Caring For His People

Our God has always been about meeting the needs of His people. When the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, they cries out to Him. He heard their cries.

Exodus 3:7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Yahuah (Lord) told Moses that He heard the cries of the people. He saw how the taskmasters had treated them. He was now going to deliver them, which He did. Once they were in the wilderness, He did not forget them. Rather, He provided for them food to eat.

Exodus 16:4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.
9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

Perhaps a very interesting lesson we can learn from this is that everyone had what they needed. This sharing of the harvest will be seen again when in acts there is the outpouring of the Spirit.

Exodus 16:17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

There will again come a time when Yahuah (Lord) will move among us. There will come again a time when we will go house to house breaking bread and living in one accord. There will again come a time when we have all things in common, and it will set the world on fire for the Messiah.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We need Your kingdom here. We need Your love and compassion among us. We need Your glory to shine that all men might see. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sin. Help us to resist temptations, and deliver us from them. Keep us in Your will. Heal us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Comfort In Small Victories

Today was a good day. My wife and I rose very early to go borrow a pick-up truck and trailer from someone in our fellowship to drive two hours to help someone else in the fellowship move. It was a great time as one of the pastors and I got to spend some windshield time together to get to know each other more and share thoughts about scripture. The single mom that we moved was happy to have the help of so many in the group. And for me, it was a chance to stay focused on what God was doing for a full day, without getting caught up in my own “busy-ness” on a day other than the Sabbath. Truly, God was with us today.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

There was something about all that transpired today. It was a true blessing to have the time to spend with people that show love toward one another. We were able to share a meal after the move. Just pizza, salad, and matzo ball soup, but it seemed like a banquet when we could all work together hand in hand.

God is good!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. You alone are worthy to be praised and honored. Let Your kingdom be received on the earth as it is in heaven. Send us Your overwhelming provision today. Forgive us when we sin and transgress Your commandments. Heal us and deliver us. And bless our fellow believers beyond measure. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Under The Eves

Our weather here has been quite the eye opener. We had enjoyed a reduced winter impact for the month of December. Alas, winter has finally returned. As I was thinking about this weather, an image came to mind for me. I could envision being crouched beneath the eves of a building in an attempt to stay out of the weather. There was a certain comfort in this image to the shelter provided by these eves. Under that overhand, as small as it was, there was less exposure to the elements. As i thought of this image it reminded me of another form scripture.

Psalms 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

Here we see the psalmist crying out to God to be hidden under His wing. This verse clearly reminds me of the feeling from the image I had. The person, me, in my image looking for shelter. The person appreciating the shelter received but clearly looking for something more than a man made eve. The idea of the perfect covering of God’s wing.

Today, as I think of what we as believers need, we need the perfect covering of our God. We need the mercy that His covering brings. We need the grace of His protection.

He alone is our comfort.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as our Protector. We need Your kingdom here in this earth, filled with that perfect covering. Send us today your abundant provision, Your prosperity. Forgive us when we sin. Heal and deliver us that we might walk in Your ways. Show us a sign for good. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Monkey Bread And Other Comforts

This morning my daughter was up bright and early. The reason… she remembered I promised to make Monkey Bread with her. If you have never had this sweet concoction, you should look it up on the web. It is very easy, and tastes delightful. It would definitely qualify as comfort food for sure. But as I think about my daughter and her eagerness to make it. I think there was an additional comfort in the mix for her. She was comforted as much by the fun of making this treat with dad as she was eating the sweets afterward. It is like that for us. We can be comforted in knowing that we get to spend time with our Father when we are involved in our lives routine.

Psalms 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Here we see that the people apparently were people that raised food from the land. When they took time to spend with God, the very land gave increase, and the people were blessed. This is just the way God has ordained things to work. Where God is, there is life and there is increase, in His time. Praise God!

Prayer
Father, we exalt you as the Most High God. You alone are worthy of all praise and honor. We love to be in Your presence, in Your kingdom here in this earth. We love and exalt You, and praise Your name, Yahuah (Lord), above all. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us when we fall short. Lift us up. We will praise Your name forever. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

God Has His Hand In Life

When evil befalls us, especially at the hands of others, it is easy for us to become concerned, confused, saddened, or any of a number of pretty negative emotions. However, if we look at the end of the entire matter, we can see God’s hand in it for good. Sometimes the end of the matter can be a long way off, even years. This is what happened to Joseph when his brother’s sold him into slavery and God made him the number two man in all of Egypt. It was so that Joseph could save His family.

Genesis 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

The challenge for me is when people suffer. It is difficult to see someone suffer and see it for good. Obviously we have many examples in the scriptures, including the death and resurrection of our Messiah, that show that suffering is meant to be, that it brings about a better ending. But it is still difficult for me, as a human, to see these things and not be distressed.

