Prepare the way

Mark 7:31-32

 

Then he left the district of Tzor and went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret and on to the region of the Ten Towns. They brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and asked Yeshua to lay his hand on him.

 

All the gospels state that Yeshua was not able to do any great miracles in His hometown due to the lack of trust. Yet here in the Ten Towns or Decapolis as they were known He is noted for healing a man who was both deaf and dumb. In an area known for the direct rule of Rome and all the influence that means on Judeans living a secular life. I believe the foundational trust that needed to be present for this healing was a direct result of the Gerasene who had been commanded to go give his testimony to this same area by Yeshua thus preparing the way for this miracle that went to confirming His status as Mashiach, Messiah our Savior. As believers we all have our part to do, it may not be glamorous or under the spotlight like Yeshua and the Talmidim but it is necessary so when heaven does come down there are willing hearts to be changed. Lord let my service be fully for Your glory. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Stay true

Iyov (Job) 21:31

“Why offer me such meaningless comfort?

Of your answers, only the perfidy remains.”

 

Like Iyov this is often our reaction to friends when we are in pain or suffering through some crisis, “So you mean well but when are you going to stab me in the back too?”  As believers when we take this attitude in our pain it only serves to divide us from the body and in the end leaves us open to attack from the Adversary.  As ADONAI revealed to Iyov, He is there with us and He never sets us up for failure.  As we want to lash out in our pain we must hold fast to God’s truth and accept the aid He provides without suspicion.  Lord let my focus be fully on You.  Let me never waiver from the prize even in my darkest times.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

You can’t deny God

Mark 3:28-30

Yes! I tell you that people will be forgiven all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; however, someone who blasphemes against the Ruach HaKodesh never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.” For they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit in him.”

 

Yeshua was teaching something new, forgiveness for intentional sin.  There was now nothing man can do that could not be forgiven so long as he recognized ADONAI as the ruler of his life.  Failing to acknowledge God and the indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh is the one way to be given over to as Sha’ul writes in Romans (1:28-32) “In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things.  They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents;  they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless.  They know well enough God’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.”  No one who has the Ruach indwelling in them can act as these people described by Sha’ul.  Lord let Your indwelling Spirit be the lamp that You would have it be.  Let my lampstand hold it high so all can know Your Word.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Stop eating our own

Iyov (Job) 19:13-14

“He has made my brothers keep their distance,

those who know me are wholly estranged from me,

my kinsfolk have failed me,

and my close friends have forgotten me.

 

One of the shames we share in the body of believers is the fact that we eat our own.  How often do we as a group confront our brothers and sisters in private and help them back to their trust in ADONAI?  Or is it more likely that we pillory them and brand them with a scarlet letter without trying to understand, just like Iyov’s friends, what God is doing in their lives.  The worldly have disdain for the body of believers because we forget to use mercy, justice and forgiveness when dealing with our own, let alone someone who is just coming to understand God for the first time.  Yeshua treated all with love and respect, He forgave the sin that brought corruption into the person’s life and told them to go and sin no more accepting them as one of His sheep from that moment on.  That is the example we are to follow as we deal with our bothers and sisters.  Lord let me be worthy of serving You.  Keep me from gossip and backbiting and let me do all I can to put Your Word first in my life.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Battling Storms

 

 

Acts 27:13-25

When a gentle southerly breeze began to blow, they thought that they had their goal within grasp; so they raised the anchor and started coasting by Crete close to shore.  But before long there struck us from land a full gale from the northeast, the kind they call an Evrakilon.  The ship was caught up and unable to face the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along.

As we passed into the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with strenuous effort to get control of the lifeboat.  They hoisted it aboard, then fastened cables tightly around the ship itself to reinforce it. Fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis sandbars, they lowered the topsails and thus continued drifting.  But because we were fighting such heavy weather, the next day they began to jettison non-essentials; and the third day, they threw the ship’s sailing equipment overboard with their own hands.  For many days neither the sun nor the stars appeared, while the storm continued to rage, until gradually all hope of survival vanished.

It was then, when they had gone a long time without eating, that Sha’ul stood up in front of them and said, “You should have listened to me and not set out from Crete; if you had, you would have escaped this disastrous loss.  But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life—only the ship will be lost.  For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.  He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Sha’ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’  So, men, take heart! For I trust God and believe that what I have been told will come true.

