13 Ways to Shut the Door on the Enemy
One day after I had sold my house, I was cleaning it. I was in the living room and I heard the Lord tell me to hurry. I wondered about that and asked if I should not be doing this right now. He said, “Yes, just hurry.” So I went ahead.
Suddenly a man walked in my front door and started talking to me. I realized I had left the door open.
(more…)Yehovah is Answering Your Prayers
You’ve prayed and prayed; you’ve put your request on the prayer chain; you’ve prayed without ceasing for as long as possible and agreed with two or more other believers. Yet, you still have no answer. Where’s Yehovah? Why is he silent? Is he listening?
I believe he is listening, and that he never ignores your prayers. He doesn’t always answer you, but I believe he always responds. Even silence can be an answer. There are many ways he responds to us and many ways we can miss his answers.
Pursue the Mysterious Voice of The Creator
“God works in mysterious ways.” We hear that phrase frequently. Usually it’s when we can’t understand what Yehovah is doing, or make sense of why things are like they are. And sometimes it’s when something unexpectedly good happens out of a bad situation.
Although it’s not a quote from the scriptures, it is scriptural:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
But typically, when we throw something in the “mysterious” category, we leave it there. We chalk it up to never being able to understand God’s ways. But in doing so, we miss what he would like to reveal to us.
(more…)Five Keys To Speeding Up God’s Will In Your Life
Do you believe God has something exciting planned for your future? Maybe you’re in a difficult situation that you’d like to move through more quickly? Possibly you feel stuck in a rut and don’t know how to move into what God might have for you.
I’m not sure we can actually speed up God’s will in our lives. He already “created us for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10) Ultimately everything will be done in his perfect timing. But, I do think we can delay his will. Distractions, ambivalence, or sometimes just being unaware can require that he goes slower than we would like, maybe even slower than he would like. I’m guilty of all of these.
(more…)
Preparing Ourselves for the Spring Feasts, Part 2
In Part 1, we looked at not just the month of Nisan, but the season of Nisan, “The Abib” (called Aviv in Hebrew). We learned that it’s a time of:
- Moving from one place to another by the supernatural hand of Yehovah.
- The unrighteous becoming ripe for punishment and the righteous ripe to step into their future.
- Moving toward our destiny.
What is our role in all this? (more…)
Our Spiritual Journey Inside the Tabernacle – Part 7: The Altar of Incense
Inside the Tent of Meeting
Having come through the entrance of the courtyard of the tabernacle, progressing from the bronze altar, to the bronze basin, to the menorah, and then the table of showbread, our spirit and our mind are continually being transformed to be more closely aligned to God’s. We begin to desire more and more of Him.
As we see with His eyes into the spiritual realm, we begin to desire the same things He does. Our heart becomes more compassionate, our mind more discerning. We are filled with faith and want to participate in bringing about His will. (more…)
If MY People
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
I found this verse repeating in my head, so I posted it in a place where I’d see it every day, a place where I typically pray for my friends and family as I’m starting my day. I continued my routine of praying for various people, and the verse stayed on my wall for probably three weeks.
I came to understand the power of this statement: (more…)
God Answers Prayer in Surprising Ways
At one point, I committed to praying on a weekly basis for several of my friends and family to come to faith in Yeshua as their savior. I did so for six months. Once I started praying, I began looking for signs of a change in their spiritual perspectives, and for opportunities to speak with them about Yeshua. This story is another example of how prayer changes not only the lives of those for whom the prayer is offered, but the one praying as well.
During those six months, I saw miraculous things. (more…)
Alignment with God’s Promises Brings God’s Blessings
God has promised us so many blessings in His word. Many of these are conditional – that is, they require something of us in order for God’s full blessing to be released. Some of the most familiar are the “be-attitudes”: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:7-9)
There are three promises I’ve decided to make a pursuit of mine in recent years — promises of blessings that require my action. These are probably some of the most explicit promises of blessing in the Bible, yet possibly some of the most overlooked. I began pursuing these three within a few months of each other. Not too long afterward I felt showered in unexpected blessings. (more…)
Messianic Sabbath 