Letting Go To Rest

There are times in life when troubled emotions and feelings come crashing in. This can even happen on the Sabbath. So what do we do? There is ultimately only one thing that I have found that works. Letting go.

Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

Today, let’s all let go and rest.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You for You are King. Praise the name Yahuah! Make Your will come alive in this earth. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. Heal us and cleanse us. Restore Your people. In Yeshuah’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Becoming Selfless

Recently the concept of selflessness was introduced to me from another perspective. Often we are taught as a Christian premise that we are to be selfless in our actions and in prayer. Then we set about to act toward others or pray for others from our position and understanding. This is good. But is it selfless? Are we not still praying from our perspective? Perhaps not always, but frequently I would suggest, we are still in the picture in some way. How do we get to a position of selflessness? There are two things I am finding help.

First, we need to establish our own relationship firmly with the Father. The concept I was introduced to that has helped me is the idea of powerlessness. We are powerless. If we can establish that through meditation on scripture and communing with the Father, then we can get to what I call emptiness, allowing ourselves to be filled with the Spirit and ready for prayer. Here is a scripture that is helping me in meditation.

Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Our Messiah was helping us to see that the Father created the world, and that we are powerless within ourselves to change anything. By meditating on this we can find that true humble position with the Father of needing Him for everything. And we know He will respond.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

As we meditate on this scripture, we know that our Father is ready to respond to us because we are out of the way. Now we are ready to add power to the request through our actions and prayer, knowing He will respond. Here is the next scripture that supports our belief that He will respond.

Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Here Yahuah (Lord) has spoken through Isaiah to tell us that when we fast as a selfless person, He loosens the one we pray for from wickedness, removes the weights of life lets those that have felt oppression go free, and broken the yokes upon them. Note here it is prayer for the works of the Father, most likely on the behalf of others. But as we get to the end of the passage, we see that the one praying also receives the kingdom and blessings of the Father.

True selflessness is the ability to see past our needs, knowing that the Father knows and will take care of those for us. It is setting ourselves aside completely, solely focused on helping others by crying out to the Father for His intervention on their behalf. Our motive needs to be the kingdom, and the righteousness of the Father.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are King! Praise and bless the name Yahuah! Help us to be selfless, that we might call to You for Your kingdom to be here, for Your will to be here. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions of the Law (sin), and help us forgive others. Heal the hearts and minds of those oppressed. restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Thanks From The Depths

So many times I have joined in with my brothers and sisters in praise and worship, giving thanks to our Father for the many great things He has done in our lives. This is good. We are to give thanks. A friend of mine has recently been experiencing what some of us would call the depths of despair. What he told me late yesterday is that he is thankful for the despair, because it caused him to slow down and appreciate life, drew him closer to God than he had ever been, and helped him to finally see just how self centered he was being.

In the past when he would wake up in the morning, his mind would begin running 100 miles an hour. He finally saw that as he allowed himself to think on those things, he was putting himself into those situations, as if he was in control of them. But the scriptures seem to indicate otherwise.

Psalms 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Here the Psalmist seems to indicate that when we rise, early, we seek God, like the thirsty in a dry and thirsty land. Having spent time in the desert, I can get a clear image of this. My friend tells me he is working on this, because he wants to surrender and place the Father first in everything. Not in the ways that he has in the past, most often out of some wrote tradition, but with a true sense of need. In that he finds he can recount the great things that God has already done for him, and in that he can express his thankfulness.

This seems good to me as well. Today, let’s all slow down for a moment, get quiet, and spend time with our Father, giving thanks.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! By Your mercy and grace, we might be Your lights in this place. Send us today Your overwhelming abundant provision. Forgive us our transgressions of the Law (sin), as we forgive those that have transgressed the Law (sinned) against us. Cleanse our hearts and minds. Heal our loved ones. restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

One Of Our Greatest Weapons

Surrender. That is one of our greatest weapons, perhaps THE greatest weapon. Not surrender to the enemy. To our Father. I have learned recently that the more we surrender all to Him, the better chance we have of not only feeling the security of His embrace, the better chance we have at finally achieving victory. He is, after all, the Creator of the universe, the only One that can truly change anything. As I write this, the fog lifts where I can actually experience that as more than words, like a true reality. So often we (at least I) pray and we are more throwing words in the air than we are literally asking the One that can make the request reality, WITH the full expectation of our hands out expecting to receive something.

