Going The Distance

In our walk with God, when we are faced with some challenge and begin to do battle, we do not really know just how long that battle may take. The challenge is not in starting the battle so much. Most of us are aware there will be challenges, and we take them head on. What we are more challenged with is fighting to the end. Scriptures have something to say about this.

Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

That was our Messiah talking. He was referring to these days, I believe, the days here near the end. Where we are on the timeline I cannot say for sure, but it seems to be falling into place for the end to be near. Our Father loves us. He wants the best for us. He is preparing us to rule and reign with the Messiah. We must not give up.

We must go the distance.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Only You are able to bring the reign that will cleanse the whole world. We need Your kingdom here. We praise Your name Yahuah. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Let us know that You are on our side and with us each day. Forgive us for our sins. Heal our hearts and minds. Deliver us from the evil in this world. Helps us to walk in Your paths. We need You now. Come help us when we cry out. Deliver us from the enemy that steals from us. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Open The Door

This morning my thoughts were on life and all that there is in it, the good and the not so good. We can allow either of these to overwhelm us. What I mean is, it is not our emotions that we should allow to rule our thoughts and actions. What we need to do is take control of our thoughts and actions and let those rule our emotions. There is a way to do that. If we pursue God, to be in His presence, then we have opportunity to experience His grace, mercy, and deliverance. We can get to Him easily enough, for He is with us always. But there was a scripture I found this morning that talks about how to get into the gate, the opening, to His presence.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

When we do this, we are with Him. He longs for us to spend time with Him. He knows our needs before we do. He sets things right. He will always help us, but we have to be willing to receive that help. We have to be willing to enter His presence, through the gates and into His courts. We have to be thankful. And, when we stop to think about it, no matter what else is happening in life we are assured of a future with Him forever. Anything else is small by comparison. Today, let’s offer up the thanksgiving that our Father deserves.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Your kingdom is the only pace we want to live. We desperately need You. Thank You for Your love toward us. Thank You for never leaving us or forgetting about us. Bless Your name, Yahuah. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. We need it now. Forgive us for our sins, and thank You for helping us overcome so many temptations. Heal our hearts, minds, and bodies, that we might serve You better. Deliver us from those that would steal from us what You alone have provided. Even now the enemy is trying to destroy Your people. Rise up, Yahuah, and deliver Your people. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Not Always Comfortable

Last night we camped out in our back yard in a tent. It was an interesting time. The air mattress my wife an I were using went flat in the night. Our dog, having never seen such a thing before was jumping around inside so we had to lock her in the house. We had difficulties getting the bedding ready to begin with and it was very late by the time everything was settled. And our daughter kept rolling toward off her mattress on to our. When I woke up the three of us were buried in a mound of comforters and sleeping bags, warm and toasty but on the hard ground beneath the tent. That hard ground made for not so comfortable a bed. But we made it through the night.

Thinking about it this morning I came to realize that our lives and our walks with God are much like that. We have plans, but then life happens, and we make it through as best we can. But our physical bodies may not enjoy the experience. We may have to endure some things.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

I realize that Paul was talking about something more significant than camping out. But we can look at our lives and we can see what are those things that He has put in our lives for us to endure, that we may be perfected. In my life there have been many things that did not go as planned. But God has never failed me or my family. He has always carried us through. He always will. Sometime our spiritual warfare is just enduring this moment.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our True King. We love You, and we desperately need Your kingdom here in our lives. Bless the name Yahuah. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins, Father. We are weak. We need Your strength. We love Your commands, and we long to walk with You. Heal up our hearts and minds. We need Your healing touch. Deliver us from the enemy that is stealing from us and crush his work in our lives. Show Yourself strong on our behalf. We ask these things in the name of Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Daily In Prayer

This morning as I pondered how we are to serve our Messiah, I pondered a few scriptures the Father recently gave me in answer to a prayer about what to do in life.

Deuteronomy 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

This scripture speaks of keeping Yahuah’s (Lord’s) commands in our thoughts and actions. It is His commands that are a lamp to see where we are going and keep us moving in the right paths.

Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus) sent His disciples to the lost sheep of the house of Israel first. Our first ministry is to each others as believers, I think, to help each other stay on right paths.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Our Messiah cried out in tears and reverence to the Father for deliverance from the attack in the garden. Even though He had the power to deliver Himself, He called out to the Father in strong prayer.

Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

Here Paul tells us that the priests other than the high priest went to do their service daily, just as we are to be in our temples daily.

From these scriptures it appears to me that we have a ministry. A portion of that ministry is to be in our bodies, our temples, and daily pray with intensity. We are to pray for ourselves and others the scriptures, praying God’s commands and promises over our fellow believers. We are to minister daily to the body of believers. We are to serve the living God in this way, building up our fellow believers and ourselves daily. This is a portion of our reasonable service.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are the One True King. We need Your kingdom, Father. Praise the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming blessing of provision such that we cannot store it, and it overflows to those around us. We seek your forgiveness for our sins. We seek cleansing of our hearts and minds. We ask that You heal up our hearts and minds. We ask that You deliver us from those that have stolen and are stealing from us, the evil that is in this world, the thief. Restore unto us tenfold, even one hundredfold what has been taken. Do not leave Your people broken, sick, and in poverty. Come quickly with a strong hand and an outstretched arm to deliver Your people, to deliver us, today. We ask all these things in the name of Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Believe In God

We have one High Priest, our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), who has made one sacrifice once for all.

Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus) also tells us that if we believe, all things are possible.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Today, I want to leave with a simple thought.

