Rewarded

Revelations 22:12

“Pay attention!” [says Yeshua,] “I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done.

I cannot help but to read this verse and go back to my Navy days. One of the forms of correction a commanding officer had was non-judicial punishment a kind of local court the Captain could call together to address small infractions that could be corrected with the proper kind of reward he would issue at the end of testimony. What was not so well known in the Navy is that the Captain could call together the same group to reward a sailor for doing something above and beyond, his reward forever recorded in that sailor’s personnel file. We must all pay attention to our thoughts and actions because our living savior Yeshua has promised us to reward us for our actions just as those Captains did in my sailing days. Lord thank You for making Your word plain and understandable for me. Amen.

Perseverance

Revelations 18:19-20

And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, saying,
“Oh no! The great city!
The abundance of her wealth
made all the ship owners rich!
In a single hour she is ruined!”
Rejoice over her, heaven!
Rejoice, people of God,
emissaries and prophets!
For in judging her, God has vindicated you.

It breaks my heart to see those who cling to sin fall from the grace of God. Even now I have friends who think their apostasy is true faith when it directly conflicts with the words Yeshua spoke and are recorded throughout the gospels. Yet even as we as believers see this destruction we are told to rejoice because it is in the judgements of ADONAI that we see warning and testimony to turn from sin and seek salvation through Yeshua. Lord let me learn more of You, so I can cling to You more closely no matter the circumstances that surround me. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Trust

Revelations 10:4-7

When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say,
“Seal up the things the seven thunders said,
do not write them down!”
Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand toward heaven and swore by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will be no more delay; on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar, the hidden plan of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as he proclaimed it to his servants the prophets.”

There are things of ADONAI that I do not understand and will not understand until the day of His choosing. That is okay, part of trusting in God is that we hold to the fact that even without our foreknowledge of what may happen He will stand in the gap for us as one of His own. There will be a day when I understand all that God has revealed to us and in that moment with that understanding, I will be compelled to worship Him forever. But until that day I will trust that I know how much I don’t know and will worship and pray for deeper and clearer understanding. Lord let me be like Moshe and always seek Your face so that one day too I may be called “a friend of God.” I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

God Given Identity

Revelation 5:8-10

When he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one held a harp and gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people; and they sang a new song,

“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals;

because you were slaughtered;

at the cost of blood you ransomed for God

persons from every tribe, language, people and nation.

You made them into a kingdom for God to rule,

cohanim to serve him;

and they will rule over the earth.”

I have struggled with identity most of my life, never quite fitting in with any one group, and annoying most everyone at some point or another.  For example, when I finally met my birth mother, I wrote her a ten-page letter of my life up to that point.  Thinking I had hit all the high points, she told me it was nice to learn about my family and friends but I didn’t really say anything about me.  I guess you could say I let relationships define me until I had an encounter with Yeshua.  It is with His sacrifice that our identity is solidified, bound to an everlasting corner stone to build into a kingdom of priestly servants for God, forever.  How can I not rejoice just as the elders in these verses at the power of ADONAI.  Praise You Abba for seeing me and calling me so I can hear Your voice in this time and know who I am in You.  Praise Your Holy Name.

Read and Heed

Revelation 1:3

Blessed are the reader and hearers of the words of this prophecy, provided they obey the things written in it! For the time is near!

Sometimes the Word of God is just so blunt it strikes you in the face.  As Yochanan wrote in this verse in Revelation we are blessed when we hear and read the Word but only when we obey its teachings.  To fail to comprehend and obey is to give ourselves over to our own selfish nature and fall into sin.  Lord let me take all Your Word personified in Yeshua to heart and let it be written there forever so I make always follow You.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

The light of my Path

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105-112

Your word is a lamp for my foot
and light on my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
that I will observe your righteous rulings.
I am very much distressed;
ADONAI, give me life, in keeping with your word.
Please accept my mouth’s voluntary offerings, ADONAI;
and teach me your rulings.
I am continually taking my life in my hands,
yet I haven’t forgotten your Torah.
The wicked have set a trap for me,
yet I haven’t strayed from your precepts.
I take your instruction as a permanent heritage,
because it is the joy of my heart.
I have resolved to obey your laws
forever, at every step.

