yours!!! And You are Mine!
You are the blueprint…of my soul…
Your DNA, your blood, running through my veins…
How can I be anything, other than what you have called me to be…?
Detailed in every way…
Transformed from clay
To Spirit-walker, Spirit-talker,
Revealer of secrets…come what may…
Loved by you, to love like you!
Refined by fire, gleaned from the world
Breath of God, breathe in me…
Healer, deliverer, friend…
Amen!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill, June 3, 2017
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 The Message (MSG)
Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.
Inspirational

The Heart of Jesus

Posted on by Marla

Love
Compassion
Servant
Friend…
Faithful
Joy
Peace
Begin…
Water-walker
Demon-slayer
Universe-builder
No end…
Relationship-mender
Heart-restorer
Children-maker
He will always win…
Tear-keeper
Burden-carrier
Chain-breaker
Living in…
His heart, your heart
Free-will giver
Your choice
No sin…
Born again!
(HS) ~Marla Shaw O’Neill – June 3, 2017
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 King James Version (KJV)
 
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 New King James Version (NKJV)
Inspirational

I See You

Posted on by Marla
I see you…
I, see, you.
There.
Thrown in the dirt, and grime of life, torn and twisted…
Lies and deceit you wear, as robes, of disgust and shame…
Men want to stone you, snuff out your life.
But, I, see, you.
Bending to the dust I right the wrong, the pain, the strife…
No one else can see, but me.
Love has come to you today to wash the dirt and filth away…
Only your heart can taste and know, the forgiveness, I now bestow
Upon your wilted, grieving soul…
Life now appears…
Men of lust and doubt and fear
Listen now, and hear, as My Spirit speaks into your heart…
You, who covet and envy and snare, innocent ones living in despair
Of your laws, your dogma’s. Religious, pious, flaunting spineless, hypocrites, laying snares for the helpless ones…hear with your heart what I do write upon the dirt this day…
You, who are without sin…let him cast his stone first.
Can you? Do you not have unseen sin? Hidden in darkness you bring…
Staring at your faces I proclaim…Go ahead cast your sinless stones…
One by one…they drop their rocks, heads hanging low they walk…away…
Woman, I see you.
Where are the ones who accuse you?
They are gone my Lord…
I do not condemn you, but listen to your heart…the pounding you feel within your chest…
Is telling you right now, Go and sin, no more!
Rising from the dirt and dust the woman’s heart about to burst
With joy she’s never known…
Reborn, restored, transformed, she walks forever with the Lord!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill June 2, 2017
John 8:5-12 The Message (MSG)
The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. 
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. 
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?” 
No one, Master.” 
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
Inspirational

Ask for More…

Posted on by Marla
Here’s a thought…
Can you have too much JOY…
Can you have too much LOVE…
Can you have too much PEACE…
Can you have too much FAITH…
Or goodness, or kindness, or gentleness, or longsuffering, or self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
Think about this for a moment…the Psalmist said, “My cup runs over…” (Psalm 23:5)
God is a God who says, “I am more than enough…” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Jesus fed five thousand, with five barley loaves and two fish, all were full, there was more, left over… John 6:13
Jesus said, “I came that you would have life and have life more abundant…” (John 10:10)
Paul said, “You are more than a conqueror in Christ…” (Romans 8:37)
God said, “I will pour you out a blessing that there is not room to store it…” (Malachi 3:10)
Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full …” (John 15:11)
He said, “I leave you My peace, not like the world’s peace…” (John 14:27)
He gives More, not Less….Because when he gives us More it overflows onto others…
It is a continuous flow…He told the woman at the well, “if you drink of the water that I give you, you will never thirst again…” Why? Because it never runs dry…
My/Your cup overflows…just like the little sheep that is fed by the Good Shepherd…
It’s OK to have More of Him….It is not selfish or greedy or envious to want more of Him…
“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Psalm 34:8)
“He satisfies your mouth with good things…”(Psalm 103:5)
Can you have TOO MUCH LOVE? Can you have TOO MUCH JESUS…?
No…
That’s like saying can you have too much air to breathe…
His love, joy, peace, doesn’t get stale or stagnant, it doesn’t get used up, it doesn’t get old or moldy, it is fresh and good, it satisfies, it is continuously overflowing…and He so longs to give you more…just ask, your cup will overflow…
Imagine too much JOY….Your soul is so happy that there is no room to be sad, or discouraged, or depressed or lonely or afraid….You are so full of Joy that you break out into singing and dancing and living and giving and helping…because this JOY, is the Lord’s JOY, and His Joy, is your strength… (Psalm 28:7)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23New King James Version (NKJV)
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 New International Version (NIV)
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 New International Version (NIV) 
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 New International Version (NIV)
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 New International Version (NIV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10: 10 New King James Version (NKJV)
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37 New King James Version (NKJV) 
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:10-11 New International Version (NIV)
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 New King James Version (NKJ) 
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 New International Version (NIV)
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 New International Version (NIV)
Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:4-5 New King James Version (NKJV)
Inspirational