 

When we make decisions outside the will of God in our lives, we place ourselves in harms way of the storms that will come of it just like the crew of the Alexandrian vessel that Sha’ul was placed upon.  At first all may seem well out from ADONAI’s protective hedge, but then things worsen, and we get rid of the unimportant things that are convenient but not necessary just as the crew jettisoned the non-essentials.  Still the storm rages on and we winnow away thing that we need battling to justify our decision to remain outside of God’s will just as the crew rid themselves of the sailing equipment and ran drifting before the winds and rain.  Finally at last when everything is cast away and there is no where else to turn do we return to God and beg his forgiveness just to survive one more day, almost always because someone is standing in the gap for us and praying just as Sha’ul did for the people on the ship.  As believers we must heed the warnings and directions ADONAI gives us to live our lives and avoid such a storm of trouble in our lives like this.  Dear Lord, lead me early and often so I do not stray from Your direction.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Stand firm with God

Iyov (Job) 17:13-15

“If I hope for Sh’ol to be my house;

if I spread my couch in the dark;

if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to worms, ‘You are my mother and sister,’

then where is my hope?

And that hope of mine, who will see it?

 

I have and may again suffer from depression. Just as Iyov is suffering in this passage. He has lost wealth, status, and most of all family and can see no possible end or recourse save death. But yet Iyov realizes that if death is all he can hope for then he is denying the very power of God, for how can anyone else see his hope in ADONAI if he is dead and in the grave. I have stood on the edge of that pit and looked in it as well and if it was not for the good teaching of my parents and pastors and my rabbi, all people God placed in my life at that time to support me, I may have well stepped in it. But then who would know of my hope in ADONAI that we all may one day worship at His feet in never ending joy. Thank You ADONAI for Your salvation in Yeshua, and Your indwelling in the Ruach. Lord may You always shield me in Your hand. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Share in all circumstance

Acts 21:39-40

Sha’ul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; and I ask your permission to let me speak to the people.”

Having received permission, Sha’ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When they finally became still, he addressed them in Hebrew:

 

Bound and chained, dragged through angry mobs and held on the steps of the government, Sha’ul still had one desire on his heart, to win his people to salvation through the acceptance of Yeshua’s sacrifice.  Lord let me have singleness of purpose like Sha’ul and not be distracted by all the evil and hurt around me but lean fully on You to spread Your Word in all circumstances.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Trust fully

Acts 17:22-23

Sha’ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, “Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way!  For as I was walking around, looking at your shrines, I even found an altar which had been inscribed, ‘To An Unknown God.’ So, the one whom you are already worshipping in ignorance—this is the one I proclaim to you.

 

It is not the level of religiousness that we display or even acknowledging that God exist like the people of Athens did.  It is only through complete trust in ADONAI the Creator of all things and accepting the sacrifice of the blood of Yeshua that salvation can be found.  When Yeshua hung on the stake for our sins ignorance no longer became an excuse to ignore salvation.  Lord let me remain firmly rooted in the rock of my salvation, let my trust always be in Your caring hand.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Trust will be tested

Iyov (Job) 12:4

“Anyone who calls on God,

and he answers him,

becomes a laughingstock to his friends—

they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.

 

Trust in ADONAI is not for the faint hearted.  As Iyov explains there will be times of ridicule and slander, times of suffering and toil.  The difference is that as believers we have a comforter in the Ruach HaKodesh to support us in those times, just as Iyov did fending off the judgements of his “friends”.  Calling on God is not the problem, bearing up after calling on God is the labor we are called to, boldly holding to our trust in Him not matter how the world may judge us.  Lord let me live a life that gives only glory to You.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

 

Be Bold

Acts 13:44-47a

The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Lord; but when the Jews who had not believed saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and spoke up against what Sha’ul was saying and insulted him.  However, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba answered boldly: “It was necessary that God’s word be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life—why, we’re turning to the Goyim!  For that is what ADONAI has ordered us to do:

 

This is the example believers should be following today.   For decades people who trust in ADONAI have been insulted and shouted down by the likes of people who insulted and gossiped about Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba.  Yet unlike Sha’ul as a group do we answer boldly against these insults and falsehoods?  How many people have we failed to reach because of the misrepresentation of separation of church and state, or being satisfied in the grouping of the silent majority?  We as believers cannot be silent, not then, not now.  We must be bold like Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba and answer jealous insults and falsehoods directly and loudly so no one can mischaracterize our trust in God and then the power of the Ruach HaKodesh move supernaturally and heal our land.  Abba give me the strength of character to be bold in serving You.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.