This passage is the very definition of my walk with ADONAI. It is His Word, His Torah made flesh in Yeshua Ha Mashiach that has brought salvation to all of us. I have given my life over to being obedient to His Word, yet even today in my maturity there are many times my selfishness comes through and I must atone for the sin in my heart. And though the world may try to draw me into the false doctrine of the rebellious it is God’s Word that keeps me from that trap. My salvation is in God’s Word forever and forever amen. Lord thank You for caring for not just me but all humanity to let us have life and more abundantly in Your Word. Amen.

United in Love

1 Yochanan (1 John) 5:1-5

Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah has God as his father, and everyone who loves a father loves his offspring too. Here is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God, we also do what he commands. For loving God means obeying his commands. Moreover, his commands are not burdensome, because everything which has God as its Father overcomes the world. And this is what victoriously overcomes the world: our trust. Who does overcome the world if not the person who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God?

There is unity in the body of believers, no one is alone in his trust in ADONAI. How do we see this unity in the actions of one another, by keeping God’s Word and thus defeating all the worldly influences in our lives meant to separate us from ADONAI. Lord thank You for the friends and family You have given me who help strengthen my trust in You. Lord thank You for everyone who praises Your Holy name. Praise Your Holy Name, amen.

Look through the Storm

Yochanan (John) 20:14-17

As she said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, but she didn’t know it was he. Yeshua said to her, “Lady, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you’re the one who carried him away, just tell me where you put him; and I’ll go and get him myself.” Yeshua said to her, “Miryam!” Turning, she cried out to him in Hebrew, “Rabbani!” (that is, “Teacher!”) “Stop holding onto me,” Yeshua said to her, “because I haven’t yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

How many times have I been Miryam, so wrapped up in the troubles I am dealing with I cannot see ADONAI standing right in front of me. And even when that loving hand of guidance comes I still don’t recognize it fully until God speaks to me through all the pain I am putting on myself. It is in that moment when I see the trial for what it is, a correction or lesson or both, and learn from it, that I can do the next task that God would have me do. Abba thank You for all the ox goads and instructions that You have put in my life so I may better understand and love You. Thank You for Your Holy Word embodied in Yeshua so I could be redeemed back to You. Lord let me serve You in all that I do. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Shalom in our time

Yochanan (John) 16:33

“I have said these things to you so that, united with me, you may have shalom. In the world, you have tsuris. But be brave! I have conquered the world!”

To know ADONAI and have trust in the sacrifice of Yeshua so that our past sins are covered by the blood is to know peace in our lives.  This world we live in without God is nothing more than a cauldron of tsuris, troubles, one after another but to serve the conqueror of all sin is to let us see into life everlasting with peace and joy.  Lord thank You for Your promise of green pastures and still waters, that there is a Goshen where You keep Your people.  Praise Your Holy Name, amen.

Looking Back

Yochanan (John) 12:16

The next day, the large crowd that had come for the festival heard that Yeshua was on his way into Yerushalayim. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Deliver us!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI,the King of Isra’el!”
After finding a donkey colt, Yeshua mounted it, just as the Tanakh says—
“Daughter of Tziyon, don’t be afraid!
Look! your King is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
His talmidim did not understand this at first; but after Yeshua had been glorified, then they remembered that the Tanakh said this about him, and that they had done this for him.

How many times have I been like Yeshua’s talmidim, not seeing the hand of God moving in the moment because I am so wrapped up in the commotion around me but looking back understanding ADONAI’s plan unfolding for my life all around me. We cannot always see the Hand of God as He moves and like Iyov we may not understand the trials we are in but once it is done, if we keep our trust in Him, we can look back and see the refining that has taken place. Lord keep me focused on You in the crucible of our times. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.