We Are Blessed To Have A Savior

During the daylight hours today we experience the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the fall festival many speak about and is a day when we are build a tabernacle outside our house and dwell in it for the length of the feast. The Feast is seven days plus a High Holy Day on the eighth day. If we follow the lineages and the events in the scripture we can see that Yeshua (Jesus) was born on the first day of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) and was circumcised on the eighth day. Both of these are High Holy Days in the scriptures.

We are blessed above all people to have the God of the universe as our Loving Father. We are blessed above all people to have the Yeshua (Jesus) as our Lord and Savior who died for us that we might have forgiveness from our sins and access to eternal life with God.

Today is a good day to reflect on these blessings!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. Thank You for sending your Son to earth on this day some 2,000 years ago. Thank You for allowing Him to die for us, and be raised from the dead, that we might have eternal life. And Happy Birthday, Yeshua (Jesus)! In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Taking The Kingdom Of Heaven By Force

In Matthew 11 when Yeshua (Jesus) was asked by the disciples of John if He was the Messiah, He told them to tell John what they had seen and heard. He then listed raising the dead, miraculous healing of disease, sight to the blind, and preaching of the gospel to the poor. Isn’t it interesting that the gospel is included by Yeshua (Jesus) as the equal to these other items? Why might that be? After all, today we traditionally think as the gospel as the news about the Messiah and the result is rebirth spiritually if we confess our sin to God and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. And that is the gospel, and if you are reading this and have not asked Him to be your Lord and Savior, do that now and receive that blessing. In the case of what was said here, however, Yeshua (Jesus) had not yet died, so their was no salvation through His blood yet. What might He be referring to, and how would that equate to the violent taking the kingdom of heaven by force? What did the poor get that was equivalent to these other miracles? It does not say, but if the other three results were reversal of the darkness of the evil one, what is the reversal of the darkness of the poor? Deliverance from poverty? Perhaps the answer can be found by looking at places in scripture where the preaching of the good news, the gospel, is presented.

There are three places in scripture where this occurs. In Romans 10:15 Paul quotes two Old Testament prophets that said,

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (KJV)

The two prophets are Isaiah and Nahum. In Isaiah 52:7 we read,

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (KJV)

The word salvation here means aid, health, deliverance and prosperity – the whole person. So, for the poor, moving into prosperity is fitting to be compared to these other miracles, right? And what is that word in the Hebrew? Yeshua! That is correct, that is also the name given to the Messiah – Yeshua (Jesus). So now, how is it that we can we do this, and more importantly, what might Yeshua be referring to since we know that He had not yet died for us? Let’s look at the other prophet quoted.

In Nahum 1:15 we read,

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. (KJV)

Here we see Nahum saying the same as Isaiah. However, he tells us of a way to publish peace – keep the solemn feasts and perform your vows. Vows are what we say we will do, but what the solemn feasts? The Fests of the Lord in Leviticus 23! Yeshua (Jesus) was doing what He always did, telling the people to keep it simple and follow God’s commandments. What is the result? The wicked one has to depart and leave us alone, including financially in this case for the poor!

Tonight at sundown is the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles that everyone keeps when Yeshua (Jesus) returns (Zechariah 14:16-20) and is a part of the commandments that Yeshua was referring to in His ministry. From sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow is considered a High Holy Day. I say let’s publish peace and send the enemy running! Let’s keep the Feast of Tabernacles!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. Thank You for giving us the ability to say and do Your commandments. Thank You for the New Covenant, the law written in our hearts. Thank You for Your Feasts! In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

Feeling Worn Out?

We had an amazing time at our Intercessory Prayer Team meeting last night! It started off by the leader asking about a scripture where the antichrist is wearing out the saints. We moved on for about an hour or so, and we ended back up at that same scripture when we spoke of the scriptures saying the law brings joy. Interestingly enough the series of teaching at church is entitled “Myth Busting: Breaking Free From Lies We Believe.” Now that breaking free part sounds good if we are weary, right? Could there be lies we believe that are wearing us out? We all thought the one we were originally looking for was in Revelation or the writings of Paul. It turns out it was a part of one of Daniel’s visions.

Before looking at that scripture, let’s go back to the original reason for the search – do we feel worn out? If so, why is that, since there are so many scripture promises about a good life? In Daniel 7:25, there is an explanation of one of Daniel’s visions taking place. In that part of the explanation it reads:

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (KJV)

I found it interesting that the wearing out of the saints occurs in the same sentence as the actions of the antichrist in changing of times and laws. There appears to be a connection. It get’s very interesting when we look at the Hebrew words for “times” and “laws”. It turns out the best translation of these words comes to us from the New Living Translation: “He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws,…” Hmm. I think it was the church that did that way back in the first century when they set aside the Feasts (sacred festivals) and combined elected to “Christianize” certain holidays and dates from pagan religions so everyone could worship on the same day, right? There was also a movement away from the law. Problem is, the new covenant is the law written in our heart according to Jeremiah 31:33 and Romans2:15. Hmm.

So the antichrist uses the changing of the keeping of the Feasts of Leviticus 23 and the departure from the law to wear out the saints? Hmm. Well, if Daniel was saying that keeping other sacred festivals (holidays and traditions) was a tool to wear out the saints, part of his vision may have been about shopping for Christmas on Black Friday! Seriously though, are we wearing ourselves out by going along with this change in the Feasts and the law? Or, as the current teachings we are having at church are titled, should we be “Breaking Free From The Lies We Believe”? Hmm. Interesting.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. We don’t want to be weary. We don’t want to be a part of wearing other people out. Please come and restore us. Please come and heal us. Pleas show us what these things mean. In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

This is a first for us here as we wanted to take our two traditional Sunday and Monday themes and write about them together. On Sunday we typically focus on comfort and on Monday we focus on encouragement. In conversations I have had with some, they have told me that they thought these are the same. Perhaps they are, but I thought I would share some thoughts and let the readers decide for themselves.

A comfort can be and encouragement, and an encouragement can be a comfort, in the right situations. Comfort to me means that I have some lack, and I just need to be made whole in that area. When Jesus spoke of sending the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to not leave the people comfortless, he was referring to this lack and mourning the people would feel when He left (John 14-16). This is for me one of the best examples of comfort in the scriptures. There are also great reference is Psalms 23:4; 119:21, 50, 76; and Psalms 71:21. All use comfort in the regard. Someone is motionless, and they are in need. The provision for that need is comfort.

Encouragement is for someone that either is or is about to be in motion, or moving, whether physically, mentally, or spiritually. Take for example when Joshua was selected by God to be the one to lead the children of Israel into the promised land at the end of their trek out of Egypt. God told Moses to encourage Joshua that he could do the job (Deuteronomy 1). Moses was to say and do things that would strengthen Joshua in his action to lead the people into the land and to take the land.

If we are in need of comfort, and we receive it, that might encourage us to go on, to move towards God. And seeing someone encouraged might be a comfort to us. But they each have their own place.

Finally, let me ask, are you in lack in some area. Pray and let God send you comfort. Are you on the move in some way, or about to be, and feel some uncertainty? Pray and ask God to send you encouragement. He is both willing and able to do all these things. Praise God!

Prayer
Father, we ask that You send people comfort today. Please send us the Comforter to renew our hearts and forgive us our sins. We want to serve Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In Jesus name. Amen.

Yom Kippur

Yesterday beginning at sundown until sundown today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered the most holy of the High Holy Days. It is a day of mourning and repentance, turning our hearts toward God. It was first celebrated at God’s direction in the wilderness by Moses and the children of Israel. The story begins in Leviticus 9-10 when Aaron’s two sons were priests, and they made a fire in their censers and added incense, and offered them before God which He had not commanded them to do. Fire went out from the Lord and consumed them, and they died.

Often I have wondered why God would kill them for this act. If we read what happened just before this, God had been telling Moses the laws of of the different sacrifices. It was a time of God passing on to man great wisdom and understanding about how to live. Finally, it was a day or two before Yom Kippur, and Moses told Aaron to begin to cleanse himself, and to have Aaron’s sons the priests cleanse themselves and make sacrifices for themselves, and to say certain similar things to the children of Israel, that they might make offerings of atonement that the Glory of the Lord might appear to them. This process began and there would have been many animals to slay and prepare. All was set in place and ready for God to appear and bring the holy fire to consume the offerings (the priests never set the offerings on fire, God sent fire to consume them). All was in place. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting(God) and came out to bless the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire went out from God and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. All the people fell on their faces, shouting. If you were there, if you saw God’s glory and fire miraculously come from the midst of His glory and burn up the sacrifices (think of how many there were), well I believe we all would be crying out to God and falling on our faces. All did than as well, all but two.

Nahab and Abihu, watching this, decided to do something more. They were not moved to fall on their face before God. Instead, they wanted to do something that they made up. They were not thinking about who God was and what He had commanded, nor the miracle they just saw, appreciating their atonement. No, instead they wanted to add something, to do their thing, to do what they thought was good, and did not consider their own sinful condition. This is what made their fire profane – it was their fire, not the miraculous fire from God. For this they perished. God goes on to give them more direction, and finally in Leviticus 16 we see God explaining what He first said in Leviticus 10:3, that those that approach Him directly (like us today) must consider themselves first and cleanse themselves. Yom Kippur is such a day when we consider the value that God is to us and that He calls us to live pure and holy lives. Details are recorded in chapter 16, and again in Leviticus 23 where all of the High Holy Days and their requirements are recorded.

The lesson that I take away is this. God has a way for us, His way, the way that He wants to do things. When we decide to do things a different way, we walk outside His protection and into the possibility of harm for us. When people tell me that these variations do not matter, that they can do whatever they want whenever they want, any way that they want, I move back a little. I think of the two sons of Aaron that thought and did these same things, and I don’t want to get caught in the back-draft of God’s Holy fire…

Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You for sending Your Son, Yeshua (Jesus), to atone for our sins, which are many. On this Day of Atonement, we reflect on who You are, what You do for us, and how You want us to be. Please help us to be the holy people You want us to be, the Bride of the Messiah Yeshua. And when we err, please see us through His blood. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Reflecting

Today is the day before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 6:29. For me, I like to reflect on what it means. God is a great and awesome God. He is a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows and orphans, our Deliverer and our Provider. For those that are parents, you can understand how it might be that He wants to care for us, because we also want to care for our children. We are all God’s children, and He wants to care for us. That is why He gave us the earth. That is why He wants us to prosper and be in good health. All the very best is what our heavenly Father wants for us. That is why He set up the Feasts, the Feasts of the Lord. These Feasts are for us to help us stay on or get back on track.

