Angels Watching Over Me

My friend was in a car accident yesterday and it reminded me of something that happened to me about 4 years ago. Miracles happen every day, yet we refuse to acknowledge them.

My husband and I were in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, enjoying a vacation with my father and mother-in-law. We decided to go out for a drive one evening thinking the old boy (my husband) would be doing the driving, however, father-in-law decided HE would drive, and that is usually not a good thing. Let's just say that his eyesight is very bad, his reflexes have slowed down considerably, and I have said many a desperate prayer while being chauffeured around by him! 

The old boy was up in the front seat and I was in the back, chatting with my mother-in-law, when we came to a busy intersection. It was dark by now, and I looked up suddenly to see the old boy grab the steering wheel and jerk the car over as I felt a large bump. It all happened so fast, and as dad slowly pulled the car over, they were discussing how bad the damage would be because we had hit another car. I was sure that we had hit no one and said so! It had happened right where I was sitting and we had only gone over the curb of the cement island that separated the lanes, but they insisted that we had hit the other car. 

Meanwhile, the other car involved turned around, came back, and all of the men went over to look at it. They kept going back and forth between vehicles, looking at the damage, but lo and behold, there was none! There was not a scratch on either vehicle! 

The other man had just bought his car the day before, so he was very relieved, as you can imagine. The guys were all visibly surprised and shaking their heads. They were positive we had collided. As the men were checking out the car, us women were talking together. The other driver's wife was a sweet, Southern woman and we talked about what a blessing it was that no one was hurt. She was obviously a Christian, and we were all very thankful to the Lord.

The men all shook hands and we got back into our cars. As we drove off, I made a point to say how blessed we were that nothing had happened to us or to that man's brand new car and how amazing it was, considering how they were all so sure we had hit each other... oh, but now the men's story had changed!!!

They now said, "After all, we did not hit him, we only went over the curb!"

Right. :)

Psalms 34:7 (KJV)

7 The angel of the Lord encampeth

round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

  

Well done!

When you're doing your earthly job to glorify God, do not be surprised if you are totally ignored and rejected. Most times, there will be no acknowledgement or thank you at all. In fact, many times, you will encounter people pushing you away and treating you suspiciously. You will most certainly be treated as an inferior person and will be left to do plenty of dirty jobs the others do not want to do.

This is how our Abba Father teaches us to be humble and to only serve Him. This is how we learn to totally trust in Him and how we learn to be just like Yeshua/Jesus.

Philippians 2:3-11 (Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern)
" 3 Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves- 4 look out for each other's interests and not just for your own.
5 Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua:
6 Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
something to be possessed by force.
7 On the contrary, he emptied himself,  

in that he took the form of a slave
by becoming like human beings are.
And when he appeared as a human being,
8 he humbled himself still more
by becoming obedient even to death-
death on a stake as a criminal!
9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place
and gave him the name above every name;
10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua,
every knee will bow-
in heaven, on earth and under the earth-
11 and every tongue will acknowledge
that Yeshua the Messiah is ADONAI-
to the glory of God the Father."

If one is looking for accolades, one is not truly humbling oneself. Yeshua/Jesus certainly understands the hurt and sorrow felt when His children are ignored and treated badly, but we can take comfort that He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  We can be glad that He alone is glorified and well pleased with us!

Oh Abba Father,
Please encourage the ones who are working so very hard right now and feeling hopeless. Please encourage their hearts that you, the Creator of the Universe, see the hard work and are well pleased. Give us hearts to worship you in everything we do and please give us your shalom and joy, no matter how this world treats us. All glory, honor, power, thanks, and praise unto you, Most High Elohim!

In Yeshua's mighty Name! Amein.

Never Forget

I was listening to a teaching recently and the person brought up a very good point. He said that we must always remember that our Heavenly Father is watching us. When we forget this, we stumble.

In this day and age, we have cameras everywhere. It can be quite unnerving to realize we are being watched everywhere we go, but we tend to take for granted that the King of the Universe has His eye on us 24/7.

Who am I living my life for right now, I ask myself? Where does my motivation come from? Am I living a righteous life in order to be pleasing to my Lord? Am I trying to do good in order to bring honor to His Name? Am I doing my part in our relationship by trying to please Him?

Ah, yes, these are the tough questions, yet we must get so close to Him that it is just a matter of fact that He is watching us. We must keep looking for Him, as well...everywhere!

We must never forget that the whole world is watching us and we may be the only Yeshua (Jesus) that they see, but let us remember that pleasing and loving Him should be the only thing that motivates us.

