A daily break to celebrate our salvation in Yeshua (Jesus) and our abundant life through the Torah

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Living as a Sacrifice to God

Living Sacrifice“A living sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1).  It’s a familiar term, one that’s always in the back of my mind as my position and purpose in God.  Then, I unexpectedly learned a deeper understanding of what that actually means and how I can really live it out.

The idea of sacrifice to us today refers to giving something up.  But the audience of Paul’s day at the time it was written would have understood it to refer to the temple sacrifices — animals, birds, oil, grains — which were a major part of their life and had been in their history for nearly 1,500 years.

One of the offerings required was a “whole burnt offering” — the Hebrew word “olah” (referred to repeatedly in Lev. 1-6).  This offering was used to symbolize that the worshipper had offered himself in service and obedience to God.  But what I didn’t know was that the word “olah” was also used to describe bondservants.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 23, 2012 | Categories: Following God, Jesus, Obedience, Purpose, Sacrifices, Submission, Yeshua, Yeshua’s death | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Availability vs. Ability

Image6Have you ever felt God asking you to do something for which you know you’re not talented or maybe not qualified?  No doubt Esther felt this way when Mordecai instructed her to speak to the king about saving her kinsman.  Esther’s obvious gift was in her beauty, her speaking of political matters with the king was never a thought.  In fact she hadn’t even had an audience with him in a month, and then only at his request. A person could be sentenced to death for approaching the king without his summons.

Esther’s asking the king to save the Jewish people must have seemed ludicrous.  There must have been a mistake in translating Mordecai’s message or in Mordecai’s understanding of God’s will.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 8, 2012 | Categories: Calling, Esther, Faith, Following God, Guidance, Humility, Obedience, Purim, Weakness | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Humility: God’s Plan for Reconciliation

Image19-1As I was pondering Yeshua’s path to death and all that came before that, one word rang in my mind loud and clear:  humility.  Yet the word, as we know it, hardly does justice to what Yeshua displayed.

“But [He] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”  Philippians 2:7-8

This is God Himself in the flesh, being crucified as a criminal by those He created, in order to pay their penalty for them.  That’s humility–and more, a concept for which we have no frame of reference.

What was He hoping to achieve?  The answer was another astonishing realization:  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 2, 2012 | Categories: Free Will, God's Character, Humility, Reconciliation, Salvation, Submission, Yeshua | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God Answers Prayer in Surprising Ways

Fall Mountain Sunrise, Grand TetonsAt 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.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 23, 2012 | Categories: God's Character, God’s Love, Grace, Prayer, Salvation | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Being With the Father

Two CoffeesThe father of a tiny baby girl takes delight in every new little thing she does and can spend hours watching her — even when she’s sleeping.  This is how God views us.  He created the joy that comes from watching our children.  He then put that same joy in our hearts.  Just as when He finished creating the earth, He marveled at how excellent it was, He marvels at us now. (Genesis 1:31)

As a child grows up, she makes her own decisions and chooses her own way.  She may choose to include her father in her life or not.  She may choose to include God in her life or not.  But when she does choose to include him, it brings him great joy.  To have a child grow to be a friend and want to be with you is a great blessing.

But there’s a deeper intimacy that is rare.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 17, 2012 | Categories: God the Father, God's Presence, Meditation | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Alignment with God’s Promises Brings God’s Blessings

3God 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. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 10, 2012 | Categories: Blessing, Following God, Prayer, Promises, Sabbath | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

God’s Road Map to a Life of Blessing

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  James 4:8a

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…”  Matthew 7:12a

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Matthew 7:1-2

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33

I have come to think of these verses as my road map.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 2, 2012 | Categories: Accountability, Blessing, Free Will, God's Character, The Golden Rule | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Nature Displays a Picture of Psalm 91

????????????????????????????????????On a recent vacation, my husband and I stayed at a house beside the Wenatchee River in Eastern Washington.  There were two families of geese, one with three goslings, one with four.  The cute babies were very young, their feathers still fluffy yellow.  We watched them in our small yard for nine days.

It quickly became obvious how completely trusting and dependent on their parents the goslings were.  The parents did all the planning and leading.  The goslings were only concerned with eating, sleeping and following their parents. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 22, 2012 | Categories: Following God, Nature, Submission, Trust | Tags: , | Leave a comment

The Blessing of the Sabbath

Lake MacDonald - Harmony-001The Sabbath – we think of the Jewish day of rest, or maybe any day when we’re not working, or the day we attend church.  Yeshua says of the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27).  The Sabbath is one of the blessings God made for mankind to enjoy.  He practiced it Himself on the seventh day of creation.  Was God tired?  Had all the work He’d done on the first six days worn Him out?  I can imagine it could, but no — God created it along with the world and its inhabitants as a gift to man, animals and the land.

A day, 24 hours, of no work — to most people that is a luxury.  When I first got a hold of the concept that the Sabbath was to be a blessing for man, and decided to try it, it was difficult.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 12, 2012 | Categories: Blessing, Following God, God's Faithfulness, Holy Days, Mo'edim, Sabbath | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

What would you learn if you could listen to God’s heart?

What would you learn if you could listen to God’s heart?  What would you hear if you could put your ear against the wall of the throne room?  What would you see if you could peer into the Holy of Holies?

A few years ago, as part of my job responsibilities, I was handed a project that would temporarily dominate my life, requiring early mornings and late nights.  One of the things that had to flex was my daily devotional time.  I would barely have time for meals and a full night’s sleep.

Frustrated, I decided I would somehow at least spend a few minutes each day alone with Yeshua.  Unfortunately, those few ended up being the very last minutes of the day as I got my first break just before falling asleep each night.  With no energy left, I would close my eyes and with nothing to give and no requests, I would practically fall into Yeshua’s arms and soak in true rest until I fell asleep. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 4, 2012 | Categories: Devotions, Hearing God, Meditation, Prayer | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

A Messianic Perspective

In Leviticus and other sections of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), we read about the myriad of offerings and sacrifices, the ceremonial cleansings, and the stipulations for coming near to a holy God.  On The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), for example, the high priest would’ve prepared for weeks ahead of time to perform the duties prescribed for the one day — with all its garments, offerings, animals, his family and other priests involved and contingency plans in case something didn’t go as planned.  Then on the actual Day of Atonement, it would probably take him all day to perform the list of duties.

Granted, The Day of Atonement was the most holy day of the year, but there were six other holy days equally as rigorous in their requirements, not to mention the daily and weekly procedures of the temple and the offerings and sacrifices brought in by the people of Israel that were also required.

In Yeshua, we see the fulfillment of all of these requirements.  Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  December 11, 2011 | Categories: Atonement, Faith, Holiness, Jesus, Messianic, Sacrifices, Torah, Yeshua | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment