Little word big meaning

Good evening!  I wrote this a couple nights ago before I had this inkling to start up a blog, so where better to share this than right here.

So I was sitting alone in my apartment, which seems to be a common practice these days, thinking of something to do.  Not because I didn’t have anything to do – I had plenty (Laundry, dishes, cleaning etc etc.).  But they weren’t things that I WANTED to do.  So I sat there on the couch in silence when all of a sudden I jolted awake.  I had only been asleep for about 45 minutes but that was 45 minutes where I could have been doing something productive.  It was then that I realized that those minutes hadn’t been wasted.  God had placed in my heart something that I wanted to remember, so I wrote it down.

“Resist”.  Defined: to withstand the force of something.

Resist? What could I possibly be resisting??

I pondered this for a while and started writing down a list of things that I could be “resisting”.  As I looked hard at the page of scribbled down words there was one written very nicely, not in my hand writing, in all capitals, traced and re-traced.  “HIM”.  I don’t remember writing it or thinking it; but there it was written boldly on my page.  So how was I resisting “HIM”?

I kept thinking to myself “I attend church regularly, I worship, I try to study the Bible as much as possible; I fall short in a lot of areas but I am still growing.”  I look at me a year ago and now I barely recognize myself.  I thought I was doing pretty good.  I had my life pretty well planned out, I knew what I wanted and where I wanted it.  I had a new job, a new outlook on life, old friends left and new friends came.  I was finally starting to really transform into something great, or so I thought.  I knew that there were some things in my life that I wanted more than anything but what was standing in my way?

And there it was…plain as day, plain as the words written in a book, black and white, hitmelikeatonofbricks…“me”.  Now who could have seen that one coming?

I was quickly becoming my own worst enemy.  It’s quite simple because I was the one letting it happen.  I thought I knew how my life was supposed to turn out- I was trying to create my own plan for my life and was resisting the one that God already had for me.  I was resisting because I couldn’t see what His whole plan was and that scared me.  I struggle with the unknown a lot; I am a planner; but I’m starting to think I should just stick to helping others plan their events and leave mine to the big guy.  I think it is time for me to come to grips that I have control issues (really they only shine when I am in a vehicle and I am not the one behind the wheel but that’s another story for a different date).  Trusting in the Lord and having faith in His plans poses as a constant battle for me. So where do I go from here, you ask?

I have challenged myself with a project for this upcoming week.  It’s called “try to resist resistance” (no pun intended).  I encourage everyone to try this.  Write down on a piece of paper the things that you find yourself resisting and meditate on the issues that you really struggle with.  Pray about them.  Change them.  And above else know that Gods plans for our lives are much greater than anything we could have imagined or planned…put your trust in Him for He knows the plans He has for us.

#ResistResistance #havefaith

Well, this is a big question Iryna, so I’ll do my best to answer it clearly and briefly!

First I’ll talk about form:
‘Large’ and ‘big’ are both regular adjectives…
Their comparative forms are ‘larger’ and ‘bigger’,
Their superlative forms are ‘largest’ and ‘biggest’.

‘Big’ is a very common word in both written and spoken English; in fact, it’s in the top 1,000 most frequently used words.
‘Large’, on the other hand, is a less frequently used word and doesn’t even make it into the top 3,000 most frequently used words in English.

Now, onto the question of meaning…
The general meaning of both ‘large’ and ‘big’ is:
‘of more than average size/amount/weight/height’ etc.
For example:
‘Iryna has got a well-paid job and can afford to live in a house’ — OR…
‘Iryna lives in a large house’.

In these examples, both ‘big’ and ‘large’ mean that Iryna’s house is of more than average size. Although ‘big’ and ‘large’ both mean the same in these examples, ‘large’ sounds a little more formal.

Neither ‘large’ nor ‘big’ can be used with uncountable nouns.
This means, we can say:
‘The house has a (big or large) garden’ — because ‘garden’ is countable.
However, we can’t use ‘big’ or ‘larg’ with ‘traffic’, because ‘traffic’ is uncountable.
With uncountable nouns, you can use ‘a lot of’ — for example:
‘There’s a lot of traffic on the road next to the house.’
So, although ‘large’ and ‘big’ are often interchangeable, sometimes they are not.

So next, I’ll try and give you some examples of when this is the case…

‘Big’ can mean ‘important’, for example:
‘Buying a house is a very big decision’.
It can also be used in informal situations to mean ‘older’, for example:
‘He’s my big brother’…
as well as ‘successful’ or ‘powerful’, for example:
‘York is a big tourist destination’.

Also in informal situations, we can use ‘big’ to mean ‘doing something to a large degree’, for example:
‘She earns a lot of money, but she’s also a big spender’ — OR…
‘I’m a big fan of yours’.

‘Big’ is used in a lot of fixed phrases, and because these phrases are fixed, to change ‘big ‘to ‘large’ would sound wrong. Examples of fixed phrases using ‘big’ include:
‘It’s no big deal’ — it’s not really important.
‘I have big ideas for this house’ — impressive plans for the future.
‘She’s a big mouth’ — a person who can’t be trusted to keep a secret.
‘He’s too big for his boots’ — too proud of himself.

There are also some fixed phrases using ‘large’.
Examples include:
‘The prisoners are at large’ — they have escaped and may cause harm.
‘She’s larger than life’ — more exciting or amusing than most people.

Finally, quantity words….
‘large’, more often than ‘big’, is used with the following quantity words:
‘a large amount’, ‘on a large scale’, ‘a large number of’, ‘a large quantity of’, ‘a large proportion’, ‘to a large extent’, ‘a large percentage of’, ‘a large part of’, ‘a large volume’ and ‘a large area’.

So……a very big — or large — question, Iryna! I hope this has helped a little!

Have you ever wondered where the alphabet comes from? The first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are “aleph” and “bet”. But it is the first letter and the last letter that are used to denote the alphabet in shorthand… as we might write “ABC” for our alphabet, in Hebrew, “את” can be used: the first letter “aleph” (א) and the last letter, “tav” (ת).
Together these two letters spell a little word, “et” (את), that cannot be translated into any language. It’s basically a way to link verbs and specific nouns, in a way unique to Hebrew. But this tiny word has a special purpose. We can see in the very first sentence of the Bible how full of meaning it can be.

In the beginning God created ‘et’ …בָּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת

Before mentioning the heavens and the earth that God created, the Hebrew text says that God created “את”…This little word comes inbetween the action of creating and the heavens and the earth that were created. Rabbi Dov Ber explains the use of the word את in Genesis 1:1 in Or Torah,[1]:
“Et is an untranslatable word used to indicate that “a definite direct object is next” (so there needs to be an et before the heavens and the earth).” The Hebrew text literally reads: In the beginning, created God את the heavens and את the earth.
As “את” denotes the Hebrew alphabet, he reasons, “In the beginning God created the Aleph-Bet. Since God did this before creating the heavens and the earth, the letters are considered to be the primordial ‘building blocks’ of all of creation.”

We could say that in the beginning God created … את: the alphabet

God created the capacity for words and language. And then he SPOKE all of creation into being with words. Which are formed with letters. Each aspect of creation was called into being with words from God, and today we speak of the the DNA ‘language’ that runs through creation. God not only gave us his word in the Scriptures, but he gave us his Word made flesh, who dwelt among us. And in Hebrews 1:3 we see that,

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

In Jewish thought there are four levels of creation in the Genesis account:

1. – inanimate matter (rocks, minerals, waters and so on)
2. – vegetative matter, which can grow and reproduce
3. – animal life, with willful motion and a voice,
4. – but only the fourth layer of creation, humanity, can grow, reproduce, move as they wish and also use language.

Only humanity was created in the “image of God” – and with that, the power of creative speech. Words can create, words give us power to change things, to communicate, to form relationships, connections, and to develop our world in a way that the rest of creation is unable to. This gift also gives us the blessing of communicating with God. We can read his word, we can hear him, and we can speak to him in prayer. Language and letters are gifts that help us to relate to our creator.
Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for inanimate matter means “mute” or “silent” which gives the impression that the capacity to speak is there, but just repressed! It made me think of the Triumphal Entry when people cheered Jesus coming into Jerusalem. The Pharisees told Jesus to shut them up.

“I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

In Isaiah 44:23 creation is commanded to lift its voice:

“Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.” and Psalm 92:12 says “Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.”

We know that all of creation is groaning for redemption, and who knows whether plants and rocks will also burst into praise one glorious day?!

We could also say that in the beginning God created… את: A-Z – everything that there is!