Psalms 26 (Complete Jewish Bible)

​1 (0) By David:
(1) Vindicate me, ADONAI,
for I have lived a blameless life;
unwaveringly I trust in ADONAI.
2 Examine me, ADONAI, test me,
search my mind and heart.
3 For your grace is there before my eyes,
and I live my life by your truth.
4 I have not sat with worthless folks,
I won't consort with hypocrites,
5 I hate the company of evildoers,
I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence
and walk around your altar, ADONAI,
7 lifting my voice in thanks
and proclaiming all your wonders.
8 ADONAI, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory abides.
9 Don't include me with sinners
or my life with the bloodthirsty.
10 In their hands are evil schemes;
their right hands are full of bribes.    
11 As for me, I will live a blameless life.
Redeem me and show me favor.
12 My feet are planted on level ground;
in the assemblies I will bless ADONAI."

Reflecting His Character

You can speak the so called "true Names" all you want, but what good does it do if we are not reflecting Yeshua's character?

Acts 19:13-17 (CJB)*

Then some of the Jewish exorcists who traveled from place to place tried to make use of the name of the Lord Yeshua in connection with people who had evil spirits. They would say, "I exorcise you by the Yeshua that Sha'ul [Paul] is proclaiming!" One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol [high priest] named Skeva were doing this; and the evil spirit answered them. It said, "Yeshua I know. And Sha'ul I recognize. But you? Who are you?" Then the man with the evil spirit fell upon them, overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran from the house, naked and bleeding.
 When all this became known to the residents of Ephesus, fear fell on all of them, Jews and Greeks alike; and the name of the Lord Yeshua came to be held in high regard.

Some people use their choice of God's literal name like it is magic. They show very little of His qualities, however.

Yeshua walked in total obedience to His Father.

He wept
He was moved by compassion
He was humble
He distanced Himself and prayed
He was full of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)
He was merciful
He had a zeal for His Father's house and His word
He had great love
He was wise
He was honest

I could go on, but you get the point. Why should the demons care about what name we use if we are not full of our Father's Holy Spirit and a reflection of Him? A man's/woman's name is his/her reputation.

Whose "name" are we reflecting today?

We are told and shown over and over again in the Word exactly what kind of anointing we are to be walking in, but it will never happen until we lay down our flesh, take seriously our walk with Messiah, and develop His characteristics.

* Always compare paraphrased versions of the Bible with other trusted versions, such as the King James. It is good to study the original language to get a better understanding of the Word, too

Learning to Be Weak

Yes, indeed! I tell you, when you were younger, you put on your clothes and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. " John 21:18 (CJB) 

I do not like to take verses out of context, but I remember the first time this one popped into my head. My father had a botched operation and could not swallow for a month. I watched my sweet, kind, dad turn into a mad man before my very eyes, hitting nurses, cussing us out, and repeating over and over again, "I just want to go home." We finally had to restrain him much of the time and it was absolutely heartbreaking! That verse started coming into my head quite often after that because for the next four months, he constantly spoke only of going home, and had to go from hospital to nursing home in order to get better.

As a home health care aide, I work with people who are suffering because of illness or dementia and old age, and have learned that this is a common thing to hear, "I just want to go home." I have to dress these dear people, bath them, feed them, and do many other things that I will not speak of, but you get the idea. Do you think they like it that I have to do this? No! As hard as I may try to help people keep their dignity, many times I come home with hair missing, scratches, and bruises because people hate losing their ability to do things for themselves. They are not fighting me - they are fighting their loss of independence and control of their lives. After all, don't we spend most of our lives trying to be strong like the "world" tells us to?

The day will come when I will eventually be in this state, whether it be illness, old age, or perhaps the  possibility of prison or captivity of some sort. How will I handle it, I wonder? I pray I always remember what Paul said:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
but he told me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness." Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah's power will rest upon me. Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong.

Learning how to be weak is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I hope I get it right one day.

Peter Knew Messiah

Peter knew Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah and the Son of God:

Matthew 16:16 (CJB)
Shim'on Kefa [Peter] answered, "You are the Mashiach [Messiah],the Son of the living God."

When Peter denied Yeshua, he never said that Yeshua was not Messiah. He just denied being with Him. Peter kind of brushed these people off when they asked him about seeing him with Yeshua. He definitely tried to distanced himself from the Messiah. If he had denied Yeshua as the Son of God and Messiah, He would not have wept bitterly when the cock crowed. He would not have cared.

