Know what you are seeking

Mark 8:11-12

The P’rushim came and began arguing with him; they wanted him to give them a sign from Heaven, because they were out to trap him. With a sigh that came straight from his heart, he said, “Why does this generation want a sign? Yes! I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation!”

There are people who would rather be entertained by religion than actually live out their trust in ADONAI by faith. The P’rushim demanded extra signs when they already had to writings of Moshe and the Prophets and knew who Yeshua was. Concerned more about their own authority instead of ADONAI’s they failed to see salvation when He stood in front of them. Just like today we have millions who will spend a couple of hours a week being entertained and call it good but when they are called to serve, challenge that calling because it doesn’t fit their lifestyle. Lord let me be always willing to serve You. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Prayer, it does the soul good

Mark 6:45-46

Immediately Yeshua had his talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him toward the other side of the lake, toward Beit-Tzaidah, while he sent the crowds away. After he had left them, he went into the hills to pray.

This was after feeding the five thousand, yet not just after this event but repeatedly and often Yeshua sought time alone to pray and commune with ADONAI.  As our Mashiach we are to imitate Him and take time ourselves to pray and be with God.  It is this time that we spend with Him that refreshes our spirit and feeds into our souls so that we can face the next event in our lives.  It lets us find the calm in the center of the worldly chaos swirling around us so that we might bring healing and joy to others.  Lord, Thank You for showing me the need for time to stop and talk with You daily in my life.  Praise Your holy name, amen.

Test every spirit

Iyov (Job) 20:1-3

Tzofar the Na’amati replied,”My thoughts are pressing me to answer;

I feel such an urge to speak!

I have heard reproof that outrages me,

but a spirit past my understanding gives me a reply.

In his anger and offense at being chastised by Iyov for his bad advice Tzofar didn’t test the spirit that was provoking him and rails for this whole chapter how Iyov’s condition is the condition of the wicked so he must be wicked. The fact that Tzofar was being provoked by this spirit and not taking the time to understand it whether it be from his own sense of offense or something supernatural guiding him away from the holy the Word doesn’t tell us but the fact that he didn’t take the time to understand it leads him to speak falsely about Iyov’s condition. Yochanan warns us to test every spirit to see if it truly from ADONAI before we give action to it’s prompting so we don’t fall into the same trap and bring division to the body of believers. Lord let me seek Your will in all things I do so I do not stray from Your plan for my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Flee Gossip

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.

The power of one

Iyov (Job) 18:1-4

Bildad the Shuchi said,

“When will you put an end to words?

Think about it—then we’ll talk!

Why are we thought of as cattle,

stupid in your view?

You can tear yourself to pieces in your anger,

but the earth won’t be abandoned just for your sake;

not even a rock will be moved from its place.

Bildad in his anger after being chastised by Iyov fires back by saying the earth won’t be affected by one righteous man, yet we as believers know this to be wrong.  It was Noach’s righteousness that preserved humanity, it was Avraham’s trust that founded nations, it was Moshe’s intercession that preserved the nation of Isra’el from ADONAI’s anger,  it was David facing a giant that rescued a country, it was the possessed man in Gadarenes’ who witnessed to the 10 towns, it was Sha’ul whose prayer saved all those onboard the ship with him and it was Yeshua who brought redemption to all through His sacrifice.  One righteous man can change the paths of nations interceding for them just as Iyov will intercede for the stupidity of his friends, because we follow the example of Yeshua whose actions brought salvation to the world.  Lord let me be brave enough to stand alone if needed and hold to Your righteousness.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Hope is only 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.

My salvation

Iyov (Job) 16:18-22

“Earth, don’t cover my blood;
don’t let my cry rest [without being answered].
Even now, my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is there on high.
With friends like these as intercessors,
my eyes pour out tears to God,
that he would arbitrate between a man and God,
just as one does for his fellow human being.
For I have but few years left
before I leave on the road of no return.”

