Resting in God’s Faithfulness: My Shimetah Year
In my last post on this topic, I shared how Yehovah demonstrated his faithfulness to me very specifically over one year’s time. He replaced my fears with faith and changed my perspective to one that allows me to stay in his peace and rest every day.
A couple of years later I was working on new projects and new goals. I still had my new perspective and was still trusting God for all of my provisions, but I was still striving. (more…)
Why celebrate all these Jewish holidays? Haven’t those been done away with?
There are seven Feasts or Holy Days commanded in the Bible – four in the Spring, and three in the Fall. It’s true, Jews had been observing these Feasts for 1,400 years before Yeshua’s birth. But what if Yehovah set those dates as days He intends to fulfill specific prophecies in Yeshua’s lifetime and His second coming? Wouldn’t you want to know which dates those were? Let’s recount what happened on the Spring Feast dates during Yeshua’s lifetime. (more…)
Why Count the Omer? Part 2: Nine Days of Prayer
In Leviticus 23:15 God instructs us to count the seven weeks (49 days) that occur before the Day of Pentecost (the 50th day) also called the Festival of Weeks and Shavuot in Hebrew. But counting days with no explanation? Why would this be important to God and to us?
For the Israelites, it pertained mainly to their harvest cycle and offerings to be presented. For us living after the time of Yeshua, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, we can see the spiritual implications of this count. We know that on the 50th day after Yeshua’s resurrection, something unimaginably wonderful happened: The pouring out of the Holy Spirit not only on the disciples, but on all those who come to faith in Yeshua as the Messiah! The implications of that day reverberate even stronger in these last of the last days. The 50th day is one I want to be prepared for every year. (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…)
The Blessing of the Sabbath
The 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. (more…)
Messianic Sabbath 