Yeshua kept Peter from falling when He prayed for him well in advance:

Luke 22:31-34 (ESV) 
 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

After this happened, Peter's heart was broken and he repented. We can see that there is hope if we have denied Yeshua, or distanced ourself from Him. We need to quickly repent and ask Him to please forgive us. The good news is, He will!  If you are wondering about this, and your heart is breaking , you have not denied Yeshua as Messiah, but have probably made the same mistake Peter did. Please do not play games though. You may be in danger of honestly rejecting Him, so turn to Him (repent) right away, please!

Some have simply plain out rejected Yeshua in every way. This is a different matter completely. They have no trust in Him and do not acknowledge Him as Messiah in any way, shape or form. They have no relationship with Him and obviously never did! Peter knew Yeshua as Messiah and the Son of God. He knew Him, loved Him and served Him. Even more important...Yeshua knew and loved Peter!

You can read about Peter denying Yeshua in Matthew 26: 69-75

Lesson of the Lost Rings

One time I lost my wedding rings. It was just awful. The old boy was sooo upset and I was too, but not like he was. He is very sentimental.

We searched everywhere, but could not find them. It was Passover and the old boy is not a believer as I am, so I left for a Seder meal at my friend's house. My husband kept looking while I was gone but came up with nothing. He was so hurt, it broke my heart! As we lay down to go to sleep, He was very quiet and I felt so sad. I prayed fervently for the Lord to help me find those rings. I said, " Lord, if you could make a coin come out of a fish's mouth, surely you can find my rings -please?" I decided that He was my only hope and with that, I went to sleep.

The next morning, I went to throw a small plastic bag away that we had looked in several times. I thought that I would look one more time and lo and behold, the rings fell out!!! I yelled "HalleluYah!"  And my husband came running into the room and could not believe that those rings were found! We were absolutely stunned because we both knew we had looked in every crevice of that bag...why would they be in there anyway?

I am very thankful for this incident because I was totally weak in this matter. I had to rely on my Heavenly Father to help me. I also had to make the choice to trust Him no matter what happened. I felt peace when I put it in His hands. It was a good learning experience for me and I will remember it in the hard days ahead. I am thankful that it was His will for me to find those rings and He had mercy.

Peter exercised his faith when he stepped out of the boat. Yes, he was not perfect and made the mistake of taking his eyes off from Yeshua/Jesus and looked at the storm,  but Messiah had mercy on him and helped him get back up and walk on water!

I do not believe in "blab it and grab it" theology. I know it is HIS perfect will that must be done and He loves us and wants us to trust in Him. We must never stop believing and trusting in the Elohim that led His children through the wilderness and parted the sea! He has a good reason for the things He does and has all of the answers for every one of our needs.

We must be willing to step out of that boat and trust Him even when it looks like there is no hope! We may just be amazed at the wonderful way He does things for us. I have learned to thank Him no matter what, because His ways are not our ways and many times we do not understand them until much later on...down the road.

Keep on exercising your faith so it will stand strong in the hard days ahead!

~ You can read about Peter walking on water in Mathew 14, starting around verse 22.
~ You can read about the coin in the fish's mouth in Mathew 17 starting around verse 24

I Must Decrease

I have found that the best way to overcome problems in my life is to get my mind off from myself and get it on to somebody else, namely, Yeshua or someone in need. After all, He said that when we help the least of these, we are really ministering to Him and this is part of "seeking first the Kingdom" which naturally sets things in order in our lives.

This works really well if someone has hurt you. Instead of rehashing it over and over again in your mind, try praying for Abba to bless that person, or think of something nice to do or say to them. If you can't be nice to them, try to bless somebody at least! We spend way too much time thinking about ourselves and our problems when we need to concentrate on Yeshua and His Kingdom. This is the natural way things get worked out in our lives, not the worldly, psychological way.

I have tried to make this a habit because I have found that before you know it, the hurt feels better and I am much happier inside ~

The Wasted Emotion

Jealousy is a wasted emotion. When I get tempted to be jealous, I remember this passage:

John 21:18-23 (CJB)
Yes, indeed! I tell you, when you were younger, you put on your clothes and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. " He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Kefa [Peter] would bring glory to God. Then Yeshua said to him," Follow me! "
 Kefa [Peter] turned and saw the talmid [disciple] Yeshua especially loved following behind, the one who had leaned against him at the supper and had asked," Who is the one who is betraying you? " On seeing him, Kefa said to Yeshua," Lord, what about him? " Yeshua said to him," If I want him to stay on until I come, what is it to you? You, follow me! " Therefore the word spread among the brothers that that talmid would not die. However, Yeshua didn't say he wouldn't die, but simply," If I want him to stay on until I come, what is it to you? "

I think the disciples must have naturally been a little jealous of John since he was so close to Yeshua. Yeshua's answer to Peter when he asks about John (the disciple that Yeshua "loved") says it all, " If I want him to stay on until I come, what is it to you? You, follow me! "

" You, follow me! " If we are following Him and pleasing our Father, that is the best thing to do and we have no need for jealousy because we can have absolute assurance that we are pleasing our Creator! After all, that is the very reason we have been created! The King James Version says this best:

Revelation 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

For His pleasure is the reason we were created and if pleasing Him is our only concern, there will be no room for jealousy!

