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