A-Z is a sort of catch-all expression – the whole kit and caboodle. “Without him nothing was made that has been made” as John would say. That means that if by some crazy chance there are aliens anywhere (although I very much doubt that there are) we can be sure they were created by our Father God. Each and every molecule, atom, fibre, chemical, cell… all comes from his creative power. And as such, all things – ALL things – are under his power. He made them, and they belong to him.
Dr Vernon McGee put it nicely: “This is God’s universe, and God does things his way. Now you may have a better way… but you don’t have a universe”.
As the world seems to be being shaken, we can hang on to the fact that God is in control. He has not abandoned us, forsaken us, or disappeared. He has not forgotten his creation, but is deeply in love with what he has made, and doesn’t not take his eyes off us for a second. We can become confused as to why he makes the choices he seems to be making, but the fact remains that the universe belongs to him. If we believe the Bible, we can also hang on to the fact that he is perfectly good and perfectly wise. He does know what he is doing, even though there may be times when we might not understand or agree with him.
He is often called the LORD of hosts in scripture. In Hebrew that literally means the LORD of armies. I knew a rabbi who pointed out that ‘army’ means a large group assembled to carry out a purpose, aligned together and acting together to accomplish a task. He said that is what atoms and molecules do. When we think of the LORD of hosts, we can think of the One who created and knitted all of life together to function in the way that it does – not only for battle, but for simply perpetuating creation. The starry hosts – and the hosts of all creation. It was all perfectly made and designed to work together beautifully, by our ingenious and creative Father. He made it all, he orchestrates it, and he owns it. The whole kit and caboodle.

We could say that in the beginning God created… את – the beginning and the end: time itself

Time exists, but only because God made it so. It has a beginning and and end, and inbetween is HIS story. He and he alone knows how it all really began, and he and he alone knows how he reconcile all things to himself at the end. He has told us a lot about the beginning and the end, but they are some of the hardest parts of the Bible for us limted human beings to grapple with. But God is not struggling to grapple with these weighty issues – they are firmly within his grasp. He wrote each day before one of them came to be. He is in no doubt at all about how the world came to be, or what will happen on and after judgement day. The Almighty God who always has been, and who always will be, holds the keys of eternity.
He is the author of time. He is the ancient of days. He has power over life and death, and he knows very well that this fallen and broken earth is not all that there is. He has planned so much more. But we know from his word that things will get much worse before he wraps all creation up like a scroll and brings in the new heavens and the new earth. Daniel is told in chapter 12:1-4

“There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wisewill shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.”

What a mighty God we serve

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I live by many beliefs, but one belief seems to stick more than others. This belief is “Words are the most powerful weapons of appreciation or destruction.” I know this belief I live by through first-hand experience. I hope to see others learn this belief and live by the belief too so the world may be better.

When I was growing up with my older sister, I seemed to forget at times that I had to live, share, and be around my sister twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. As a little child, we fought constantly. I know and she knows that we both were at fault for fighting, but we always made up. When I was little, I could not understand the horrid feelings that came with the word hate. I thought hate was one of the worst words in my vocabulary as a five year old. Finally, I thought I was pushed to my limits when my sister and I were fighting. I ended up saying those three little words to my own sister: “I hate you.” My sister and I did not talk to each other. At age five, one hour seems like years. Finally, I would put a little message for my sister saying, “I want to talk.” Seeing as we shared one room, we could not avoid each other. We finally met and sat. Once again, three little words that seemed to have no meaning changed the situation: “I am sorry.” At a feeble age, little words seem to mean so much. Even today, I know not to use hateful words with so much power because in the end, I could never hate my sister. She is always there for me, and we will live and grow old together. My sister and I always sit and look back at our childhood together. Sure, fighting was definitely in our memories, but the good outweighed the bad. The time we got to spend together was priceless.

Even at age fifteen now, most people may say that words are meaningless and cannot hurt, but I disagree. When I am having a bad day and need to vent my anger, my sister seems to be there. When I ask for help, my parents are always there. Anyone at anytime is always there for me, and yes, even my cats are there for me. Simple talks can make the worst day turn for the better. Overall, words can affect someone positively or negatively. The strength behind words can hurt, pain, and even kill, or words can help and save. All words have meaning. Size does not matter for words. The feelings with words are important; therefore, words are the most powerful weapons of appreciation or destruction.