Wanting HIM

Six years ago, on Mother's Day, I walked out of the traditional church I was attending and never looked back. Please do not take me wrong....honoring our mother is a very wonderful thing! There is nothing wrong with it and it is one of our Father's commandments, but today, as I see people denying the Messiah and the world going to hell, full of lawlessness (which is sin) and death, I feel the same way I did that day the pastor spoke 1 or 2 verses about moms, then handed out roses, never once lifting up the Name of our Messiah...Jesus, who's Hebrew name is "Yeshua" which means Salvation. I do not care what people think of me. I only care about HIM. I only want HIM. I am nothing without HIM...Yeshua, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world who leads me to my Father, who has baptized me with the fire of the Holy Spirit. 

Counting the Cost

I am reading the book, "The Heavenly Man" about Chinese brother, Yun, who went through so much because of his faith. He endured horrible torture and was put in prison 4 different times. Abba Father was very faithful to him and he witnessed many miracles including walking out of prison without the guards even seeing him! One thing I have taken note of and feel it is important to remember. The Chinese government often used spies that acted as believers to find out about the underground churches. Even while brother Yun was in prison, the government would plant false believers as prisoners in his cell to try to find out more info on other believers and house churches.

I know people tune me out and think I am off my rocker because I have said this for so long, but the day is coming when we very well may be in this position ourselves. We know that history repeats itself and these things start very slowly until the next thing you know, believers must go underground to worship the Lord. We will probably not have our Bibles anymore. We will probably be treated like criminals. We can see that true faith is being wiped out of the public square and people are being persecuted and prosecuted for taking a stand for Yeshua/Jesus. This is only the beginning of a much bigger tsunami looming on the horizon.

As I read brother Yun's testimony, I feel very convicted and I ask myself if I can endure this kind of torment. Quite frankly, I cannot. I must trust that if Yeshua told me to take up my cross and follow Him, that He certainly will give me the strength when I need it. He is always right on time - HIS time. Meanwhile, I am going to do everything I can to be spiritually fit for the evil days I see ahead. I want my lamp to be full of oil! I can see we must really be exercised in the gift of discernment. Even now, there are people who have given themselves nice, religious names and know how to talk the talk, but they are fakes. They do not walk the walk. Some have evil motives and do not really follow the Shepherd. Yeshua said:
John 10:1-5 (Complete Jewish Bible) 
 "Yes, indeed! I tell you, the person who doesn't enter the sheep- pen through the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the one who goes in through the gate is the sheep's own shepherd. This is the one the gate- keeper admits, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out. After taking out all that are his own, he goes on ahead of them; and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They never follow a stranger but will run away from him, because strangers 'voices are unfamiliar to them."

We must never, ever deny Yeshua! We must never, ever bow to anyone other than Him and we must know the difference between our Shepherd and a wolf in sheep's clothing.

I remember the old song:

Lord, you are more precious than silver,
Lord, you are more costly than gold,
Lord you are more beautiful than diamonds,
And there's nothing I desire compares with You!

Thou Art the Potter

My husband and I were on our way home from our vacation. We happened to pick a small, family-owned, Christian restaurant for breakfast. I won't say the name of the restaurant, but it showed this scripture underneath it:
Isaiah 64:8 (KJV)
But now, O Lord, thou art our father;
We are the clay, and thou our potter;
and we all are the work of thy hand.

I noticed that the waitresses were wearing T-shirts with mostly "Old" Testament verses. The old boy even noticed and commented that this must be a Christian restaurant. Our waitress was wearing a shirt that said, "God's love never fails",  with these verses referenced :
Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)
It is of the Lord 's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
 They are new every morning:great is thy faithfulness.

I began to read the menu and found that the only thing I could hope to eat that was not full of pork were the eggs and pancakes. I was quite annoyed, since who knows if they were fried in bacon grease. It made me very unhappy to think that more and more people seem to idolize bacon now! I began to wonder why these people did not read ALL of the "Old" Testament? What about the Sabbath???!!! The Sabbath is today! It is one of the 10 commandments, so why are they opened today???