When all seems to be failing, just believe.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are Master and You are King. We love You and long for Your kingdom. Praise and bless the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. We need Your healing touch, and only You can truly heal. We need Your mighty deliverance, and only You have the power to destroy our enemies and their works. Come quickly and grind to powder our enemies until they repent of their evil towards Your people, acknowledging that You are the One and Only True God, Yahuah! We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Comfort In Hard Times

Last night we watched a movie about some people in Israel. They were in what they saw as hard times. Through a series of events of walking away from God’s ways, and then turning back, they were able to see the hand of God in their lives. In the hard times, we can choose to see them as overwhelming, or we can choose to see them as Yahuah (Lord) working in our lives. Recently I had a friend who was in hard times himself. He and his wife and daughter were down to less than $100 and way behind on their bills. He told me that it was easy to become fearful of the inability to provide and the inability to pay his creditors. This guy works very hard at multiple jobs but his past debt is eating him up. When he looked at me he smiled and said to me that it would be easy to just give up, declare bankruptcy, and walk away. But he only wants to do what Yahuah (Lord) tells him, even if it gets tough. So, where is the comfort in all this?

There is a scripture that begins to detail these ideas a bit. It talks about our thinking.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…

Another scripture speaks to the plans of mankind.

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.
3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

This scripture ties thinking to outcomes. We see that we plan, but Yahuah (Lor) executes according to His will. Yahuah (Lord) looks at the heart. He sees the good and the bad in all of us. He is moving us toward the good at all times. This may mean He has to modify our plan to cause us to work through and eliminate those negative things within us. He also does it to teach us to trust in Him. Our comfort is that we are not alone. We do not have to rely only on our own abilities to succeed in life. If we will let go and just trust that Yahuah (Lord) loves us and will intercede on our behalf, then we can take comfort in waiting for deliverance. Praise Yahuah (Lord)!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our only King. Your Kingdom is where we desire to live. We want to be with You at all times, and to know You are there. We bless the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming blessing. Forgive us our sins. Heal us and deliver us from our enemies that seek to destroy, to steal, and even to kill us. Com quickly. Let us feel Your arms around us. Let us feel Your protection. Help us to have the courage to stand tall for You. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Looking For The Rest

Today is our day of rest. Today is the Sabbath. We are to spend time looking to our Father, and looking to that day when we will be with Him forever. This has been a challenging time for many I know. We try to find our way, And we look for our Messiah. On this day of rest, May our Father Yahuah (Lord) find a way to give us His peace. Here is a scripture for remembering our King.

Psalms 92 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
5 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King. We need You in our lives. We need Your kingdom. Praise the name Yahuah! Send us now Your abundant provision. We need You to rise up today. Forgive us our sins. Heal us and deliver us. Don’t let Your people perish. Don’t let all this be for nothing. Help us! We ask all these things in the name of Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Struggles With The Present Reality (Or Is It?)

For many of us in our walks we encounter challenges to progress. That progress can be spiritual or physical or both. Much time can be spent wrestling with these things. recently, facin such challenges, I stopped for a moment. I pondered the truth of what I viewed as “the current reality” and was pleasantly surprised at my findings. We can spend a great deal of time thinking about a situation, and if we are not careful, we can let ourselves fall into many negative spirals about the “reality” we face. But here is the interesting part. Those are thoughts. The question is, on what do we base them?

I do not advocate for ignoring reality. Nor do I suggest that somehow we can cahnt some positive affirmations and the world is transformed. I do suggest that scriptures are clear about what we say and expect coming to pass. And these things we say are to be connected to the commandments of Yahuah (Lord).

Dueteronomy 30:6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

WE control the outcome of our situation in many ways by what we say, assuming it lines up with what our Father says. That is the TRUE reality. Everything else is a façade, and we need to endure it passing by because our Father does not lie.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We need You. We need Your reality. We praise the name Yahuah! Send us your overwhelming provision now. Forgive us our sins. Heal us and deliver us from those that are stealing, killing, and destroying us. Come quickly to our defense. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Thank You Father

The day today has been a long one. Fourteen hours of work and counting. But it is good. It makes me thankful that we have a Father in heaven that truly loves and cares for us. His name is Yahuah. Today’s title is a simple one for sure. And yet, today, it really says it all for me. I will end here with a simple quote from Psalms, and a prayer for peace for all of you in my family.

Psalms 150:1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We love You. You make life worth the living. Praise the name Yahuah! Send us your overwhelming provision while it is called today. Forgive us our sins. Heal up our broken hearts, and deliver us from those that would steal what You alone have provided. Pleas come to our defense quickly, for our defenses are nothing without You. We ask all these things in the name of Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Daily Battles, Daily Grace

As we all know as believers we will face trials and battles everyday. And though we fight hard, sometimes we give up ground. Sometimes we lose the battles when we give in to temptations. While this is not good, it is not the end of the story. Our Father renews His mercy and grace toward us everyday.

Lamentations 3:22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Paul noted that we all have need for grace. This is because we all fail. It is possible for us, when we fail more than once, to become discouraged. We need not give up in despair. We can get back up.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

The point is – let’s not give up. We can seek forgiveness. We can get back up and go after the prize. We can win our daily battles. We can pray for others no matter what. We can call out to our Father Yahuah for the soon return of our Messiah.

We can win, if we just don’t quit.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are the only King, and we want to want to serve only You. We need Your kingdom here. We love You, and we praise the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sins. We do not ask these things because we deserve them or because You owe us anything. We ask because we are Your children, and we fall down. We need Your help to get back up and to stay up. We need You. Heal us. Deliver us from those that would steal from us. Keep us safe. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.