Matthew 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This morning I can see more clearly why the scripture about treasures in heaven is preceded by fasting to God in secret. Eating is a celebration, or meant to be. In our society, we take it for granted most of the time. Fasting is eating of something from heaven, a celebration of sustanance with and from the Father. The spiritual closeness we experience allows us to make our requests with expectation, with our hands out, trusting our Father to fill them.

John 4:30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Here our Messiah was not eating food of this earth, but celebrating existence and provision of the Father in the completion of establishing the kingdom. This is the work that we as believers are commissioned to do, for when we finish the work of the Father that He has given unto us, we truly are defeating the enemy. This is true spiritual warfare. And it begins with understanding that we are powerless to change things on our own.

Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

When we can finally surrender our lives in total to Yahuah (Lord), we become His weapon on the earth. If we will set aside the earthly celebration of eating this world’s food, and partake of His heavenly table through fasting, we can place our treasures of requests for His completed work on the table. With open arms we can ask, “Father, please pass (my request)”, with open hands extended, as if asking for a dish of food, expecting that He will hand it to us. We can place these treasures in His hands, and leave these treasures in the heaven, knowing that He has heard us, knowing that if we seek His kingdom and righteousness, that He will grant all these to us.

Surrender today, and be victorious.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! We surrender to You, that Your will be done here. Forgive us our transgressions of the Law (sins), and we forgive those that have transgressed the Law against us. Heal our hearts. Heal our minds. Restore our relationships, with You and others. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

What We Can And Cannot Build

As humans we like to create a plan for ourselves. That seems normal. When things do not go the way we want them to go, we try to change them. Sometimes we just worry. But our Messiah spoke to that directly.

Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

What we want is control. We want to be able to make things happen. When we cannot it is easy to worry about it because we want to change it ourselves, to build something the way we want to build it. We are not in control. In fact we are powerless. If we can come to grips with the fact that we are truly powerless – no small task by the way, then we are on the road to building something the right way. Again, the Messiah spoke to how to build the right way.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

If we admit we are powerless, then admit that that our God can and will change things if we seek Him in earnest, we are on the road to right thinking and right building.

If there is something in your life that you are worrying about today, meditate on these scriptures. Accept that you are powerless. Spend time with the Father seeking His intervention, and He will add it unto you.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! Take over our lives and shine Your light through us. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins, for they are many, as we forgive those that have sinned against us. Let the oil of Your Spirit soften us, healing our hearts and minds. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. Build up Your people, Father. restore the broken hearted, and restore relationships. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

When We Pray

Many times in the past I have prayed out of a sense of duty. By that I mean that I knew it was at that point in my routine that I should pray, therefore I prayed, and then it was on to the next thing. Most recently, and at times in the past, prayer has become more sincerely a form of communication. It is like there is a need to quiet everything else in the head, then imagine entering the throne room where Dad is acting as King (because He is, of course). He sees us enter and smiles, opens His arms in a motion for us to come and jump in His laugh, and laughs as we hug Him and He hugs us. We begin talking and end up asking for something. He smiles and looks to one of the royal guard giant full armored soldiers with wings. His countenance changes to one of subtle fierceness and He nods toward the doors. Immediately the guard acknowledges Him, bows, turns toward the doors already running. Leaping as the doors open, now in full flight, the angel is of to make it so. Our Father turns back to us, once again with a Fatherly smile, hugs us, and gently sets us on the floor, telling us to go back to our daily routine.

Mark 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

As we pray, let’s try to be quiet first, and remember we are entering our Father’s courts. Why in the world would our Father not grant our petitions if we honor Him and are trying our best to do His commands? And if we need to “fess up” to something, then get that out of the way – return to Him. He has already said what His response would be.

2 Chronicles 7:12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This was our Father’s response to the prayer of Solomon in chapter six where Solomon asked that God grant the prayers of the people of Israel and the stranger that comes from afar to confess the name of Yahuah!