....Uh oh! That's right! Today is Saturday, the seventh day, the Sabbath...uh, Shabbat Shalom? Remember? Yes, it was that awful moment when the rest of my fingers were pointing back at me and I felt that very, very sick feeling in my gut.  What was I doing here? Why was I pointing out their mistakes while ignoring my own? What made me so much better then them?

You see, I was too lazy to boil up some eggs before we left and make sure we had some juice, cheese and fruit to have a nice little breakfast with my husband. I have done this on other trips we have taken in order to rest and to spend as little money as possible on Shabbat, but my nerves were shot, I reasoned. Hadn't I been through enough trying to get along with family, observe the Sabbaths and Passover, not to mention, having a talk with my relative about why I do not accept Easter candy etc. etc....?

The truth is, I chose to disobey Adonai's commandment and even worse, began to criticize people who truly love God and were honestly doing the only things they knew to do in order to spread His love.

I could not finish my pancakes, and asked Abba Father to please forgive me.

Later that night, after we arrived home, I read something that a sister wrote and it hit home immediately. There are no coincidences with our God! Here is a quote from the article:

"What good would it have done to judge Paul before his Damascus Road experience? We know his eyes had to be supernaturally opened. Paul was a scholar from Tarsus, the creme de la creme of Pharisaic Judaism, he had to fall a long way in order to be humbled -- which is why I believe YHVH* waited so long to open his eyes. You see, when we judge the people who have less revelational truth than we do, we are really judging the One who gives that revelation, for not working according to our timetable." ~ Elizabeth TylerDawn Rosenquist

Oh, Abba! I am a piece of work! What a hard, lump of clay I am. Please do not stop molding me and I will try to be more pliable in your hands! Blessing, Glory and Honor to you. In Yeshua's** name.

* Hebrew letters or "tetragrammaton" for the name of God
** Hebrew name of Jesus

My Pagan Vacation

I love snow, but after the tremendous amount we received this winter, I was eagerly anticipating a much needed vacation. My in-laws (who shall be referred to as "the folks" from now on) and the old boy and I are spending 2 weeks in sunny Florida. They have graciously provided a place for us to stay for which I am very thankful.

Sometime in the middle of February I realized that we would be arriving on the day of Passover and it would also be the feast of Unleavened Bread. It would also be the season of Easter and my husband's birthday! Alarm bells started going off in my head like crazy! It is hard enough to honor Sabbath when no one else does, not to mention these 2 appointed times. I am not big on birthdays either as I do not see them celebrated in the Bible, however, I am sure this is highly debatable, so I decided not to worry so much about that and to concentrate on Shabbat (Sabbath) and observing Passover. I have brought my matza to eat so I can abstain from eating bread in order to observe the feast of unleavened bread (see Leviticus 23 please).

How can I do this with out offending my Easter loving family, I wondered? Would this cause problems with my relationship with the old boy and the folks? Oh, and let's not forget about eating kosher... they are very kind people, but I am sure that they probably think I have gone off the deep end!

Well, we arrived here separately. The folks got here a day later which solved the Passover problem. We had a number of hurdles to cross when checking into our room, and arrived very late, but I managed to have my own little Seder, which is the traditional meal for Passover. It wasn't what I would have wished for, but I felt I did the best I could despite so many obstacles put in my way!

Today is Easter and I woke up to a large glass full of Easter candy and a large chocolate Easter bunny. Today is the day I officially declare my faith and prayerfully take a stand for what I see as truth. You see, the Holy Spirit has convicted me. During prayer, He clearly showed me that I was doing my family no favors by avoiding them. It is time to take a stand no matter how many problems it causes!

I am praying that Abba Father is working on their hearts to receive my loving response to their celebration candy. I am praying that they understand how much I love Yeshua...who they know as "Christ", which seems like such a cold name to me now! I pray that Yeshua is who they see in me and that I would not cause Him shame.

I know there are no coincidences with our God and He does things His way and in His time.

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (Complete Jewish Bible) 
but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
 So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord's work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.

Growing Up

 Hebrews 5:12-14
For although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the very first principles of God's Word all over again! You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who has to drink milk is still a baby, without experience in applying the Word about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by continuous exercise to distinguish good from evil.

Children point fingers and call each other names.
Mature believers simply walk away and examine truth.

Children run to their parents and "tell on" their brother or sister when they feel wronged by them.
Mature believers ask Abba what they could have done better and how they can let go and forgive.

Children sulk and cry. They feel sorry for themselves.
Mature believers die to themselves and look for someone to bless and share the love of Yeshua with.

Children are selfish and care only about how things affect them.
Mature believers remember the golden rule. They try to remember how things have made them feel and treat others accordingly. If it hurts them, they avoid doing it to others. If it brings them joy, they pass it on.