Live in Moments Not Days

Posted on by Marla

 There will come a day…
When I will have to say…
“Good-bye.”
Until that day, I will live trusting, and loving, and giving, and sharing, the love of my God to all who will listen.
My children grown, grand-babies still home…
Will know I lived in faith, strong, in the God of my Salvation.
From newborn, to a girl of six
I learned to walk and talk and run and swim
No cares of any, for I was loved by them…
From six to eighteen…
I learned who Jesus is, and asked him to come and live in me.
I learned reading, writing and arithmetic.
I learned to ride a bike, climb trees, make friends, drive a car and marry.
From eighteen to thirty-one, life barely begun…
Four thriving, wonderful sons, now my life was full of fun…
There were adventures I’d dreamed that would never come, but some did…
Not knowing what life held, just up ahead…
From thirty-one to fifty-eight
I learned life could be difficult and weary…and full of ache…
Heartbroken, and shattered, my dreams were all scattered…I clung to the God I knew
Knowing He would not forsake me, He knew just what to do…
Rebellion and disobedience leave wounds inside of you, and the pain you feel; only God can heal, as you surrender to His will…
From fifty-eight to sixty-three
I learned that God still walked with me. I surrendered to the call, he had given me. I learned that life could be happier and fuller, by letting Him live in me…
You have a life to live…
But remember this…
When you are young, you’re strong and have the whole world before you…
You make choices, some will be foolish and lead you down a path that is full of heartache and despair…but you won’t know it until you are there…Understand, you can always turn around and begin again…
For when you are old, looking back at your life’s journey, you will see, the mistakes you made…the triumphs, the victories and the defeats…there will be wins and there will be losses…so as you go…don’t be so quick to ignore elderly voices, who have been there… Be wise and listen…there’s a reason for Wisdom…She’s been there and walked the road ahead of you….She knows the pitfalls and the detours and the slippery slopes of deceit and woe…she’s seen battles won and death come and go…she’s been beaten and abused and dealt with evil and used, but she kept her eyes on the only one who could bring her safely home…
Don’t be afraid to ask for her…that shows strength of character…and when you come to a crossroad not knowing which way to choose…ask her and she will tell you…
Life is bitter and life is sweet.
And maybe just maybe you can learn from Her mistakes…
Saving you years of heartache…
Failures you will make…get back up… it is never too late…
You’ve a long journey to make…
Life is your best teacher….Don’t take a single minute to hesitate…let Wisdom be your guide…
When all is done and you are weak and youth has come and gone…
If you are wise you’ll know your song of blessings were in disguise…
When life was hard and you closed your eyes, to pray
Wisdom gave you words that were wise…
And you realize, your life is over, and you have to say, “Good-bye.”
Listen, live your life in wisdom’s care…
When you find you’re slipping and in despair…
Reach for the hand, that’s been there…
Love completely, laugh sweetly, dream your beautiful dreams…Live your life in moments not days…give your life to others with praise…at the end of your struggling you’ll find His ways…were all worth living for!

“Not good-bye, just, see ya later!”

