The Feasts of the Lord: Going Through the Motions
Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles – lots of Feasts, each with different instructions for observing them. Sometimes when we’re just starting out observing the Feasts, or approach a new season of Feasts, we can easily think of all the instructions and do’s and don’ts, and forget the richness of each Feast. It can feel – and in fact become – like we’re just going through the motions.
I can imagine that’s how the Hebrews must have felt when they heard the instructions for the first time as well. Exodus 12 is 50 verses full of instructions for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the instructions are not exactly intuitive or logical. What were they to make of killing a lamb and smearing its blood on their door frames? Had that ever saved them from death before? Was this a common practice? And what’s so bad about leavened bread? What does that have to do with saving their firstborns? (more…)
The Dangers of Discontent, Part 3: The Missed Revelation
In our review of Numbers 11, we’ve seen how rejection of God’s provision (Part 1) and replacement with their own desires (Part 2) forces God’s presence out of the Israelites’ wilderness camp. But that’s not all. The story includes details that provide clues about something more God had planned.
In His mercy, I believe God hid a blessing in the midst of the incident for those who would pursue the path He laid out. While, there’s no account of any of the Israelites doing so, it serves as a lesson to us today of how God provides us a way to correct our path when we’ve gone astray. It’s a testament to God’s patience and tenacity in His pursuit of us and shows us how to stay in His will and presence. It’s a revelation the Israelites missed. (more…)
What’s in Your Toolbox? Hearing God’s Leading
Have you ever had someone give you a scripture saying they believe the Lord wants to use it to speak to you, yet it doesn’t seem to fit anywhere in your life? Hold it. I mean literally hold onto it – write it down, log it, memorize it.
I have a wonderful friend who has often done this for me. At times, the scripture or insight exactly fits with what I’m facing. Other times we talk through it and can’t seem to connect the dots. But I know she is a woman of God gifted in intercession and speaking into my life and others’. So I hold on to it.
One such scripture was Isaiah 30:21:
With your ears you will hear a word from behind you: “This is the way; stay on it, whether you go to the right or the left.”
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…)
Our Spiritual Journey Inside the Tabernacle – Part 1: Yehovah’s Invitation to Intimacy
Inside the Tabernacle
I find that the more I study Yehovah’s character, the better He gets. He is awesome, holy and righteous, yet loving and patient with us at the same time. He never stops pursuing us; He desires for us to be in His presence continuously, so that He can reveal more and more of Himself to us. The tabernacle in the wilderness described in Exodus is a place where we see this character in Yehovah.
The Surprising Results of Submission
Submission. It’s not a very popular word in our society. Normally we think of someone giving up their will in deference to one with more power. More recently it seems it’s come to mean someone giving in against their will. Webster’s defines it as “humbly obedient, ceasing to offer resistance, to defer to another’s wishes.” Even those definitions don’t sound as bad as the word itself – “submission.” At least that’s how I felt. Then I began to learn a simple saying, but a difficult lesson: “The way we submit to our leaders on earth is the way we submit to God.” (Rabbi Kirt Schneider) Hmm, how am I at submission? (more…)
Taking the Next Difficult Step is Easier Than I Thought
On a recent vacation, I decided to try rock climbing on the simulated rock wall. I had never done it, but watched several people in front of me, some succeeding to the top and some quitting part way up. With each one I could, I asked how they did it or what stopped them from finishing, trying to learn whatever might help me make it high enough to ring the little bell at the top, announcing my success.
When it was my turn, the attendant, Alex, roped me up and gave me climbing shoes to help me hold on. I took my first few steps on the holds and knobs. “This is pretty easy,” I thought. But like anything else physical, it got harder as I went along. (more…)
Messianic Sabbath 