Children run away.
Mature believers know they must conquer their problems in the situation they are in because if they don't, and they run, they will eventually encounter the same problem and have to start over from scratch.

Lastly, children are innocent and can easily be abused, cut down, deeply hurt and scarred.
Mature believers realize this but are rooted and grounded in the love of Elohim and show great mercy and grace with wisdom given from knowing they have received the same kind of love from Him.

I have been a child for way too long.

Isn't it time we all grow up?

Shalom, Shalom ~

Knowing His Voice

The best way to avoid the evil one is to learn to hear the voice of the Shepherd! Yeshua tells us exactly how to overcome and recognize the enemy by simply knowing His voice.
John 10:1-10 (Complete Jewish Bible)
"Yes, indeed! I tell you, the person who doesn't enter the sheep- pen through the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the one who goes in through the gate is the sheep's own shepherd. This is the one the gate- keeper admits, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out. After taking out all that are his own, he goes on ahead of them; and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They never follow a stranger but will run away from him, because strangers 'voices are unfamiliar to them."

Yeshua used this indirect manner of speaking with them, but they didn't understand what he was talking to them about. So Yeshua said to them again, "Yes, indeed! I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. All those who have come before me have been thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the gate; if someone enters through me, he will be safe and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.

Cure For The Lukewarm Blues

Before the old boy and I got married, he asked me a very important question. "What will we do if our love for each other begins to grow cold and die?"

I answered, " We will look back and remember all of the great times we have had and we will reminisce about them!" ...and that is what we do!

The reason I answered my husband this way, is because I learned this from reading the Bible. Many of the Psalms recall the great things Adonai has done for His people and how He has delivered them despite their sin and rebellion. All of the Psalmists often encouraged themselves in the Lord by recalling the great things Abba had done for them.

There is a reason for what is said in Deuteronomy 6:5-9
and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door- frames of your house and on your gates.

You see, not only does it teach us a proper fear and respect for our mighty God, it also reminds us of His great love and mercy for His children. When I recall even the seemingly little things Abba has done for me, it makes my heart so full of love for Him! The very fact that He would bless, help and deliver little ol' me is just astounding! He made a way for me to be clean in His eyes through His Son, Yeshua.

I love to hear the awesome things He has done for others, too. People's testimonies greatly encourage me. I never get tired of them. We must not ever be afraid to tell people what our Father has done for us because it glorifies Him and encourages others!

So now, when the old boys says, "Remember the time...." and goes on to talk about something fun, or embarrassing that happened to us...even a silly fight, it puts joy in our hearts and we suddenly find ourselves holding hands with smiles on our faces.

If you feel your relationship with Abba is growing stagnant or lukewarm, please begin to recall all of the many ways our faithful God, King of the Universe has rescued and been kind and loving to us. I am sure it will begin to rekindle the fire again!

Psalms 111
 Halleluyah!
I will wholeheartedly give thanks to ADONAI
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
 The deeds of ADONAI are great,
greatly desired by all who enjoy them.
 His work is full of majesty and splendor,
and his righteousness continues forever.
 He has gained renown for his wonders.
ADONAI is merciful and compassionate.
 He gives food to those who fear him.
He remembers his covenant forever.
 He shows his people how powerfully he works
by giving them the nations as their heritage.
 The works of his hands are truth and justice;
all his precepts can be trusted.
 They have been established forever and ever,
to be carried out truly and honestly.
 He sent redemption to his people
and decreed that his covenant should last forever.
His name is holy and fearsome-
 the first and foremost point of wisdom is the fear of ADONAI;
all those living by it gain good common sense.
His praise stands forever.

Some Trust In Chariots

Psalms 20:7 (KJV)
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Someone recently asked me to explain how I prepare physically and spiritually for the hard times I see coming. I gave the person my short answer which I will try to explain in more detail here.

I have found that the best way to prepare for times of trouble and persecution is to get very serious with our Abba and be very honest with Him. I have told Him that even though sometimes I think I am very strong and people may think and say that I am, I am actually way, way too weak to deal with the things I see coming. I have been so very afraid at times that all I could do is cry and tell Him how weak I am! Ha! Like He doesn't know that!!! After much seeking and prayer, I can say that I have peace that my God will be strong on my behalf in my times of my need, every time! Not a minute too soon. Not a minute too late!

I do not believe He is telling me to build an Ark or a Goshen at this point, and I am in no position to do either of these right at this time. I always have a little supply of food and water for emergencies as we all should. Instead, He is telling me to give to the poor and do all I can to help others. Now, if you are seriously seeking Abba about this and you are sure He is calling you to build an Ark, or a "Goshen" so to speak, you seriously need to obey Him! I know some who are, and I believe they are hearing from our Father.