The good news is, like in the lives of Joseph and his family, we are not alone. Our God is on our side and He alone will deliver us from all our troubles.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as our King. You alone are worthy to be praised. Mold us into Your servants according to Your will, that Your kingdom would shine in the earth. Send us today Your abundant provision. Forgive us when we do what we should not, or do not do what we should. Heal our hearts and minds. Deliver us from the temptations of this life. Help us to see what You see, to see what You are doing, and to do those things. In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

What Really Matters

We woke up in the middle of the night to our daughter being sick in the bathroom in the hall. She is 11, and there is something about a child being not well that tugs at a father’s heart. I stayed with her through the night and have been nursing her back to health today, with God’s help. It occurred to me that we are meant to pattern after our Father in heaven. We are His image on the earth. He, too, cares for us when we are not as well as we could be. Parents just want to protect their children, and He is no different. In fact, it is us that get this trait from Him and us that are not different from Him. We are meant to be like Him.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God says He created us to be like Him. We are His representatives here on this planet. And He gives us the provision and ability to be that here. There is a desire from God to comfort His people. We see it in the words of the Messiah when He was entering the city.

Luke 19:37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

God’s heart is towards us, and He is with us. He longs to care for us and be our King forever.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High God. You alone are worthy to be placed on high. You alone are worthy of all our praise. You alone are King. We love You. Give us Your overwhelming provision today. Forgive us when we do not follow Your ways. Heal and deliver us. Make us whole that we might make others whole in Your name. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Waiting For Us

Our God stands with open arms, ready to receive His children. That is us. When we face challenges it is easy for us to be caught up in worrying about whether or not we will make it, whether or not there is a way out, or whether or not God still loves us. He does.

Dueteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Our God is the one with perfect love toward us all. If we would ever need to know how to love someone, all we need do is emulate Him. And what does the scripture say about what love is?

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, it does not boast, it does not become conceited, 5it does not behave dishonorably, it is not selfish, it does not become angry, it does not keep a record of wrongs,

Our God does not keep a record of wrongs. He only asks us to turn from them to Him. He will lift us up. Peter tells us that God Himself will lift us up.

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

We may struggle because we think the time has come to be lifted up. But if we will just trust in our God, He will lift us up. James also says this, and adds something more in the way of actions to take.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James gives us to bits of advice. Resist the devil to make him flee. Then, draw near to God, and He will draw near to You. God always has His arms open for us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You the Most High. You alone are our King. We need Your kingdom in our lives. We need to know that You rule. Send us Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us. Help us to resist our enemy. We want to be near You. Come be near us. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

Comfort Food

This morning I considered having biscuits with country (cream) pepper gravy. Ahhh! Comfort food, right? As the day is progressing I have come to realize that there is another type of comfort food. We can receive, and I suggest need, the comfort of spiritual food. This can come in a number of ways. Paul shares some of these with us.

Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Songs and music seem to be one way that we are meant to change and be comforted by God. These can move us to becoming who we are meant to become. Paul speaks again of this elswhere as well.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Clearly Paul sees the ministering in music and song good for our souls. These are our spiritual comfort food. And in this case, very good for us. Praise God!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. We need Your kingdom and want the kingdom of no other. You alone can help us make it to the end. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Guide us and guard us, and forgive us our sins against You and others. Keep us. Heal us. Deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

From Corruption To Perfection

Our God is both all knowing and all powerful. Often I have had people ask me, and at times I have asked myself, why does God allow bad in people? After all, a snap of the fingers by Him and all could be well. Yesterday we read Luke 13-14 at fellowship, and got into the parable of the kingdom of God being the leaven in the three measures of meal.

Luke 13:20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The odd thing here is that Jesus was saying that the kingdom is like something normally associated with sin – leaven. So the question becomes why does He make this comparison. Certainly the kingdom being spread through the earth would be a good thing. This morning I received an email from one of the members with a link to a very well done lengthy bible study showing that both this parable and the one just before it about the mustard seed represented the bad things or evil that enters in to the church. The author makes a good case for that teaching as well. That brings me to a thought in general about parables.

Parables are just that – generalizations told in a story format. They create opportunity for thought, prayer, and discussion. Like many of the things God says, they can have more than one meaning, and these meanings can be true. I do believe God would warn us about the sin in the church. I do believe Jesus was in particular here warning church leadership not to teach the docrtines of men as God’s word, which today does happen frequently. But I also believe the good interpretation is also true. God will spread His kingdom. God will move as He wills, in spite of what leaders may do. The overall message I take away is that we are human and will sin. If we repent, we can be saved from that sin. Jesus (Yeshua) died for all of our sins. He loved us just that much. He will finish the work in us.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

If we will call out to God every day and at all times, He will hear us and deliver us, every time.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised and glorified. Your kingdom is under attack. We need Your help as we fight the enemy and resist temptations. Please send your kingdom, and send us today abundant provision. Forgive us when we do give in to temptation. Help us to love You more than anything else. We want to do that, but we get off track at times. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Little Comforts

This morning when my daughter got up she did not say anything. I was preparing our evening meal in the crock pot while talking to my wife on the phone. My daughter just cam over and hugged me until I put my arm around her. Like all children, like us, sometimes we just want to feel the comfort of of our Father holding us when we first wake up. As I continue with the day, this make me think of the little comforts we all seek. Not the least of these perhaps is that comfort from knowing the Father watches over us.

Psalms 3:5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.

He also encourages us to do good, and will help us to do it. He sustains us.

Psalms 34:13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Today, if we are to feel comfort, we need only look up to see our loving Father holding us up, like a big hug from heaven.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You our King. Let the whole earth praise Your name! Put Your kingdom in the earth today Father. We love You. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us when we make mistakes. Show us a token for good that all men might know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.