Reflecting on such things is good.

Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You for all You do. Please help us to be prepared for our lives ahead. In Jesus name. Amen.

God Never Forgets

This morning I realized that after writing about my daughter’s birthday yesterday, in the busy-ness of the day, I forgot to call her to wish her a happy birthday. It made me realize how thankful I am that God never forgets. A friend of mine made a comment to me the other day about how busy God must be. She was wondering exactly how it is that God could keep track of everything. What I told her was I don’t know, but I am glad He does.

Think about what an awesome thing it is to serve the living God, and have Him be concerned for us! So caring that He keeps track of our every need. I am so thankful that He is there to watch over us daily, even while we sleep. Just allow yourself to take a couple minutes and think about the expansiveness of God. Overwhelming! Let your heart and lips thank Him for His care for you today.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as our King. Thank You so much for watching over us. Thank You for Your loving kindness and Your mercies toward us. We praise and thank You. In Jesus name. Amen.

Remembering…

Today’s date is one I will always remember. My oldest child was born September 11, 1981. That was an amazing day, and my daughter has been an amazing blessing in my life. She is a manager of art stores at a regional amusement park, and is very talented. Okay, so I am the bragging father.

I will remember today for another reason. On September 11, 2001, a number of evil men, serving the enemy of our souls and theirs, came together in crafty counsel, consulting together to ends the lives of innocent people – almost 3,000 innocent people. This is an example of spiritual warfare overflowing into physical reality, in the sense that dark spiritual forces like those that drove these men to commit mass murder are out there, looking to kill innocent people. But we have a hope.

We know that we can overcome these dark forces if we will trust in God and battle them in the spirit realm. In II Corinthians 10:4 Paul tells us that the weapons we have are not of this world, but of the spiritual world, and can overcome the strong holds of evil. We need to remember days like 9/11, and use that remembrance to drive us deeper into prayer, fasting, and disrupting the evil workings of the enemy. When we do this, it stops the efforts in the spiritual realm before or during the times they are in the physical realm.

God is on our side.

Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You for being with us in battle against the enemy. We thank You that You allow us to fight alongside You in our prayer, praise , and worship to destroy the works of darkness. We ask that You comfort those that have sadness about this day, and that You crush today the works of darkness that are working today to harm others. In Jesus name. Amen.

Building A Future

The future for each of us may seem to be unknown. Yet to some degree it can be both known and created by us. If we are willing to set our hearts on serving the Living God, then we can a more certain future through faith and trust in Him. We can know that He will be with us and guide us in His way. What we say and do develops into the future we have to live. In the scripture, it seems that the saying was always before the doing. In Genesis 28 we see that Jacob vowed a vow (mad a promise) to God out loud, saying what he would do if God blessed him. Then God did bless him. Moses, in delivering the Israelites, always spoke before he acted. In Deuteronomy 30 Moses talks about the blessings God wants to give us for doing the commandments of God. He says the power to do it is in our mouth, again indicating that the speaking comes before the doing. Paul quotes Moses in Romans 10:8 when he tells us that our salvation comes by speaking the truth of confession from our heart. Again, the speaking creates the possibility of the ability to act a new future. If we will read the scriptures, pray to and worship God, and speak the good things of the bible over us and our family and friends, with faith and trust in God, we build a future that lines up with what God’s desire for us, and He will bless it.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt you as the Most High God. Thank You for all You do to help us through life. Please help us to learn to follow You. Please help us to know the right from the wrong, and to choose the right. Please keep us and guard us, and watch over our families and friends. In Jesus name. Amen.

We Have A Hope

This morning I was reading some of David’s writing. Psalm 49 is a song written by the sons of Korah. Their father perished when thy were young when he and others challenged Moses and Aaron, and their claim to be speaking on behalf of God. Korah and the others rebelled, and when Moses cried out to God, the earth opened and swallowed them alive. The sons went on to serve well in the temple, and among the sons are people such as Samuel.

This Psalm talks about how we can be assured of our future state with God, but that those that think their riches are something will find that riches are nothing at the end. It warns us not to be afraid when someone with no understanding becomes rich, for when they perish they will have nothing, though they honored themselves when they had their riches. It also points out that people will praise us when we do well. In the last verse it cautions us not to focus on the riches if they come, because those with honor, with riches, but not the understanding of their need for God as a Redeemer, will become as a fallen beast when they die, and they will come to nothing.

Prayer
Father, You truly are a Great and Awesome God. We want to praise and worship You for the works You do in the earth. We thank You Lord that You raise up who You raise up. We ask today Father that You always keep us, that You give us the wisdom to know that You alone are God, and that You watch over us every day. In Jesus name. Amen.