Today, let’s get quiet, and go ask Dad for what is on our hearts.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let us shine Your light in this earth. Send us Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. Heal our hearts and minds. Restore broken people and broken relationships to better than they ever were. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Our Protector

this morning I had a very interesting series of events related to me by a friend. In prayer, He asked our Father about a certain part of my life. His words to him were a scripture.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

It indicated to him what he thought was what our Father had said more directly, that there would be a positive resolution. It also indicated a fight. Shortly thereafter he went to bed. As he lay in my bed, not quite asleep, he saw five or six dark shapes that he took to be dark spirits. He said he continued praying as he was when they showed up, and went to sleep finally. In his dream he was on a bus. A bully boarded and wiped his greasy hands on my friends shirt. When my friend protested it set off a series of events where the bully and five friends were to street fight my friend. My friend exhibited somewhat damaged or malfunctioning supernatural powers, but they were enough to keep him from harms way and although the fight persisted, my friend said it was obvious to him that he would win, but probably not to others. My friend told me that this was almost the same dream he had once before, but in that dream he won soundly and his powers were strong. My friend is a believer, and I believe this was a dream from God. Let’s look at the next verses.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

We see that our Father was tipping off my friend about what was happening in his life, and what to do about it. One thing my frind also noted. the Greek word for “word” of God is actually the word rhema, which means utterance. As my friend was falling to sleep, he repeatedly cried oout to the father the same phrase over and over again. This is the nature of our battle, to ask the Father for something and know that if we will stand against what we see that the devil and his hoards are doing, SAYING what is the good things of scriptures, that He will fight on our behalf because He is our armor and He is our Protector. Reviewing the armor tells more, but may you be comforted today to know that we have a Protector.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Protect us and let us be Your lights here in this earth. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. Heal up the hearts and minds of Your people. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold that which has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Source Of Rest

According to scripture, we are to rest on the Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

The word “rest” here in verse nine is the word in Greek for Sabbath, and it is so translated elsewhere. the point I am referring to is found verse two. Those that fell in the wilderness were preached the same good news (gospel). But there was not a death and resurrection at that point, right? The good news is that God is on our side. That is further supported by the “not mixed with faith” comment. To see this, we need to see a couple more verses, in the same letter.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Here we see that faith is not just believing that God is, but that He is a rewarder of those that seek Him. My friend recently had what some might call a negative experience. But He had prayed diligently for years that God would be close to him and to be used of God. My friend told me that the hard things that came His way were actually the reward for diligently seeking the Father. God was actually cleaning up his life. Back to the title of this writing.

So then, our Father is the source of the rest, when we add the belief that He is and that He will reward us. We have this part in rest, namely our faith that God is on our side.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Cleanse us that we might be Your lights in this earth. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. Heal our hearts and minds. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

We Must Never Quit!

This morning as I was praying it seemed good to cry out to God to for all that is happening in my life and the life of others. Last night I met someone that was desperate. After encouraging him, he was filled with emotion. I was after he left. We are meant to assist one another. We can only do that if we do not quit. We cannot quit on ourselves. We cannot quit on family and friends. An we cannot quit on God. He is always there to assist us in finding His ways. We just have to hold on, pray, believe, and keep moving forward. This can be difficult if we will not surrender completely to our Father. That was my prayer this morning. I want to completely surrender to Him. It is unclear exactly what all that means, but I feel compelled to do it. In that surrender we can find peace.

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

It can be difficult in life to focus on our Father first, but it is the design. When we miss that, we start our day slightly off kilter. We must find a way to place first things first.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name Yahuah! Cleanse us that we might be Your lights in the earth. Send us today Your overwhelming abundant provision. Forgive us our sins. Restore our minds, our bodies, and our hearts. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back from Your people in any way. We ask all these things in the name ofour Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Renewed Thanksgiving

We are blessed in all that we do in this world, even when it seems the darkest. As someone that recently experienced dark moments of despair over a matter in my own life, I can say this without coming from a position of a “goody two-shoes” perspective of religiosity. For in the darkest hours, if we will humble ourselves, and turn from the darkness, our Father raises us up.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Today, let us turn to our Father, humbling ourselves in prayer, and heal will heal the land.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let us humble ourselves that You might shine Your light through us. Send today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. Heal our minds and hearts. Restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold that which was taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.