The best thing is to directly ask Abba what He wants you to do and to please give you the wisdom, strength and means with which to do it. He WILL show you, but you must listen very closely for Him and get very serious about it. Most times He shows just a little bit at a time.

It is good to take time to fast...yes, I said that word that most believers hate to hear ...but seriously, there is power in fasting and praying!  Things really happen and it shows Abba that you are very serious! Fasting always involves giving up some kind of food, if not all food and even water sometimes too from what I see in the Word. It is a sad thing that people of other religions are far more faithful to fast and pray than those of us who follow Yeshua/Jesus !

Please be very, very careful that you do not put your trust in the earthly things you may have stored up! Our trust should be in Adonai (the Lord) and Him only! I cannot stress this enough. Again, the number one, best way to prepare is to have a right relationship with Yeshua and to follow Him. We must constantly stay in His "secret place" in prayer, the Word, praise, worship and thanksgiving. Corrie Ten Boom's sister, Betsie, thanked God for the fleas in the concentration camp they were in. Corrie half-heartedly went along with it, but could not understand why Abba would want them to be thankful for fleas, until she noticed that the awful prison guards stayed away because of them! This gave the women more time to preach and teach the Word to the other women who were there!

Please begin to learn as much scripture as possible because our precious Bibles may be gone one day. Learning the Word through song works best for me. Psalm 91 is my favorite passage. It encourages me and gives me hope. I know the King James Version of Psalm 91, but the Complete Jewish Bible is very beautiful as well:

Psalm 91
 You who live in the shelter of 'Elyon [Most High],
who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai [the Almighty],
 who say to ADONAI, "My refuge! My fortress!
My God, in whom I trust!"-
 he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter
and from the plague of calamities;
 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his truth is a shield and protection.
 You will not fear the terrors of night
or the arrow that flies by day,
 or the plague that roams in the dark,
or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it won't come near you.
 Only keep your eyes open,
and you will see how the wicked are punished.
 For you have made ADONAI, the Most High,
who is my refuge, your dwelling- place.
 No disaster will happen to you,
no calamity will come near your tent;
 for he will order his angels to care for you
and guard you wherever you go.
 They will carry you in their hands,
so that you won't trip on a stone.
 You will tread down lions and snakes,
young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.
 "Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows my name, I will protect him.
 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.
 I will satisfy him with long life
and show him my salvation."

Leave It In Father's Hands

Sometimes, people share things with me that I cannot comprehend because I have not been through it myself. I do feel their pain so very deeply, but feel so helpless when there are no words to comfort them. Maybe I am not supposed to comfort them, though. Maybe Abba wants to be their comfort. If He uses me, that's great, but I must learn to leave things in His hands. This can be the most difficult thing. I have often said, the worst thing I still hurt over from the death of my child is the fact that she suffered so much pain. I just cannot bear to see anybody suffering, yet I have suffered and it has been okay. Ah, that "fix it" mentality is very strong in some of us, yet there are wounds so very deep that only Yeshua can fix - but fix them, HE can!

There are a lot of things I do not understand at all. I am just a simple woman and have come to the conclusion that if a small child cannot understand some of the theology and stuff I hear talked about, perhaps it is not even meant for me to understand.

Corrie Ten Boom tells the story about how she and her father were on the train in Holland. She had been reading a book, which made her ask her daddy a question about sex. Her father thought for a little bit and told her to pick up his heavy case which was full of watch repairing equipment. She basically told her daddy that she could not pick up the bag! It was way to heavy for her!  He told her that that is the way it is with certain things in this life. They are too heavy for us, so we must let our Heavenly Father carry them.

Isaiah 42:3-4 (CJB)
He will not snap off a broken reed
or snuff out a smoldering wick.
He will bring forth justice according to truth;
 he will not weaken or be crushed
until he has established justice on the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his Torah. "

I am probably not interpreting this in the way it was intended,  but this always speaks to my heart about the kindness and gentleness of Yeshua. To me, it also puts His strength into perspective. The KJV puts it this way: "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench"

Many of us are very bruised and about ready to break. Some of us are only just a dull ember, yet He will not snuff us out! Many times, He chooses to use the ones who are just clinging to dear, spiritual life and this way, we know it is from Him! He alone gets the glory and revives our hearts once more!

Oh dear Abba Father! Please fan the flames that want to die. Please make yourself known and deliver your precious children in this cold, dark world, for how can anyone stand without You? We love you and search for you everywhere! In Yeshua's precious Name! Amein ~

Are You Weeping Today?