–Marla Shaw O’Neill June 1, 2017
Psalm 37:25 New King James Version (NKJV)
I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
Inspirational

God Is…

Posted on by Marla

  

God who are you?
I AM…
God where are you?
I’m right here child.
God I’m afraid.
Do not fear or be afraid I am with you…
Put all your trust, all your faith in me, child. I will not leave you. I will give you beauty for ashes…I put my seal upon you, You are mine!
When the Israelites came out of Egypt they had been slaves. 430 years-Ex. 12:40
God made them Conquerors.
When David faced Goliath, he was not alone…
God’s hand pitched that stone.
When Gideon was a no body…
God called him, highly favored, a mighty man of valor…
When baby Moses was put in the Nile River…God watched over him and saved him through the compassion of a queen…
Daniel was put in a den with hungry lions…God shut up their mouths and they didn’t even growl at him. God spared Daniels life…astounding those who wanted him killed.
Peter walked on water with Jesus…Paul was beaten and thrown in prison but God sent an angel to unlock the prison door and set him free…
Evil came looking for the Son of God even before his birth, to murder him.
God chose Mary and Joseph to protect the child, the very essence of God. To fulfill the promise that Messiah had come…
God loved them all…
God loves you.
There is no difference between them and you…
But where you place your trust will determine your outcome.
God is not looking for superheroes, modern-day technology or tech-savvy guru’s.
God is looking for you!
In our time-frame He’s been looking for a long time…time is relative with God…
He never changes…He is the same today as he was yesterday and forever. He’s in all places at the same time and in the past, present and the future…
Now that may cause you a brain boggling attack, but let’s just say, God is not me and God is not you. God is God and because he’s God he can do all kinds of cool stuff…like being everywhere at one time, or in one place at one time, or everyplace all the time.
He is father, protector, life giver, He is love and joy and peace…He is wisdom and understanding, he is provider and way-maker, He is truth and He is, I AM…He is helper and He is friend, He is calling and He is always and forever…He is healer and He is judge…He is the beginning and He is the end…He is life and He is death…He is savior and He is intercessor, He is councilor, He is all that you can imagine…He does not lie, He does not change and He keeps his promises…He is covenant and He is artist and developer, He is mathematician, He is light and He is darkness…He is space and He is matter…He is Spirit, He is Holy, He is Word, He is Bread, He is Water and Air and Salt…He is Master and King; He is YHWH!!!
We cannot put YHWH in a box or even in a Universe, because He is beyond the Universe. Our minds cannot comprehend HIM!
Yet, He gave us His Spirit to live inside of us…He allows us to hear his still small voice so that we may communicate with Him…if we open our hearts to Him…in every generation He is known…He has his children and His children have him.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill June 1, 2017
Reference: (Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding.)
[“Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory [is] above the earth and heaven.” Psalm 148:13
In the Old Testament times, a name was not only identification, but an identity as well. Many times a special meaning was attached to the name. Names had, among other purposes, an explanatory purpose (e.g., Nabal, whose name means “fool,” is the target of Abigail’s explanation to David: “For as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him:” – 1Sa 25:25). Throughout Scripture God reveals Himself to us through His names. When we study these names that He reveals to us in the Bible, we will better understand who God really is. The meanings behind God’s names reveal the central personality and nature of the One who bears them.
Who is God to you?
Is He your Most High God, All sufficient One, Master, Lord of Peace, the Lord Who Will Provide? Is He your Father? We must be careful not to make God into an “it” or a “thing” to which we pray. He is our Jehovah Raah, the Lord our Shepherd. God knows us by our name, shouldn’t we know Him by His?
Hallowed be Your name?
To hallow a thing is to make it holy or to set it apart to be exalted as being worthy of absolute devotion. To hallow the name of God is to regard Him with complete devotion and loving admiration. God’s name is of the utmost importance (Neh 9:5); therefore we ought reserve it a position of grave significance in our minds and hearts. We should never take His name lightly (Exd 20:7; Lev 22:32), but always rejoice in it and think deeply upon its true meaning.] (Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding.)

 