Like Iyov there is only one I can truly cry out to so that I might find salvation, Yeshua HaMashiach, whose blood has been the only blood to answer for all sin.  It is Yeshua who advocates for me before ADONAI in spite of friends like Iyov who counsel salvation through our own limited understanding and strength.  It is my acceptance of His sacrifice in this life that ensures I will stand with Him in the presence of God in the next.  Lord Thank You for Your salvation that stretches beyond time that even Iyov understood there is no life without You.  Lord give me the tenacity of Iyov that I never deny You but lay the blame for my weakness solely on my frailty in this life so that like Iyov I don’t just hear of You but I see You anew for the first time every day so my wonder and worship of You never ends.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Focus on God not vocation

Acts 19:23-27

It was at this time that a major furor arose concerning the Way. There was a silversmith named Demetrius who manufactured from silver, objects connected with the worship of the goddess Artemis; and he provided no small amount of work for the craftsmen. He called a meeting of them and of those engaged in similar trades, and said, “Men, you understand that this line of business provides us our living. And you can see and hear for yourselves that not only here in Ephesus, but in practically the whole province of Asia, this Sha’ul has convinced and turned away a considerable crowd by saying that man-made gods aren’t gods at all. Now the danger is not only that the reputation of our trade will suffer, but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to be taken lightly. It could end up with the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and indeed throughout the whole world, being ignominiously brought down from her divine majesty!”

Demetrius was so settled in his vocation he could not see that it kept him from salvation.  This craftsman could not understand that there would be other needs for his skills only that he should keep pounding away at a job that honors something man made and, in the end, worthless.  It is the same today there are many employed in the abortion industry, porn industry, socialist movement and others that place so much value on their vocation they cannot see that it is keeping them from love of God in their lives.  When God calls, He calls us all to a life of abundance in Him where there is satisfaction in the service, not the worship of wealth and ultimately death.  Lord I fail more than I succeed in standing firm for Your Word.  Strengthen me and embolden me so I can face down the Demetrius’s of the world and give glory only to You.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

God always sends

Acts 18:24-28

Meanwhile, a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker with a thorough knowledge of the Tanakh. This man had been informed about the Way of the Lord, and with great spiritual fervor he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Yeshua, but he knew only the immersion of Yochanan. He began to speak out boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God in fuller detail. When he made plans to cross over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote the talmidim there to welcome him. On arrival, he greatly helped those who through grace had come to trust; for he powerfully and conclusively refuted the unbelieving Jews in public, demonstrating by the Tanakh that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Sha’ul had to leave Ephesus for the movement of the Ruach to be ignited in other places but ADONAI in His wisdom did not leave the Ephesians without direction.  Apollos through his own study of scripture had come to fully trust in ADONAI himself and was able to expand on the teachings Sha’ul had already given and learn as well from others who understanding of Yeshua was deeper through the infilling of the Ruach.  Without Sha’ul leaving Apollos would have never had the opportunity to teach and learn and with the infilling be commission to go and preach to others throughout Achaia.  When trusted friends and mentors leave our lives God will provide others to support and encourage us in our walk with Him so that we might send more believers out in this world to testify to His love for us.  Lord let me be worthy to work for You in such a way.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Beware bad advice

Iyov (Job) 11:12-15

An empty man can gain understanding,

even if he was born like a wild donkey.

If you will set your heart right,

if you will spread out your hands toward him,

if you will put your iniquity at a distance

and not let unrighteousness remain in your tents,

then when you lift up your face, there will be no defect;

you will be firm and free from fear.

This is Tzofar the Na’amati’s advice to his friend Iyov after hearing him lament about his condition and it seems to me the way many are treated when they are searching for God’s hand in their lives.  Tzofar incorrectly tells Iyov he can fix himself “if you will…” and thus be presentable to ADONAI, but that is the lie that many fall for, if I am a good person then God will have to take me.  The salvation experience is not possible without the supernatural sacrifice of Yeshua’s blood for our sin so no matter how righteous we act or how many good deeds we do unless we set aside our selfish sinfulness and seek to be filled by the Ruach HaKodesh there is no salvation, no freedom from fear as Tzofar falsely claims.  Only through ADONAI is salvation and as Iyov learns only a personal relationship with God brings salvation.  Lord let me be as strong as Iyov and cling to Your Word in every aspect of my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.