A friend of mine taught me something many years ago. She told me that whenever she started feeling sorry for herself or became depressed, she would start praying for others. Many times, she would bake them something or send them a note. Sometimes, it was a simple phone call with a word of encouragement for them.

It is part of life to go through sorrow, grief, sadness and depression, but I have found that when I follow my friend's advice it has not only helped others, but has actually made ME feel so much better.

This is one of the quickest ways to get over being angry with someone too. Instead of thinking about it over and over again (which does not hurt them one bit!) pray for the person. Try to do something kind for them and ask our Father to bless them. Sometimes, I have had to do this about 100 times a day, but eventually the anger leaves. This is actually very scriptural as it says in Proverbs 25:21-22:
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;
and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
and the Lord shall reward thee.

As children of the Most High, we are expected to do things differently than the way the world tells us we should do. We are expected to be a humble servant and to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters, just as Yeshua did. The world tells us to lift ourselves up, but scripture tells us:
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the right time he may lift you up. 1 Peter 5:6

The world sees us doing this and they scratch their heads and are amazed. It is totally foreign to them because we are taught to look out for number 1, but we follow Yeshua! We trust that the Lord Himself will lift us up one way or another!

Philippians 2:3-8
Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves- look out for each other's interests and not just for your own.
Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua:
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
something to be possessed by force.
On the contrary, he emptied himself,
in that he took the form of a slave
by becoming like human beings are.
And when he appeared as a human being,
he humbled himself still more
by becoming obedient even to death-
death on a stake as a criminal! 

Yes, we will struggle with sorrow, anger and grief in this world, but we must remember that Yeshua was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. The scriptures tell us that He wept, but He obeyed the Father and gave everything for us!

Are you weeping today? That's okay, but get out there and find that person who is worse off than you are and try to love and encourage them. Just try it. Ask Abba Father to show you who needs your love and care, and trust me, he will!

Celebrating His Way

I don't think anyone has ever said we are not to acknowledge Yeshua's birth or resurrection. We should be rejoicing everyday because God sent His Son to die for us and that He is alive! We run into problems when we start appointing times and using things that are forbidden by our Father to celebrate these things.

To say this is ok is like saying the big party with the golden calf was just fine. After all, it was a feast to Adonai (the Lord) as proclaimed by the priest:
Exodus 32:5 (CJB)
On seeing this, Aharon built an altar in front of it and proclaimed, "Tomorrow is to be a feast for ADONAI."
Oh yeah, we can see how happy our Father was about that!

Using the argument that the Bible does not specifically tell us that we shouldn't celebrate Yeshua's birthday or resurrection day is not a valid argument to say it is acceptable. This is purely human reasoning. For example, the scriptures do not specifically tell us that we should not pray to Mary, but we know that this is sin because scripture shows us this. The passages are too numerous to go into, but we clearly see that it is wrong simply from Deuteronomy 5:7
ב "'You are to have no other gods before me.
We need to base our arguments on the Word alone.

I would caution people that choosing specific dates (not specifically appointed by Him) is just risky and may be displeasing to our Father. This is how we run into problems. We are to follow Him and obey the appointed times just as He has set them up to the best of our ability, according to scripture. It is our fleshy, human nature to try to do things our way in order to please Abba.

John 4:23-24
But the time is coming- indeed, it's here now- when the true worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and truly, for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping him. God is spirit; and worshippers must worship him spiritually and truly. "

Now, another way we run into trouble is when we start hammering this into people's heads. I have been very, very guilty of this, so I know! I can't remove the scales off from people's eyes. It took many years of the Ruach (Spirit) tapping me on the shoulder, so to speak, before I saw this, so we can only live our life in an uncompromising way and let Him do the "hammering" if He chooses. We must never, ever compromise, but we must ask our Father to show us how to do this in the most loving way as possible.

We are living in very spiritually tricky times! We must learn to be wise like Daniel was when he was told he must eat the king's unclean food. Instead of preaching Torah in a fit of flesh and rage, he chose to be led by the Ruach (Spirit) and quietly asked the chief officer to help him , and with the help of Adonai, he did! (See Daniel 1)

Oh, and if you are one of the people being hammered and you just don't see it, try very hard to forgive your brother or sister and be patient and loving with them, too. You see, they are being worked on as well and need lots of your patience! Please remember one of my favorite and most often quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (CJB)
For now we see obscurely in a mirror,
but then it will be face to face.
Now I know partly; then I will know fully,
just as God has fully known me.
But for now, three things last-
trust, hope, love;
and the greatest of these is love.