Don’t trust your own understanding, trust God’s

Acts 7:39-42a

“But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, saying to Aharon, ‘Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has become of him.’ That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars—as has been written in the book of the prophets,

Two things, first, as sinners we try to make sense of the supernatural by creating in the natural. The golden calf was nothing more than a hunk of metal. It had no power of deliverance no matter how many sacrifices where offered, yet to please their own selfishness the rebellious Israelites had to have something to make themselves feel better. Second ADONAI will remove Himself from sin and abandon people living in such selfishness to their own stupidity, accepting man-made importance placed on stars that take no notice to our lives. Yet we as believers are not to live like this, we are to be like Stephen declaring what is sin as sin and speaking life and love to all through the blood of the sacrifice of Yeshua. Lord let me be as boldly honest as Stephen and speak to the powers that binds men’s heart so there can be no doubt You are the God I serve. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Let the Ruach answer jealousy

Acts 6:8-14

Now Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great miracles and signs among the people. But opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), composed of Cyrenians, Alexandrians and people from Cilicia and the province of Asia. They argued with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.
So they secretly persuaded some men to allege, “We heard him speak blasphemously against Moshe and against God.” They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin. There they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah; for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us.”

There will be people in our lives who will seek to destroy us just to make themselves feel better. We must have the courage of Stephen and face them with the infilling of the Ruach HaKodesh, not to be afraid but let God shine though us so there can be no doubt who we serve. It was this very argument, in my opinion, that the men of this synagogue due to their former slave status fought with Stephan to improve their standing with the leaders of the Sanhedrin. In the end it started the movement that would see Sha’ul and others bring the Word of God to the nations, thus crushing the results the jealousy of the Synagogue of Freed Slaves desired. Lord let me be as innocent as Stephen when dealing with those provoked by jealousy. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Speak only truth

Sh’mot (Exodus) 23:1-3

“You are not to repeat false rumors; do not join hands with the wicked by offering perjured testimony. Do not follow the crowd when it does what is wrong; and don’t allow the popular view to sway you into offering testimony for any cause if the effect will be to pervert justice. On the other hand, don’t favor a person’s lawsuit simply because he is poor.”

The bane of this generation is gossip, with the advent of social media there has never been a more effective tool to spread false rumors and innuendo repeatedly perverting justice on an hourly basis. If we are truly following ADONAI in our lives then like Him we must be just and right, seeking justice for everyone around us, instead of a sheep just moving where the herd goes.  Lord let me uplift the people around me and not let rumors become stones to tear someone down.  Let my yes be yes and my no be no so that I only speak to the truth of Your power and majesty.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Lord make me bold

Acts 4:19-20

But Kefa and Yochanan answered, “You must judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God. As for us, we can’t help talking about what we have actually seen and heard.”

Lord let me have the same boldness and courage as Kefa and Yochanan to share the works You have done in my life.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

We can’t do it on our own terms

Sh’mot (Exodus) 19:21-22

ADONAI said to Moshe, “Go down and warn the people not to force their way through to ADONAI to see him; if they do, many of them will perish. Even the cohanim, who are allowed to approach ADONAI, must keep themselves holy; otherwise, ADONAI may break out against them.”

There is no way for us to force our way into the presence of ADONAI. We can’t get there by just being a “good” person or complete some pilgrimage to some remote place. The only way to God is to obey His mitzvahs and accept the sacrifice that He gave to reconcile us back to him through Yeshua. Lord let never mistake the holy salvation You have given us as something common and base. Let me always honor You in all things. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Never Never Again

God will perserve

Sh’mot (Exodus) 15:26

He said, “If you will listen intently to the voice of ADONAI your God, do what he considers right, pay attention to his mitzvot and observe his laws, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians; because I am ADONAI your healer.”

We have this promise from ADONAI just as the Israelites received all those years ago. If we keep God’s rules and observe His laws we will not be afflicted with the diseases brought on Egypt. Today in this epidemic culture of fear about the resurgent of old diseases and the mutation of new ones but yet if we all just fell to our knees and repented of our personal and national sins it could be gone in a day just as when Nineveh repented at the proclamation from ADONAI by Yonah. Lord forgive me for failing to hold to Your Word, forgive me for letting fear and grief drive my actions, Lord forgive this nation not only for allowing the unholy to be called holy but for pursuing its stupidity as wisdom. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Pray in unity with each other

Acts 1:13-14

After entering the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. The names of the emissaries were Kefa, Ya‘akov, Yochanan, Andrew, Philip, T’oma, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, Ya‘akov Ben-Halfai, Shim‘on “the Zealot,” and Y’hudah Ben-Ya‘akov. These all devoted themselves single-mindedly to prayer, along with some women, including Miryam (Yeshua’s mother), and his brothers.

These mighty men and women of God came together in one mind to pray. I can hardly last 10 minutes before my mind starts to wander. Adonai give me focus like these people for Your will in my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Actions are remembered

Luke 24:19

“What things?” he asked them. They said to him, “The things about Yeshua from Natzeret. He was a prophet and proved it by the things he did and said before God and all the people.

The first thing Cleopas and Shi’mon remembered about Yeshua was his actions, then his words.  It was his actions that confirmed Yeshua as the Mashiach and gave them hope for the liberation of Isra’el.  Lord, grant that I can be as influential with my actions and bring hope to those around me.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Keeping the Word, no matter the chaos

Luke 23:54-55

It was Preparation Day, and a Shabbat was about to begin. The women who had come with Yeshua from the Galil followed; they saw the tomb and how his body was placed in it. Then they went back home to prepare spices and ointments.

On Shabbat the women rested, in obedience to the commandment;

Even with all the turmoil and chaos in their lives these women are picked out in scripture because they kept to the Word of God and honored Shabbat.  I have many times in the past over worries of money done side jobs on Shabbat only to see that money earned fritted away on useless things all at the sacrifice of missing time with my wife and children and falling into the Lord’s rest to prepare me for the week ahead.  These women stayed focused on what is most important even as in the moment they thought their world was collapsing around them.  Lord let me be as focused as these women, not to be a Parush and judge those around me but to keep Your Word so that my actions bring honor and glory to You.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.