Inspirational

Let God do the Judging, You’re Called to Love

Posted on by Marla

God, you are God
God, you are judge
God, you are creator
God, you are righteous
God, you gave us your Son
You are all knowing, and all forgiving, and all merciful…
I cannot judge for I am not God…for if I judge I will be judged in that same way.
Help my heart to love like you love, forgiving, unconditional, without restraint, fully accepting…in total and complete surrender to you.
You created all things and all people…
How can I look at my designer, my creator, my potter and say, “Why did you make me this way and you made them that way?”
It is not for me to tell the clay-maker how to fashion the clay…
How can we say we love you who we do not see and hate those we do see…?
Let the seeds of love be planted by me today to others…
Let the water of peace flow out from me today to others…
Let forgiveness flow out of my heart today, to everyone who has hurt me, let me not hurt them back…
You will take care of everything if I will only trust you.
Jesus when I look at others, no matter the color of their skin, or their beliefs, or their weaknesses, or what they wear, or what they drive, or where they live, let it not offend me, or make me think better or worse of them…
We are all your children…
But let me pray for others, as you would pray for them. Let it be out of a heart of love, and not contention or bitterness or unforgiveness. Let me forgive others as you have forgiven me.
Lord, let my heart be pure and contrite before you, so that I in no way will cause anyone to stumble or fall into the dark pit…
Restore and transform….Give life and not death….Give hope and not despair…for it is better to give than to receive.
Let them see your, light in me…not me…them see your, love in me… not me….Let them see You…Jesus, in all I do and all I say. This is my prayer amen!!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 31, 2017
Romans 2 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Let God Be the Judge
2 So do you think that you can judge those other people? You are wrong. You too are guilty of sin. You judge them, but you do the same things they do. So when you judge them, you are really condemning yourself. 2 God judges all who do such things, and we know his judgment is right. 3 And since you do the same things as those people you judge, surely you understand that God will punish you too. How could you think you would be able to escape his judgment? 4 God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don’t understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.
5 But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater. You will be punished on the day when God will show his anger. On that day everyone will see how right God is to judge people. 6 He will reward or punish everyone for what they have done. 7 Some people live for God’s glory, for honor, and for life that cannot be destroyed. They live for those things by always continuing to do good. God will give eternal life to them. 8 But others are selfish and refuse to follow truth. They follow evil. God will show his anger and punish them. 9 He will give trouble and suffering to everyone who does evil—to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. 10 But he will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does good—to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. 11 God judges everyone the same. It doesn’t matter who they are.
12 People who have the law and those who have never heard of the law are all the same when they sin. People who don’t have the law and are sinners will be lost. And, in the same way, those who have the law and are sinners will be judged by the law. 13 Hearing the law does not make people right with God. They will be right before him only if they always do what the law says.
14 Those who are not Jews don’t have the law. But when they naturally do what the law commands without even knowing the law, then they are their own law. This is true even though they don’t have the written law. 15 They show that in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, the same as the law commands, and their consciences agree. Sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done wrong, and this makes them guilty. And sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done right, and this makes them not guilty.
16 All this will happen on the day when God will judge people’s secret thoughts through Jesus Christ. This is part of the Good News that I tell everyone.
Inspirational

Dance Before the Lord With all Your Heart

Posted on by Marla
Ark of God secure once more…
David danced before the Lord…
He was met with ridicule and scorn, by the daughter of the king.
David’s heart did not lament
He danced all the more for God, as he went…
Heart and spirit completely free…
It was for God alone, he danced to please…
A truer heart there could not be,
Than the heart of David who would be king.
David danced with all his might, jumping twirling,
O glorious sight…
Trumpets blowing, no terror or fright
Glory to God in the Highest was meant
Not for men, but for love of Him, David leapt and sent,
Up worship and praise, for his heart was bent, towards heaven’s domain.
So smirk if you must and hide your face
But God in his mercy and loving grace…
Gives David his royal, rightful place…
Within the palace walls he’ll replace
A would be king who fell from grace…
Disobedience and pride, disgraced.
Do not mock the anointed of the Lord
Dance David, dance once more.
Freedom, Victory, give it all you’ve got…
This time in history is your one shot…
To dance before the Lord with all your heart!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 31, 2017
13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. 2 Samuel 6:13-23 NIV
Inspirational

Perpetual Light

Posted on by Marla
God the Father, Jesus the Son, Holy Spirit
Leading, guiding day and night…
You, the three; Tree of life…
Continuous life force…
Apples and almonds, nourishing delight
Soul bearer, heart mender, total, complete, insight
Oil burning never extinguished
Softly burning all through the night
A constant, holy fire, Living Creator, ignite…
Your wick never burns low…
Perpetual flow
Giver of the light…
Dispelling darkness…
Until Sun of righteousness comes
And Day-Star appears…
Menorah…
God’s eternal life, is here.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 31, 2017
Exodus 25:31-40 “You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower– and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”
The Almond
Almond in Hebrew means “the awakening one”, because the almond tree was the first tree to awake from the sleep of winter and blossom. It spoke of the speedy and powerful result of light.